The Zen Birdfeeder

My Bird-Loving (Indoor) Cat

"Whaaat?"

Found a Peanut, Found a Peanut

Found a peanut, found a peanut,

Found a peanut just now,
Just now I found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now.

Sing to the tune of "Darlin' Clementine"

Great Backyard Bird Count 2010 - Day 4 in Old Forge

The Great Backyard Bird Count is so flexible that you can report the birds you see in any location!  On the fourth day of this year's count, I was not at home watching birds, but at a friend's house in Old Forge, NY.

Mary only has one feeder out and it was filled with a low quality blend that had lots of milo and millet, some other fillers, and only a handful of black oil sunflower.  Good thing I brought some of the good stuff - WBU Supreme Blend.  (I never leave home without it!)  I filled her feeder with it and put out her her window feeder as well.

I took her old seed and spread it on some nearby benches and ledges to see what happens.  The chickadees did visit it, but as you can see, they picked out what little black oil sunflower there was and left the rest.  This is a perfect illustration of why to avoid seed blends that have ANY milo and other fillers, and to keep the millet to a minimum unless you're trying to cater to ground feeders like native sparrows, juncos, or doves.

A low quality blend with mostly milo, millet and little black oil.

A chickadee eats the black oil sunflower.

The milo and millet and other fillers are left behind.

Anyway, as soon as I put in the new seed, the birds started coming.  Chickadees were first, as is often the case.  Here's all I saw in the few hours I kept an eye on the feeder:

Black-capped Chickadee    8
White-breasted Nuthatch    2
Hairy Woodpecker    1
Brown Creeper        1
Blue Jay        4

White-breasted Nuthatch

Mary was amazed at the change in activity just by changing out the seed.  She commented "It's like they went out and told other birds to come on over!  Normally, I have one bird stopping at a time to check things out.  This is like I'm having a party!"

We had other visitors besides the birds too, like this deer, a single red squirrel, and the neighbor's dog Hudson.

 

We love visiting Mary in Old Forge.  Her home is within the Adirondack Woodcraft Camp property, so you can literally step out her door to cross country ski.  We were able to get in a couple skis during our visit, and then relaxed in her wood-fired hot tub.  NICE!

On the way out of town, we all went to a Chili Lunch fund-raiser at the Old Forge Arts Center.  For only $16, you got some great chili, beverages, and desserts, PLUS your choice of a locally-made ceramic chili bowl.  What a great idea for a fund raiser!  Here's our new bowls - I love 'em!

Getting back to the birds and the GBBC, Old Forge had 3 checklists submitted for the 2010 Great Backyard Bird Count, so I was happy to be one of them!  Don't forget - checklists are due March 1st!

Great Backyard Bird Count 2010 - Days 1 - 3

The 13th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count has ended and we all have until March 1 to enter our checklists.  For the first 3 days of the count, I counted at the feeders at home in upstate New York.

My below-average feeder activity continued and I averaged only 9 species and 49 individuals and saw 12 different species.  This is down from last year's average of 14 species and 94 individuals and 17 different species.  But I watched only 13 hours vs. over 22 hours last year. 

Here's what I'll be reporting to Cornell:

	Fri	Sat	Sun	Ave
American Crow	1			1
American Goldfinch			6	6
Black capped Chickadee	11	4	7	7
Blue Jay	18	15	17	17
Dark-eyed Junco	16	11	16	14
Downy Woodpecker	1	1	2	1
Hairy Woodpecker	2	1	1	1
Mourning Dove	1		2	1.5
Northern Cardinal	1	1	1	1
Red-breasted Nuthatch		1	3	2
Tufted Titmouse		3	3	3
White-breasted Nuthatch	1			1
TOTAL SPECIES	9	8	10	9
TOTAL INDIVIDUALS	52	37	58	49

Some notable NO-SHOWS during the 3-day count included the Sharp-shinned Hawk and European Starlings that have been fairly regular this winter.  No great loss with the starlings but I would've like to have seen our hawk.

My male cardinal showed up regularly and has been more bold lately, coming up close to the house on the deck and in the nearby plum tree.  I was happy to see a group of 3 red-breasted nuthatches, yank-yanking away in the tree before descending to the feeders.

My final GBBC day was in Old Forge NY; I'll report on that tomorrow!

Let's Do It! Let's Count the Birds!

Today is the first day of the four-day Great Backyard Bird Count and I'm counting the birds!  My first bird of the 2010 count was a Dark-eyed Junco, at first just two of them, but right now, my high junco count is up to 16.

Dark-eyed Junco
The 3rd most frequently reported bird in 2009 GBBC

That's all there is to it!  For each type of bird you see, just record the highest count you see at any one time and report it on the GBBC website.

The Dark-eyed Junco, by the way, was the 3rd most frequently reported bird in last year's GBBC, showing up on over 41,000 checklists.  The birds reported more frequently?  The Northern Cardinal was #1, reported on almost 48,000 checklists!  The Mourning Dove was #2, on over 45,000 checklists.  What will be the #1 bird this year?

Northern Cardinal
The most frequently reported bird in last year's count

Mourning Doves
The 2nd most frequently reported birds in 2009 GBBC

Are YOUR birds being counted?  Make sure they count by participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count anytime or all-the-time over this President's Day Weekend. 

How-to Questions

Explore the Results

Where are the Redpolls?

Just about every other winter, we in upstate New York welcome Common Redpolls from their breeding grounds in northern Canada.  Redpolls are irruptive migrators meaning that their migration is "not seasonally or geographically predictable." ("How Birds Migrate", Paul Kerlinger)  But citizen science projects have shown that a somewhat biennial irruption schedule does take place, meaning that this winter we were "expecting" Common Redpolls to be around.

Common Redpoll 2007

Common Redpoll Reports - Great Backyard Bird Count 2004

Common Redpoll Reports - Great Backyard Bird Count 2005

Common Redpoll Reports - Great Backyard Bird Count 2006

Common Redpoll Reports - Great Backyard Bird Count 2007

Common Redpoll Reports - Great Backyard Bird Count 2008

Common Redpoll Reports - Great Backyard Bird Count 2009

My own Project FeederWatch counts follow this same pattern:
Winter 04-05    Average 5    High count 14
Winter 05-06    Average 32  High count 120
Winter 06-07    Average 0    High count 0
Winter 07-08    Average 67  High count 200
Winter 08-09    Average 4    High count 7

Redpolls Filling the Trees (March 2008)

So winter 09-10 was "supposed" to be a redpoll year.  But I've not seen one all season, no customers are reporting them at their feeders, there are no reports of redpolls on the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club Birdline, and there are very few reports across the states so far in PFW.  So what gives?

It's all about the food.  When local feeders went still this fall, it was at least partially due to an abundance of easily available natural food sources.  And it's the availability and/or abundance of food in Canada that is probably keeping the redpolls from visiting our area this winter in search of food.

Every year, Ron Pittaway of Ontario Field Ornithologists, gathers information from numerous sources and issues a Winter Finch Forecast.  In this year's forecast, he predicted that "most redpolls may be drawn to good birch crops in northwestern Ontario and westward in the boreal forest into Saskatchewan."

His forecast seems to be right.  We'll keep an eye out but it could be a couple years now before another big irruption of redpolls.  That's too bad because they are fun to watch - and listen to - at feeders!

Common Redpolls on WBU Mesh Finch Feeder

Project FeederWatch Week 9

My PFW week 9 was preceded by an 11-day absence, so I wondered how that might affect feeder activity.  Before leaving, I filled all the seed and suet feeders of course, but I also put out two 4.5 pound WBU Supreme Fare seed cylinders.  We always recommend our seed cylinders when our customers go on vacation; we find the cylinders outlast most other food sources when you're not around to fill the feeders regularly.  (2 pound Supreme Fare cylinders are available online; the bigger ones are available at your local WBU).

4.5# WBU Supreme Fare Cylinder with Bark Butter "treasures"

In fact, even after 11 days, one of the 4.5# cylinders was still partially intact.  It felt good knowing that birds were able to find food at my feeders all through my week-and-a-half absence.  I think it also helped my PFW count the 2 days after I returned - I saw 13 species, though my individual counts were down a tad.

Here's the recap in the order I saw the species:
Hairy Woodpecker  3
Black-capped Chickadee  8
Dark-eyed Junco  15
Blue Jay  25
Downy Woodpecker  2
European Starling  5
Tufted Titmouse  1
Red breasted Nuthatch  2
American Crow  4
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
American Goldfinch  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Purple Finch  1

SPECIES        13
INDIVIDUALS    70

Junco with WBU Stackables

DOUBLE DIGIT BIRDS
Juncos and jays.  Chickadee count was down a little this time.

Fewer chickadees this week!

BONUS BIRD
A male Purple Finch!  What a nice surprise.  Purple Finches nest in our yard, but tend to depart during the winter months.  I was surprised but delighted by this solo visitor!

Purple Finch (April 2007)

BACK IN TOWN
After an absence in week 8, our Sharp-shinned Hawk returned to be counted in week 9.

BEHAVIOR TIDBIT
Crows are not an everyday sighting here, but their cawing and circling caught my attention.  Something had them agitated!  They were circling the top of a tall pine tree, cawing away and occasionally diving toward the tree in an aggressive manner.

Sure enough, shortly after, a Sharp-shinned Hawk emerged from the tree top, certainly tired of dealing with this group of nagging crows.

The Silent Majority

The jays have often outnumbered all the other birds in my yard this winter.  Flocks arrive in waves, like fighter jets returning to an aircraft carrier.  Twenty, thirty, even 40 jays frequently come in for a landing on the feeders and in the trees surrounding my yard.

A treeful of Blue Jays

When that many jays are around, other birds have little access to the feeders that the jays have commandeered.  They're big, there are lots of them, but in February one thing they're not is LOUD.

They come and go for the most part in silence.  Except for the occasional warning call, it's amazing to watch these large flocks feed, move about, interact, and even squabble, without their raucous and familiar calling.

 
As they busily go about the business of being a jay, it's as if the mute button has been turned on, creating an almost eerie silence.  Jays are so often described as noisy and loud, it's odd to see all this movement and activity go on in virtual silence.

But here's fair warning - enjoy the quiet while you can.  In spring, Blue Jays will again be the loud and raucous birds we love to complain about!

Book Review: A Year on the Wing

When I was contacted by publisher Simon & Schuster to review A Year on the Wing: Four Seasons in a Life with Birds by Tim Dee, the premise of the book intriqued me.  I was told it was a month by month account of a year of birds in the air, and if you've read my blog for any length of time, you'd know that that type of methodical approach would appeal to me.  So I took them up on their offer of a free review copy.

Then the book arrived.  It was a year of birds in England!  What do I know of chiff chaffs and jackdaws?  And the locations!  The Noup of Noss and Muckle Flugga?  Did they send me the next book of the Harry Potter series by mistake?  Would I be able to relate to such odd-sounding places and birds I'd never seen (and probably will never see?)

Author Tim Dee starts us out in June with seabirds, another area of unfamiliarity for me.  But his wonderful writing quickly captured me, and his vivid descriptions helped me visualize birds I'd never seen.  His writing also awakened my senses - I could just about smell the gannets ("the rain from the north brings in their fishy whiff in gobbets of stink").  And even though I don't know what a gannet or a skua look like, Dee's writing helped me picture their movement, their actions.  I found that I didn't HAVE to know the field marks to experience the birds as Dee described.

He captures the emotion of being a bird watcher well, describing his first sighting of a woodcock at age 13. "It was exciting but disconcerting...I felt I had been simultaneously shown the bird and excluded from it...the defining condition of most birdwatching."  I think all bird watchers can relate to that!

Bird banders, or "ringers" as they call them in Europe, will enjoy his August chapter as he shares his experiences ringing birds and the miracle - and mysteries - of migration.  When he described a wren in hand as "an energetic walnut" and "an earthed meteorite", I learned that England's wrens and our wrens across the ocean have much in common. 

Month after month, Dee tells composite stories of the birds that inhabited his life, from his youth to present day.  His experiences are sometimes a shocking juxtaposition, like when he witnessed a man jump off a bridge into a gorge where Dee then saw his first peregrine falcon.  Some months are more interesting to read than others; for me, April held less interest.  That, I suppose, is to be expected. 

But by the end of A Year on the Wing, it didn't matter to me that I would never see most of these birds, Dee is skilled enough in sharing what he FELT when he was in the presence of birds that he sparked my emotions.  So even though the species of birds may not be universal, the feelings and emotions Dee describes ARE, which makes this book an interesting read on either side of the big pond.

A Year on the Wing: Four Seasons in a Life with Birds
by Tim Dee
Hardcover $24.00
ISBN: 9781416559337
Free Press, October 2009

BONUS!  I received 2 additional copies of A Year on the Wing to give away, courtesy of Free Press.  If you'd like to enter a drawing to win a copy of the book, leave a comment on this post.  A random drawing will take place 2 weeks from the date of this post and winners will be notified via email.  I will give away 2 new copies as well as my (marked-up) review copy.   

In accordance with Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255, it is disclosed that the copy of the book read in order to produce this review was provided gratis to the reviewer by the publisher.

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Congratulations to the following winners of a copy of A Year on the Wing, provided by Free Press.  They were all contacted by email.
Thanks to everyone for reading my review on The Zen Birdfeeder, and keep reading for future reviews of bird-related books. 

1. LNMP
2. Robert
3. Dave (review copy)

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Fort Edward Grasslands Important Bird Area

The Fort Edward (NY) Grasslands Important Bird Area (IBA) is a 13,000 acre agricultural grassland complex located in the towns of Ft. Edward, Argyle, and Kingsbury.  The IBA contains working farms, grassland areas, cultivated fields, small woodlots, and wetlands.

The site is the largest intact grassland habitat in eastern New York and is vital for grassland birds, many of whose populations across North America have plummeted in recent years due to habitat loss.  High quality grassland acreage in New York State has been rapidly decreasing due to fragmentation and urban sprawl.

- The IBA hosts many summer breeding bird species, including Northern Harrier, Upland Sandpiper, Grasshopper Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Bobolink, and Eastern Meadowlark.

Savannah Sparrow

- The IBA is also an important raptor wintering area.  Species commonly found include Northern Harrier, Short-eared Owl, and Rough-legged Hawk.  Non-raptor species that depend on the grasslands include Snow Bunting, Horned Lark, and Lapland Longspur.

Rough-legged Hawk, Ft. Edward IBA 2009

- Other interesting sightings in the IBA have included: Merlin, Snowy Owl, Brown Thrasher, Northern Shrike, Blue-winged Warbler, Dickcissel, and Orchard Oriole.

Snowy Owl, Ft. Edward IBA 2009 (digiscoped image)

Nearly all acreage in the IBA is privately owned.  Pressure from residential development has put this special place at risk for not only the grassland birds, but for residents who value their rural lifestyle.

You can help by getting involved with Southern Adirondack Audubon Society's efforts to save the Fort Edward Grasslands Important Bird Area.  Please visit their website for the latest information.

Birding in the Ft. Edward IBA?  Please consider entering your data at www.ebird.org.  This online database will help keep track of the locations and numbers of birds using the IBA.

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This information is reprinted from The Fledgling, the newsletter of the Southern Adirondack Audubon Society (links added).  Please support SAAS by becoming a member.

Read more about The State of Grassland Birds from the 2009 The State of the Birds Report.