The Return of the Birds - and Name That Bird

In a recent blog post, one of my local blogging friends, Dorothy, wondered where all the birds had gone this winter. 

In the six years I have lived here, it has seemed the we are surrounded by birds.  We hear them all the time, we see them in the garden, at the feeders and flying overhead.

But this winter it has seemed like they all just disappeared.  Even our year round birds, like the Cardinals, have been absent. The garden is silent.

I was really getting quite depressed about it, thinking it was because we now have houses on either side, where we used to have brush and trees.  

My little country garden that I loved so much when we moved here is rapidly becoming surrounded by suburbia. But I consoled myself that at least we still have the hedgerow (at least for now) across the road behind us.  It was always full of birds.

Where they went this winter is a complete mystery.

But at long last, I've started seeing some birds again.  Okay - so they are mostly European House Sparrows, not the most desirable of avian visitors.  But after the complete lack of birds over the winter, I'll take what I can get!

I also caught sight of this Carolina wren last weekend in the rain.  Perhaps they will nest on the patio again this year.  I hope so!  I heard and saw a Chickadee too, but couldn't get a photo of him.

The Southern Wax Myrtle seemed to provide a cozy dry shelter to these Mourning Doves, who stayed huddled under it for most of that rainy morning.  I began to worry that they might be injured but once it stopped raining, they flew off.

After weeks of cold wet, dreary weather, I was happy to see the sun shining in the garden this morning.  I was even more thrilled to see "Mr. Cardinal" on the wall, helping himself to the birdseed I had just put out.  Mrs. Cardinal was there too, but I didn't get a good shot of her.

As I was standing at the back door, taking photos of the sparrows and the cardinal, I realized that there was another bird with them.  At first I had assumed it was a sparrow but quickly realized it wasn't.  

As I wanted to identify it and add it to my "Life List", I took several photos.  Unfortunately, they haven't helped me identify it, either using my Birds of North America book, or the online tool at WhatBird.com

This is where you come in.  I'm hoping someone can tell me what this is. And then I can feel like an idiot for not being able to identify it myself!  :-)

With those markings he should be easy to identify, but once I had entering in "brown back", "streaked front," "yellow markings," "chestnut crown" etc.  I ended up with nothing.

These three are the best of the photos I got of him.

Any idea what he is?  Please leave a comment :-)
 


Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Project Feeder Watch

 One of the things I have enjoyed the past couple of winters is being able to participate in Project Feeder Watch, a citizen science project organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 

It's very simple to participate, there are just a few easy steps.

1) Choose your count site -- in my case, it was my own back yard, but I could also count at places like Kleb Woods where they have feeders if I wanted to, I suppose.

2) Choose your count days.  You have to select two consecutive days -- obviously, for me, the weekends are the natural count days.  The Feeder Watch program runs from November 9th through April 14 and you can count as often as every week if you wish.

3) To count the birds, you need to count the number of birds that are visible at one time.  So if you see three birds together, and then another two later on, you would log three, not five birds.  My problem was trying to count the number of house sparrows, of which there seemed to be hundreds, but I think I counted them out to 23 along the wall - by far the most prevelent bird in the garden this winter.

4) As the project is called "Project Feeder Watch", you have to make sure you only count birds that are attracted by your feeders, birdbaths, or other habitat you provide. So things like the these geese I photographed flying overhead back in November wouldn't be counted.

Nor would these Mourning doves, as they sit on the telephone wires.

But I *was* able to include this Cooper's Hawk who visited twice over the Thanksgiving weekend. 

OK so he was probably more attracted by the birds at the feeders than the actual feeders, but he was there, on the bird bath and he stayed long enough for me to walk up to within eight feet of him snapping photos, so I counted him!

I think the sparrow who had been holding his breath under the Savannah holly breathed a sigh of relief when I took a step too close and the hawk flew away. 

Find learn more about Project Feeder Watch and how to join in, visit http://feederwatch.org/

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Project Feeder Watch

This weekend, I'm once again participating in Project Feeder Watch, which is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America.

I have to admit that, as often as I sit on the patio and watch the birds at the feeders, this year I had forgotten to submit my data to Project Feeder Watch until now, just a couple of weeks before the 2012/13 season ends!

I'm happy to report that I saw two birds today that I haven't seen in a while -- a Red Bellied Woodpecker and the Carolina Chickadee.

I've been lamenting the fact that we no longer have a mature pine tree in the garden to attract "Woody" but I heard him drumming on something this morning in the predawn hours, so I knew he was around somewhere.

I was very happy when I heard his familiar call as I sat on the patio, taking a break from weeding. Just a moment or two later, he landed on the wall, chasing away a White Winged Dove in the process, and helped himself to the seed and nuts I always sprinkle along the top of the wall.

Another bird I heard before I saw was the Carolina Chickadee (actually there were two of them).

I was pulling weeds and heard a call that I actually mistook for something else. It was only when I stood up and tried to locate the sound that I realized it was a Chickadee. It sounded like one was scolding the other as they both flitted around, first in the Wax Myrtle and then in the Crepe Myrtle.

I'm very happy with these photographs I took with my new Nikon Coolpix, it seems the perfect camera for bringing the birds closer with its 42X zoom lens, I've spent quite a lot of time with it since my hubby gave it to me for Christmas.

Northern Cardinals have been regular visitors ever since we moved in. We've had several pairs around, nesting in the wooded habitat either side of us which is now replaced by houses.

I'm glad they still visit, even if they have ignored the nesting shelf we put up for them. (I realize now that the nesting shelf, attached to the fence at eye level, is probably way too low and vulnerable for them - I need to find somewhere else for it.)

I was hoping to get a photo of her splashing around in the birdbath, but she declined, preferring instead to stand on the rim and stare at me before flying back to the feeder.

The Chipping Sparrows have been with us all winter. Usually there are at least ten of them, jockeying for position to get at the seed I sprinkle along the fence. Today, I just saw this one - not a true representation of our local winter population.

I'm hoping that when I submit my Second Day data tomorrow, I'll be able to enter a decent number and bring my average up!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are.

And for the first time, this year participants from all over the world will be able to submit checklists, so my dad in England will be able to join in too.

The following is taken from the GBBC website:

 * * * * *

Everyone is welcome--from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.

Participants tally the number of individual birds of each species they see during their count period and enter these numbers on the GBBC website.

All you have to do is set up a free GBBC account to submit your checklists or use login information from an existing account if you've taken part before. Visit the How to Participate page for more details.

As the count progresses, anyone with Internet access can explore what is being reported from their own towns or, for the first time this year,  from anywhere in the world.

Participants may also send in photographs of the birds they see for the GBBC photo contest. A selection of images is posted in the online photo gallery.

Why count birds?

Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document and understand the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time.

Scientists use the GBBC information, along with observations from other citizen-science projects, such as the Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch, and eBird, to get the “big picture” about what is happening to bird populations.

The longer these data are collected, the more meaningful they become in helping scientists investigate far-reaching questions, like these:
• How will the weather influence bird populations?

• Where are winter finches and other “irruptive” species that appear in large numbers during some years but not others?

• How will the timing of birds’ migrations compare with past years?

• How are bird diseases, such as West Nile virus, affecting birds in different regions?

• What kinds of differences in bird diversity are apparent in cities versus suburban, rural, and natural areas?

 * * * * *

I know in our particular garden, our bird population has been greatly affected by the loss of habitat around us.  Thankfully, there's still a hedgerow on the other side of the road behind our house.  If that goes, I'm sure the rest of the birds will be gone too :-(

It will be interesting to see how this year's numbers stack up against the previous three years that I have participated.




Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

For Rent: Desirable Residence, All Amenities

 As I was browsing around the gardening, doing a bit of weeding this weekend, I happened to notice some grasses and other materials poking out of the side of the little bird house I put up last week.


Could someone have taken up residence already?


I wonder who it could be... 


If you remember, a pair of Carolina wrens made a nest and raised at least one youngster in a container plant on the patio last July.  

It seems a little early for them to be nesting now, if they nested in July last year. But perhaps they nest several times a year.  (I'll have to go and look up that information)


Or.... Eric and I were digging a couple of post holes on Saturday and I was amazed when a Carolina Chickadee hopped up and down a branch of the nearby Vitex tree, in which the bird house is hanging, and scolded us severely.


So perhaps the nest in the bird house is his, although I've been watching and haven't seen any coming and going since yesterday.


I hope we do get nesters - whoever they may be.  I'll keep you posted.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Project Feeder Watch

One of my favorite pastimes is watching the birds in our garden, although due to my work schedule I don't get to do it nearly enough - usually only on Saturday and Sunday, while I'm sitting in the dining nook having morning coffee.

I'd heard of Project Feeder Watch before, and thought I was too late to participate.  However, although it started back in November, the season actually runs through April 8th.  So I decided to go ahead and order the kit. 

The kit includes a calendar for you to keep track of the days on which you participate.  I had wondered how my data would be useful, given that I can only watch a couple of days a week, but the calendar allows that to be taken into account when you submit data.

You also get a poster to help you identify the birds you see in your backyard.

You can submit paper tally sheets, but I'm planning to enter my data online.

I'm looking forward to getting my kit but in the meantime, I got the camera out as I was watching the birds in the garden this morning and snapped a few photos.

The first few photos were taken from inside the dining nook, through the windows. Not great photos I'm afraid, because I was shooting through the wooden blinds, and you can see a reflection of the blinds in the photo.


As always, clicking on the photos will allow you to view a larger version.

The Chipping Sparrows have been with us most of the winter.  They are by far the most populous birds in our garden.  The American Goldfinches just showed up last week, causing me to have to make a special trip to the store to get some nyjer seed. I may have wasted my money -- they seem to like the regular patio blend birdseed just fine.

We also have several resident pairs of Northern Cardinals in the trees around our home.  This female doesn't mind sharing with the goldfinch.

No birds in this photo -- just a wider shot of the location, taken from out on the patio, so no reflections.

The red-bellied woodpecker, "Woody", stopped in for a visit. It's quite amusing watching him feed from the fence, and even funnier watching him on the back wall, where all I see is his head poking over the top, while his body is hanging off the other side.

I don't think I've ever captured a Carolina Chickadee on film before - they always grab a nut and then flit back either to the tree behind the fence, or up in to our pine tree.  I had the camera on the tripod today and just snapped.  

I also caught the back end of a new bird for me -- a Tufted Titmouse.  I saw him for the first time just yesterday. He came and went several times this morning, but this was the only photo I got.

Further along the fence, lots of Chipping Sparrows, or  LBB's--Little Brown Birds--as my dad would say, jockeying for position as usual.

A little later in the day (I wrote most of this post this morning) I happened to notice all sorts of activity on our pine tree.  We have two suet feeders out there and I'm used to seeing "Woody" and a couple of downy woodpeckers out there.  But today I was seeing different birds.

Is this a Carolina Wren?

Back at Thanksgiving, when my dad was visiting from England, he told me how the birds in his garden loved peanut butter.  So we spread some on some knot holes on our pine tree, but I never saw any bird take notice till today.

Knowing that the peanut butter was dried up and almost inedible by now, I ran out and smeared some fresh peanut butter on the tree.

In a couple of minutes, my visitor was back! 

Pine Warbler perhaps?

And finally, also at the behest of my dad, who said the birds loved the nut feeder in his garden, I put up a nut feeder shortly after Thanksgiving. It had stayed at the same level until earlier this week, when I noticed the level start to go down.

Earlier today I noticed a Tufted Titmouse on it, but didn't get a photo.  A few minutes ago I managed to snap this Northern Cardinal having an afternoon snack.

If you haven't already, it's not too late to participate in Project Feeder Watch.  Learn more about it and sign up by clicking on the button below.




Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.