Little - Big

Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are very similar in appearance.

So much so one would be forgiven for thinking Downys were just young Hairys.

They're not.

The main difference is size. Which is why it is so nice when they show up on the same tree.

They Need a Shovel

And hands to use it.

In the Snowbirds post I mentioned that the Mourning Dove went hungry.

And noted the birds seemed confused in the Messy Garden post.

You know that feeling when you go to a favorite restaurant anticipating a nice meal and find it to be closed?

Yeah it was that. Only for birds.

Snow Birds

Friday morning we woke to a winter wonder land.

And the American Robins, looking for food, descended upon the Crabapple tree.

And they found it.

Which can't be said for the Mourning Dove.

Thoughts of Warmer Times

On day this past June I spotting this red patch in the Crabapple tree out my office window.

And work went on hold.

A young Northern Cardinal. 

And as I was watching a young Great-crested Flycatcher made an appearance.

A nice interlude between work tasks. 

And something to dream of these cold dark days.    

Snow Bird

Fast forward some months ...

I wonder if it is the same Northern Cardinal. 

And I wonder if it's dreaming of warmer times?

Messy Garden

One of the benefits of gardening for wildlife is that the amount of yard work is significantly reduced. A trivial example is every square meter of garden is one less square meter to mow. 

Another maintenance job we no longer do is cut down the dead plants in the fall.

And this is one of the reasons why.

As you can see we had a bit of snow.

And the bird feeders were all snow covered. 

The birds were confused.

But there was still food available.

And this Chipping Sparrow was out my office window happily munching away at native grass seeds.

Which is another benefit of gardening for wildlife, benefiting the wildlife.

Hiding Place

As Winter approaches, and is now here, we shut down the filter system for the fish pond. Cutting off the water to the waterfall.

And this Song Sparrow promptly found a nice little hidey-hole. It spent quite a bit of time pecking at the "seaweed" on the rocks of the now still waterfall.

Polar Bird Club

Prior to the Fish Pond Waterfall being shut down for the winter, our resident Hermit Thrush decided to go for a dip.

Crazy. It's been in the 20's Fahrenheit most mornings. Yet this critter seemed to actually enjoy its splash about.

Crazy.

Pinelands CBC

Once upon a time skill with a rifle meant food on the table. And birds were food.

And as with anything humans do, that skill was turned into a contest. And that contest became a team game, seeing which team could shoot the most birds in a day.

A skill useful to survival, putting food on the table, became one of excess and needless death, most of the birds (and other critters) shot in these contests left to rot.

A stream at our fist stopping point.

Then at the start of the 20th century Frank M. Chapman proposed a different activity. Instead of killing birds let's count how many birds we can see. And thus the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was born.

And for over a hundred years folks have been going out around Christmas time and counting birds. An incredible scientific resource, a database of bird population changes over the years.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

A Golden-crowned Kinglet, one of four at this site, 

taken by Patty with her phone.

Patty and I have been adding to the database, for Area C of the Pinelands Christmas Bird Count for the seven years we've been here, including this past Sunday, when saw 35 different species (in line with previous years) and 986 individual birds (a bit on the low side, it was windy).

There is still time to get in on the fun. Here is a link to find a CBC near you. So get out and count some birds! It's fun, and it's science!

Ducks on a Stream

Some more new neighbors, a bit further down the road.

Patty has noticed them one day on her way to work. A small flock of ducks on a very small stream.

While there are farms in the area it is not obvious where these might be from. 

Welcome to the neighborhood.

Second Owner

You may recall that there have been Carolina Wrens roosting outside our backdoor (memory refresher here). And that diagonally across from the Wren Roost was a Wasp Nest (memory lane).

Well, with the cold weather the wasps have moved out.

And a Wren has taken up residence.

Crazy right? We were out visiting friends yesterday, and arrived home after dark. After carrying stuff inside (lots of potatoes from their farm share) I went back out to retrieve the mail. And upon my return noticed something different about the nest. As I approached the bird came into view. Cool.

It had been on my to do list to remove the nest. That task has been crossed off for the time being.

Deadly Beauty

A bird feather, stuck to our living room window.

A pretty little thing, I wonder what species?

And in the lower left of the image, the imprint of more bird feathers. 

I think it makes for a pleasing image.

But the cost. A bird smashed into the window with enough force to leave a feather and the imprint. Anyone who has ever walked into a glass door (I have) will have some little understanding of what it is like. But for a bird flying full speed, it can be fatal.

We've taken a number of steps to minimize such collisions. The vertical line to the right of the feather is one of several hanging cords, which serve to deter the birds. We have a few stickers on the window as well. The feeders are all ten plus feet away, giving the birds time to course correct when they detect the window. 

But many birds feed  on the ground, and when spooked they see a reflection of trees in the window, and fly at full speed into the glass. 

It has been a while since I've found a dead bird below one of our windows. Perhaps the measures we've taken are working. Or perhaps the birds fly off, only to succumb to injuries out of sight. Or maybe the hawk that spooked them picks them from the ground. 

I like to think (hope?) that the birds are ok. And at worst just a bit stunned. As a kid, whenever a cartoon character would get hit in the head, little birds would circle said head, before recovery. Perhaps the birds see little humans circling their heads, before they recover.

And That's How Plants Spread

I spotted this Hermit Thrush out my office window. And watched as it was singing.

Which I thought was kind of odd, singing this time of year.

Turns out it wasn't singing. It was puking.

I watched as it spit out red berry after red berry. 

WTF?

By the time I realized what was going and grabbed the camera it was over. I had seen it spit out six (!) berries, and it had been there 'singing' for a while before I looked through my binoculars and saw what was going on.

Alas, it was spitting on the rock path around the Fish Pond, so these will not sprout (or they'll be yanked up).

Meet The Neighbors

I woke up Sunday morning, had a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, and then decided to go for a walk. It was a bit chilly, in the thirties, but no wind. Perfect.

And I was not the only one who thought so.

I heard* them before I saw them, as I approached the road down our back driveway.

These birds:

Helmeted Guineafowl. A species native to Africa, but one that can be found on farms throughout the US, including now the horse farm next to our place.

Which is fine by me, as they are known for consuming ticks. Lots of ticks. I hope they visit our yard, plenty of yummy ticks here!

Why did the Guineafowl cross the road?

To bask in the morning sunlight of course.

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* They are known as good "watch birds" and will make quite a racket when something is amiss. Like a stranger approaching, or a fox in the yard. And they seemed both alarmed and curious about me as I headed toward them.

Yard Critter of Last Friday

A Red-tailed Hawk.

I spotted it from my desk as I was getting ready to have lunch. Of course the wrong lens was on the camera, as it was still configured for the eclipse shots earlier that morning.

I then had to find an angle that did not hide the bird behind one of the many branches. The first shot was taken from the dining room, to get a shot before it flew. The rest from the kitchen.

And I was just in time.

As flew it did.

The right place at the right time.

A year round resident in these here parts, this is the hawk most likely to be seen in our area. And often seen while driving, roosting on telephone poles. 

We often see these birds soaring overhead and occasionally, like this bird, in the trees in the yard. Although, again like this bird, they don't stay put for long. Or at least not for long after we notice them.

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You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

Daily Screech Owl Picture

Bonus two day edition!

Thursday the owl made an appearance, after not being seen for several days. 

And it was back again on Friday.

Very cool that it is still around.

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This past Thursday was the DVOC annual banquet, held virtually for the second year in a row. And during the informal portion I mentioned about the owl and how it comes and goes. And at the meeting a member, Dr. Richard (Rob) Bierregaard,  who studied such things, explained that owls often have multiple roosts and they pick the one closest to where they finish hunting for the evening. So there must be good hunting around here.

Hermit Thrush

I had been seeing this bird in this Beautyberry bush just outside our kitchen window.

Staring back at me not unlike in the shot below.

But every time I went for the camera, and was lining up the shot, a White-throated Sparrow would chase it away.

Every time but this one.

The exorcist bird ... pretty cool that it can turn its head that far.

I wanted a shot of it eating a berry. Maybe next time ...

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Hermit Thrush and American Robin are in the same family, but have very different habits. The Robin is a gregarious species, as shown in the Robins post, there were probably thirty or so birds in the yard and visiting the Dogwood. The Hermit, as the name suggests, is a solitary species. We've had as many as two in the yard at a time. But the both enjoy berries.

Sparrow Season

In the previous Sparrow Season post I noted that there were two more possible species, and that I would let you know if either showed up.

This one showed up.

A Fox Sparrow. I was under the Beautyberry bush, and I spotted it once a White-throated Sparrow finally chased the Hermit Thrush away.

I managed a couple of pictures, none all that great. And after this brief encounter I've not seen it, or any others, since. Which is unusual, as once one shows up the others are never far behind.