Blast from the Past: When Wrens Attack

April 2002

Dried leaves rustle as a Carolina Wren pursues a large brown spider across a dry creek bed. The spider, seeking an escape, darts out of the leaves. Half way across the stream channel, exposed in the open, the spider freezes momentarily. The wren is on it immediately, grabbing it in its beak and shaking it repeatedly until all of its legs have fallen off. Without legs, the spider lays helpless on the ground. The wren rises up above the arachnid and, using its dagger-like bill as a pile-driver, repeatedly attacks the spider’s head and thorax. After pulverizing the spider’s head, the wren picks up the remains, which appear larger than its own head, and quickly swallows it belly first. Immediately after consuming the spider, the bird disappears into a greenbrier tangle above the creek bed.

It isn't enough to say that wrens eat spiders. They hunt them, track them, and completely mangle them before wolfing them down. It may not be a scene from nature that we see every day--but only because maybe we aren't watching closely. After watching this spectacle, I can't help but see wrens in a completely different light. If they were as big as cats, we wouldn't let our kids anywhere near them! If they were as big as horses we'd have to hunt them all down, like we did with saber-toothed cats!

Its a very cool world out there, when wrens attack! (image:wikipedia)

Boyds n the Hood

Birds were really active on my street this morning. Where I only saw two birds and heard another a couple days ago in the wind, this morning I was able to find 20 different species--all on three blocks of row homes and small suburban lots. A Red-tailed Hawk sitting in a neighbor's tree was the highlight, I suppose. It for sure warmed my heart more than the pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds making mating motions on a powerline. Otherwise just the common local birds. By the end of my walk, I'd spotted 35 species, including the first Hairy Woodpecker I've seen in over a month.

But the coolest thing I saw today was probably the "wing-shivering" display of the Tufted Titmouse, where the female bird crouches down and flutters its wings while making an incessant series of high-pitched calls. She does this to get a mate to feed her, as part of the courtship before nesting. Yes, its springtime in titmouse land! image:wikipedia

Common Loon

In spite of being in lots of places that should have had Common Loons this year, I hadn't seen one yet in 2008 until my drive home from church on Sunday. A beautiful breeding plumaged bird floating 150 yards out on the lake at Peace Valley, it was too far away to really do much with, but great to see. I love how wide loon bodies are when they are sitting on the water. image:wikipeda

Easter Bird Legends

There are a couple Easter legends and stories involving birds. Unhappily, sparrows betrayed the location of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane by flying straight towards him, while swallows supposedly tried to lead his enemies away with irregular flights.

But here's my favorite about the crossbills, said to have tried to pry the nails from the hands of Jesus on the cross, and their red plumage derives from getting blood soaked in the process. image:wikipedia

The Legend of the Crossbill
by Julius Mosen
translated from the German by Longfellow

ON the cross the dying Saviour
Heavenward lifts his eyelids calm
Feels but scarcely feels a trembling
In his pierced and bleeding palm

And by all the world forsaken
Sees he how with zealous care
At the ruthless nail of iron
A little bird is striving there

Stained with blood and never tiring
With its beak it doth not cease
From the cross t would free the Saviour
Its Creator's Son release

And the Saviour speaks in mildness
Blest be thou of all the good
Bear as token of this moment
Marks of blood and holy rood

And that bird is called the crossbill
Covered all with blood so clear
In the groves of pine it singeth
Songs like legends strange to hear

Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy Easter, everyone!

BIGBY Fox Sparrow

A somewhat shortened morning walk today, with snow falling in huge flakes that disintegrated upon hitting the paved hike and bike path. Without a huge amount of time, I only went two miles, but checked out a side path I never take. Since it had a lot of multiflora rose bushes along the path, I hoped there might be a Fox Sparrow there, since they are moving through right now, and sure enough I was able to spot one--first flying away and then perched up for a good look.

image:wikipedia
Perhaps the most mysterious thing today were two flocks of 20+ Blue Jays all calling and hanging out together in the trees. I never did really figure out what was up with that!

Day List: 29 species (145% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 287 species
BIGBY List: 60 species

BIGBY Rusty Blackbird

The wind was still blowing this morning, but the birds were much more active, and I ended up with 30 species on my walk--including the elusive Red-breasted Nuthatch that I see occasionally in my neighborhood, and a singing male Rusty Blackbird, which is new for my year list and my 2008 BIGBY list. I'm used to seeing this bird in its winter colors, so nice to see that glaring yellow eye against the glossy black breeding coat (image:Glen Tepke).

Birding in the Wind

Only thing harder than birding in the rain is birding in the wind. By 4:30 this afternoon I realized I'd only seen Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Mallard, Turkey Vulture and American Crow. A far cry from my Bird RDA! And the wind was gusting over 25 mph. For a split moment I thought about flicking in the whole Bird RDA streak (80 days and counting!). But then I came to my senses, got on my coat, and headed out for my walk. (image:wikipedia)

A block later, I'd only managed to hear a Song Sparrow (weakly singing in a bush), and seen a Northern Mockingbird drinking rainwater from someone's gutter and a lone Mourning Dove huddled on a powerline. Slow pickins!

By the time I got to the hike and bike path, I'd picked up a Carolina Chickadee, a calling House Sparrow, a field full of American Robins, and one flyby Rock Pigeon. You know its slow when your highlight after 20 minutes is a Rock Pigeon.

It was looking very grim, but I shouldn't have worried. My little feathered paisanos always come through in the end. By the time I got home, I'd wracked up 26 species (as compared to 28 yesterday in the rain). Luckiest sighting was probably the Sharp-shinned Hawk blowing through--I only happened to see it while double-checking a distant Turkey Vulture.

Day List: 27 species (135% of Bird RDA)

Cats Kill Over 1 Billion Birds Each Year in U.S.

Hopefully my last cat and bird post for awhile!

Some folks don't seem willing to accept the magnitude of the cat predation problem. While it is a bit tricky to come up with solid numbers of birds and other animals killed, we can make estimates based on a growing number of studies of cat predation.

The trick is to come up with a calculation based on:

a) The numbers of cats roaming the landscape
b) The number of birds killed by the average cat

There is no agreement about either of these two figures, so the trick is to try and come up with a fairly defensible number.

Here's one quick look at it.

Number of cats
Really there are three important numbers here, the number of pet cats, the number of those cats that are allowed outside, and the number of feral or stray cats. The first figure is the easiest to come close to. The American Veterinary Medical Association provides numbers of pet cats (and other animals)

They calculate that in 2007 there were 81,721,000 pet cats in the U.S.

Now you have to determine how many of those cats are allowed to roam outside and potentially kill birds. According to the $1,195 American Pet Products Manufacturers Association survey 43% of cat owners allow their pets to roam outside (as quoted by the Cat Fanciers Association).

If we accept these numbers (and they are probably the least controversial of all the numbers here), that gives us:

35.1 million outdoor pet cats in the U.S.

Now we have to add the number of feral and stray cats. This number is a lot squishier. We need better numbers here for sure. I haven't seen a good study on this, but the numbers published by feral cat advocacy groups seem to range between 60-100 million cats. In the absence of good numbers, for now it is probably safe to presume that there are as many feral and stray cats as there are owned cats. So lets say 81 million again.

So that's 81.7 million + 35.1 million = 116.8 million outdoor cats

More realistic might be a range of 95.1 to 135.1 million (based on possible feral range). But for simplicity and for arguments sake, lets just stick with 116.8 million cats for now.

How many birds killed by cats?
Here's where it gets trickier, but here are some good options--

According to a study in Michigan by Lepczyk et al, outdoor pet cats across an urban to rural gradient killed an average of .683 birds each week during the breeding season.

IF you can extrapolate that across the full year, that would be an average of 35.5 birds killed by each cat/each year. IF you can use that figure for all outdoor cats, you get a calculation of 4.1 billion birds killed each year.

But maybe cats don't kill birds at the same rate all year long, or at the same rate everywhere that they do in Michigan. But, for example, if we presume that cats everywhere ONLY kill birds during a 22 week breeding season (and we know THAT isn't true!), that would still be 1.76 billion birds killed per year.

Another study in San Diego (Crooks and Soule 1999 cited here) found each cat to kill an average of 15 birds per year (and 41 other small animals). IF you multiply this number by the number of outdoor cats you get 1.75 billion birds killed per year. And that's just in the U.S. and doesn't take into account our migratory birds killed by cats in Canada or Latin America.

You can play this game all day, based on numbers from various studies. The cat advocates will try to cast doubt on these predation rates, but there are arguments to be made that real average predation rates may be higher (these are mostly studies of owned cats which may hunt less, owners may not be seeing all birds killed by their cats and consumed or left elsewhere, etc.).

So what's the number? A calculation of 1.7 billion birds based on either the San Diego study or the MI study seems reasonable. A more conservative statement might be "at least 1 billion birds a year and quite probably higher". That's what I generally say. That would still be an order of magnitude higher than many people will want to accept. But it seems to be a conservative calculation. You can read what the cat advocates think in a series of articles here

From my perspective, the cat advocate positions linked here seem to make many more unwarranted assumptions than these quick calculations based on the best available science. Cat predation of birds in the U.S. seems to be on the magnitude of a billion birds a year, rather than any lower numbers reported elsewhere.

Birdchaser post at IATB #71

I and the Bird (IATB) #71 is up at The House and other Arctic Musings. Host Clare Kines is one of my favorite online blogging buddies, and one of our Great Backyard Bird Count regional reviewers. Thanks to the Internet, has something else to do in the Winter besides search for Common Ravens in the Nunavut darkness. Spring is coming, Clare. Enjoy!

Cat People Win, Birds Lose

This week a property management company in Virginia caved into pressure from Alley Cat Allies, and will allow over 200 feral cats to remain on their property (story here). That means there will be hundreds, or more likely thousands, of birds and other small animals killed by cats in their community over the next year.

Alley Cat Allies essentially has a rigid bottom line--no euthanized stray cats. I can understand and mostly support that. But will they also accept the bottom line of bird and wildlife experts that birds and wildlife killed by free ranging cats is unacceptable?

There is a way to satisfy both the bird and cat lovers--trap, neuter, and restrain stray and feral cats in fenced sanctuaries where they pose minimal risk to birds and other wildlife. Of course that will take raising money to create cat sanctuaries. But I'm sure if the bird and cat people worked together on this, we could create a place for unadoptable stray cats in every community, and protect the birds and wildlife that are otherwise threatened by cat predation.

Whatcha say Alley Cat Allies? You ready for a real solution? A win-win solution? One that protects both cats and birds?

Naked Birding in the Rain

OK, not birding without clothes, but stripped of binoculars. Since it was raining this morning, I just put on the rain coat and went for my three mile walk without binoculars. I find this a fun and refreshing way to get my Bird RDA sometimes--making me pay attention to the bird sounds around me, rather than just getting lost in my own internal music soundtrack and monologue. Without binoculars I still managed to see or hear 28 species. Best bird was a Field Sparrow on the side of the path--a bird I've only seen on my morning walk a couple times.

Birdchaser in Mexico, by proxy

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to this conference in Mexico, but I was a co-presenter of a paper on birds and bird knowledge among the Ch'orti' Maya of Eastern Guatemala:

Los pájaros y el prognóstico en la vida diaria de los Ch'orti' Maya de Guatemala (Birds and Prognostication in the Daily Life of the Ch'orti' Maya of Guatemala). Paper presented at the XVIII Coloquio Internacional LAILA/ALILA, March 10-14, San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico. Co-presented with Kerry Hull.

Hope to get back down for more field work in Guatemala this summer!

BIGBY Wild Turkey

It had to happen eventually. Today a co-worker called me over to watch a Wild Turkey feeding just outside the window under one of our feeders. There are at least a dozen of these birds running around the 160 acres here, but I hadn't run into them yet since starting the 2008 BIBGY. I'll take a 10 minute break for a Wild Turkey any day!

Save birds, play with your cat!

We all know that house cats allowed to roam outside kill hundreds of millions, and perhaps even billions, of birds in North America each year. The solution to this is to keep your cats inside. But what do you do with an energetic cat that is used to running around in the woods chasing birds?

Cat aficionado Elissa Wolfson has written the perfect book to help your cat make the transition to healthy indoor living. In 101 Cool Games for Cool Cats, she specifically addresses the issue of keeping cats indoors for their health, and the survival of local wildlife. She discusses outdoor cat enclosures, and a host of ways to help your cat make the transition to indoor living. But this book isn't preachy. It's about how to have fun with your cat, indoors!

Most of the book consists of the promised 101 cool games to play with your cat--each one with a very fun drawing by Stephanie Piro. Some of the games even sounded like fun for me to use with my kids! It was great to see how much joy and fun could be crammed into each of the 143 short pages.

So if you own a cat, or have friends who own a cat, this book is a quick must read. Since it is originally published in the UK, you can get a copy directly from the author (see website here). Save birds. Have fun. Play with your cat!

Here's a little teaser to get you started!

Most Fearsome Creature in the West

Check out the Washington Times story here. No matter what you think about the Endangered Species Act, the Greater Prairie Chicken is in trouble, due to over 100 years of abuse to its sagebrush habitat across the West. Its no time for handing out blame, its time for our sharpest minds to figure out a way to protect this bird, and the ability of rural folks to make a living off that land. As for corporations seeking to make somebody rich by destroying grouse habitat, well, its not like they have a constitutional right to destroy the world, right?

Sometimes I wonder if folks are really afraid of this bird because it threatens their livelihood, or if they're really just made uncomfortable by a male bird with inflatable boobs!

Hitting the Minimum

Most of the last month I've been just barely hitting my minimum recommended daily allowance of birds. For instance, today it when I picked up my kids from school I realized I'd been on the computer almost all day and hadn't seen more than just a couple birds. So at 5:30 I headed out for a quick walk down along the Perkiomen Creek hike and bike near my house.

Late in the day, the birds aren't calling nearly as much as in the morning, so it was slow going at first--just European Starlings, House Sparrows, a House Finch, and a couple Mourning Doves by the time I hit the end of my street.

Near the head of the hike and bike trail I finally picked up a Blue Jay, a couple American Robins, a Carolina Chickadee, Song Sparrow, and Tufted Titmouse. Several pairs of Mallard were feeding in the flooded field near the trail, an American Goldfinch and a couple White-breasted Nuthatches flew overhead, and Northern Cardinals chipped in the woods.

Off in the woods, a Red-bellied Woodpecker called, then another. A Downy Woodpecker call gave me another woodpecker for the day, and an American Crow off in the distance padded the list. One female Eastern Bluebird and a Northern Mockingbird brought me within a few birds of my needed goal. A Carolina Wren finally sang briefly off in the distance, and a pair of Yellow-rumped Warblers calling just off the trail brought my walk to a reasonable 20. What with a few other birds seen earlier in the day driving my kids to school, I ended up with 24 species, 120% of my Bird RDA.

Nothing overly unusual, but more than I'd have seen today if I'd just stayed inside on the computer all day.

Timberdoodles with kids

Last night I took my kids out to look for the woodcocks that are displaying at Peace Valley near our house. In the gathering darkness, me and my kids stood shivering in the cold, listening as the Canada Geese settled down on the lake, and American Robins called from the woods. Eventually, we started hearing the loud "bzeent" calls of the American Woodcocks in the tangles around the edge of the field. Then the whistle of wings. There were at least six birds calling, but they didn't do any close flights my kids could see. I saw three birds off in the distance, but it wasn't the best showing.

Interestingly, though we did this last year, it seemed like my kids didn't remember it. Too many video games, not enough birding!

Local jinx no more

Everybody and their dog has been seeing Red-shouldered Hawks up at Lake Nockamixon by my house, but I've missed them every time I've been up there (about once a week for the last month). Finally, today, on a short hop up there to check out the lake, I finally saw an adult hawk in a tree on the side of the road. I whipped the car over and took a look--sure 'nuff, Red-shouldered Hawk. It flew off a few dozen yards and landed in another tree. Nice to finally get this bird on my county list.

No other real surprises on the lake. A drake Red-breasted Merganser was nice and unexpected. Then a drake and two female Hooded Mergansers on a small pond in Blooming Glen on the way home made it another three merganser day.

Day List: 37 species (185% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 284 species

Birdchaser in the Washington Post

Check out the story here.

Early Spring at Peace Valley

After several days of just barely getting my Bird RDA from home and around town, I headed over for an hour to Peace Valley to catch some early spring birding. Common Grackles have been moving through the area for a couple weeks, an early sign of spring. Fox Sparrows have been seen at the bird blind at the Peace Valley Nature Center for a couple weeks, but I'd missed them on a couple visits. Today there were four of them hopping around. Nice to see their rusty bodies and gray faces shuffling along under the feeders and bushes. (photo:wikipedia)

At the bridge on Chapman Road past the nature center, there were three Horned Grebes hunting in the lake. One bird was already molting into breeding plumage, and I watched it kill a small frog and eventually swallow it whole. The other two birds were in their black and white winter plumage, and spent most of the time underwater.

Not a lot of other surprises, but its a good day when you see a Bald Eagle, so it was fun to see one try to grab a fish out of the water and then fly off empty-taloned. I ended up with 36 species at the lake and nature center. Not bad for a quick morning trip.

On the porch

Pressed for time this morning, I did a point count while working on some writing on my back porch. European Starlings and House Sparrows are the most conspicuous birds in my tiny urban backyard. But a Northern Cardinal and Song Sparrow were singing back in the alleyway, and an American Robin hopped onto the ground near my compost bin.

Within a few minutes, I could hear a distant flock of Canada Goose, and a calling Mourning Dove down the block. Then a Tufted Titmouse started singing. An American Crow flew over, then another. A flock of House Finches landed in a neighbor's tree, and I heard a few chips of a Dark-eyed Junco at the base of a large tree in the alleyway.

A pair of Carolina Chickadees worked its way down the block, checking out the entry to the cross-pipe of my neighbor's clothes line pole. Scanning the horizon, a distant Great Blue Heron was flying downstream along Perkiomen Creek, and a pair of Mallards flew past. A White-breasted Nuthatch started calling from the trees down the block, and far off towards the creek, I could just make out the song of a Carolina Wren.

Scanning the skies, a Cooper's Hawk was circling over the creek. Then another bird, larger chested, with quick and heavier wingbeats, bull-neck, and more pointed wings caught my attention as it powered through--a Peregrine Falcon, the first I've seen from my house, and a new BIGBY bird for the year. Three Ring-billed Gulls also flew over.

Finally, as I needed to get back inside, a Blue Jay started calling back by the creek. That made 20 species in just under half an hour of sitting on my porch. Not a bad way to get your Bird RDA, and to start the day.

Birdchaser in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Quoted in GBBC story here.

New BIGBY birds

In addition to the FOS Eastern Phoebe on my walk this morning, I picked up another two new birds for my 2008 BIGBY List: Ring-necked Pheasant and Killdeer.

Ring-necked Pheasants are native to Asia, and have been released by hunters and fish and game departments all across the country for over 100 years. Its not clear that there are any really established populations of these birds in my county, so perhaps this was just a released bird that survived the annual hunt this year. As I was walking along the hike and bike path, a male pheasant strutted across the trail about 100 yards ahead of me, and disappeared into the trees along Perkiomen Creek. (photo:wikipedia)

Killdeer are rather uncommon nesting birds in this part of the world. They were much more common where I lived in Austin. Here I mostly hear them at the local high school, where there are large athletic fields for them to feed in. Today I heard one flying over the field across the creek from the hike and bike path, perhaps a half mile or so from the school where I heard my FOS Killdeer a couple weeks ago.

Day List: 36 species (180% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 284 species
BIGBY List: 56 species

First of Season (FOS) Birds

One of the joys of birding is to keep track of the changes in birdlife through the seasons. The first bird of each returning migratory bird species that a birder sees is considered a First of Season (FOS) sighting. FOS sightings can be of northbound migrants or arriving breeding species in spring, southbound migrants in fall, or arriving wintering birds in late fall.

Today on my four mile walk, a heard a FOS Eastern Phoebe near one of the bridges over the Perkiomen Creek near my house. I've written before about how these birds are probably direct descendants of the phoebes that John James Audubon watched closely at his farm 20 miles downstream on this same creek. They leave for the winter, but its nice to see them back.

Why birds are being killed by cats

For over 100 years, birdlovers have complained about cats killing wild birds. But now there seem to be more cats roaming around out there than ever before. Here's one reason why. Take a look at the income and expenditures of Alley Cat Allies, the leading feral cat advocacy group (from their 2007 annual report)--



$4.2 million spent last year to promote the caring for free-ranging cats. Nobody who cares about birds is spending close to that amount of money to protect birds from cats.

I'm not a fan of killing cats. I'm all for TNR (trap-neuter-release) of feral cats--as long as the cats are released into a controlled situation where they can do only minimal damage to birds and other wildlife. Alley Cat Allies, and other feral cat advocates, need to realize that they've only gone 80% of the way to fixing the feral cat problem. Unless they find a place to put the feral cats where they can't roam willy nilly over the landscape, TNR is a flawed and incomplete solution.

Mom and Dad's House

Playing around on Microsoft Virtual Earth, I was able to get nice images of my parent's home in Oregon. Amazing how much the neighbor's trees have grown up since I lived there as a kid. No wonder my folks got a Pileated Woodpecker visiting their yard last year. You wouldn't have seen that in my yard when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s.

Back on 21 December 1999, while visiting my folks, I had a Eurasian Collared-Dove fly over the road and my neighbors house (on the left). The Oregon Bird Records Committee eventually accepted my sighting as the first accepted record of that bird in Oregon.

Birds and Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan has a radio show on XM that presents songs based on a certain theme. Last night's show had the theme "Birds." If you don't have accesss to XM radio, the shows are unofficially archived at Dylan's Blindwilly.

Last night's show is a 98M download, but check it out if you are a Dylan fan, or just in it for the birds.
(image:Wikipedia)

Internet Bird Collection

I have to admit, it had been awhile since I'd been over to the Internet Bird Collection. Taking a look at it now, its quite impressive! If you haven't visited there lately, take another look. There are now videos up for over half of all the bird species in the world. You can easily find videos of most birds you might be interested in. What a great online resource!

Cape May: Waking from Catatonic Shock?

Apparently, under duress, the Cape May city council is starting to make at least small moves towards keeping feral cats off the beach where they can threaten rare bird species. But what about all the other birds? Read news story here.

Movie Bird Lore

What most American's probably know about bird migration. And coconuts.

Bringing Nature Home on NPR

This morning NPR Radio Times talk show host Marty Moss-Coane interviewed Doug Tallamy about planting native plants in our gardens to provide food for wildlife. Professor Tallamy is the Chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. He is also the author of Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens. You can listen to this great interview, with lots of insights into the relationships between plants, insects, and birds, via Real Audio at the Radio Times archive site.

Birds on the farm in New Mexico

Saturday afternoon I did an hour and a half workshop on birds for the New Mexico Organic Farming Conference. Started out with a review of birding--how to identify birds, and how to keep track of your sightings using eBird. Then we talked about the birds of conservation concern in New Mexico, and finally how to help specific birds on the farm--focusing on Barn Owl, Burrowing Owl, Western Screech-Owl, American Kestrel, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Western Bluebird, and Bullock's Oriole. Most of these are Audubon Birds to Help--birds that while perhaps not of the highest conservation concern, are species that are easily helped by providing food, shelter, and habitat plantings. For most people, its going to be easier to get them interested in helping birds by encouraging them to try and help these species, rather than more rare or difficult to help species. Lots of good feedback from the workshop, its always a lot of fun to talk birds and swap bird stories!

Rio Grande Nature Center, Albuquerque

Saturday I slipped out of the New Mexico Organic Farmers Conference for an hour before giving my talk in the afternoon. With only an hour to get my Bird RDA, I headed over to the Rio Grande Nature Center. A couple of small ponds and bird feeders in the riverside forest are the main draw here, and I quickly got over 30 species there. Highlights were four species of geese--Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, White-fronted Goose, and Snow Goose. But the show-stopper for me had to be the flocks of Sandhill Cranes flying overhead. I love these birds. When I lived in Austin, huge flocks would migrate north right over town. But living in Pennsylvania, they are a rare sight for me now. There are strings in my soul that only resonate now when stirred by the calls of cranes circling overhead. Hearing them in Albuquerque for the first time in a couple years, I was rejuvenated.

Day List: 39 species (195% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 284 species

Rosy Finches

Saturday I had to give a talk to the New Mexico Organic Farmers Conference, so Friday I flew out to Albuquerque, got my rental car, and headed up to Sandia Crest, the best place in North America to see all three species of Rosy Finch. Sandia Crest is at the top of the Sandia Mountains adjacent to Albuquerque. From the top of the mountain, you are only a couple miles away from the streets and buildings of town, but you are 7,000 feet higher. It takes an hour to drive up to the top of the mountain, and you climb from pinyon juniper flats through ponderosa pine, douglas-fir, and spruce forests before reaching the lodge at Sandia Crest at over 10,000 feet elevation.

I was starved when I got there, so I ordered chicken quesadillas, and started my vigil at the bird feeder on the lodge deck. No rosy finches. Mountain Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and "Gray-headed" Dark-eyed Juncos made up most of the feeder visitors. My lunch arrived and I ate it while watching the feeder through the window.

After lunch, I went back out on the deck just in time to see a flock of 150+ rosy finches flying around, circling the lodge. They never settled down. I could see some were a bit larger looking and darker--Black Rosy-Finches. The others were swirling around too much to tell. Then they dove down the mountainside and were gone.

Fortunately, ten minutes later a few came in to the feeder. Then almost out of nowhere, there were dozens of them milling around the feeder and on the ground underneath. Perfect looks at all three species--Black Rosy-Finch, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch. The brown-capped, which only lives at high elevations in NM and CO was a lifer for me, but all three were great to see. There were two types of gray-crowneds, the interior ones with the small bit of gray behind the eye and back around the head, as well as a few of the Hepburn's subspecies, with the mostly gray heads. For several minutes the birds graced us with their calls and frenzied feeding. Then, quite abruptly, they were gone.

Driving back down the mountain I saw a few other goodies, including a pair of Williamson's Sapsuckers. But it was the magic of the swirling rosy finch flock flying over, 7,000 feet over, the streets of Albuquerque that will stay in my mind for a good long time.

Canvasbacks on the lake

On my way into work today I found two drake Canvasbacks at Peace Valley floating among several thousand Canada Geese. These birds are regular, but uncommon, migrants here in SE Pennsylvania, so good to see them here.

Yesterday I ended up with 32 species for the day (160% of Bird RDA), including 7 Northern Flickers on my morning walk. This is way higher than the 1 or 2 that I might see on a good walk, so perhaps these birds are already moving north.

Birds on the Farm

Monday I spent the day in meetings at the Agricultural Wildlife Conservation Center of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Madison, Mississippi. This office works with partners to develop resources to help farmers and others maintain wildlife on their property. NRCS is the principal federal agency working with private landowners to protect wildlife, and I've enjoyed working with them the last few years at Audubon. If you have a farm, the AWCC is there to help you create and protect wildlife habitat on your land.

The AWCC office used to be relatively isolated, but it is surrounded now by retail development. There are still Eastern Towhees and Brown Thrashers nesting in the bushes between the parking lot and the building, and over 45 Eastern Bluebirds have fledged from the box on the tree near the parking lot.

Driving around before the meeting, and on the way to the airport, I easily saw 24 species (120% of Bird RDA). Most notable to me, were the sheer numbers of Eastern Towhees calling all over town. In many cities, these birds are driven out by a lack of shrubby woodlands, but Jackson is almost all shrubby woodland--even the residential neighborhoods--so these birds are plentiful.

Going to Jackson

I'm humming Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's duet Jackson, since that's where I flew to this morning. Jackson, Mississippi is a well wooded town, and I easily found 20 species driving around for a little bit, including an Anhinga on Lake Hico.

After grabbing a bite to eat at Wendy's, I drove north on the Natchez Trace Parkway. I was amazed to see a large flock of over 55 Canvasback. But the real highlight were several large flocks of Horned Grebes--diving in unison near the edge of Ross Barnett Reservoir. All in all I saw over 300 of these sharp-looking black and white divers.

I found three more new year birds at the Pearl River Wildlife Management area along the Pipeline Rd: Red-headed Woodpecker, Pine Warbler, and Brown-headed Nuthatch. Nice to see lots of ducks, including several pairs ofHooded Mergansers. I was a bit surprised to not see any Osprey or Bald Eagles on the reservoir, but a 45 Greater White-fronted Geese feeding on a dike at the management area were nice.

Day List: 64 species (320% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 274 species
BIGBY List: 53 species

Neither snow, nor sleet

Neither snow, nor sleet, nor rain will keep me from getting my Bird RDA. Friday, I woke up to snow and if I wasn't trying to get my Bird RDA, I would have bagged it and stayed inside. After taking the kids sledding, I took a short walk down by the creek. It was too slippery to really go for my usual full walk. Finally, a Carolina Chickadee called, getting me to my Bird RDA, and a Downy Woodpecker called, putting me over the top. Calling it good, I scurried home.

Saturday was clearer, but sleet continued. I took my normal walk and had a great morning, getting three new birds for my BIGBY List. First 6 Common Mergansers flew over, then I found five more in the creek. Later, I saw five gulls flying, with heavier wingbeats than the Ring-billed Gulls in the area. When they got closer I could tell they were all adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Finally, I heard a Brown Creeper in the woods.

Saturday Day List: 35 species (175% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 270 species
BIGBY List: 53 species

Iceland Gulls

After work today, I drove up to Lake Nockamixon to look for the Red-shouldered Hawks that others are seeing in the area. No dice, but I did see three different Iceland Gulls--including a very nice adult bird. Usually I just see the young birds here.

Lots of birds at the feeders at work. All in all, not a bad day for birds.

Daily List: 35 species (175% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 270 species

eBird Rare Bird Map

Jack Siler, web pioneer and owner of one of the most important birding sites in North America, has hit another one out of the park with his new eBird Rare Bird Map, showing the locations of rare birds across North America reported to eBird. Check it out. And set it as a tab on your browser homepage if you want to know about the best birds being seen in the US and Canada.

Weekly Birding Update

Its been a long week with the Partners in Flight Conference, Great Backyard Bird Count, flying to Texas and back. Hardly any time to go birding, right? Not if you know me! Here's the quick and dirty:

Wednesday, Feb 13
Flew in to Austin, and drove around the ponds at Hornsby Bend real quick before heading down to the Rio Grande Valley. New year birds:
Purple Martin--three at the colony I helped establish at the CER building, freshly arrived from winter in South America, apparently I'm the first to see these guys back at Hornsby this year.
Loggerhead Shrike--stopped to scope out the fenceline as you enter the pond area, a traditional spot for these guys. Sure enough, there was one of these masked butcherbirds hanging out there.
Blue-winged Teal--not sure why I missed this one in Arizona last month, but there were fifteen of these early spring migrants on the ponds, right on time.
Day List: 30 species (150% Bird RDA)
2008 List: 225 species

Thursday, February 14
Valentines day. And since I couldn't be back in PA with my own sweeties, I had to take the second best thing I love--birds! Before the Partners in Flight conference, we spent the morning at Santa Ana NWR. Good to see a bunch of my old South Texas friends--Plain Chachalaca, Green Jay, Long-billed Thrasher. On the way back to the conference, a stop at the Frontera Audubon sanctuary got us Clay-colored Robin. Nice.
Day List: 51 species (255% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 241 species

Friday, February 15
Before the PIF meetings in the morning, we hit Bentsen/Rio Grande SP World Birding Center and the Valley Nature Center. Finally got Altamira Oriole for the trip at Bentsen, and heard the Tropical Parula. Otherwise slow. Best bird of the day was probably the Tropical Kingbird at the Llano Grande mobile home community.
Day List: 34 species (170% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 247 species

Saturday, February 16
Morning to Laguna Atascosa. Very windy, but picked up some shorebirds for the year, including Willet and Black-bellied Plover. Watched several Reddish Egrets hunting in the shallows. Very windy, so not much else. After the PIF conference we caught up with the Red-crowned Parrots in Weslaco.
Day List: 72 species (360% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 265 species

Sunday, February 17
Long drive back to Austin. Stopped at my old church and saw some friends in the afternoon, and heard Monk Parakeets from the church parking lot on Oltorf Rd. Best birds were four species of geese 13 miles south of Alice: Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Cackling Goose.
Day List: 52 species (260% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 267 species

Monday, February 18
Long day of mostly just working on the Great Backyard Bird Count from my hotel. But I had to slip out in the afternoon to get my Bird RDA. Only had time for a quick look at the Walnut Creek Sewage Treatment Plant pond on MLK Boulevard--which got me a Wood Duck for the year. A short walk at Hornsby Bend led me to a Lincoln's Sparrow but not much else, and the pond at the northeast corner of Congress and Woodward on the St. Edwards campus got me a Sora and Marsh Wren. Not bad for a quick hour and a half.
Day List: 33 species (165% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 270 species

Tuesday, February 19
Another day of working the GBBC. Even though the count period is over, there's lots to do to get it all wrapped up. I also had to fly home. So, not a lot of time to get my Bird RDA. Fortunately, I know my old stomping grounds pretty well, and I was able to get a few species at the Austin Memorial Garden near where I used to live when I first moved to Austin, and a quick stop at Walnut Creek on my way to the airport put me over the top, with no time to spare.
Day List: 22 species (110% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 270 species

Wednesday, February 20
Back in PA, after a long night arriving home at 1:30am. Not much at Peace Valley on my way into work, a lone Common Goldeneye the best bird there. The feeders at work were reliable, as usual, getting me over the top with good looks at both Carolina Chickadee and Black-capped Chickadee.
Day List: 23 species (115% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 270 species

Do you like kitty poop?

In your sandbox? How about at your beach, the biggest sandbox of them all? Apparently, Cape May, NJ still wants you to come visit their beaches even if they let feral cats roam there.

Federal and state officials want the city to remove feral cats from the beaches, as they can threaten endangered Piping Plovers. City council is balking. To me the answer is easy, and doesn't have to have anything to do with birds.

Just ask yourself this question:
How would you like to find kitty poop in the sand next time you go to the beach?

Cape May, all I can say is EW YUCK!

GBBC in Weslaco

It was fun in Texas to run into a group of birders doing a count for the Great Backyard Bird Count. I've posted about it over at the GBBC blog. Here we are franticly counting birds at the Valley Nature Center!

Birdchaser at PIF--confirmed record

To quell the rumors about whether I really did attend the Partners in Flight conference (rather than merely bird the whole time), Nuthatch got photographic evidence of my conference attendance. Valley birding--Good. Conference talks--less memorable. Hanging out with cool bird people--priceless.

Of course, there is plenty of photographic evidence for my being away from the conference center as well, including a shot with a college friend at dinner (here) and hanging out with a local birding club (here). We call this networking.

Green Parakeets in McAllen

McAllen is one of the best places in The Valley to see Green Parakeets. You don't want to spend a long time hoping to stumble upon them in residential neighborhoods, so the best way to see them is to hit their traditional evening roosts at 10th and Violet Streets. The birds gather on the wires and parking lot trees here outside the Hastings book store, and put on quite a show as they fly around squawking before bedtime. There were easily over 150 birds there the evening we visited right at sundown.

Birding the Rio Grande Valley

The Rio Grande Valley (The Valley) is one of North America's best birding areas, since it is in the northernmost part of the range for many Mexican birds, including Green Jay, Plain Chachalaca, Altamira Oriole, Olive Sparrow, and over a dozen other species. While in McAllen for the Partners in Flight conference, I was able to check out many traditional birding spots before and after the conference each day. For a more detailed list of places to go birding in The Valley, check out the Lower Texas Coast map of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail.

Santa Ana NWR: Always one of my favorites. I walked around Pintail Lakes and part of Willow Pond. The feeders at the visitors center were quiet when I was there, others saw an Orchard Oriole that is spending the winter there. I missed Hook-billed Kites that others saw at various places around the refuge, and a Zone-tailed Hawk that was seen by folks on the daily bird walk. There are always more birds here than you can see on a single visit, and more trails to walk than you can get to in a day. But Santa Ana is always worth a half day or at least a few hours.

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley SP/World Birding Center: This used to be the first place most folks would hit when birding The Valley--campers used to have feeders out, lots of people were on hand with the latest info on where the birds were, and you could drive around at your leisure. Now all that has changed. There are still feeders, but they are widely scattered, you have to walk or ride a tram, and there just aren't as many people there to really find the good birds and keep an eye on them. Most birders who know the old park are disappointed when they visit here, but there are still many birds to be found. Just be prepared to walk, and find your own birds, rather than have them pointed out to you. We did hear the Tropical Parula that has been hanging out on one of the trails, and this was the only place I visited where we found Altamira Oriole, but I let there with a pretty small species count for having spent a couple hours walking around.

Frontera Audubon Center: A nice 15 or so acres of forest, with trails and feeding stations. A great place to quickly see many of The Valley specialties. There was a Clay-colored Robin there when we visited.

Valley Nature Center: In Weslaco, this is another patch of forest habitat, with birds similar to those at Frontera Audubon Center. We saw another Clay-colored Robin there. A little more habitat than Frontera, but similar in many ways.

Laguna Atascosa NWR: This is over an hour east of where we were staying, so we only made it over there one morning. Lots of shorebirds and waterfowl, as well as open scrub and grasslands. We missed the Aplomado Falcons that have been released there, as it was as windy as all get out the morning we were there. Just to let you know how windy it was, we saw a Merlin perched in a bush only 3 feet off the ground. These birds normally perch pretty high! When it took off, it never flew more than 8 feet off the ground!

Anzalduas County Park: South of Mission, this park has scattered trees and access to the river. Mostly it seems like you go here to look for Sprague's Pipit in the open field as you enter the park, and warblers or other goodies moving through the trees. But its just a park. It was still closed the morning we tried to go there, the gate didn't open until 7:43 that morning, at which point we were already in Santa Ana NWR. Least Grebes were easy to see in the pond on the left as you enter the park, especially from the road above before you drop down into the park.

We hit a couple other places, but these are the most popular spots. The birding trail map has other places listed, and it would have been fun to explore some of the others. 10 years ago, birders usually hit Bentsen and Santa Ana, some urban parrot roosts, maybe Sabal Palm and Laguna Atascosa closer to the Gulf, and then headed up to Salineno (for Brown Jays and Audubon's Orioles) and perhaps San Ygnacio (for seedeaters). Now there are many more options available. If you are coming for the first time, give yourself at least five days to really explore. You will still miss a few species you are looking for, and have to come back, but that should give you several shots at some of the trickier birds to find.

Yellow-headed Parrot in Weslaco

Each evening, dozens of Red-crowned Parrots flock to roosts in Rio Grande Valley cities from McAllen to Brownsville. On Saturday night, we checked out the roost in Weslaco. After talking with some local folks in the neighborhood about the birds, the flock finally showed up about 6:15. A couple van loads of birders arrived and started racing around then neighborhood to get better looks. At one point, 15 birders were running down the street to try and get closer to the birds.

The birds flew, and we were able to drive right up underneath the flock of maybe 60 birds in a couple trees. Among the birds was one that was slightly larger, with yellow from the top of the head to the throat--a juvenile Yellow-headed Parrot.

Yellow-headed Parrots are not on the official North American bird list. A few were seen with valley flocks in the 1980s, and some argued they were wild birds from Mexico. Others thought it more likely that they were escaped cage birds. Several species of escaped parrots show up with flocks of parrots in the Valley--including West Mexican species that wouldn't likely occur here on their own. So its hard to know if the bird we saw was more likely to be a young bird dispersing from southern Tamaulipas, or a young bird captured or bred in the pet trade and escaped.

Partners in Flight Report

We'll, today was the last day of the Fourth International Partners in Flight Conference in McAllen, Texas. With eight concurrent sessions going on all day for 2 1/2 days, good South Texas birding spots to hit, GBBC activities to run, and colleagues to catch up with, there was just way too much to see, do, and hear. I met some great folks--including some I've emailed for years. I also saw some birds I haven't seen for a couple years (think Green Jay, Plain Chachalaca, Clay-colored Robin). I also got to meet some great folks doing the Great Backyard Bird Count as a local birding club activity. More updates and reports later--I'm exhausted!

Blogging Partners in Flight

If I can get out of Philly early tomorrow morning (there's a storm raging), I'll be off to the Fourth International Partners in Flight Meeting in McAllen, Texas. I missed the last PIF meetings (2002), but had a great time at the 1995 PIF meeting at Cape May. If you're in Texas for the meetings, drop me a note. Maybe we can get some Green Jays and Chachalacas together. Or you could stop by my paper presentation on urban bird conservation on Friday afternoon.

Here's my paper abstract:

Urban Bird Conservation: Linking Yards and Neighborhoods to Regional Bird Conservation Initiatives.

The majority of North Americans (76% in Mexico, 81% in Canada and USA) live in urban areas. In the United States, urban areas cover over 3% of the contiguous 48 states, and an additional 25% (1.39 million km2) of the land is developed at exurban residential densities greater than one house per 40 acres. These areas include important habitat for at least 100 of the 178 species listed on the 2007 WatchList, and 110 of the 121 species recently identified by Audubon as Common Birds in Decline. This creates the duel challenges of a) engaging urbanites in bird conservation and b) protecting vulnerable bird habitats and populations in urban, suburban, and exurban settings. Audubon programs address these challenges by committing landowners to bird-friendly gardening and landscaping practices, and by teaching landowners how to manage their individual properties and local neighborhoods for birds of regional conservation concern. A survey of Audubon state programs and 490 local Audubon chapters identifies challenges and opportunities for engaging urban audiences in bird conservation and linking management of yards and neighborhoods to national, state, and regional bird conservation initiatives.

Three Mergansers

Some people get excited about the Three Tenors. Me, I'm a Three Mergansers kinda guy. Today at Peace Valley on my way into the office, I finally found a female Red-breasted Merganser in with the 3,200 Common Mergansers that have been building in numbers there all week. And as I was scoping out the Canada Goose flock on the far side of the lake, a pair of Hooded Mergansers flew by. All three North American merganser species at one spot. Nice!

Very cold today with a storm moving in after lunch. Birds were very active at the feeders at work, but nothing that hasn't been around for the last couple weeks. There are some really nice Black-capped Chickadees in with the resident Carolina Chickadees. I'll have to get some pictures.

Daily List: 35 species (175% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 222 species
BIGBY List: 50 species

New Fun Bird Game

To help us promote the Great Backyard Bird Count, Audubon has created a fun new online bird game--Eagle Eyes. Test how observant you are, and see how your observational skills stack up against those of your friends!

For the sake of full disclosure, on my first time through the game (with 30 seconds per photo) I got 20/25 to score as a FLEDGLING!

Can you do better than that?

Click here to find out!

The Bird Man of Brooklyn

Everybody loves Monk Parakeets--those green and gray South American jewels that have colonized cities across North America. But some people love them more than others. Check out this Brooklyn Daily Eagle story about Steve Baldwin, the Bird Man of Brooklyn.

Stuck in February

The reason we do the Great Backyard Bird Count in February is that most birds stay pretty much put this late in the winter. That makes it a stable time to do a winter bird count, but also means that with very little migration going on, things can be kind of slow.

I haven't seen anything really unusual the last few days. Highlight may have been a Fish Crow on my morning walk on Saturday, bringing my 2008 BIGBY list up to 50 species. Other fun birds that have been around include the lingering female Eastern Towhee under my feeders at work, and Hooded Mergansers at Peace Valley. Like I said, nothing too unusual!

At least I've been getting my minimum recommended daily allowance of birds every day.

Feb 11 Day List: 31 species (155% of Bird RDA)
Feb 12 Day List: 22 species (110% of Bird RDA)
Feb 10 Day List: 29 species (145% of Bird RDA)
Feb 9 Day List: 24 species (120% of Bird RDA)

2008 Year List: 221 species
2008 BIGBY List: 50 species

MEGA: White-crested Elaenia, TX

(photo:Martin Reid)
A White-crested Elaenia, a South American flycatcher, and a first North American record, was found this weekend on South Padre Island, in TX. Details here. Hope it sticks around until I can get down there later this week for the Partners in Flight meetings!

Intro to the Great Backyard Bird Count

Here's a great little slideshow from my friend Pat Leonard at Cornell.



And then there's the GBBC videos I helped with last year.

Win a Book

Thanks to my blogging buddies over at 10,000 Birds, you can win a free book by helping to promote the Great Backyard Bird Count. Check out how to win this new book by my friend and Backyard Bird Guru, Audubon VP Steve Kress, by visiting the contest post at 10,000 Birds (here).

Belated Score

(photo:Robert Royse)
On January 10 I had a slow day up Madera Canyon in Arizona looking or Crescent-chested Warbler--which would have been a new ABA bird for me. But I was denied! However, while I was up spending a quiet morning in the canyon, I did see a nice "Red-backed" Dark-eyed Junco. I just found out this morning that this is a very rare bird in the area. According to Rich Hoyer, "there are about 6 records of Crescent-chested Warbler in the past 10 years, compared to about 4 or 5 for Red-backed Junco." So, at one level, its even more rare than the bird I missed. A nice consolation prize. And BTW, this is one of the sharper of the various types of Dark-eyed Junco. Just look at this beauty. I think it should be considered its own separate species, don't you!?!

Bird-friendly Architecture

Check out the latest on birds and glass windows, from the Architectural Record. Here's the bird-strike resistant glass from Isolar in Germany. Here's an article about the development of this glass. Unfortunately, the planned product release for the US is apparently on hold for now.

Birdchaser on the Radio

Yesterday I did a 20 minute spot about Great Backyard Birdcount on Bridget Butler's BEEKS radio show out of Vermont. Check out the podcast here.

Birding the Year of the Rat

Happy Chinese New Year--its now Wu Zi, the Year of the Rat. I'm not a big rat fan--they kill lots of birds on islands and places where they have been accidentally introduced. In fact, here's a recent story of efforts to eliminate rats from Rat Island in Alaska to help protect seabirds. Fear of rats is also a reason some folks give for not feeding birds in their yard, though the problem is usually easy to remedy.

But don't forget that rats and other rodents are a primary food source for lots of raptors. Some folks even keep old hay bales in their fields just to attract rodents for their local hawks to eat. Maybe we can invent a rodent hopper feeder for hawks and owls?

Fasnacht Birding

Fueled by an excess of fasnachts (or perhaps to keep myself from having another!), I took a walk down to the creek at work and was able to pick up a couple new species for my 2008 BIGBY List--American Black Duck and Hooded Merganser. The merganser pair were the first ones I've seen on the property at work, so a nice sighting on my afternoon break.

Daily List: 42 species (210% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 221 species
BIGBY List: 49 species

Birding by Ear

On my morning walk in heavy fog this morning I found 24 bird species (easily reaching my Bird RDA). But how many did I actually see?

Seen--17
Seen only after hearing first--13
Heard only--7

That means I only saw four species (Mallard, Rock Pigeon, European Starling, and Song Sparrow) that I saw before hearing. Just goes to show how important it is to know bird calls and songs to a) find birds that are out of visual range and/or b) locate birds to watch.

Here's the seven species that I only heard this morning:
Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, and House Sparrow

Being able to identify these birds by sound was the difference between reaching my Bird RDA before breakfast, or having to leave for work with unfinished bird business!

Blogging the GBBC

For the past three years, I've blogged here with Great Backyard Bird Count news from behind the scenes. This year, most of my GBBC blogging will take place at the brand, spanking new Official GBBC Blog on the GBBC website.

So join me at the Official GBBC Blog for all the GBBC news that's fit to print, and perhaps for more tawdry tales of birders gone wild!

Birding on the Decline

Troubling news, summarized well by Chuck Hagner at Birder's World.

Bird Puzzle of the Week

Elegant Terns. Enjoy!

Eastern Towhee

At work this morning, I got to watch a female Eastern Towhee hopping and scratching around under my feeders for several minutes. I was surprised at how often she flicked her white outer tail feathers--once every five seconds or so. You don't always get to watch towhees out in the open for so long, since they normally forage in leaves on the ground under thick brush.

Daily List: 34 species (170% of Bird RDA)
Sunday List: 28 species (140% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 221 species
BIGBY List: 47 species

Every birder's worst nightmare

Very sad, story here.

Coolest Bird Origami...in the World

Check out Robert J. Lang's bird origami. All from uncut paper. Amazing.

Good Bird Karma Slowly Returns

I almost got my Bird RDA by just watching and listening for birds while my daughter sold Girl Scout cookies for an hour outside the post office this morning. Most surprising at this urban location was an Eastern Bluebird on a wire over the road. Other birds seen included Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren (calling from behind a house across the road), Northern Cardinal, Dark-eyed Junco, and Mourning Doves. Canada Goose, Ring-billed Gull, and Turkey Vultures flew overhead. I ended my point count at 17 species.

A quick drive past a local duck pond got me Mute Swan, Mallard, and Northern Mockingbird to get me to twenty species.

My afternoon walk netted 23 species, including, finally, a new species for my BIGBY List--Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Day List: 31 species (155% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 221 species
BIGBY List: 47 species

Getting my quota in the rain

Woke up to ice and a two hour school delay. By 10:30 it was just rainy and cold. Not the kind of day you usually want to spend a lot of time out birding. I headed over to Peace Valley Park and scoped out the lake and spent 15 minutes in the bird blind in order to get my minimum recommended daily allowance of birds. Nothing surprising, but nice to do some feeder watching to continue my recovery from the ill-fated Slaty-backed chase. Lots of White-throated Sparrows around the feeders, a pair of Hooded Mergansers were on the lake. My happiest moment was hearing three Cedar Waxwings high in a tree. Their calls are so high-pitched that they are one of the first birds you can't hear when you start losing your hearing. I've had several times in the past year when I've seen them without hearing them very well--making me wonder if they had just been silent, or if I was starting to lose my hearing. Today I heard them clear as can be. Hopefully I'm not losing my hearing yet!

Day List: 29 species (145% of Bird RDA)
2008 List: 211 species
BIGBY List: 46 species