Rural Chatter: Birds, Nature and Environment

Can There Be Too Many?

2012-01-13T16:10:00.008-07:00

As I mentioned in the last post, my friend Polly Wren brought a new neighbor over when she came the other day. Turns out Colette is a budding birder and a very good photographer! I begged more photos...

I love this shot showing the beautiful silver undersides to their wings, as well as the mixed flock of Brown-capped and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches. Brown-capped have little to no gray on their heads, with a black forhead. Gray-crowned ...and I remember it's Grey-crowned because real crowns are usually made of something like silver or gold and not something brown (like a cap). We get both species, as well as the Black Rosy-Finches here...but didn't see them this visit. What we also get are a sub-species to the Gray-crowns called Hepburn's...which look to have a helmet rather than a crown of grey. The things I do to remember names!

I cropped this shot so that I could show the gorgeous photo Colette got of this Brown-capped Rosy-Finch. Be sure to click to embiggen!

Another fun shot of the birds close to my pond where we tossed seed under a volunteer Currant Bush. I wonder if
the less-pink birds are younger. That would be in keeping with how most young birds look; like the females, but even more drab.

Colette also took a shot right through the window, where the birds will also come to eat. It's very exciting to be nose-to-nose with these beauties. The netting is something I keep over the window; it helps keep birds from hitting the glass...most of the time. Those Evening Grosbeaks are the worst, however, and I usually have one or two that need rescuing per season.

Speaking of nose to nose, this stump, which I've photographed before, is just a few feet outside my back door. It's a blast to sit inside, with the door wide open, and watch the birds feeding practically at your feet. Thanks, Colette for a wonderful bunch of photographs!

New Year's Rosy-Finches

2012-01-12T11:24:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I had the first visitors of the new year. What fun, and one is a new neighbor right up my street! Colette came with another friend of mine; Polly Wren. These are some of Polly Wren's photos of the day...

The Rosy-Finches love to 'stage' up on my roof. Colette noticed lots of seed up there, and suggested perhaps they take it with them when they whirl away...and sometimes eat up there. Who knows...could be; they sure do whirl around a lot...but it's always lovely seeing those silvery underwings.
This is a lovely shot of the Hepburn's Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. It is a sub-species of this finch that I call a 'helmet-head' to remember how much further down the head the Gray-crown comes. Usually it is just down as far as the eye, here you can see it's more like a helmet! The middle bird looks to be a Brown-capped Rosy Finch...

And you wonder why I call these Pink-butts! Ha...

Polly Wren calls this one 'Skippidy Do Dah'. This is a lovely shot of a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch; for the oddest reason we aren't sure we saw but one single Black this visit. And none are here today...I'm happy Dale and Beverly made it over from Alamosa before the finches left.

Two waves of Rosies

2011-12-29T08:54:00.004-07:00

A huge flock of Rosy-Finches in my yard: just before Christmas 2011. They first came on December 1st...the earliest recorded visit (by me). They were here about 5 days and left when the weather turned warm. They returned the 19th and have just left for higher country, where they prefer to live.

This photo, taken through the netting on my window (Rosy-Finches never hit the windows, but Evening Grosbeaks seem to do it with some regularity; the netting helps them see the glass). There are two waves feeding in this shot; one closer and the other is along the trees and shrubs in the back. They often 'stage' on top of my house, just above the bay window through which I view them, or along the wires that cross my property or in the huge trees that surround it. So far, I've had at least 600 Rosy-Finches visiting at a single time. The breakdown is generally: 50% Brown-capped, 40% Gray-crowned and 10% Black.

FOS Rosy-Finches!

2011-12-01T11:31:00.007-07:00

I am feeling so smug! Is that okay, sitting alone, with a huge grin on my face? It was enough that I told my brother, in California, yesterday it was a beautiful, warm day outside. When he asked how warm, I said about 55; checked and found it was 56. Yeah, pretty smug.

Then I walked outside and told him about the 'mashed-potato clouds' just on the other side of the mountains. I told him (not having heard the weather report in days) that with the wind howling high in the trees and those clouds, we were in for a weather change; probably snow tomorrow. My yard is protected by the river-trees and a hill; I hardly feel a breeze, but you sure could hear it roar. I woke up to snow this morning! Smug; yup.

Not only THAT...but I washed every window outside my house and deep-watered every young tree and shrub in my yard. I even coiled the hose back where it belonged. And it's snowing like a banshee today; perfect timing!!

Yes, I feel smug...it's the first day of December: it's snowing and the Rosy Finches are here right on schedule! I love da Rosies...

I get all three species of Rosy Finch: Brown-capped, Black and Gray-crowned, including the Gray-crowned Hepburn's. I'm not sure other than I've never had them visit in November, but this might be the earliest date they've arrived.

You can read more about the Rosy-finches by clicking a Label below. You can also read more about the rosies at Sandia, in New Mexico by clicking this link. Be sure to explore that site, there are lots of beautiful pictures, too.

Oddly, I was rather surprised just now, when I observed at least a dozen big, black Crows (!!!) feeding on sun-flower seeds that I'd scattered around a feeder. A murder of crows, that's called; but don't ask me why. Perhaps it has something to do with E.A. Poe. I do see lots of crows around, but never on the ground together, under a feeder.

Photos from Nick Athanas, copyrighted: see more on his site here.
Other from Wikipedia

Pussy Willows

2011-10-10T15:52:00.013-06:00

Okay, I admit it...I nearly always walk through the Garden Section at the big Target Stores. While I avoid Walmart and Sam's Club like the plague (that they are), I rather like Target. In spite of being a 'big box' store, I like their commercials and the way (I see) that they conduct business.

So, when one of the two River Birch I bought in Pueblo West from a family owned nursery died (I noticed when planting that they were horribly root bound with thick, winding roots and little soil), I looked to see what Target had to offer. I found River Birch! I looked through the whole pallet, pulling plants from containers and choosing the most likely plant to make it in my yard. The unfortunate thing was, I apparently picked up a Pussy Willow! [sigh]

I had no intention of planting a Pussy Willow. Other than knowing they like wet roots as much as a River Birch, I knew little about them. I've never heard they have real flowers and I had no idea if anything ate the little furry buds I know are called catkins. Past that...a rambunctious shrub that suckers, but offers little in the way of food, was the last thing I was interested in...pretty pussy willow branches in early spring or no.

Then my big dog, Zeus died. He was only about ten or eleven; young for an Akbash, I think. I was crushed and he was so big; I asked a friend to help me bury him in the spot he chose to die. Jerry hit water before he was two feet deep; not a good spot. He filled the hole back in and we came up with another plan, but I remembered how high the water table was in that spot.

I checked; this willow will take some shade. The spot is shaded a bit by huge cottonwoods and other willow trees, so I knew it'd be okay there. But it can be huge; and will grow to a thicket if not severely trimmed. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this today:

The Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project of Prince Edward Island, Canada notes the importance of pussy willows for feeding wild birds and other wildlife:

Willow buds are second only to the buds of poplars as preferred food of ruffed grouse. Beaver ... muskrat, red squirrel, and snowshoe hare all include willow in their diet. The leaves are rich in Vitamin C and zinc. Pussy willows are an important nesting site for American goldfinch, while other songbirds use them to a lesser degree. The cover and protection thickets of willow provide are probably of equal importance to wildlife as its food value.

Oh good I thought, this won't be so bad after all. At least it'll feed the birds. I seldom purposely purchase any kind of plant unless it feeds birds or at least offers 4-season good looks. Not only will this feed birds, young branches will look cool in a tall, glass vase.

But then I read on: Deer also like to eat the branches of pussy willows. All this attention from wildlife has its good side, of course, especially for bird watching. But the downside is that, if you don't want your pussy willows damaged, you'll have to protect them. Ugh

Since Zeus is gone, my yard has experienced even more squirrels, skunks, raccoons and deer; not to mention bears, I'm sure they'll be back, too. The damn skunks are turning my lawn (such as it is; I don't water it) into what looks like a mini-mine field and the raccoons are pushing down feeder-poles and tearing apart bird feeders!

The deer seem to enjoy my new puppies as much as I do. What on earth is afraid of a 10" fluffy-butt; even if there are two of 'em? [sigh] Even their growls are cute: Grrrrrrr is more like a Purrrrrr...

So, today I planted the Pussy Willow. It should do fine; presuming the deer don't chew it to the ground. I also planted two Trumpet Vines that I got from Perennial Favorites last month. Funny, a neighbor was walking buy and stopped to say hello. Turns out she was friends with the folks from whom I bought this house. She loves the spot, so I invited her in to take a look around.

Ahnee (sp?) works at the Ryus Street Bakery, so while I recognized her...we'd not officially met. What a nice lady! Anyway, she also has Trumpet Vines and says the little hummingbirds practically disappear into the flowers; so deep must they dive. I've looked some time for this plant; too bad I didn't meet her earlier. I hear this is yet another rampant, rambling vine that is easy to transplant! I'll share as soon as its established.

Everything was planted out front, if you'd like to see how things turn out; the Trumpet Vines will grow out front, next to my driveway (near the Virginia Creeper and Honeysuckle), and the Pussy Willow will be on the opposite corner of the front yard. Wish me luck...

Photos of plants from Wiki
Photos of puppies are mine

Q. I have been told

2011-10-01T11:04:00.013-06:00

"... that I should stop feeding hummingbirds in the fall so that they can begin their southern migration. Is this correct?

A. That's a myth (from Cornell's All About Birds). A number of factors trigger the urge for birds to migrate, but the most significant one is day length. As days grow shorter in late summer, hummingbirds get restless and start to head south, taking advantage of abundant natural food, and feeders where available, to fuel their flight. A few individuals, especially Rufous Hummingbirds and a few other Western species, wander east rather than south; causes for this have not been entirely teased out, but it's not feeders that cause them to wander, and if a feeding station is closed down, chances are that a vagrant hummingbird will wander toward worse rather than better conditions.

We encourage people to keep hummingbird feeders full for several weeks after the last hummer leaves just in case a straggler shows up in need of additional energy before completing the long journey south. One of our own staff discovered an adult female Rufous Hummingbird at her feeder in northern Minnesota on November 16, 2004; that bird remained for over two weeks, surviving a blizzard and temperatures that dropped to just 6 degrees Fahrenheit, before leaving at mid-morning on December 3. That day temperatures climbed to a relatively warm 25 degrees; the bird's chances of survival without the feeder she stopped at were significantly lower."

I thought I'd re-print this Cornell Q&A, as I know folks who either don't feed past September or who quit when they don't see a hummingbird for a day or two. Personally, I think that's a sad mistake. I have spent many a winter-like day, changing out cold, slushy hummingbird feeders for ones I've warmed. Just think how much energy a tiny bird needs to stay warm enough on a snowy day; or how much energy it uses to warm up cold nectar.

Sometimes I won't see a hummingbird for two or three days, then suddenly I'll find several at the feeders. Please keep feeders up till you've not seen a hummer in two weeks. That outta keep even the stragglers safe.

See, if these were my feeders, I'd be alternating; one outside, one inside warming...switch and repeat. I'd keep the snow off the feeders, too, they can hardly find the ports in this clip. Perhaps hang them under an eve or put a baffle above. It's a good idea to keep 'em close to a door, too; you don't want to freeze either. PS: it's a long clip and the end is just like the beginning.

Recipe for nectar: One cup sugar to four cups boiling water. Bring to a boil, cool, refrigerate. During exceptionally cold weather, I use one and a half cups sugar to the four cups water. Stronger than that (say 2/4) some folks say is okay, others say it can hurt their kidneys.

Photos are mine...such as they are.
Clip from Youtube
Q&A from Cornell's Question of the Week

Did you know a Roadrunner

2011-09-23T11:11:00.012-06:00

…can achieve speeds of up to 25 miles per hour when running down lizards? That question was posed by AudubonGuides on Facebook, recently, and I did NOT know this bit of information, of course I had to do some research on these unusual birds.

The name ‘roadrunner’ comes from the bird's habit of racing down roads and then darting to safety off road, if approached. The omnivorous roadrunner forages around the roadside for large insects, roadkill and reptiles. It is also known as the chaparral cock, ground cuckoo, and snake killer. Its call is a downward slurring "co-coo-coo-coo-cooooo." Also a clattering "whirrrr" call, like other cuckoos. You can hear these calls in the video; it does not go “beep-beep”.

The Greater Roadrunner is the epitome of the desert Southwest…and it lives on my street; or one has. The Neldner photo to the right was taken on the Christmas Bird Count in La Veta just a couple years ago.

The chicken-like bird is a ground-dwelling cuckoo and the larger of the two roadrunners; there is a Lesser Roadrunner in Southwestern Mexico and Northern Central America. The Greater Roadrunner feeds on snakes, scorpions, and any other small animal it can catch and subdue; including other birds. Two roadrunners may cooperate to kill larger snakes, even rattlesnakes. They eat many venomous prey items including said snakes, scorpions and poisonous spiders, as well as fruit and some seeds.

The ‘racing stripe’ on the side of the roadrunners head is not feathers, it is naked skin. As a male matures the skin behind its eye becomes a beautiful, vivid stripe of red/orange, white and blue. The skin on its back, however, is black. After a cold desert night, a cold roadrunner will turn its back to the sun, fluff its back feathers to expose this dark skin along its back and absorb the warm solar energy. The Greater Roadrunner adult sports a bushy, black crest and a long, thick, dark bill. It has a dark head and is blue-ish on the throat and belly. Like all cuckoos, the roadrunner has zygodactyl feet; four toes on each--two face forward and two face back.

This is a good sized bird; 20 to nearly 22 inches in length with a wingspan of some 19+ inches, though it flies weakly. Even if startled, it usually runs. It weighs about ten ounces. The roadrunner is a ground forager who hunts in open arid and semiarid country with scattered brush. When chasing lizards, it holds its head and tail flat and parallel to the ground while running at top speed…as fast as 25 mph. It is the fastest running flying bird, beat only by the Ostrich (which doesn’t fly, of course), but it measures only about two feet in length, half of which is tail. That tail acts as a rudder when it runs.

While this is an opportunistic hunter frequently capturing small birds and eggs at bird feeders and nest boxes, they have also been observed skulking in tall, dry grass to leap up suddenly and pluck a small bird from the air. I have come across videos of them doing just this, but couldn't find one for this post. It held it's body vertically and jumped straight up to catch the bird. If you find it, please post in comments and acknowledge the author.

This accomplished hunter kills with a blow from its beak to the base of a small animals neck, or by holding it in its beak and bashing it on the ground or against a rock. I wish it also showed the actual 'catch' and swallow. I wonder if it tears up the prey to bite-sized pieces. Probably.

Polly said: "Roadrunner copulation, where else but in the middle of the road! This went on for over 2 minutes. Our Guide, Forrest Davis, said in all his years in he had never witnessed this. In the end their "act of love" was interrupted by an oncoming vehicle ...but not before he passed the "bauble" he is holding to her!" Seems roadrunners are gracious lovers! Food is an important component of the mating ritual, but I hope she didn't consume the 'bauble'. The male tempts the female with a twig or bit of grass or food, such as a lizard or snake which it dangling from its bill while chasing her. His "prance display," "tail-wag display," and vocalizations in front of the female while bowing and making the whirring or cooing sound will get her interested; then he jumps into the air and onto his mate. If the female accepts the offered food, the pair will probably mate. While nesting, they are quite territorial and it's possible Greater Roadrunners mate for life.

Dr. Dean Ransom roadrunner study brings us an interesting and informative video:

This vide was taken in the Texas chaparral. I understand that in a dryer, more desert-like environment the bird nests on cactus. While both care for the young, oddly, it is the male who incubates eggs; his body-temp stays constant, while the female's drops at night.

As to the desert environ, roadrunner is equipped with salt glands in front of its eyes to excrete excess salt from its blood. This is also common in ocean-going birds that can drink seawater. The roadrunner is able to do without water if it eats juicy enough food, but it will drink when water
is available.

Sources:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Wikipedia
YouTube
AnimalDiversity.ummz.umich.edu
NHPTV.org/natureworks
Desertmuseum.org
PRBO.org

Photos:
P.Nelder where acknowledged
Wickipedia for still-shots
YouTube for video clips

Native and Natural Foods for Wildlife...

2011-09-12T12:16:00.004-06:00

It has been awhile since I've posted something; funny how life gets in the way, sometimes. Still, I enjoy writing, the weather is cooling, I'm unemployed and running out of excuses. So, I've picked a piece I started awhile ago, because while at the "year-end sale" at my favorite plant nursery, Perennial Favorites in Rye, I finally met two sort of heroes of mine: Diana and Merrilee. They are the owners of the nursery...a wonderful place and a delight to visit.

I'd first discovered the nursery while on one of the first birding-trips I ever experienced. A lovely man, Dave Silverman, has been a birder for probably longer than I've been in Colorado (some 35 years) and has headed up the Spanish Peaks Christmas Bird Count for the last 20+ years. Needles to say, he's an expert birder...heck, he often birds by ear! This day we were bird-watching around his home turf in Rye and Colorado City, and as is his custom, he took the group to this outstanding nursery where we saw a many birds happily flitting about. I go back at least once a year, ever since.

To make a long story short, before I drove up to Perennial Favorites yesterday, I checked out their Facebook page and website. There I discovered Diana is the one who intends to write a piece about growing your own birdseed...on their blog. Well, here are some photos that perhaps will spur her on...as I told her I'd be watching for the article. As it turns out, I had planned a similar article for my blog! I have created several posts on the topic, found when clicking the Label: Native Plants (or this link)

So, here we go. The following are pictures I've taken of some plants in my yard that I've seen birds enjoying. Of course, they like more than just seed; the flowers are important, too. As are the insects that they attract.

Grasses might be the some of the most important foods for birds and other critters. Birds not only eat the seeds, but also hide in the tall tangles. I almost always plant some annual (here) purple fountain grass in pots around the yard. Along a lot of my fences are many grasses, wild I assume, that I let grow tall.

Seed-heads from various grasses and forbes are an important food source for birds and winter-hungry critters.

Some flowers offer nectar, like this columbine and pink penstemon, while some offer both pollen and seed, like the yellow tickseed. Each of these plants is drought resistant, very easy to grow and propagate freely.

On an earlier visit to Perennial Favorites, I purchases the Ornamental Thistle for it's stunning architectural look and wild leaves. The purple thistle is much like the inside of an artichoke, and offers seeds all winter. The native vine, Virginia Creeper, is an ivy that produces dark fruit in the late fall and early winter. I've seen birds mobbing the fences where I have it growing. It is absolutely stunning in the fall; turning crimson as the weather cools. It was within this vine that I saw my very first Hermit Thrush...and then three...feeding on the berries under snow-laden leaves.

Black-eyed Susans (behind the Russian Sage) and a stunning Purple Cone-flower also offer ripe seeds after their petals fall. While the cone-flower prefers some moisture, these plants can be somewhat drought resistant after they have settled in. Finches love 'em.

Yes, birds love Sumac seed and so do humans! It is often used as a spice, for it's citrus-like flavors. In my neighborhood phoebes, northern mockingbird, gray catbird, wood thrush, hermit thrush and even common crows love this plant. I've planted it in the far back of my yard where it can grow and spread into a small thicket...in spite of my allergy to it's 'itchy' leaves. There is another sumac called Low-grow Sumac that also provides berries and does not itch. I've planted that under my New Mexican Privet in a place I might develop for additional plants and wouldn't appreciate an allergic reaction! The unknown yellow plant grows rather like a vining black-eyed susan and appeared out of nowhere. It sure makes good seed.

The beautiful, tall 'candles' of the wild Mullen become long spires of seed that small birds love. Underneath a sunflower feeder, one is apt to find shoots that, if left alone, will develop into these beautiful, large, yellow seed-heads. At Perennial Favorites the other day, we watched a Black-capped Chickadee come and go from such a plant, bent totally over by it's weight so that the little bird had to hang upside down to collect seed.

In every yard I've ever had in Colorado, I've planted New Mexican Privet and treated it like a wild screen. While it can be clipped and shaped, I like it's willowy and tall growth habit. The yellow and highly scented flowers appear before the leaves in spring and black berries appear as the leaves turn bright yellow in the fall. This plant is also referred to as the Desert Olive, though I've not ventured a taste.

I use a Miscanthus gracillimus-Morning Light or three in every garden, too. As an ornimental statement, they are a stunning 'fountain grass' that reach over five feet when in 'bloom'. And the plants shape and seed heads last nearly all winter. When they get too big, dig 'um up, saw into quarters and re-plant in at least three new locations!

I looked high and low for these two plants: a Thornless Hawthorn and a tiny-fruiting crab-apple. I don't want trees with wicked, four-inch thorns anywhere in my yard (heck, I go for thornless roses too), and was tickled to find this multi-trunked beauty near by. It's grown into a beautiful screen against the fence and the birds love it after a few freezes. The same thing goes for crab-apples; birds really can't 'bite into one' until after the fruit freezes and thaws a few times. I look for what is called 'persistent fruit'; fruit that doesn't fall and litter the grass, but stays on the tree all winter, giving the critters time to enjoy them. The Centurian's fruit is about the size of a large coffee bean and grows rather like cherries. Oh, I have a couple of sour cherry trees they enjoy, too.

I bought the Purple smokebush more for its color than anything else. Last year it had some sort of wilty-virus on one branch. I cut it off; the bush revived and looks great today...though I'm not sure it's anything birds enjoy. After the blouzy flowers (that look like smoke), it does get a tiny, one seeded fruit...so who knows. It's the chokecherry though, that critters enjoy; everything from birds to bears! And some folks make jam with its berries, too.

I grew up in California where we had pyracantha bushes. I thought they were beautiful, especially when laden with bunches of bright-red fruit. The birds loved the fruit which are like little, soft apples and would eat until they became drunk. However, this is another plant with huge spikes or thorns nearly four-inches long...if memory serves. And they are poisonous and hurt like the dickens if one manages to get pricked; which is pretty easy to do...they're covered with the daggers. Another name for them is Firethorn; go figure. However, I have found an almost identical plant sans thorns; the cotoneasters! That's pronounced "co-toney-aster" and there are several varieties. I have several, some will be small, others like small trees. And the birds love the berries, too. Beautiful plants all year long; without thorns.

Ninebark berries, if you can save some from the birds, make wine just as lovely as does elderberry; I grow it for the birds. It looks great all year, with bright fall colors coming with the colder weather. I usually look for species plants; plants not mucked with too much by breeders. Plant breeders breed for looks or flowers or scent, but generally not for rich nectar or healthy berries. I'm trying to feed a balanced diet, here! Keep in mind that the tiny bugs and spiders that live amongst the leaves and twigs are great food, too. Even hummingbirds need protein.

I have a large patch of red raspberries, too, though they prefer an almost boggy existence for really good berries. I break down and flood them a bit, once or twice a season, so they do okay for me and the birdies. Chokecherries, on the other-hand seem to produce abundantly even during a bit of a drought.

Hummingbird nectar not withstanding, it seems to me birds are not going through the food I provide, like they do in some months. Perhaps there are fewer of them just now (I remember things slowed down to the point I wondered if there were any birds left last September, but I also think the reason is that there is an abundance of natural/native food that is available to them. Because I have great variety and try to use native plants, none of the bugs or diseases become too much for any plant. I never spray or toss out poisons. The galls on the chokecherries this year provided good eating for warblers; spider mites are eaten, too. It's all good.

Photos by me, except privet and Miscanthus...from Wikipedia

Middle of May & Spring is here at last.

2011-05-13T10:42:00.007-06:00

Photo by Leslie Holzmann

Oh my, how I do love this time of year...no telling what I'll find in my yard! This morning, I walked out to fill feeders and came under a thistle feeder at the corner of my house. Yes, the same feeder I discovered 'pink-butts' that winter, several years ago. Rosy-Finches have been coming every year since, but always when it snows. Imagine my surprise when I looked up at Pink-Butts on the feeder in the middle of May! While we did get some rain and a tiny bit of snow the other day, spring has definitely sprung; my grass is high and the fruit trees are in blossom. Who would expect Brown-capped Rosy-Finches this time of year...and yet they were here; two or three, just as you please. What a treat!

Photo by Jeannie Mitchell

A couple weeks ago, I got my first Spotted Towhee

Photo from Wikipedia

And, the other day, while walking my new puppies around the yard, I scared up a Great Blue Heron from a tall tree with a view of my small pond. I'll take that as a new Yard-Bird, any day!

[Addendum] May Yard-Birds included:

A Nemesis is Shot...

2011-02-20T11:54:00.009-07:00

So, some people chase birds, twitchers they're called; some folks just keep their eyes open and get really lucky. My friends Paul and Polly Wren are just such people. Last week another friend, Deb, brought a birding-group down for the day; planning to visit my place for the Rosy-Finches, Paul & Polly's home for Pinyon Jays and to drive around the area looking for other delicious goodies we might find. But you heard all about that in my previous post. Unfortunately, Paul and Polly Wren were not with us when Leslie spotted the tiny Northern Pygmy-Owl; owls are a nemesis for Polly, she says.
However, their work takes them back and forth along the same road where we saw the tiny owl; and of course both keep their eyes peeled. While at first wondering what a pine-cone was doing in a deciduous tree (you know how the mind works); it turns out they found a Northern Pygmy-Owl! Some say 're-located', some say found...neither of us care except to say that maybe Polly Wren has lost her nemesis and finally saw a tiny owl close to home.

[Addendum: Can you imagine how hard it is to spot a tiny bird, much smaller than a robin, while driving down the highway?]
But, speaking of luck, they were some nine miles from home and without cameras. They raced home and back and could not believe their continued luck as the gorgeous little owl was still there 20 minutes later... and stayed for another 20 minutes while they photographed it. It was a new Huerfano County bird for both of them... and they've shared their pictures with us.

If you want to look for the owl, please exercise caution. It was perched directly over Hwy 12 close to mile marker 13. This can be a very busy road that some enjoy driving quite fast. It was on a "blind corner" so they parked a little further beyond in a wide spot near a drive-way and walked back to shoot the bird. Of course, they only hunt with cameras!

As an aside, I thought I'd post this lovely, intimate shot of one of the local deer and her growing youngster... a sweet moment. These two images are from Jeannie Mitchell.

I can't believe I'm posting this...I've gotten so blasted fat and next to slim-trim Polly Wren, I look huge. I don't suppose I can blame it on being closer to the camera, huh? Jeannie took the shot as we were leaving Polly's house; we'd been tromping through knee-deep snow drifts, Polly had been at home snug as a bug in a rug...in sandals.

Photos: Northern Pygmy-Owl by P. Neldner, deer and Polly & me by Jeannie Mitchell

One Lifer and One New Yardbird

2011-02-13T05:29:00.022-07:00

Today, I hosted a couple groups of folks to my home and to my neighbor's Polly Wren and Paul's home, and a ride up Hwy 12 for Lewis's Woodpeckers. I'll write more later, but just had to post these beautiful shots from one of my guests: Jeannie Mitchell. She graciously sent me these stunning shots as soon as she got home from what must have been a very long day: two hours down, eight ours in the field and two hours back! But what a day we had...

Northern Pygmy Owl; a lifer for me

I think that tiny owl looks like a sweet, little plush toy. We found it on Hwy 12, not far outside of La Veta (Huerfano Co), in an area past the Devil's Stair-steps popular with Lewis's Woodpeckers.

American Dipper

The Dipper can almost be guaranteed on Hwy 12 not far outside of of La Veta..under the only bridge outside of town with year-round running water.

A beautiful Song Sparrow.
He had been singing his heart out earlier when Mark Peterson noted how rufus this little guy was; Jeannie's shot captured the reddish-coloring in this shot.

Spotted Towhee! I've tried for over a year to entice this bird to my yard! It took Mark visit earlier in the day to spot him near the Blue Spruce. Jeannie got these beautiful shots, including the one where he shows off his lovely white spots & streaks.

While Jeannie got several shots of the Rosy-Finches, I particularly liked this Black...posed up off the seed-strewn snow. She also got a shot that perfectly shows off the Hepburn's sub-species of Rosy-Finch; showing just how much gray is in this Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. In that it has been days since the last snow, only a few of the 600+ Rosies that usually come in bad weather and most were gone by nine o'clock. Especially after the Sharp-shinned Hawk zoomed in and quickly took a Junco. Crows have been thick and would have stolen his prize, given a chance!

Above seven photos by Jeannie Mitchell

More stunning pics, this time by Leslie Holzmann, another friend who's been down a time or two...and a blogger to boot. Check her out here: Mountain Plover Not only does Leslie take beautiful photos; she's a Master Gardner; her blog is awesome.

Here are a couple of pink-butts she got in my yard Saturday: a Brown-capped Rosy-Finch...the only one with no grey on da head. Colorado is one of the very few places to see this finch; they're endemic here and breed above tree-line, like all the Rosy-Finches do.

The other is a stunning shot of one getting ready to land on the phone wire. Those lovely wings are pure silver underneath...contributing to the 'school of fishes' look when flying in perfect synchronization overhead.

Leslie got another shot of the pretty little Song Sparrow that's been visiting my yard. He sang his heart out all morning...

...and one of the dozen or so Cassin's Finches that have exploded into my yard. Those bright red top-knots look like the glowing embers of a hard-drawn cigarette...hopping all over the snow. Even the females have that feisty, spiky, top-knot...but without that incredible red color. Once you 'have' them, you'll see their patterned faces, with the white cresent shapes curling against their cheeks, are easy to tell from a House Finch.

There were probably 50-60 Evening Grosbeaks adorning the yard; I like to leave my windows cracked just to hear their cheery peeps mixed in with the constant calls of the Dark-eyed Juncos. Sweet sounds...

Pinyon Jay

Over at Paul and Polly Wren Neldner's place...we were treated to 60 or more of these beautiful (blue) jays. One can stand on their porch and hear even more, calling loudly in their maniacal laugh... making themselves known to all around: Da Pin-yon are he-ah!

White-winged Dove

Okay, so this was NOT taken in my back-yard...but this IS a photo by Leslie Holzmann and it's the most stunning photo of a dove I've ever seen. Yes, that blue around the eye is real; it is an un-feathered patch of skin showing...such a beautiful little dove. Thanks Leslie; for showing why I feel lucky to have this bird in my yard. Besides, this dove offers a real coo-ing call as opposed to the coughing-cat noise the EUDOs make.

Seven photos just above are by Leslie Holzmann

Early February Around La Veta

2011-02-06T07:55:00.039-07:00

Yesterday, I was visited by Lisa from Palmer Lake and David from Washington DC, two birders who’d planned to come see the Rosy-Finches in my yard and nearly ran into each other on the highway where even more Rosy-Finches were enjoying road-salt. At first, it’s hard to realize those are Rosy-Finches out there and not more of the Horned Larks who are also along roads in large numbers. It should be understood, Rosy-Finches are not just in my backyard…it’s just that my back yard is easier and more reliable(perhaps because I go through 50# of seed this time of year.)

Dave, as an Easterner, came loaded with a wish-list that he cut down by nearly half a dozen just in my yard. We got lots of all three Rosy-Finches, a dozen Cassin’s Finch, the White-winged Dove, and several sub-species of Junco he doesn’t see back East and a red-shafted Northern Flicker. Like me, he enjoyed all the Black-billed Magpies (flying Orcas, I call them) that come to my feeders with the Blue Jays (and some Starlings, as I got the wrong brand of kibble that’s small enough for them to eat). He seemed especially delighted with both the Pine Siskins and Am.Goldfinches that use feeders right up against my ‘viewing window’; inches from our faces.

We were lucky to have Lisa with us, as she’s clearly a more experienced birder and explained what to look for in specific birds. By the end of it, he could pick out even female Cassin’s from the House Finches as fast as I can. We were so engrossed in the finches; I think we totally forgot to watch for the chickadees and nuthatches! It’s stunning to watch all the dark gold and yellow Evening Grosbeaks that feed with the hot-pink-splashed Rosy-Finches.

I generally try to include a visit to Paul and Polly Wren Neldner’s place when folks come out, as they do mine when people go to theirs. I’d called and left a message that we were on our way; the two of them met us as we arrived. Right off the bat, we observed both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and a couple White-breasted Nuthatches.

They have a couple ‘different’ Downies that hang around; one with a pure white belly and the other with a creamier look. We decided one is likely to be a Pacific sub-species…but I forgot which. Sheeshhh… Above are similar shots of female woodpeckers. The Hairy Woodpecker, on the right is actually about a third bigger than the Downy Woodpecker on the right. Still, it is easy to tell the birds apart, regardless of how close or far, because the Hairy's bill is as long as its head is wide; huge compared to the Downy's is quite diminutive bill.

While peering out the Neldner’s ‘viewing window’, Dave excitedly exclaimed “Mtn. Chickadee!” yet another lifer for him. Shortly after that, their Harris’s Sparrow made an appearance as did the Spotted Towhee; two more lifers for David. We had to wait a bit for the Pinyon Jays, who can be quite fickle, but when 30 or so came by several came down into the yard and showed of their stunning blueness.. We all went out on the covered porch to listen to their maniacal laughter as David crossed another off his 'want list'. He was also tickled with all the ravens, crows and RR Black-birds we have; who doesn't like Corvids?

Here are a couple of beautiful shots; the red-eyed Spotted Towhee and the young Harris's Sparrow.

Eventually we piled into a couple cars to find the Lewis’s Woodpeckers for David and hopefully a Clark’s Nutcracker for Lisa. We drove up the road past Cuchara and into mountain sub-division where at least one home is feeding birds (thanks Leon!) We missed the nutcracker, but got half a dozen of both Lewis’s Woodpeckers and Steller’s Jays in several locations as well as a bunch of Pygmy Nuthatches and lots more chickadees…both kinds. That's a Pygmy Nuthatch to the right.

The Neldners and I have seen sapsuckers up that way and hard as I did to try to ‘scoop’ SeEtta (cuz I like her and she’s such a good birder, who will be birding with David Sunday morning), we didn’t see a single one…just evidence of their wells. That's what I get for being such a stinker, I'm sure. I’m sure she’ll get him several more lifers.

Lastly, on the way back down to La Veta, we stopped at the bridge closest to town where the water runs reliably all winter and found an Am Dipper; yet another lifer for David! Polly told us to look for the white-wash on rocks in the river and you'll surely find a Dipper.

Back in town we all enjoyed the best bowl of soup I’ve had in a long time, with salad and home-made bread at the Ryus Street Bakery. Thanks Neldner’s…Adrian does have the best place in town! And such good people; the place was full but a large table with two lovely people invited the five of us to join them. La Veta is just awesome.

All in all, a good day was had by all. Today, even with another foot of snow last night, it’s still snowing, and the Rosies are back in huge numbers, as I imagine they will be all week (dare I say month?) with winter finally settling in. Now we just have to make sure Huerfano County keeps enough Black-oil Sunflower seed in stock for Polly Wren and me; they’re out till Tuesday! Ack…

[Addendum] Just now, a Western Meadowlark showed up. It looks as bedraggled as this one that visited last year.

Photos by P. Neldner (as noted), Wikipedia and this last one by me.
Now ya know why I like to use the work of others! LOL

La Veta's Lovely Rosies

2011-02-05T18:06:00.008-07:00

Okay, after the post (Wuzza Blackbird) earlier today, I thought I should leave you with something more sweet to dream about: Rosy-Finches! I really don't think one can post too many shots of these rare beauties. Again, all these photos are by my friend and neighbor: Polly Wren Neldner. (Yes, Polly Wren is her given name)

Lordy, how could a bird be so beautiful. That pink is hot as hot-pink gets.

Oddly, I've got more Cassin's Finch in my yard than ever before; about a dozen are hanging around. I love their pale, pale breasts and (usually) spiky, red top-knots. I finally figured out how to 'see' the females; their brown top-knots are spiky, too.

This year I seem to be getting more Blacks than usual, too...aren't they just stunning!

Okay, as not to play favorites, here are several Brown-capped Rosy-Finches...stunning in their own right. No, silly...not the Gray-crowned right in front; but the beautiful Browns on either side.

Here, Polly got all the brands of Rosy-Finch there are: Blacks (which have no brown on them), Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (a brown bird with grey cap) and it's sub-species the Hepburn's which sports a whole head-full of beautiful silver) and of course the Brown-capped Rosy-Finch who's cap is dark brown and not gray at all.

I can't help it...I am partial to the Blacks. Perhaps it's because, usually, there are so few of them mixed in the flocks that come down to visit.

Part of the allure these birds have for me is their flight-pattern and their beautiful, silver under-wings. They fly like schools of fish; totally synchronized. Those wings just add to their beauty as I look up at the clouds that come and go. They are quite tame, so you hear and feel them all take off together, just a couple feet away. It's a beautiful sound and a delightful sensation.

All photos by Polly Wren Neldner, whose work you can see here. Click to imbiggen.

Wuzza Blackbird...

2011-02-05T17:39:00.002-07:00

Well, it is kinda gruesome, but I was fascinated by how precise the predator was. That rib-cage is clean as a whistle; every bit of meat is gone...only the epaulets are left! It must have taken the drumsticks home for a snack.

Rosy-pics from Polly Wren

2011-02-02T06:23:00.026-07:00

Hmmmmmmmm... Perhaps I should by less bird-seed and invest in some paint! Oh my...

Do click on these pictures, they look so much better 'imbiggened'.

The Rosies 'stage' on my roof. They start in the huge trees around the yard and come in long ribbons to the phone wires and roof...to finally land in one of 3-4 places I spread seed.

This is one spot they like. In amongst the pink you can see a few yellow omni-browed Evening Grosbeaks. While they let ya walk right up to them, I don't think they like the noise camera's make when snapping photos or moving lenses.

I messed-up the one up trying to enlarge and center it here...but it still looks good, when you click to enlarge.

Here are a couple more: seems to have been an inordinate number of blacks this time. Lucky me! I'm sure you can see all three species: Brown-capped, Gray-crowned and Black. The grays include several Hepburn's, too.

Polly was on her way to the store and stopped by on a lark... without her bins! And with glasses that automatically get very dark outside...she couldn't see what she was shooting. I'd say she got some pretty impressive photos!

I just noticed; did Polly Wren get one of each on the roof peak? Is that, left to right, a Black Rosy-Finch, a Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch and a Brown-capped Rosy-Finch? Too cool...

Just look at that pink! Surely you can see why I call them Pink-butts! I just love these birds...

I think we both like the last one here the best
...if only because it's so hard to get one alone!

All photos in this piece are by my friend & neighbor (the one who has all the Pinyon Jays!) Polly Wren Neldner. Polly Wren shares many of her wonderful photos here.

Do visit her page...she has even more Rosy pics.
Thanks so much, Polly!!!

Ground-hog Day with Finches

2011-02-01T07:37:00.026-07:00

As I predicted, the Rosy-finches arrived as soon as it got light. We got several inches of snow last night and it's still snowing lightly and right on schedule all three Rosies arrived.

Yesterday, I let my boss know I wouldn't be in today...and I bought another 50# bag of sunflower seed, as well as 40# of Finches Feast ($20 from Purina: 1/3 black thistle, 1/3 canary seed and 1/3 sunflower chips that works well in any finch feeder...they love it and it's half the price of Niger).

As warm and dry a winter as we've had, I wanted to be ready to insure the little beauties know there's food here...all day. And so they continue to come; several hundred Rosy-Finches, at least six-dozen Evening Grosbeaks and ten or twelve Cassin's Finch; not to mention all the regulars...both chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers and other finches and sparrows. Oh, and those White-winged Doves, too. The above picture I got early this am...and will try for more. Stay posted!

In-coming! ..................... Don't buy seed; buy paint!

Here are a couple more shots. My friend Polly Wren (the one across town who gets all the Pinyon Jays) let me know how some 'stage' on my roof. They also use surrounding trees and telephone wires, and then swoop down in a long ribbon of birds to one of three or four 'stations' I offer them around my bird feeders. She was here today and got some good shots that she'll send so I can post later. I would imagine there were more than 400 Rosy-Finches here, all totaled and all at once. Spectacular, ya know? It does no good to try to show you how many are here by shooting them in the trees; they just look like little blobs in 5-6 trees' worth. You can see some other (not very good shots) here.

There are also several dozen Evening Grosbeaks here; one wouldn't believe their numbers are down here in La Veta. My (online) friend Dave Leatherman wrote:

"I would wager the numbers of Evening Grosbeaks are up in your part of the world because the Western Spruce Budworm cycle is up at present in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The two are very much tied together, historically. Typically Rocky Mountain budworm infestations last about a decade, perhaps a bit longer. Budworms are moths that feed in the larval stage in May and June on Douglas-fir, true firs like White and Subalpine Fir, and sometimes on Engelmann and Colorado Blue Spruce. I spent a lot of time over the years looking at them in the Cuchara and LaVeta Pass areas. I suspect you will see lots of Evening Grosbeaks for the next several years." ... I'm lovin' it!

Lastly, there was this one ...perhaps I should have
cropped it better. While obviously not the best picture, the expression seems to be "Whachew Lookin' At?

Of late, I've witnessed an interesting co-operation between Northern Flickers and large corvids. Both American Crows and Black-billed Magpies are too big to hang on such a feeder, no matter how much they'd like some suet. The magpie tries; wings flapping as it tries to contort small enough to feed without ripping off toes. But both big birds have learned to feed nonchalantly underneath the flicker as it feeds...scarfing up crumbs as they fall. I've seen flickers as well as woodpeckers hang below such feeders and catch tasty pieces that fall to their breasts...but some does hit the ground; and the big, bright corvids are right there to clean up.

As soon as Polly Wren gets them to me, I'll post her REALLY good photographs; she's great!
Stay tuned...

January 2011

2011-01-23T09:20:00.014-07:00

As the month pulls into it's last week, I added three new birds to my Yard List. I have been watching a good sized sparrow for awhile, at first thinking it it was a
Chipping Sparrow, for its rufus head. However, the central breast-spot was a giveaway; it's an American Tree Sparrow...my first!

You can see here, how similar the two birds are, for me the center spot is the most obvious difference, but on close examination, one can also see that the American Tree Sparrow has a bi-colored bill, while the Chipping Sparrow's bill is all-over dark. These two sparrows are the only two I have identified all by myself.

This morning, after a light snow, I watched several hundred Rosy-Finches feed...always a delight. The Evening Grosbeaks were here in large numbers too; at least 75 here at a time. Oddly, a couple of crows, which I usually see mixed with ravens in the trees around here (I believe my neighbor feeds the big guys) came into the yard and looked around on the ground. That only happened once before, when a rather bedraggled raven feed with the magpies on my back stoop on a very cold, winter day.

There has been another showing up in rather large numbers, too. Of late I've had nearly a dozen Cassin's Finch visiting at the feeders. It is so cool to see them as the sun comes up and just hits the feeders. These little red-headed finches look for all the world like their head-feathers are on fire; they positively glow.

Perhaps most unusual sight today, was the Bald Eagle that cruised the yard; clearly looking down and watching the show. It was an adult, clearly marked by that beautiful white head and tail...he didn't stop. Perhaps he was really more interested in the Snow Geese over at the golf-course; it sounded like he'd just caused a ruckus over there.
This is almost exactly what I saw...sans binoculars, even. Lordy, just look at those feet!

That big guy is 50x bigger than the diminutive American Kestrel I watched feeding on an even smaller yard-bird. I know it's odd, but I do not mind the predatory birds at all; it's the cats hunting my yard that I have a problem with...they're just not natural here. It looked like the Kestrel was celebrating New Year's Eve the way he tossed feathers about!

I like the Kestrel, though; you can see why it is known as the most colorful hawk in the world:

All photos from wikipedia; be sure to click on pictures for a larger view.

First Decent Snow = Lots and Lots of Rosy-finches!

2011-01-10T08:32:00.011-07:00

Yup, they're back! First little snowstorm (12/31) they showed up for the first time of the season; late nearly a whole month. They only came for about a day and a half...and then disappeared (as is their habit early in the season.)

Last night we got 4-5 inches of snow and it's still coming down lightly. The Rosy-Finches arrived a little after six this morning...and are here in the hundreds.

These photos are from my little, old camera...but perhaps I'll get some better shots when my neighbor comes over. She has a beautiful, new camera and likes birds!

I can slowly open the back door and even sit inside on a bucket while the birds whirl away and come back and begin feeding again. But...it's very cold!

Perhaps the better idea was to just open the door and stick out my camera...as the photos below show.

At any rate, it looks like a good snow-day...I may not go to work after all, but I do hate to do that. I'd rather give the plows time to clear things up, and head out. I hope I can.

These are pics from just one feeding area; there are three others. Plus, you can see I'd just made them fly up...and they were still coming back in when I tried for a quick shot. When they all whorl up together...it sounds awesome and makes quite a lovely 'school of birds'; totally in unison.

Christmas Bird Count 2010-11

2011-01-08T08:48:00.009-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Dave Silverman (the leader for 23 years now) brought together just seven other folks for the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). In the single day, we counted a total of 52 species and added two firsts: a late Wood Thrush and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

I know everybody is different, but it sort of galls me that at a CBC not far from my brother's home, FIFTY (50) people counted more than twice as many birds as our eight saw...and he's not particularly interested! It's times like this (only) that I wish I lived back in California. LOL

Wonder how many birds were counted in your area? Go to THIS website, choose your state and click the blue "Find Count" button and check the list that appears for a count near you. Then, click 'Make a Table' to see what and how many species were seen. It's way cool.

I'm betting my friend Polly Wren feels as bad not getting her Pinyon Jays in the count as I do not getting my Rosy-finches; it snowed the following Sunday and about 100 or so showed up...nearly a month late!

Species	Number Seen	Notes


Canada Goose	65

Mallard	14

Common Merganser	1

Bald Eagle	2

Sharp-shinned Hawk	1

Red-tailed Hawk	14

Rough-legged Hawk	1

Golden Eagle	1

Rock Pigeon	50

Eurasian Collared-Dove	55

White-winged Dove	2	High Count

Great Horned Owl	1

Lewis's Woodpecker	8

Downy Woodpecker	5

Hairy Woodpecker	3

Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker	17

Northern Shrike	3

Steller's Jay	22

Blue Jay	13

Western Scrub-Jay	23

Pinyon Jay	0	50 seen one day during Count Week

Black-billed Magpie	99

American Crow	62

Common Raven	48

Horned Lark	1

Black-capped Chickadee	28

Mountain Chickadee	77

Bushtit	22

Red-breasted Nuthatch	2

White-breasted Nuthatch	18

Pygmy Nuthatch	15

Brown Creeper	1

American Dipper	1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1

Mountain Bluebird	6

Townsend's Solitaire	1

Hermit Thrush	1

American Robin	3

European Starling	183	High Count

Spotted Towhee	9	High Count

Song Sparrow	5

White-throated Sparrow	2

Harris's Sparrow	1

White-crowned Sparrow	1

Dark-eyed Junco	123

Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) Junco	21

Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco	15

Dark-eyed (Pink-sided) Junco	16

Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco	12

Dark-eyed (White-winged) Junco	2

Red-winged Blackbird	52

Brown-headed Cowbird	2	High Count

Cassin's Finch	9

House Finch	50

Pine Siskin	74

American Goldfinch	26

Evening Grosbeak	128	High Count

House Sparrow	61




Weather & Effort

Count Date:	Dec 26, 2010
Participants:	8
Species Reported:	52
Low Temperature:	34〫
High Temperature:	45〫
AM Weather:	Clear
	Rain: None
	Snow: None
PM Weather:	Clear
	Rain: None
	Snow: None

Sponsor:	Arkansas Valley Audubon Society
Compiler:	Dave Silverman

Participants:	David Silverman	David Moore
	Donna Emmons	Tom Doerk
	Beverly Jensen	Leon Bright
	Paul and Polly Wren Neldner

Rosy-Finches Arrive

2011-01-01T16:17:00.006-07:00

We have had a warm, dry season so far and the Rosy-Finches missed the Christmas Bird Count! They weren't quite a month late, arriving here on New Year's Eve. Last year they were here on December 4th but this year at least they arrived in December, even if it was the last day of the year. And if things go typically, now that they're here, they come on early mornings and only when we get a snow storm. At first only a few hundred come, but soon the numbers grow to huge flocks. Every year I have exponentially more Rosy-Finches and last year had as many as 600 in my yard at any one time. This year I suppose I could have 1000 of them visiting. Early in the season, they come only in the morning and only when it snows but as the cold continues and the snow increases, they begin to stay later and come more often.

All three species come: Brown-capped, pretty much endemic to Colorado; Gray-crowned, including Hepburn's; and Blacks. The flocks are always mixed and even fairly tame. While they do whirl up and wheel around a lot, they will actually land at my feet. Sometimes I can walk right up to them. When they fly, it's breath-taking. The underside of their wings are silver and a flock moves in unison, like large schools of fish in the sea.

Today is January 1st of 2011 and I watched birds, on and off, most of the day. It was quite stunning with the yellows of the Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins and Goldfinches; the reds of House Finches, Cassin's Finches and Woodpeckers and Flickers; with the blues of the jays and orca-like look of Magpies with the blacks of the Red-winged Blackbirds. Stripes, spots, streaks, barred and buffy breasts; big birds and tiny...it was visually quite exciting.

It was also quiet a good part of the day. While out re-filling feeders and scattering more seed under evergreens and where the lawn meets tall grass, I startled a good sized Cooper's Hawk. But later in the day I watched a young Sharp-shinned Hawk race through the yard scattering every bird in sight. I watched it land and thought it'd missed its lunch, but when I came back out with my little, old camera, I watched it pluck and eat...someone. I don't know who. I know this is a young bird because it's still got spots on it's back. I don't know the sex, but imagine it may have been a female as they are larger than males. This was not the smallest Sharpy I've ever seen.

It was a treat to see the winter birds: Cassin's Finch, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, so many versions of Dark-eyed Junco and a White-winged Dove even made an appearance. Happy New Year!

Why the Catbird Sings

2010-12-24T06:49:00.009-07:00

There are some birds who are known mimics; mocking birds, if you will. The Gray Catbird is such a bird. Generally, it mews. Mewing is perhaps it's first or native call? I spent an entire morning in my yard trying to find the crying kitten...before I discovered I was hearing a Gray Catbird. Unless he is singing, the Catbird is difficult to find...preferring to skulk about in deep cover. When I finally saw one, I was amazed at how pretty they are; almost completely gray, with a dark cap and pretty red 'panties'. Well, that's how I think of them.

The following clip, from BirdChick (AKA Disapproving Rabbits) shows a young bird, still practicing his mewing.

Here is another bird, a Northern Mockingbird this time, which has his song a bit more polished:

But, why do they mimic? What prompts a Catbird or Mockingbird to imitate all these sounds? Some even learn car alarms, cell-phone rings, police sirens. Why do they do this? Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology has the answer in this stunning clip which takes us through the songbird's song...it even does frogs!

Cats Kill...

2010-12-11T08:02:00.011-07:00

Well, here I am again...going on about outside cats. I used to have cats (but have developed an allergy,) and yes, some were outside cats. But, that was before I learned better; and I just read some new data. Cats are an invasive species and reek havoc on native wildlife. I started getting a clue that perhaps I should contain my pet when my cat, Spike, decided beheading my neighbor's tulips was great fun. He went right down the row; jumping on a beautiful flower, pulling it down and kicking it apart with his back legs as he chewed the petals off. Oh my he had fun...and made my neighbor so mad! Rightfully so; I got just as mad when my other neighbor's dog killed and buried Spike. So yes, through the years I've decided cats do belong indoors and have found even a feral kitten will make a fine, indoor pet.

The following includes bits and pieces of a recent article that came to my attention. As you read, remember that there are more owned cats than feral cats...and some 47% of owned cats are allowed outside...where they hunt. Much analysis is based on each cat killing only eight birds per year...and I'm sure we all know pets who bring home far more dead birds than that...not to mention mice, voles, lizards, and bats. Yes...even well-fed pets make a huge dent in local flora and fauna.

(Washington, D.C., December 8, 2010) A new, peer-reviewed study report titled, Feral Cats and Their Management from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln, has put the annual economic loss from feral cat predation on birds in the United States at $17 billion. The report analyzes existing research on management of the burgeoning feral cat population – over 60 million and counting -- in the United States.

Feral cats are domestic cats that have gone wild. They cause significant losses to populations of native birds, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians; can transmit several diseases such as rabies and toxoplasmosis; and may be a general nuisance. Cats are the definitive host of the parasite taxoplasmosis; the disease can affect the brain, lung, heart, eyes, or liver. Serious consequences are evident in pregnant women as well as the young, the old, and those with compromised immune systems.

"Communities seeking a solution to their feral cat problems need to consider the science on the issue and the well being of animals impacted by feral cats as well as the cats themselves. These other animals – birds especially – don’t deserve to die at the hands of a predator introduced into their environment by irresponsible pet owners. A humane decision-making process on this issue must also recognize that feral cats live short, miserable lives because of disease, other predators, severe weather and traffic hazards. Thus their life expectancy is about one third as long as owned cats,” said Darin Schroeder, Vice President for Conservation Advocacy for American Bird Conservancy.

Some of the many findings of the report include:

• Feral cats are invasive and pose a threat to native fauna and public health.

• Three separate studies showed that most feral cats (62 to 80 percent) carry the parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis – a condition of special concern to pregnant women.

• Cats are responsible for the extinction of at least 33 species of birds.

• Feral cats kill an estimated 480 million birds in the U.S. each year (the study did not address the question of bird predation by owned cats. Studies suggest that there are 80 million owned cats in the U.S. and that 43 percent have access to the outdoors. Total cat predation on birds is likely around one billion birds per year, though some analysis suggest much higher figures.)
• Cats kill far more native wildlife species than nuisance (invasive) species.

• Cats will kill wildlife no matter how well they are fed; they kill for sport & play.
• The life expectancy of a feral cat is 3-5 years as opposed to 15 years for owned cats, which sometimes live well into their twenties.

Feral cats are prolific breeders and can produce up to five litters per year. Females give birth to 2-10 kittens per litter. The Humane Society estimates that a pair of breeding cats and their offspring can produce over 400,000 cats in seven years under ideal conditions, assuming none die.

About 60 to 88 million cats are owned in the US and 60 million more are feral. Outdoor cats pose a serious threat to native wildlife, particularly birds. While the loss of habitat is the primary cause of species extinctions, cats are responsible for the extinction of at least 33 species of birds around the world. Cats kill an estimated 480 million birds around the world (assuming eight birds killed per feral cat per year). Estimates indicate that between 500-000 and 8 million birds are killed by rural cats each year...not counting damage by urban cats.

Proponents of feral cats and those who insist their cats should be allowed outdoors, suggest that well-fed cats do not prey on wildlife. Research shows that cats maintain their predatory instincts, no matter how well fed they are. The diets of well-fed house-based cats in Sweden consisted of 15-90% native prey, depending on availability.

Cats are opportunistic hunters, taking any small animal available, such as pheasants, quail, grouse, turkeys and waterfowl. They also impact free-ranging chickens and other domestic fowl. Cat owners should be aware that feral cats also kill pet house-cats that are allowed outside.

Feral cats pose risks to public health and safety. Unlike owned cats that are required by law to be vaccinated; few feral cats are. Feral cats can transmit diseases to humans and other cats, including cat scratch fever, plague, rabies, ringworm, salmonellosis and taxoplasmosis. In fact, in 3 separate studies 62-80% of feral cats tested positive for taxoplasmosis...a disease of serious concern for pregnant women as well as older and younger members of the population.

As a cat owner who used to let cats roam, I had no idea that people have to fence cats out of their gardens and children's sand boxes for reasons other than just being a picky. Cats cause problems when they defecate in food-growing gardens, not to mention the unsightly damage they cause when murdering tulips. Seriously, even if you believe your cat doesn't poop in the kiddies sandbox, please consider what it contributes to in dead wildlife...for the fun of it.

Read the entire article is HERE. Photos from Wikipedia.

Making a Pond

2010-12-05T15:23:00.031-07:00

In 2004 I moved from my cabin in the woods into a house I bought in town. I lived in that house for two years without furniture while my cabin looked 'homey' for the few people interested in a home off-grid. It was hard, but when the cabin sold, I immediately set out to get my home remodeled. I'd purchased the place purely for the 4-lot yard and the lovely location; the house was a mess, but...that is another story.

This is about the pond I've dreamed of since I looked out the kitchen windows (there were several, miss-matched windows across the back wall of the house. Unfortunately, about the only thing to look at was the old root-cellar just ten-feet away.

The only photo I could find of the old cellar included a very embarrassing shot of my poor dog. We'd just moved down from 9000' to two-thousand feet lower and he was going to be very hot. Yes, there is snow in the picture, but it was already spring...and he was miserable. I'm quite sure he was more-so after his shave! I'd asked for a trim...and this is what he got; poor guy was as pink as a new-born hamster. But, back to the story at hand...you can also see the lovely view out the old windows; mostly roof and one bears had fallen through, to boot. It was ugly.

As I said, as soon as I could I remodeled the kitchen and ended up with beautiful, new windows that still spanned the entire kitchen. As soon as I could, I removed that old roof.

I can't understand why someone would live with such a lovely view possible, and leave that ugly ol' roof in the way. It's not like we don't have refrigeration in La Veta; we're rural...but on the grid.

Here you can see just how close the pit, as I called it for a couple years, was to the house. It's about 9 x 11' and 3' deep. Not as large, nor as deep as the pond I built in Denver...but plenty big enough. I believe a girl should work with what she's got!

When the house was remodeled, I had the guys pile all the organic stuff on the far side of the pit. A pond needs a water-fall and I remember buying some 20-tons of dirt and having to move it last time. Thank goodness my son John was there to help...but it still took us three weekends. This 'rip-rap' as a base would mean I'd have to buy less dirt. Gotta use the ol' noggin', huh?

Just above are a couple more shots showing the pit in relation to the house and the rest of the yard. In the one on the left, you can also see where the steps led down into the thing. The stairs had to be walled off in line with the side and made a perfect place for the skimmer I wanted.

This one was taken from the top of the rip-rap just before the dirt arrived...and then one of the dirt; another 20 tons or so. They did a good job, not much actually fell into the pit, and they missed burying the volunteer currant bush that had sprung up. Well...pretty much.

You can see how close that old cloths line was; it was going to have to be moved. I choose to live without a dryer, so the line is important...and for more than just holding up more bird feeders! Oh, and you can see the beginning of the place for the skimmer, which would also house the pump. That hose was to give me an idea of where to put the biofilter up on the berm.

Here is my neighbor Rob, working on the hole for the tank that would become the bio-filter. The skimmer pulls water in, the pump pumps it up to the bottom of the tank. Inside the rubber tank is a grate holding a net bag of bio-medium. It looks like a bag o' rocks, but I believe they are a man-made medium on which bacteria will grow and flourish. It is that bacteria which helps to keep the pond clear. On top of the bag go several rounds of additional medium that will assist in keeping the water clean and clear all the time.

Poor Rob...I was absolutely no help with the heavy liner. First a felt-like underlayment went down, with the thick rubber over top. The liner helps protect the rubber, which is a special, untreated rubber that's safe for fish and animals that might drink the water. We used rock to try to hold the liner in place...and discovered the thing was too small. Sigh

You can just see the top of the bio-filter in the above shots...as well as the shoot that would become the waterfall. Rob included a small pond at the top, too; it's really pretty...or will be when it's finished, rocks and plants are placed and everything grows in.

Another friend, Allen moved that gawd-awful cloths-line pole. Rob had dug up the other one, but couldn't move it and just having moved here, didn't yet have tools to break up the concrete. Allen discovered the pole he worked on was at least two-feet below ground and had about 300' pounds of cement around the thing. He used a chain, a board and a huge jack...and very carefully managed to lift the block up and out. Unfortunately, he's not yet moved the broken cement. I'm also thinking I might need more dirt...or perhaps more rocks. The idea is NOT to see the tub up top...which temporarily has a lid while we worked on things.

That's the flower-spike from the Red Yucca I bought for it's architectural, thin, spiky leaves. The other is a sunflower blossom that popped up under a feeder...and a couple friends. I call those bees 'Red-butt Bees' and later discovered there really IS such a creature!

The cloths line was finally out of the way and I couldn't wait to fill the pond. I even went out and got some plants and fish...and had quite a celebration releasing and naming the first three fish I got; Casper is the white one, that Tegan (Rob's daughter) calls Marshmellow; Saffron is the pretty solid-orange one and Spot is what Tegan named the white and orange and black speckled one. They're all Shubunkins...with longer fins. Pretty!

As all ponds do, this one turned green immediately. Before long, things settled down and it's already clear. I can sit at the kitchen table and watch the fish swim. I love it. I couldn't stand it and got more fish at the pet-shop. Feeder-fish that were pennies a piece. That's Jolsen with the black-face, Pretty-boy in the middle...and One, the orange fish with the black line down his back. Doesn't it look like somebody 'numbered' him? They're only about three inches long, but they'll grow. Some say I'm nuts to name them...since I happen to consider the pond a bird-feeder. We have Kingfishers around, ya know!

After one false start were we got rocks that were too big way down at the end of the fall, this is what we ended up with...though things are still unfinished

Yes, the water flows, but it really needs to flow over the lip and not so much under it. I've got a few plants in, up on the berm...which may have died already. I discovered that when I water the berm, mud gets into the pond. Sigh My plan is to cement three layers of rock leaning back into the berm. I think it'll work...but it's just too cold to be working in the water now. Heck, most mornings it's frozen over! It'll get there. What should have been a weekend project has taken me about five years...I can wait till spring. As it is, the birds love it, I can hear it inside the house and I love my new view. It'll get better...

This is the pond I built when I lived in Denver. It's 12 x 10' and 5' deep. I loved it. No Koi this time though; I live with bears and lions not to mention raccoons and skunks. Shubunkins are cheap and pretty...even if I should name them names like Lunch or Sushi.

Location, Location, Location

2010-11-14T14:02:00.008-07:00

I thought I’d talk about the difference in my yard and my neighbor’s across town. While we share a great many birds, of course…we each also have birds the other seldom, if ever, sees in their yard.

Case in point, I’ve never seen Bluebirds, they’ve never had Rosy-Finches. I get hundreds of red-winged blackbirds; they get a few. Eurasian Collared Doves don’t seem to be a problem for them, but I get hundreds of them, too. I’ve never seen a Towhee here…but they have several; even an Eastern Towhee visited them! While I regularly have half a dozen Blue Jays, a few Scrub Jays and once a single Steller’s…they get those plus dozens and dozens of Pinyon Jays that I've never seen here. They've never had a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but I get them every year. Once, I believe they even had a Snipe in their yard! I could go on about the difference in birds. And while I am plagued by squirrels, can count a dozen at about any time and can hardly keep them from destroying feeders…they don’t have a problem with them. We both get bears, though my Akbash keeps them out of my yard; same goes for deer.

Like my friends, it was where I bought that got me into birding. Mine, like theirs, is a very birdy yard. Because of that, and also much like them, I’ve started feeding, watching and counting birds, as well as continued to add more shrubs and trees to increase the ‘birdiness’. I’ve discovered old, native, species plants work best; beautiful cultivars are bred for neither nectar nor seed…just beauty or perfume.

I bought the house where I live now because of the large lot (it’s four, long, town lots: 100 x 150’ or about 1/3 acre). I believe it’s on one of the prettiest streets in town; due to the huge willows, old cottonwoods, and assorted evergreens that surround the area and follow the river through town. And many people have planted different kinds of apple trees…most of them quite old by now. The river, a creek much of the time, flows about 100’ from the back of my house; when it’s high, I can hear it. The rectangular lot has an open back-yard with beautiful, southern exposure.

In spite of all the trees around the perimeter, my lot is actually quite open. While I do conduct what I call 'Turf Wars', there is a good expanse of lawn in the front and back of the house. The house is toward the front; leaving a good-sized open area out back. When I arrived, there was one small Blue Spruce, several old apples (I’ve removed two), a couple lilac, some wild plum, chokecherry, Virginia creeper and a large patch of raspberries. Two, rather small, old Cherry trees are back there, too. Near where I cut down a huge and rather nasty apple tree, I planted a smaller and not so dominating crab apple. I specifically looked for one with 'persistant fruit'; fruit that hangs on all winter rather than making a mess under the tree. When apples freeze and thaw, they make great food for deep winter feeding. This tree has apples not much bigger than coffee-beans; smaller even then the cherries. I love it, as do the birds.

I’ve added a ‘screen’ around the propane tank that sits towards the center in the back of the lot: New Mexican Privet, Low-grow Sumac and Cotoneaster; all of which offer berries. In the corner of the lot is a huge mass of the creeper; climbing where the back and west fence meet. Two more Cotoneaster and a River Birch were planted ten feet or so in front of the two, large chokecherries against the west fence, just up from the 15’ raspberry patch. I hope they make quite a nice thicket; a banquet for birds. Also along that same fence, about 30’ from the house and where the Blue Spruce and apple trees live, I also planted a (thornless) Hawthorn and an Elderberry Bush that’s gotten nearly as big as the huge chokecherry bushes.

Closer to the front of the yard, past the old apple trees next to that Hawthorn, are several Golden Current. At each front corner, on the street-side of my property…there are huge trees. These trees line both sides of the street and are mostly cottonwoods and willows. The bears love to sleep in them. More Virginia creeper lines the lower front fence and a Box Elder grows in the corner, under the bigger trees. I planted some Honeysuckle on the East corner, near the front gate. It offers berries, too, though not as many as the creeper.

Back down the Eastern side of the yard, there are wild plums and on the other side; several more old apple-trees. Past those trees, and all around me, I see more giant cottonwoods, aspen and evergreens, as well as big willows, and more chokecherry thickets and large Maples. Along that fence, near the center of the yard, I’ve planted more Elderberry, Mock Orange, Serviceberry, a cone-shaped little juniper. Curving into the yard behind five or six 50-year old Peonies are now Sand Plums, Mugo Pine, and several Viburnum types. Behind those and towards the very back I planted three, old-variety, own-root roses like the one I had in Denver. It was a huge thing that climbed up over the garage, had clusters of sweet, pink flowers nearly all year…and is thornless! Those three are already about 5’ high; I love that they need absolutely no fussing over. In a couple years they should drape about 25’ of fence. Those are for me, not so much the birds!

Along the back, perhaps 10’ in front of the fence, I’ve planted some goodies I brought down off the mountain where I lived; a foot-tall spruce, an 18” Ponderosa Pine, some Kinnickinnic and Creeping Mahonia. Next to that I’ve added a regular Sumac, and an odd, spiny Cotoneaster. Behind this ‘screen’ are the rather casual compost heap and a brush pile. There is another brush pile behind the two cherries on the other side of the yard. And that’s the loop.

Here and there, especially in the walkway between the house and garage, I’ve planted wild grasses, many native flowers and a couple more Mugo pines. On the little hill where the water-fall starts, I’ve planted several very low junipers, yet another mugo, a Coralberry, two Cranberry cotoneaster, some native, red ‘Hummingbird Flower’ and a sweet clump of what I know of as Sea Oats. Along the water fall is Creeping Jenny, more creeping, purple mahonia (it berries) and other low-growing goodies that I hope fill in and hide the liner. I can see the whole back yard from my big, new kitchen window; even the fish in the pond.

Like my friends across town, I’m protected from winds by both the hill down the street and all the huge trees. My yard stays quite calm most of the time. I’d like to get a few more shrubs, but leave the openness of the yard. Most plants that I buy these days are for bird-food or shelter…and, if possible, 4-season beauty. I like hardy, xeric stuff that I don’t have to mess with. I am an organic gardener; with the water-table less than 3’ below me and feeding birds as I do…how could I be otherwise? I even worry about neighbors spraying as ‘drift’ can kill pond fishes. While I consider the little pond a bird-feeder (there are lots of Kingfishers around), I don’t need a fish kill, too.

Most of my feeders are away from trees; an attempt to keep squirrels off of them. I offer different food in different feeders and don’t offer much mixed seed. I find it a waste of both money and seed; common millet is a filler-seed that most birds don’t especially like. Most of my feeders have Black Oil Sunflower Seed, some have Safflower Seed (Evening, Black-headed and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks LOVE it) and every morning I offer unsalted, in-the-shell peanuts on a flat-bed feeder, along with a cup of large dog kibble for the jays and magpies. Sometimes I also dump leftover bakery goods, cooked pasta and a bit of meat scraps. A bunch of grapes brought in Robins.

Smaller seed on an open feeder would attract flying pigs that decimate the contents in minutes. I also offer home-made suet during the winter and orange halves during the spring along with a small cup of grape jelly. Everything from Grackes and black birds to uninvited doves and starlings mob the suet; but if I can possibly avoid them, woodpeckers, chickadees and the flickers love suet too. Black-headed Grosbeaks, Summer Tanagers and Bullock’s Orioles love both the oranges and the grape jelly. Once, a Baltimore Oriole did, too!

Lastly, several feeders are for small finches only. In those feeders I do use a mix. It’s called Finches Feast and is an equal blend of black thistle, canary seed and sunflower-heart chips. The mix works in any finch feeder and is half the price of the Nyger seed sold as thistle for finches. Oh, and in the spring, when I put out nectar feeders for the hummers, I also make sure all the holes are enlarged enough to accommodate both Orioles and Tanagers, too. They love nectar.

Perhaps this spring, I will offer one feeder (set for only light-weight birds) with White Proso Millet. I understand common millet and milo (sourghum) (cheap birdseed fillers) attract mostly doves and sparrows; White Proso is also favored by finches, juncos, siskins, sparrows, titmice, towhees, woodpeckers and…buntings! I love the Lazuli and Indigos that come through.

Polly Wren who lives just outside of town, amid fields of grazing cattle, nestled amongst the tall trees that follow the river. Their quite different habitat is wilder and thicker than mine, with many trees. Many, if not all, of their feeders hang from or are built beneath the overhand of trees. Their yard is beautiful, and quite different from mine. She writes:

"Our personal property consists of 2.5 acres. Paul's parents own the adjacent 4 acres (all running along the stream) so the family parcel is 6 acres. We have a stream about 100 ft. from the house with a completely natural screening of old cottonwoods, choke cherry, box elder and other shrubby stuff between the house and stream. This provides us with much needed protection from the winds...While the winds might be howling all around us...our yard most times is relatively calm. We are about 7,000 ft. elevation.

In the actual 3/4 acre that we call the yard...we have natural grass, and have planted lilac, aspen, Newport plum, cherry, crab apple, one elm tree, purple and mountain ash, weeping willow...white fir, bristle cone pine and blue spruce...in other words: it's a jungle out there.

The strange thing is we did not set out to make our yard "bird friendly"...we were not birders when we built the place 16 years ago. We became birders because of the birds that would "just show up", and then we have sort of discovered some things along the way.

Deer tend to be a problem here...so we have deer fencing around the base of the trees...this we noticed protects the trees from the deer but is a pain to weed...so we don't...by simply being a little lazy we created great little hiding places for the birds at the base of our conifers and shade trees. We are also pretty lazy about cleaning the brush completely off the property...hence we discovered birds like those "brush piles"...more shelter.

For the most part I think we just really sort of lucked out by building in a place that was already "birdy"

As far as seed goes I discovered these great seed blocks at of all places Safeway. Birdola brand, Deck and Patio blocks...peanut hearts, sunflower chips; no hulls. Nuthatches, Pinyon Jays, Blue Jay, Chickadees, and Goldfinches all love it. Next is plain Black Oil Sunflower Seed, and suet blocks. Beverly turned us on to Purina Mills Wild Bird Chow called Finches Feast. That is about it.

We tend to take the feeders down around the first to middle of June to keep the bears from habituating themselves to them. We put them back up around the 1st of November.

Also as to feed, this spring was the first time we put up oranges around the yard and it really paid off with more that 2 dozen Western Tanagers and over a dozen Bullock's Orioles coming in daily (more than we have ever had before).

Over the years we have racked up quite a nice little yard list of 116 species which does contain some real rarities...again I think this is due to location more than anything else..."

So; theirs is a forest, mine is more open. While I leave brushy, tall grass around the edges, they leave their yard wild, and mow paths through it. They've planted many large trees, I plant smaller trees and islands of shrubbery. I'm guessing habitat makes all the difference...and it's all good. One thing is for sure, their photography is so much better than mine! All pictures here, are theirs. Thank you two, so much!

A Late Hummingbird

2010-10-10T14:24:00.019-06:00

Yesterday I worked on my pond...again. Still? Anyway, I was watering some plants I was going to put up on the hill where the waterfall starts. I turned around to see a female Black-chinned Hummingbird feeding from one of the new plants! She's late; only a couple days short of the (late) record, here.

I got some really interesting plants: some spectacular 'Cranberry Cotoneaster' which looks very similar to pyracrantha but has no thorns! I remember, as a kid, watching waxwings get drunk eating the berries.

It seems the older I get, and the more arthritis swells my knuckles, the less interested I am in plants with nasty thorns and stickers. They hurt like hell! This plant, oddly pronounced: Co Tone E Aster and not Cotton Easter, is perfect...and the birds love it. I've got several varieties already; each with its own particular leave structure and berry. Sweet.

The guy at Rocky Mtn. Landscape in Pueblo West, also suggested a Mountain Fuchsia; a pretty 'hummingbird shrub' that is fine at higher altitudes, and is xeric to boot! This is what the little hummer was sipping from, when I saw her on October 9th. I hadn't had the plant in my yard more than a day; it was still in the growing pot.

I also picked up a stunning new plant for the yard: a Red Texas Yucca...which is not a yucca at all. It has long, thin dagger-like leaves, sort of leathery like yucca but instead of sharp hooks along the leaves, it merely has a fibrous look.

I think a single one, planted as a 'feature' plant will look spectacular. It is so architectural looking and yet, each blossom is stunning in its own right.

I like plants that don't bite! I think it will look spectacular even when not flowering, and again; no thorny spikes along the leaves. I like leaves...heck, I a couple years ago I planted some artichokes just for the leaves and found the thistle beautiful, too.

Photos are from Wikipedia, including the hummingbird collage, which I constructed.

Eagles as Yard Birds...

2010-10-03T12:52:00.006-06:00

Would that I could...

Don't they sound sweet? Hard to realize they're some three-feet tall!

I am building a pond that serves as a bird-feeder, ya know! [grinz]

Somehow I imagine the biggest bird I'll entice is a Belted Kingfisher...known around these parts! Wouldn't it be neat if I got another, bigger bird; some heron, or perhaps an egret for example? Please though...no ducks or geese; I got those in Denver...not so nice is such a small pond.

The Domestic Cat Gone Wild

2010-10-02T10:20:00.010-06:00

What can we do to help? I believe we should talk about it. This is not unlike people who continue to keep ‘outdoor cats’; yeah, I used to be one too. I know (now) that ignorance is bliss. Cats are imports; like some snakes, starlings, rats and rabbits…they were brought to a new world (our country) from far away…some few hundred years ago. They are an invasive species. Who knew?

The local environment, both flora and fauna, have not been able to adapt quickly enough to these exquisite predators. And they are exquisite hunters. A pet cat can, and on average does, kill a bird a day…including well fed cats. Cats kill birds, mice and lizards for sport. Cats make a huge dent on the environment; taking a good deal of food from the native creatures. It is no wonder our hawks and owls are disappearing. It sounds illogical, till one thinks about it. There are hundreds of millions of cats and our song-birds are disappearing to cats, in the hundreds of millions per year! Do the math…

Loose cats spread disease, poop in our gardens and sand boxes; make children sick who play in said gardens and sand boxes, fight and get hurt, are attacked by dogs and wild creatures and suffer, get hit by cars, die horrible deaths and leave us sad when they die.

Are cats more important than birds? You may believe the 'natural' life (outdoors) of your cat is far more important than any ol' bird. Consider that all birds are our canaries-in-the-coal-mine. They are supreme indicators of the health of our home, workplace and of our entire environment.

In some places, bird-watching (the fastest growing sport these days), is imperative to the local economy. Birds, like some bats, bees and insects are important to pollination; to the growth of our food. And they belong here; they're native. They feed on and live to feed other native creatures.

I believe sooner than later, we will have to keep cats under control; on a leash or in a cat-run when outside. I’m all for it. Quite frankly, I’ve lost too many of my own cats to dogs and automobiles…would I have a cat today, it would be a 100% indoor cat. And it would live so much longer. The National Audubon Society has declared that “Worldwide, cats may have been involved in the extinction of more bird species than any other cause, except habitat destruction.” Jim Stevenson, former science teacher and director of the Galveston Ornithological Society and publisher of the quarterly newspaper Gulls n Herons is one of my heroes.

Loose dogs make me sad, too...but that's another story.

If you are interested in reading more, click the word 'Cats' in the list of labels just below this post.

An Auspicious Beginning

2010-09-01T06:16:00.029-06:00

I just started my new job at the local hospital...and what should I see leaving on my first day?

A Greater Roadrunner! I love these large, chicken-looking birds that have such an interesting personality. This guy is a ground-dwelling member of the cuckoo family that feeds on snakes, lizards, scorpions, mice...and other birds. I've watched videos of these things hunting in the tall grass; they suddenly hop up straight up a couple of feet and snatch birds they've flushed right from the air. Once they've caught something, they bash it repeatedly on the ground; heaving the creature over their heads and bringing it down hard. Perhaps they're tenderizing, too.

The one above seems to be a youngster; they're bronzier and lack the cool, featherless strip behind their eye; hard to see but quite colorful. Or perhaps its a female, they of course, lack those fancy racing-stripes.

Anyway, I like these birds that seldom fly...and which sound to me like a cross between a dove and a purring cat. Auspicious? Well, some Pueblo Indian tribes, such as the Hopi, believed that the roadrunner provided protection against evil spirits! What more could a new employee ask?

An unusual pair showed up in my yard; a couple of (what I believe were) Eastern Phoebes! I'd seen movement in the far corner of my yard and, assuming I'd only see some House Sparrows eating the tops of weeds back there...instead saw a fly-catcher type. It was not a large bird at all, quite dark on top, sort of a sooty-brown especially around the head, with hardly any wing-bar or other marks. The chin was quite light, almost white, and moving down it displayed that 'vest' look with smudgier edges and a pale yellow belly coming to a point up under it's chest. It looked for all the world like a Black Phoebe in a different outfit! The yellow, pale as it was...was stunning.

And then there were two! They seemed to engage in a game of chase through the weed-tops...and less than two minutes later, were gone from my yard. What a treat. I could detect no eye-ring nor wing bars on either bird...and both showed a dark bill. Actually, at first I thought the one I saw first could be a kingbird...but it was not so big.

Eastern Phoebes are solitary birds that seldom come in contact with other Phoebes. In that youngsters are the ones that exhibit that yellow belly and faint wing-bar, I'm guessing these two were siblings recently fledged and out exploring the world.

An interesting fact: the Eastern Phoebe is the first bird ever banded in North America; Audubon attached a silver thread to the leg of one of these birds to track its return in successive years.

While I don't see adult male Calliope Hummingbirds these days, there are still several dozen Rufus, Black-chinned and Browd-tailed fussing over the feeders and lots of Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, House Finch, Red-winged Blackbirds and Eurasian Collared-Doves.

AUGUST YARD BIRDS (EACH NAME IS LINKED TO MORE INFORMATION) * = FLY OVER:

Mountain Chickadee, Canada Geese *, Cassin's Finch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Evening Grosbeak, Gray Catbird, Common Nighthawk *, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Calliope Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Yellow Warbler, Western Wood-Pewee, Black-headed Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Common Grackle, Turkey Vulture, Pine Siskins, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker: Red-shafted, Black-billed Magpie, House Finch, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove

Photos from Wikipedia

Early Summertime

2010-08-08T07:32:00.035-06:00

So much has happened lately! I should note that one of the things was a mishap with my internet service…not all of which has been corrected! At any rate, at least I can write here…now.

Folks still stop in from time to time...to bird my yard. As always, Zeus keeps an eye on everybody...and makes lots of friends. It is not at all unusual for people I don't even know to jog by my house and call out a hello to him. He's got more friends than I do.

I finally found my first Gray Catbird!
I knew they were in the yard…I’ve heard them many times. Perhaps because there is a nest nearby, I have spotted at least one several times now. This bird wears some of the fanciest underwear I’ve ever seen on a bird! At least, and because of that beautiful rufous underside, I was able to ID the bird easily. Like the Science Guy says (in his comment below), this is all one usually sees of a catbird.

I had a couple dozen Black-headed Grosbeaks here about two weeks ago; several families with their youngsters. It is wild to watch the young, spiky-headed, patchwork-feathered fledglings, which are every bit as big as their parents (or larger), flutter their wings and beg for food…even while sitting on a pile o’seed! Kids…

I guess Evening Grosbeaks nest later than do their cousins the Black-headed Grosbeaks. The Black-headed babies have come and gone for the most part, while the last few days my yard has had an explosion of the Evening variety, which I have missed the last month or two. I wonder where they go while they (obviously) create and raise their families. Now they’re here, punk-doed fledglings in tow; begging and trilling in their sweet voices that are only Evening Grosbeaks...one of the few birds I recognize by ear alone. They sound to me like the trill of a sports whistle blown with a short, soft breath; lovely. They are here by the dozens again and I love it.

Also fledged are lots and lots of Pine Siskins and House Finches. The young House Finches always remind me of Horned Larks with their downy heads all spiked up. The new siskins are beautiful in fresh, dark, stripy coats with significant bits of yellow; they're psychedelic stunners. Wavy Gravy?

Lastly, we have had a lot of rain. Could the drought be over? Rumor has it that Friday we had the best (worst?) storm in twenty years! All I know is, the pit which will become my pond (when it gets finished & lined) is already holding some six inches of water.

The dragonflies have found it…including several huge Twelve-spotted Skimmers. I understand these are common dragons; according to my research they are found across the country…but this is the first time I’ve seen one. Know wonder birders often also become listers of butterflies and dragonflies. They remind me of old bi-planes. I’ve just realized my pond, when it is finally finished, could be a draw for more than just birds, frogs and salamanders. Yippieeeeeeeeeee!!!

About that pond...I finally got the dirt to cover the rip-rap I piled on the far side (from the kitchen window.) That's where the biological filter will go; it's a horse trough with filtering medium at the bottom and will be full of floating plants. It will also be the beginning of the waterfall, completing the cycle of circulating water for the pond. Right now, it's still just a pile (nearly 30 tons) of dirt; but the birds like it. For some reason, it's drawn in the White-winged Dove and another...the Mourning Dove I hardly ever see any more. Sweet!

July Yard Birds: Calliope Hummingbird, Gray Catbird, Black Phoebe, Rufous Hummingbird, Yellow Warbler, Lesser Goldfinch (Black- and Green-backed), Western Wood-Pewee, Common Nighthawk, Black-headed Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Bullock's Oriole, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, White-winged Dove, Common Grackle, Turkey Vulture, Pine Siskins, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, American Goldfinch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker: Red-shafted, Downy Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpie, House Finch, European Starling, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove.

Most photos from Wikipedia...the dragon shots are mine.
Zeus & friends is from a friend.

Another Black Phoebe...

2010-07-11T11:02:00.013-06:00

This morning a new friend, Carol, came down to ‘bird my yard’. We sat and drank coffee while watching out the window…my favorite place to read. It’s not the best time of the year to bird, but we reliably get four species of hummingbird. They begin to arrive in this order: Broad-tailed hummers (they sound like crickets when they fly), and then Black-chinned hummers (the tail-pumpers). These two breed here and sometimes you see downy fledglings. A few weeks later come the Rufus Hummingbirds on their way back from way north (as far as Alaska). With them come this years’ young…they stay quite awhile, feeding on Rocky Mountain wildflowers and nectar offered in feeders. Generally, less than a week after the Rufus arrive, the Calliope hummers arrive; my favorites. They also breed up north and spend the summer/fall here growing up, tanking up and getting ready for the rest of the migration back to Mexico or Central America.

While we didn’t yet see a Calliope Hummingbird (on this 11th day of July, four days after the first Rufus)…Carol did spot a Black Phoebe! This is only the third or fourth one I’ve had visit here. Thanks Carol!

The Black Phoebe is unlike most phoebes with its highly contrasting plumage. It is a tyrant flycatcher native to western North America, ranging from southwestern Oregon and California to west Texas and northern Mexico. In South America, the Black Phoebe is a bird of the Andes mountain region, ranging from Colombia in the north, south to northern Argentina.

The Black Phoebe reaches a length of 5.75” with dark brown or black on the head, breast, back, wings, and tail, and white on the underbelly, undertail coverts and under the wings. It has no wing-bars; the dark color is unbroken other than the all white under-parts. This species spends more time along streams and ponds than the other phoebe species, and is not migratory but stays in its range year-round. Like other phoebes, it continually wags its tail when perched and sallies for food; waiting on an open perch such as a dead branch or fence post, flying out to catch an insect, and then returning to the same perch. It eats flying insects, hawking them from the air, and also skims floating insects on water like a cliff swallow. While this medium-sized flycatcher primarily feeds on insects, it sometimes catches and eats small fish. Preferred habitats include shady areas near water, streams, ponds, and lakes; occurs in city parks and open chaparral in winter. I hope to encourage them in my yard by stocking breeding fish in my new pond. Phoebes build a mud and grass nest always under something often directly over or near water and often raise two broods in a season.

I know now, that the ‘rubber-duckie’, squeeze-toy sound I hear in the mornings is probably a Black Phoebe. The ‘text’ of the call is “seek”, but I swear they sound like squeeze-toys. Its song is also described as a thin, buzzy pi-tsee, usually repeated. Call is a sharp, down-slurred chip.

[Addendum] The flycatcher is back this morning...seriously chasing another (small) bird which I didn't get a good look at. It perched twice in my yard before it flew off after the other bird. WOW...two days in a row.

The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America, but are mainly Neotropical in distribution. They are now considered the largest family of birds on Earth, with around 400 species. In every country in the Americas, except for the United States and Canada, they are the most diverse avian family. As could be expected from a family this large, the members vary greatly both in shape, patterns and colors. They are members of suborder Tyranni (suboscines) that do not have the sophisticated vocal capabilities of the songbirds. Most, but not all, are rather plain, and many have erectile crests. As the name implies, most are insectivorous, but some will eat fruit or small frogs and fish.

Here’s a Royal Flycatcher…now this bird has a crest; wild, isn't it. The fan-shaped crest is seldom seen except during banding; it’s red in males and yellow-orange in females. This member of the Tyrannidae family is found in Mexico and much of Central America…typically, for flycatchers, it is found in subtropical or tropical, moist lowland forests.

According to Whatbird.com, a group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.

Photos from Wikipedia, except the top one by G. Jameson of the USGS.

The Rufous Are Back!

2010-07-05T06:57:00.014-06:00

I thought I saw a Rufous (or Rufus) Hummingbird a few days before, gleaming like some brass or golden ingot in the morning sun...but I couldn't confirm. On July 7th, I got the confirmation; they're back.

Rufous is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. Sometimes it is said to be strong yellowish pink to moderate orange; reddish. I’ve heard this hummingbird described as both ‘brown’ as well as ‘orange’. I think they’re the color of rich coffee, just after thick cream is added but not yet stirred. This painting does a good job showing how different the bird will look, depending on lighting alone.

As with all iridescent feathers, sometimes this bird’s throat feathers (gorget) looks to be black in color; but then the sun hits it the bird positively glows
…like copper or gold. A stunning bird; when the males court the females they always insure the sun is behind the female, so she can witness him in all his glory as the sun brings out the bright iridescence of his feathering.

The Rufous Hummingbirds bred further north than any other hummingbird; in western North America, from southern Alaska to California. They winter in the Mexican state of Guerrero, travelling well over 2,000 miles each way in migration; quite a feat for a tiny bird weighing only 3-4 grams.

Like most hummers, the drabber female is a bit larger than the colorful male…to accommodate her when carrying eggs. For her size, she lays huge eggs; usually two, that are coffee-bean sized, in a tiny but elastic nest she builds herself of spider web and bits of mossy decoration. Male hummingbirds do not participate in nest building or rearing young; she is on her own. In fact, each male may mate with several females…but doesn’t feed any of them.

Nita, in her blog Nature Remains, has a lovely journal of her experience watching a nest she found. The photo of the nest with eggs is hers; do click this link to read the entire story and see more lovely photos. Remember the oldest post is at the top…so scroll down to start at the beginning! Nita is a lovely writer/poet/naturalist/photographer; you’ll love her. I just love how she describes two growing hummingbird nestlings as looking like a couple of sword-fighters in a telephone booth. She's awesome...

Youngsters thrive on spiders, tiny flies and gnats that are caught in the brush or grass. It’s interesting to watch a hummingbird hover back and forth just a few inches over the grass…hawking (catching insects on the fly). If hummingbird babies are fed only nectar, they suffer stunted growth and deformations…the protein of fresh meat is very important to proper development.

June Yard-birds (each name is linked to more information)
* = Fly-over

Yellow Warbler, Lesser Goldfinch, Cassin's Finch, Western Wood-Pewee, Common Nighthawk*, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Bullock's Oriole, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, White-winged Dove, Brown-headed Cowbird, Violet-green Swallows *, Great-tailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Turkey Vulture, Pine Siskins, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Evening Grosbeak, Blue Jay, American Crow, American Goldfinch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker: Red-shafted, Downy Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpie, House Finch, European Starling, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove

The nest photo is Nita's of Nature Remains, the balance are from Wikipedia.

Leave the Bugs!

2010-06-26T15:44:00.015-06:00

I don't know how it happened, but I missed something somewhere. I've always known not to use poison in my yard. Not only does it eventually get into the water system, but whatever you spray becomes
toxic ...and when critters eat the dead things they become toxic, too. I thought the reason one didn't didn't use herbicides and pesticides was because they didn't want to poison the creatures higher up on the food chain. But...that is not the only reason!

Why I didn't figure this out when I read about farmers 'going organic' to save their health and perhaps get on the bandwagon of organic goodies for sale, who discovered they suddenly had spiders and lady-bugs on their plants? They were tickled to see that, when they quit using poison, the bugs did come back;

both good and bad bugs...just as nature intended. And there was balance; generally one insect didn't wipe out a crop, as there were other insects on hand to curtail the bad ones. The point is...they quit using poison and bugs came back. Duh!

I garden for both me and the birds. I plant for a natural habitat...a beautiful, soothing yard with shelter, water, food and nesting-sites for birds. I make puddles for frogs. I move snakes out of the way when I mow. I'm tickled to see bees. I like bats. I encourage all manner of critter to visit here.
And, I don't use poison.

But, the reason I don't use poison is because I don't want to kill the birds and other critters I enjoy. I never stopped to consider that should I use poison in such a way that the birds couldn't ingest it, they still wouldn't come! Why come if the bugs are gone? Duh!!!

Just today, I watched a Yellow Warbler foraging in the Chokecherry bush. No...the fruit is not ripe, it is hardly even getting started. But there are aphids! I noticed the other day that on several young branch-tips, leaves were curled and inside were the tiny insects...each 'herd' managed by an attending ant. Too wild...but I knew that. And I used the hose to mitigate some of the potential damage...getting soaked while doing so.

But it wasn't until I watched the warbler that I realized I'd just cleaned off much of the bird's meal! I flushed away the very natural thing that was attracting a non-seed eating bird to visit my yard. Sheeshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Ya know, the bushes had a few branch-tips with curled leaves last year...but the plant was not stressed and it did just fine; lots of berries were had by many, many birds.

I often turn captured spiders out of my house...not just to save the spider, but also because it might make a meal for a bird. When I catch a mouse in a kill-trap (they tried to nest in my linen closet), I offer up the perfectly safe meal to the magpies who come to my yard; they swallow 'em in a single gulp! When my pond is finally built, I'll add some fish for color and my delight...but not Koi this time. Nope, I don't want to feel slighted when a bear or a raccoon or a snake make a meal of an expensive fish.

I'm building the pond for my pleasure...and to attract birds. Should I manage to entice a local kingfisher or perhaps a heron over for dinner, I want to know that I'm observing the natural order of things...even if I did create the little puddle. Oh sure, I'll create hiding places for the fish with rocks and plants, this won't be like bobbing for apples in a barrel. I offer seed to birds too, and plants that provide fruit...but I don't begrudge the hawk who hunts here, either.

I don't know why I never followed this logic to this point. Who knew removing insects removed one of the reasons birds come to the yard at all? I offer plants with berries, seeds in feeders, suet, nuts, nectar, assorted leftovers, the occasional mouse and soon fish, too; but, I never considered the bugs in the trees and worms in the grass were dinner to a whole 'nuther batch of birds.
Who knew?

The lovely Yellow Warbler photograph is by P. Nelder, whose work you can see here. The other shots are from Wikipedia.

Fledglings

2010-06-12T07:18:00.062-06:00

My yard is full of fledglings; young birds that have recently left the nest. Parents bring them here, where the livin' is easy. I like to think I give them a head-start into the real world. Birds don't have it easy these days.

Five or six black-backed Lessar Goldfinch are also visiting again. I swear they remind me of sleek seals; so dark on top and bright yellow below...with a bit of white on their wings.

Stunning little birds; nearly half an inch smaller than American Goldfinches and about half the weight. I love it when they visit. Most of the shots here are from Wikipedia or BirdFreak's site, but my favorite is from this blog. It's amazing what one finds just Googling a bird!

Or click here to get to the specific page where I found the photo.

You can see that it is really quite easy to tell an American Goldfinch from a Lesser Goldfinch (be they green- or black-backed)...as long as you are discussing males. Females...not so easy; at least for me.

This is a female American Goldfinch, according to the photographer. In my mind it could be a young male or non-breeding American Goldfinch, or a female Lesser Goldfinch. I still do not have the eyes to see; apparently one has more yellow at certain times of the year...but who and when?

I have much to learn!

Now that natural food (bugs) are more plentiful, I've cut back a bit on the number of feeders I keep full. Thank the gods that the grackles, black-birds and cow-birds are here in greatly reduced numbers, too; partly because the feeders I've left up are difficult for them to feed from and some contain only safflower seed. All the grosbeaks love safflower seed, and some of the other birds too...but not the Icterids so much.

I still put out peanuts for the jays and magpies...which draw the blasted black birds back in. Ugh! Anyway, it is hilarious to watch a young magpie discover peanuts-in-the-shell. As you know, young birds are nearly full-grown when they fledge...but regardless of their size, they are babies. So, these big lunkers land on the feeder and pick through the peanuts...all the while squacking and whining for their parents. They flap their wings and assume that begging position, as if to say "I can't open it...how do ya open 'em; show me how to open 'em!" Too funny.

And grapes. I put out bunches of old grapes I get (discounted) and have discovered American Robins will actually come to feeders for them. That's a first, to see a robin at the feeders. They sure do like grapes, but they are most unhappy that the magpies come, too. I regularly watch one or two robins mix it up with a magpie; harassing and dive-bombing them; finally driving them out of the yard while they fly behind in hot pursuit. This morning, I realized why; there are several full-grown, but spotted and streaky young robins hunting on the grass. Now that the grapes are gone (for now), mom is teaching them the grape jelly is pretty good, too. Who knew?

In the early evenings I see swallows and Common Nighthawks. I really cannot identify the swallows...as high and fast as they fly, all I know is that they are swallows. What I did identify though...and all by myself (!) were several Common Nighthawks.

They fly like big, clumsy bats; probably why they are called Bull Bats, but the identifying marks are the white patches just below the 'wrist'. This patch is nowhere near the wing-tips as in a Lesser Nighthawk...which don't frequent this area, anyway. As thrilled as I was to ID a bird myself...it was an easy mark. I love both of these beautiful paintings of this bird. How many can you find in the one on the left? The Fuertes portrait shows how these birds are expertly camouflaged, while the one by Hines shows how wide a mouth these birds sport. I used to see them all the time on the dirt roads up by the cabin where I lived here in Huerfano County; lying on the roads there is a bad habit they have...if I do say so myself.

Today I have been watching lots of fledglings. Young robins have blotchy, streaky bodies and look pretty much like a whole different bird...one with a 'tortishell tummy'.

There are a very many House Sparrows youngsters...birds which generally I don't see many of in my yard. But right now they all have so many mouths to feed...they bring them here. For all their evil ways, they are good parents...which is perhaps why they are so successful an invader.

Also exhibiting good parenting skills are House Finches...who have to put up with the most insistent, badgering youngsters I've ever seen. These babies don't just sit and wait, they chase and harass their parents non-stop. At least the males are right in there with the domestic duties. These three mouths belong to young blue birds, also excellent parents.

One way to tell that a bird is young is by the shorter tail, though it does grow in quite fast. Another is by the downy feathers that seem to stick out here and there, not unlike the cow-lick on a young boy. The surest way, for me, is to look at their mouths. When very young, the inside of a bird's mouth, or gape, is quite bright; yellow or even red...an easy mark for the parent often feeding young in a darken place. The wider a mouth opens, the more likely it is to be filled. In a young bird the upper and lower mandibles are thick and somewhat fleshy looking; like lips. As the bird ages, even by the time it leaves the nest and becomes a 'brancher' (hoping about the branches of the nest-tree for a few days before it flies), this changes as the bill hardens. This illustration from the Illinois Raptor Center shows this well:

This is a nestling and...

this is a brancher.

By the time the bird fully fledges and leaves its parents for good...its bill will look like that of an adult. You can still see the short tail and youthful bill of these young magpies.

Generally, I don't recognize first year birds...if they are much different than their adults; and many are. I just assume I'm looking at a 'different' bird. Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are an exception...well, at least the males are. The red on their heads begins forward, and gradually 'moves' to the back of the head. They are adorable, especially when still a bit fluffy from the nest. I've never seen a parent feeding a youngster at my feeders.

What I imagine are very young White-breasted Nuthatches are those with ill-marked coloring. Not unlike a young White-crowned Sparrow whose head goes through a blurry, 'checkered' look before exhibiting that beautiful, clear black and white; I think the striking white head and wide black head-strip from bill to nape on a young bird is also a bit 'blurry' compared to the crisp lines of adults. They hunt along the fences, the stakes keeping my dog out of my young shrubs and also come to the feeders. However, just like a youngster might, they are hesitant and timid. They look around before they begin picking at seeds. Parents always seem to be on a mission; in and out...quickly.

Early last April, a lovely biologist/birder/

environmentalist/teacher from the La Junta area, Duane Nelson was at my home to see Rosy-Finches. Oddly, while here he ran into two other biologist/birder/guides; Tammy and Ira from the Denver area. They are friends of his. Ira is the one who pointed out the first yellow-shafted Northern Flicker I ever saw...right here in my yard; it's a small world. Already feeling tickled pink to have met three more fascinating and knowledgeable people right in my own home, Duane pointed out another first...the Red-breasted Nuthatch. He said he imagines I've always had them. I imagine I might have seen them and dismissed them as badly-viewed Mountain Chickadees. Here are two pictures that compare these birds. Oddly, I only saw them another day or so and certainly have not yet seen any youngsters. But then I haven't seen any chickadees of late except one...badly seen, just the other day. Might it have been one of the Red-breasted Nuthatches?

Speaking of fledglings. Many of us have come upon young birds that sort of 'freeze' when we come close. Some folks think that means they are tame, or perhaps injured...but it does not. Still birds attract little attention. Cats however, skulking along low on the ground, find them easily. As much as I like cats, I look forward to the day with they must be kept inside or in 'cat-runs'...or on leash. There are so many loose and feral cats that they are seriously decimating our song bird populations. And those populations are already under siege from fractured habitat, wall-to-wall lawns, poisons and climate change. A single hunting cat may only catch a few dozen birds and mice (also removing bird and other creature's food suply) over a year's time...but multiply that by the thousands upon thousands of cats that hunt and you must realize cats are responsible for as many as a million birds per year. It's astounding.

Fledgling birds are ideal prey

for many small predators, including cats.

In this case, prompt demise of the bird

was only prevented by the fact

that the cat was held back on a leash.

Spring winds down...

2010-06-04T16:43:00.008-06:00

As the spring migration winds down…so do the numbers of each species I see in my yard. Where earlier this month I had half a dozen Rose-breasted, nearly two dozen Black-headed and only a few Evening Grosbeaks. Even last week I regularly saw, every day, 1-2 Rose-breasted but they seem to have moved on. Still here are half a dozen Blacked-headed and now more than 30 Evening Grosbeaks at a time! I love this photo; I got it from Wikipedia, too...it sure shows ya where these babies get their name. It also is a good shot of the bill-color, which changes during breeding season, to a lovely sort of teal.

Anyway, Bullock’s Orioles numbers are down from two dozen or more to only half a dozen or so at a time. For awhile I watched ten or more Western Tanagers and now see only 3-4 at a time. I wish they were still here in such great numbers, as the Bullock's Oriole is one of the few bird species that will puncture and eject Brown-headed Cowbirds' eggs and Western Tanagers will attack and drive away female cow-birds that enter their territory.

My neighbor Polly and I believe the Orioles, Tanagers and Grosbeaks are all nesting around here. I suppose the pairing-up and nesting duties are what have happened to the large flocks. The Broad-tailed and Black-chined hummers are both here for the long summer. The little Calliope's breed in Alaska and only stop here on their way home...just in time to put up with the pugnacious and beautiful chocolate-brown Rufus Hummingbirds. They remind me of my coffee...just as I add the cream.

I have not seen the Lazuli or Indigo Buntings in over a week; nor the Chipping or White-crowned Sparrows or the Black Phoebe. What I do see from time to time are a pair or more of Cassin’s Finches (I love that pale, pale belly and shock of red on the head), and that little House Wren. This photo from Wikipedia shows a streaky-fronted Cassin’s …the ones I see are beautifully pale-bellied with hardly any streaking.

I still see one or two of the two White-winged Doves, but I’m happy to report the numbers of those !@#$%* Eurasian-collared Doves are down; since I’ve made the concerted effort to discourage them (both safflower seed & caged feeders and of course no longer spreading seed on the ground (for 600 or so Rosy-Finches)). Red-winged blackbirds are also down, but cow-birds not so much. [sigh] Ha, this afternoon I came home to a pile of immigrant ‘pigeon’ feathers; somebody had a good meal! I tell ya, I'm all about feeding birds. LOL

Something else I have noted, which just could be the result of all the tanagers & orioles; the numbers of hummingbirds here, now, seem down…and I’ve heard that comment about town. Both Broad-tailed and Black-chinned hummers have been here some weeks now (they arrived in that order), but generally I don’t see many Calliope’s until after the Rufus arrive in June or July. Last year I had as many as 50 or more hummers in my yard at any one time. It was wild.

The pretty little flycatchers are back; a Western Wood-pewee has been in the yard lately. I love to watch them hawking…but would like to learn how to distinguish them from Olive-sided Flycatchers, which are also seen around here.
Soon my pond will be finished and full and have that delightfully cooling sound of water falling over rock. I’ll stock it with cheap (but fairly attractive) shubunkins, which breed like bunnies. With the price of sunflower, safflower and thistle seeds, plus peanuts, grape jelly, oranges and sugar for nectar…I rather like the idea of a ‘self sustaining’ bird feeder! Yup, I’ll be tickled pink if a kingfisher or egret or a heron visit. My pond is for the birds! In Denver, I had a pair of mallards drop by to think about setting up housekeeping. Perhaps ducks are not a good idea (ewwwwwww) but maybe frogs or toads will come; I like that idea… One sat in a puddle where the pond will be for a couple weeks this spring; calling, calling, calling… I loved it.

Photos from Wiki

In the Beginning

2010-05-31T15:11:00.016-06:00

In the beginning it was a mess. But, can you see it?

Do you see what it will be?

I have dreamed of this since I moved from the one I built in Denver; and this time it won't involve digging! Yippieeeeeeeee!

I bought the house with a root cellar just outside my kitchen window. I'm talking: there was a roof on the ground ten feet away from the window. And it was an eyesore; the bears had fallen through it trying to get into an old apple tree. It was ruined.

But...I could see a new life.

For a couple years now, this has been the 'new' view outside my window. I had the roof removed and all manner of organic rubble piled on the far side. That will be the berm. I love little hills in a flat-rectangle of a back yard. The berm holds the beginning.

Can you imagine what it will look like before the end of summer? An oasis, a bird magnet...at last something very pleasing to the eye.

I've bought or ordered everything I need; dirt to top the rip-rap will arrive sometime next month...and will be topped by some really nice soil into which I can plant. First I have to get electricity outside, but I'm working on that, too. I really cannot afford this, but there is something called 'quality of life'...for which I am a huge proponent.

Can you see my dream?
A hint:

I built this one

a few years ago.

May Yard Birds
* = Fly Over

Common Nighthawk *, Western Wood-Pewee, House Wren, Indigo Bunting, Cassin's Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler, Mourning Dove, Western Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Black Phoebe, Lazuli Bunting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-headed Grosbeak, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Bullock's Oriole, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, White-winged Dove, Brown-headed Cowbird, Violet-green Swallows *, Yellow-rumped Warbler - Audubon's, Great-tailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Turkey Vulture, Song Sparrow, Pine Siskins, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Evening Grosbeak, Blue Jay, American Crow, American Goldfinch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker: Red-shafted, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch, Black-billed Magpie, European Starling, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove

The Bird Whisper

2010-05-25T06:57:00.013-06:00

I've a friend and I think he might be a Bird Whisper. Well, he is good bird-luck! He's a neighbor who also feeds birds, though like me, he's not sure which birds he sees. We've spent several hours at my kitchen window now...it's quickly becoming the place to dine. The very first time he came over, I saw the FOS Indigo Bunting; only the second one I've ever seen. I like that he was as stunned over that blue as I was. Lordy what a color...and such a tiny little thing. Those dark eyes remind me of juncos, but they are much smaller and more slender. What a joy to see.

We watched all three grosbeaks: Evening, Black-headed and Rose-breasted come and go for hours. I thought it was pretty neat that the next day he sent a note to say he'd seen the first ever Rose-breasted Grosbeak in his yard.

Last night, while talking with him, I thought I saw a mouse with it's tail straight up, disappear into a crack between the sidewalk and the siding on my house. It was a very small crack; less than an inch and a half (yes, I measured). But watching it for several seconds after it re-appeared, I could see it was a very tiny little bird with it's tail cocked over his back. It had little to no eye-marks and was pretty much all-over brown with a lighter belly...like a mouse. The baring on its tail was the give-away, however. I'm liking my friend, he must be a very powerful Bird Whisperer!

Speaking of friends, Paul and Polly got the Baltimore Oriole this year, as well as another rare visitor to Colorado: an Orchard Oriole. Oh my, what fun it is to sit on their deck and watch these two come and go...all the while dodging the feisty Bullock's Orioles that seem to have exploded this year. I probably have nearly 20 in my yard at any one time; they love the orange halves and cups of grape jelly I put out for them. They're everywhere!

Both the new orioles are more shy, and the Orchard Oriole...a stunning bird of black and chestnut coloring, is the smallest of it's kind. But what a beauty; and so shy! I'm lucky they've been hanging around and I got to spend time watching them. What good friends...and they share photographs!

As usual, I add their name to their photos...the others are from Wikipedia or BirdFreak's free Flickr site. You can find more of Paul & Polly's photos on Colorado Birder.

Click any photo for a larger view...

Birding for Chickens

2010-05-16T11:30:00.009-06:00

I'm sure you have figured out by now, I bird fairly close to home. Money is an issue; $30-40 to even drive up and bird around Pueblo is rough for me. No problem though...I live in a pretty birdy area. The reason I'm not real wild about birding alone is that I really don't know what to look for. It occurred to me, while observing a particularly dark-streaked Pine Siskin that...I could easily make it a Black & White Warbler. Sheeshhhhhhhhhhhhh.

However...I have good friends who sometimes pick me up when they go out birding. Polly and Paul Neldner are just such folks and live just across town from me. We like to share birds, stories and folks who visit. When folks come to my yard to bird (and there are quite a few), they let me trundle them over to their place about a mile away...to see different birds in their different habitat. They get Pinyon Jays and Spotted Towhees, I get Rosy Finches...but never visa-versa.

Well, except for Charlie; my Lewis's Woodpecker who spent the winter in my yard and somehow has ended up in theirs! Yup, he's now in their yard every day...and they don't even feed him kibble. Harrummph!

These two neighbors of mine get to travel a bit and always include bird-watching when they take trips. Recently they were off on a chicken-hunt of sorts...I've never seen the chicken-types strut. I know the gist of it and used to find dusty spots up near my (then) cabin where wild turkeys danced and left both foot-prints and parallel marks where they drug their wings and fanned their tails for the ladies. But I've never seen them at it.

Polly and Paul have now seen it, but didn't get good pictures of the Dusky Grouse strutting and showing off, so when Paul happened upon a pair in Cuchara (about 10 miles up the mountain from La Veta), he started taking a camera to work; and he got some stunning shots.

Today, the two of them picked me up for the ride to try to break Polly's Bad-Grouse-Karma; hoping she'd get to see the pair displaying too. We did...and it was awesome. The female is a quite bird, in color and disposition; larger than I expected. Yes, very chicken-like and with big, feathered feet. The male was stunning; a pineapple-butt (from the back), startling yellow eye-combs and bright, raspberry-colored neckticles...I mean air-sacks (well, they do look a lot like something else...and only the guys gots 'em. ...thanks Polly! heh, heh, heh)

Anyway, the bird sort of gulps air and fluffs out, spreads his tail and 'booms'...an eerie and sort of prehistoric sound. It's a single burp (or whatever makes the sound)...of a peculiar wave length; it's wild. And I got to hear it several times!

On the way back, we stopped frequently to check birdy bushes, trees and ponds, and at one place spotted a beautiful Red-naped Sapsucker up-close and personal. What fun...

Perhaps I should offer this disclaimer...while this is a Red-naped Sapsucker, and the photo was taken by the Neldners, it is not the specific bird we saw. This is another shot they got some time ago...not all that far from where we were.

I appreciate my good friends & neighbors and they let me use their photographs! All pictures in this post belong to Paul & Polly Neldner. To see more of their beautiful shots, go to Colorado Birder, here. As always, click a pic to enlarge.

Oh, they both shoot and don't really care who took which photo between them;
hence the P & P. ...Sweet!

I Have a Birdy Yard

2010-05-08T11:32:00.018-06:00

Spring has sprung; the birds today are far more colorful and appear in greater and greater numbers like the brave and glorious bulbs and tiny spring flowers and the Dandelions in the lawn.

It seems more arrive every day; I find it both cleansing and inspiring. I want to get out and work in the yard, but it is still too wet and my RA prevents me from even pulling weeds. It can be frustrating but also teaches me to be patient and to accept what I can do and to embrace what is…as it is. Besides, the birds like the wildness and even more come as spring unfolds. I open windows to listen, as I watch dozens and dozens come to the different feeders offering different selections of seed, nectar, fruit, peanuts and kibble.

This weekend, sitting at the big windows that stretch the entire width of my kitchen I see dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds, Common and Great-tailed Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds and European Starlings and the ubiquitous Eurasian Collared Doves. I recently bought some Safflower Seeds and filled their favorite feeders with that seed instead of their preferred Black-oil Sunflower seeds. They will try the new, white seed…but no longer mob those easy feeders. I am thrilled. And the squirrels don’t like it, either. All three grosbeaks seem to love it, however.

Speaking of grosbeaks…three varieties are visiting my yard right now. Over the past day or two, I have counted as many as 18 male Black-headed Grosbeaks, six male Red-breasted and as many Evening Grosbeaks all at or under feeders or waiting a turn on nearby branch or wire. Just seeing this many brightly colored birds who are having such a hard time with their habitat fractured by manicured yards and the disfavor of the too common native plants they need to survive…makes me smile. I enjoy offering them a respite; and they often choose to nest nearby; it’s a win/win for everybody.

I have a single ‘flat-bed’ feeder that is a lipped, metal, rectangular tray with a good pattern of holes for drainage. In it I put shelled and unshelled and unsalted peanuts, kibble and sometimes grapes or what I call ‘fat-worms’ made from thin strips of meat-trimmings I get from the butcher. Mostly it is the big black pests who feed there…along with the more dominating Black-billed Magpies, as many as 6-8 at a time; one waiting after the other for a turn to grab, stuff and fly off. Also 2-3 Blue Jays come back and forth too, flipping unshelled peanuts to find those with the heaviest meats inside before they decide and fly off to give the other a turn. I’ve not seen for some months the single, male Lewis’s Woodpecker that spent the winter here, but there is one visiting my friends Polly and Paul, across town. I hope he finds a mate there! While I have occasionally had Scrub Jays visit and once a Steller’s Jay…I have never seen the hordes of Pinyon Jays she gets, either.

I impale orange-halves on feeders, for the dozen or more male Bullock’s Orioles (it’s easier to just count males) I have in the yard at any one time, but have noticed the Black-headed Grosbeaks also enjoy them. As I’ve said before, I also carefully enlarge several feeder-ports on the hummingbird feeders (ensuring they are also smooth inside so as not to damage delicate tongues), so that the big, yellow and black orioles can use them, too. For that small gift, I am rewarded with their hanging, sock-like nests in the local trees and their youngsters who follow them here in the summer. Two feeders hang almost against my kitchen window; I hear a ‘thump’ when an oriole lands and lately am privileged to watch 2-3 tussle over who gets to feed first. Birds stand on the feeder, hang on the wire holder and cling to the bird-netting I stretch across the outside of the window. They argue and chortle and hang in all manner of positions just inches from me as I sit and watch. I feel blessed…yanno?

I have discovered a much cheaper feed for the little finches than pure, black thistle (Nyger) seed. It’s offered at feed stores by Purina Mills and is called Finches’ Feast. It contains about an equal mix of the black thistle with the similarly shaped little Canary Seed and tiny, tiny sunflower-seed chips. The birds love it; it works very well in any finch-feeder and it’s half the price of pure thistle. At any time now, I find as many as two dozen American Goldfinches, the same number of Pine Siskins and perhaps half as many House Finches all vying for position at these feeding stations. I try to keep these separate from feeders bigger birds enjoy, as they seem to frighten off these little birds. The big black birds will try to feed at these feeders too, but these particular feeders make it hard for them and they usually leave after just a bite or two…and the little finches come right back. Several times this week I have seen two or three Lazuli Buntings sharing these feeders too…though they seem quite timid. If I remember correctly, last year these startlingly blue little birds seemed to like a feeder full of ‘premium mixed seed’…I think they like the white millet it included. (I try to avoid cheap mixes that contain milo or red millet; cheap seed-filler that birds don’t seem to like). Once I even saw an Indigo Bunting accompanying the other buntings, finches. I regularly have Cassin’s Finches, occasionally Purple Finches join the little birds at these tiny-seed feeders.

Right now, as I look out over my yard I see so many yellow birds; different hues, different sizes; they seem to mirror my lawn; liberally laced with bright yellow dandelions. I’m patiently waiting for the Western Tanagers to appear; Polly recently saw one in town. They bred here as well and bring their fledglings to my feeders. Who knew how much red appears on the face and head of a Western Tanager is dependent on the insects it eats? Unlike other red tanagers, the Western Tanager cannot manufacture the red coloring itself, and depends on the bugs…who get it from the plants they eat. They also enjoy seeds and fruit, especially the orange-halves I offer.

Other heralds of spring are the hummingbirds. First to arrive are the red-throated Broad-tailed Hummingbirds that sound like chirping crickets when they fly. A day or two latter the Black-chinned Hummingbirds arrive, though I can’t understand why they are not called ‘Blue-collared Hummers’…their dark throats are edged with such a beautiful blue-purple iridescence. Soon will come the belligerent but beautifully-brown Rufus Hummingbirds and finally the tiniest of birds…the Calliope Hummingbirds who bred in on the Canadian west-coast to Alaska but spend winters in Central America. By summertime, there will be 50-75 of these brightly iridescent little birds flitting and dashing through the yard.

This morning I saw my First of Season (FOS) White-crowned Sparrow. I have not seen one in months and months and am tickled pink to know they are back. I also saw a Chipping Sparrow, but they show up from time to time, as do the Song Sparrows. But another bird I am yearning to see are the seal-like, black-backed Lesser Goldfinches; they should be here any minute. While I do see the errant one from time to time, they’ll be here in greater numbers all summer. I just love their shiny black tops; from bill, over top including wings, to the tips of their tails and the bright, unblemished yellow over their entire undersides. I would imagine there are also the green-backed version too, as they are more common here in the west (black-backed are a more ‘eastern’ bird, I understand), but I cannot yet ‘see’ them. While Lesser Goldfinches are even smaller than the tiny American Goldfinch, I still find it difficult to tell females from young males…and perhaps from the green-backed Lessers. Still, those black-backed beauties are stunning.

Coming and going daily, all year even, are both Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees and, I know now, both White- and Red-breasted Nuthatches. I wish I could discover a way to continue to put out suet feeders now that all the black birds are here…but they will eat a cake a day! So, some of my favorite birds must go without…their visits here have fallen a bit, now that they only get sunflower seeds. The Flickers just aren’t coming around these days; haven’t seen one in weeks.

Eventually, I’ll stop feeding sunflower seeds too, as a method to get the black rascals to move on. Right now it is too early in the migration for me to want to pull the feeders, but as bears wake, deer get hungrier and the weedy-birds start thinking ‘nests’…I’ll stop. Hopefully that will encourage them to leave.

About this time, the warblers and sparrows and fly-catchers arrive; they don’t use seed feeders. I saw the second Black Phoebe I’ve ever seen in my yard yesterday and the Yellow-rumps have been here awhile. Once I had an American Redstart…I’d love to encourage another to stop. Already seen in by Polly are the quite common Yellow Warblers who bred here; but I’ve not yet seen them in my yard. Any day now, I’m sure. They too, bring their youngsters…sometimes including a single cow-bird chick looking for all the world
like Baby Huey hulking and begging food from their diminutive yellow parents. Ugh…

Soon the fly-catchers will arrive. In addition to the phoebes, I’ve seen Western Wood-Pewees and perhaps the Gray Flycatchers Polly has seen. I am not yet good enough to tell the flycatchers one from another.

Of course, the American Robbins are here, 3-4 at a time in the grass under the trees. Hopefully one won’t decide to build a nest, again, near where I come and go. It was not pleasant getting hit in the head by an irate bird trying to protect its nest every time I ventured into my yard.

And while they don’t nest here, the Turkey Vultures have taken up roosting at night in the trees in front of my house…something I find a bit disconcerting. I do like being in their flight-paths however; when they come and go, I get long, slow viewings of the big vultures flying quite low over my yard…adults sporting that naked, red face and head. Kinda makes me want to keep moving when outside in the yard, though!

I continue to plant berrying vines and shrubs, small trees and native perennials and grasses for the birds here. While Paul and Polly have Gray Catbirds and Spotted Towhees, I’ve never seen them here. I believe I’ve heard the cat-birds…but I can’t be sure. I want to see these guys. I hope to get something called a (female) single-seed juniper or perhaps a Rocky Mountain Juniper. The evergreen tree will offer both cover and small fruits for my birdy friends. At my friends Dave and Marta’s home, I’ve watched over a hundred robins and a good-sized flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding on such trees…not to mention the Townsend Solitaires. While the robins enjoy the fruit early on, it is when the Virginia Creeper’s fruit has frozen and thawed a few times by late September and October, the Hermit Thrushes show up.

Both the Black Phoebe and the Banded Kingfisher I’ve seen flyover my yard now and again, like water. I plan to create a pond this season, just outside my kitchen window. Yeah, I'm blessed to have a very birdy yard, a stone's throw from the river and surrounded by tall trees...but I also plan it that way. That, and the pond, will be another story.

Thanks to birdfreak on Flickr and the free wikipedia for all photos on this post.

Rosy-Finches in May!

2010-05-02T07:42:00.003-06:00

My very wet yard finally dried enough to mow yesterday, and this morning noticed two Brown-capped Rosy-Finches feeding along-side Rw Blackbirds, grackles and cowbirds!

Without my glasses on, at first I just noticed them as being 'different' somehow from female blackbirds...no streaky breast, no eye-line and pale color along the folded edge of the wing. Racing for binocs, I got a long, solid look at the birds; clearly two B-c Rosy-Finches. WOW...

I immediately tossed out seed just outside my back door...and then there were four of the pink-bellied, dark-headed beauties out there. Now, that is a first; it's MAY!

This beautiful shot is by Bill Maynard, though I flipped it.

Happy May Day!

2010-05-01T06:49:00.006-06:00

Got a dusting of snow again last night; I prevented the nectar feeders from freezing (again) by bringing them in when it got dark. I wait till then because it never ceases to amaze me how late hummingbirds will feed into the evening. I just have to remember to get the feeders back out as soon as it's light. Those poor little things need sustenance as soon as they wake up from the torpor they enter to keep from freezing, themselves.

On April 29th I came home from work (it was trying to snow again), dropped my stuff off, walked through the house, came around the corner and found myself face-to-face with the most beautiful, male Bullock's Oriole I've ever seen. He was at a nectar feeder just outside my kitchen window (I always drill out every other feeder-port for the orioles). He stayed several minutes while I watched him. He was so richly colored his chest looked as orange as burning embers; a warm russet so brignt one could hardly call it yellow. There's another FOS for me...and he's back this morning, too. Yummmmmmmm... I've not seen the female yet (she looks like an entirely different bird), but they bred here last year, so she can't be far behind!

Also here yesterday were a couple of Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Since I try very hard, if unsuccessfully, not to feed the darn blackbirds (Red-wings, Grackles and Cow Birds), I don't often see them anymore. They are a stunning looking bird, though. I just love this shot (however blurry) I got sometime ago when one chest-bumped with a grackle. Crazy...

The Broad-tailed Hummingbird showed up on the same day I saw him last year, but the Black-chinned seemed a day or two late. Still...the FOS for both birds was still late April!

Not seen this April (but that were here last April), were Rose-breasted and Black-headed Grosbeaks, Lazuli Buntings and larger numbers of Lesser Goldfinches - the sleek, black-backed variety. I'll keep an eye out; can't be long now.

Total species for April was 46 birds and included:

Yellow-headed Blackbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Bullock's Oriole, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Cassin's Finch, Mallard *, Brown-headed Cowbird, Chipping Sparrow, Violet-green Swallows *, Yellow-rumped Warbler - Audubon's, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch - Black-backed, Red-tailed Hawk, Canada Geese *, Northern Pintail *, Gadwall *, Great Blue Heron *, Common Grackle, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Belted Kingfisher *, Turkey Vulture, Song Sparrow, Pine Siskins, Common Raven, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Evening Grosbeak, Black Rosy-Finch, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Blue Jay, American Crow, White-winged Dove, American Goldfinch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker - Red + Yellow-shafted, Downy Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Black-billed Magpie, European Starling, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove. ( * = Flyover )

April 22nd Broad-tailed Hummingbird

2010-04-24T08:53:00.005-06:00

On April 22, the First of Season (FOS) Broad-tailed Humming-bird visited the feeders I'd had out for a week. Yes, I'd changed the nectar once, as the week was quite warm and I know it will go bad in just 3-4 days. For the first few weeks as they arrive, as well as the last few weeks before they leave again, I always prepare smaller amounts of nectar and make it slightly stronger (with a bit more sugar than 4/1 water to sugar) and only add a few ounces to each feeder. With this practice, I both toss less out between feeder-changes AND I ensure the birds are able to get the calories they need during migrations through these mountains both coming and going.

What I found interesting is, April 22 was the same day last year, that I found my FOS Broad-tailed Hummingbird! If all follows that pattern, I should see a Black-chinned tomorrow, as they seem to follow the BTs by a few days; last year, the FOS BC hummer was spotted on April 25th. I'll keep my eyes peeled!

The photo is from Wikipedia. Remember, a hummingbird's color is determined on how light shines on feathers. Sometimes a chin will look black, but if the sun shines on the bird straight-on, the color will be brilliant. In fact...male hummingbirds will make sure the sun is behind the female for whom he dances, ensuring the very best shine to impress her with his most dazzling colors.

As always, click the labels below to see more posts and photos on the topic.

Early April

2010-04-02T15:32:00.017-06:00

Wow, what a Good Friday! I feel sort of bad because my boss gave us the afternoon off, but due to expected snows...I opted not to drive the nearly 40 mile round trip to work for a couple of hours and to stay home today. Besides, three small groups of folks had said they were coming to chance the possibility of late Rosy-Finches. Unfortunately, while a few of the last pink-butts were here very early...they were gone by 9 o'clock. As I edit this note...they no longer come; the season is over. Four solid months was great fun, though.

One might think I am the epitome of the 'good neighbor' or 'generous person' inviting everybody to come see the birds in my yard, but there ARE extenuating circumstances. First of all, the birds in my yard are a blessing of sorts. Rosie-Finches in particular are often hard to find and I've had them in my yard daily since December; and in great numbers. How cool is that? Secondly, I learn SO much from the folks who come here. Case in point...Stan and Becky were here, first time they actually came into the yard; they usually bird just up and down the street. But, having met them in front of my house and their pointing out a Brown Creeper in a tree in my front yard was a first for me! Lovely people and way knowledgeable, too; who knew I had Creepers?

A bit later another birder arrived.
Duane pointed out a Red-breasted Nuthatch that was coming and going from a feeder. I've been telling folks "Nope, not here...only outside of town." Sheeshh! Yet another first!

This Red-breasted sweetie clearly has a rufus-wash over his front, but Duane also pointed out how much smaller this bird is than his cousin; almost a third smaller, with a much shorter tail. And then there is that face; so much like a chickadee with the white eyebrow and that much stubbier bill. I imagine they've been here all along, but I just didn't know what I was seeing.

And then later in the day, while Ira and his wife Tammy were here, Ira spotted a Northern Flicker on the ground. She sat for quite awhile while we watched her. Immediately Ira pointed out her face had very little brown...and suggested it might be a Yellow-shafted. Tammy and I watched her till she finally flew; and yes another first; a Northern Flicker - Yellow-shafted variety. Good call Ira! While the photos show a male Yellow-shafted and a female Red-shafted, if all one notices is the underside of the tail, it is easy to tell these birds apart; but I'd never seen one.

I know I miss identifying some birds because I'm new, but just not to see them is a shame! Got a first today...in my yard...twice!

There is a third thing...perhaps the most important; to me, anyway. That is a certain amount of socialization in this very rural area that I moved just a few years ago. I tell my brothers in California that birding keeps me off the streets; I'm only half kidding. There is a good degree of sanity that comes from relationships; friends and acquaintances...not to mention people of like minds who sort of validate and support a hobby. Doncha think?

At the very least, I can say I've met the several many very interesting people by opening up my yard to birders...and I've learned a lot. Just today I added the Red-breasted Nuthatch to my yard-bird list, I actually SAW (rather than just heard) a Belted Kingfisher, I got to point out the FOS (first of season) Common Grackle here, got the first Yellow-shafted Flicker, witnessed a couple Great Blue Herons fly over and got two 'duck' flyovers identified: Gadwalls and Northern Pintails. Perhaps no big deal to many, but I can only identify a handful of waterbirds.

Something else pointed out to me today, the female Kingfisher is more colorful than the male. She has two breast-bands; the wider blue one and the more narrow, red one, below. A male Belted Kinfisher just has the one, blue/gray band across his front. While these photos don't show it well, both sexes have the same, dark blue coloring.

So there ya have it; I'm really not so nice...I just have so much to gain inviting all these wonderful people into my yard. Today was a really good Good Friday. And while I believe this is the last weekend the Rosie-Finches will be here...this is yet another first: first time they lasted till April! I'm a bit chagrined though; not a single person got to see the Rosies today; they come and go earlier and earlier these days...and today stayed only an hour or two.

March 2010 birds included:

Belted Kingfisher, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Song Sparrow, Western Scrub Jay, Western Meadowlark, Great Horned Owl, Pine Siskins, Common Raven, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Lewis's Woodpecker, Cassin's Finch, Evening Grosbeak, Black Rosy-Finch, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Blue Jay, American Crow, White-winged Dove, American Goldfinch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Northern Flicker - Red-shafted, Downy Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpie, European Starling, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove.

All photos from Wikipedia

Early Spring Storms

2010-03-25T08:43:00.019-06:00

Rosy Finches, all three species, have been coming to my yard since I started feeding birds here three years ago. This year, they arrived on December 4th.

It started with only 40-50 Rosies and quickly grew to as many as 5-600. This is the first year they have stayed around as much as they have; longer between snowstorms and longer through the days they visit.

About 16-18 inches of snow fell here a few days ago, and another such storm came yesterday, so I assume the Rosies will be here close to the end of March, but I don't believe I've ever had them here in April. It will be sad to see them go; as the seasons change, so do the birds that visit.

For example, the Evening Grosbeaks, here about all year, have been coming in numbers of 40-50 at a time. Not only their numbers, but the color of their bills tells me Spring is near. Have you noticed the Evening Grosbeaks bills turn a beautiful teal color during breeding season? Yes, and their bills are changing now, I detected the blue/green color on several, if not most of the visiting big beaks.

This Song Sparrow is one of 3-4 that I see in the yard at any given time.

Also around with the Red-winged Blackbirds, Starlings, and Eurasian-collared Doves, are lots of Juncos, House Finch, Am. Goldfinch, Pine Siskins, Song Sparrows, Mtn and Bk-capped Chickadees, Wt-breasted Nuthatchs, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Blue Jays, the occasional Scrub Jay, Crows and Ravens are around, 40-50 Evening Grosbeaks, a few American Robins and a couple Cassian’s Finches.

The Meadowlarks didn’t stay but the one day, the Lewis’s Woodpecker hasn’t been seen in a couple weeks, but the White-winged Dove was here again today and I saw the FOS (First of Season) Turkey Vulture in a nearby tree on March 20th. In the past week I’ve watched a Red-tailed Hawk, a Cooper’s Hawk and a Great Horned Owl watching the yard.

It's time to put out the Hummingbird feeders!

While the rest of the photos are mine, the Turkey Vulture is from Wikipedia...

Rosie Goodness

2010-03-15T10:52:00.010-06:00

I can't help but share some of the Rosies.
This is one of three places they congregate, just outside my back door.

Yes, every bird you see here, is a Rosy-Finch.
Oh, and the White-winged Dove showed up, too.

Yesterday, just as it began to snow,
I had some new yard-birds:

Meadowlarks! Isn't March 14th a little early?
There are more pictures below, who knew they'd come to a yard?