Who loves homemade bird food?

My birds do, that's who! This is the second winter I have made homemade suet dough for my feeder friends, and they really went to town on it this weekend. The Tufted Titmice were the biggest customers by far, often waiting in line to take their turn at the little dish in which I offer the dough. For a variety of recipes that you can make at home, visit the Bird Watcher's Digest "Do it yourself" page of recipes. I'm feeding the "bird pudding" recipe to my birds.

Here's some more photos of the locals partaking of the dough.


White-breasted Nuthatch: "Down the hatch!"


Carolina Wren does a face plant right into the dish!


Wow, look at that tongue! Not just for grabbing bugs!


Tufted Titmice eye its prospects...


... and decides that standing ON the food is the best option.


The Titmice really are such clowns!

Other visitors to the dough dish were Red-bellied Woodpecker and Northern Cardinal, but I wasn't able to sneak up on those guys to get their pictures. They see me coming through the window and off they go!

Feederwatch, week 9

Okay, everyone say it with me: "Brrrrrrr!" Wow, was it cold this weekend! It got down as low as 1°F right around 8am on Sunday, with a high of 30° sometime Sunday afternoon. We also had about 5" of snow on the ground.

We got a couple of new species at the feeders this weekend, presumably as a result of the snow cover and cold temps. The American Tree Sparrow made its debut showing for this season, and my beloved Eastern Towhee finally made an appearance. Since my first sighting of the Towhee on Sunday I've been seeing them around the neighborhood more frequently. Hooray!

Got lots of photos of various birds eating homemade suet dough this weekend, more of which I'll share in a future post. The Titmice love the stuff, but not all of them were as piggy as this one!




This picture cracks me up - it's as if the Titmouse is claiming the dish and its contents as HIS!


Blue Jay showing me the best view I'm gonna get
My feeder watching will be reduced by a day this coming weekend due to the fact that we'll be spending our daylight hours at the Wilds on Saturday for the Wilds Winter Extravaganza (sponsored by the Ohio Ornithological Society). I look forward to spending time with fellow Ohio birders and hope to add some new birds to the life list (keeping my fingers crossed for a Golden Eagle or a Horned Lark - or both!). And I hope that going some place different will get me out of the funk that has got me down after all of these cold, grey days, despite my best efforts to keep the funk at bay.


Birdy roll call for weekend of 1/9/10-1/19/10

Mourning Dove	31
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	2
Blue Jay	2
Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee	5
Tufted Titmouse	5
White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Carolina Wren	2
Eastern Towhee	1
American Tree Sparrow	2
Song Sparrow	4
White-throated Sparrow	4
Dark-eyed Junco	4
Northern Cardinal	5
American Goldfinch	11

Happy birding!

To love a bird

It's not hard to like birds. Birds can brighten a gloomy day, and bring a smile to your lips with their songs and antics. All birders have a favorite or two, and even those who don't consider themselves to be birders probably could tell you about a bird they like. Bold coloring, bold personality, or limited seasonal viewing opportunities might be given as reasons for why one likes this bird or that bird. I certainly have several that fit each of those categories. But what makes one love a bird?

Even though I try not to play favorites with the birds that visit our woods, some are, admittedly, closer to my heart than others. Sure, I do truly love them all, but there are a select few with whom I feel a special connection. There are those who bring their young in to beg and dine at our feeders in the summer and fall. What a wonderful treat to watch these family interactions, to get such a close look at their family dynamics. Each day I laugh and laugh at the little ones who are perfectly capable of getting the food themselves, and even go so far as to sit on the edge of the feeder while giving their begging calls, but refuse to eat until the food is put in their bill for them.

There is another family interaction to observe, though: nesting. It is the birds who nest close by, especially - those are the birds that I hold most dear. Trusting little souls who voluntarily build their nests near or on your own human dwelling. From a human's perspective there is an intimacy in that action that is beyond words. It makes you feel special - chosen, almost. It creates a bond between you and the bird. You feel naturally protective of the nest, the parents, the eggs, the fledgling young. You feel loss and remorse if the results are less than successful: an egg doesn't hatch, a nest predator has its way with things, or a newly fledged youngster is captured by a larger, swifter mammal on the lookout for an easy meal. You feel happiness when you see the young growing stronger and larger every day, and elation when the day has come that they are finally coaxed from the nest and they FLY!

Two birds fulfill this role in my life: the Eastern Phoebe and the Carolina Wren. They dwell with us during mating season and bestow upon us the privilege of observing the stuff of life that for them is merely survival, but for me is poetry in motion. Seeing their lives unfold before my very eyes brings me such great joy. With this joy comes great attachment to and great love for them. It is no surprise, then, that I was very sad to see a Carolina Wren on only one day last winter. One day. In previous winters the Carolina Wren had at least made sporadic appearances throughout the season, and sometimes I would even see two at once. But last winter... nothing.

This winter has been the very opposite. I see my sweet Wren almost every day. At the very least I see it every weekend, and sometimes I see two of them. On some days when I'm standing out on the deck, I can hear as many as 4 of them chattering about all across the woods, TEAKETTLE-TEAKETTLE-TEAKETTLE-TEAKETTLE-chrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRPT! Knowing they are here brings something special to my day. Here are some photos I was able to capture this past weekend. Wren likes to eat suet and safflower seeds. I've noticed it ground-feeding quite a bit this season as well, as comfortable on the ground among the Song Sparrows and Juncos as it is on the feeders with the Titmice, Chickadees and Nuthatches.


I'm sorry this image isn't in better focus. I'm also sorry for all the Dove poop on the deck railing.








Insert image here of wiping corners of beak with dainty napkin, followed by a dainty burp.


Hover Bird!


Bottom's up!
While I have no current photos of the Eastern Phoebe to share in this love-fest of a post (they won't be back until March), I can tell you that we are thinking of naming our property Phoebe Hollow in their honor.

Flying squirrel video

Finally, I was able to get a somewhat decent video of the flying squirrels pigging out at the bird feeder tonight! The lighting is not great, but you will certainly get the gist of how active they are. This is the first time I've seen more than 1 flying squirrel at a time in many weeks. I hope you enjoy this video of my little rodent friends getting their fill on this snowy January night.

Feederwatch, week 8

This first weekend of 2010 was a blustery one! The high temperature was 22 degrees, and we had a low of 9 degrees, but a constant light breeze made for an even cooler windchill factor. A light dusting of snow covers the ground, making it easy to see where little birdy feet have hopped about.




It was a good weekend for aiming the camera at my fine-feathered feeder friends from the comfort and warmth of indoors. I got quite a few "take away" shots, like these.


White-breasted Nuthatch and Red-bellied Woodpecker fly off with their respective treats. Once again, you can actually see that red belly.

And the beautiful Northern Cardinal looked especially brilliant.


Kelly, this one's for you!

A very special treat was an extended visit from a sweet Carolina Wren, but I'm saving those photos for another post.

Someone recently asked me if we had noticed an increase in Titmice at the feeders this season, to which I replied "no." Well, I went back and checked data from all seasons to-date, and it turns out that so far this season has seen the greatest average number of Titmice: 4.5. My first season of Feederwatching ('05-'06) saw the lowest average number of Titmice, at 2.4, and last season was the 2nd lowest average with 2.9. Hmmm... last season saw a poor showing for Carolina Wrens, too. I think I need to figure out how to get my data into some kind of chart form for easier analysis, which might help me get a better picture of what happened last winter that made it so difficult for the birds. Now that I think about it, though, the winter may not have had so much to do with at as the summer - maybe last summer was a bad/unsuccessful mating season for some reason.

Anyway, to this weekend's numbers...

Week 8 roll call, 1/2/10-1/3/10:

Mourning Dove	25
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	1
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Blue Jay	1
Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee	4
Tufted Titmouse	5
White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Carolina Wren	2
Song Sparrow	2
White-throated Sparrow	3
Dark-eyed Junco	3
Northern Cardinal	5
American Goldfinch	7

Happy birding!

Looking forward

Happy 2010, everyone, and best wishes for a healthy and happy new year! Before I say anything else, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you who have read Heather of the Hills throughout 2009, and I hope to offer you more glimpses into the natural world that I love so much into 2010 and beyond!

I'm already looking ahead to several great events that I will be attending early in 2010, all of which will be wonderful learning opportunities.

Wilds Winter Extravaganza at the Wilds (sponsored by OOS), January 16, 2010
Oh how I love the Wilds. While it is my understanding that most time spent at this event will be driving along the outskirts of the Wilds' property, we traveled several of these roads during the Birding by Ear event last May, and they make for good birding! Can't wait to add some new raptors to my life list, and perhaps some new waterfowl, too. Plus, I look forward to seeing old and new birding friends!

Flora-Quest, May 1-2, 2010
Here I will have a chance to spread my naturalist wings a bit by boosting my botanizing skills. Remember those 4000+ flower photos I took in 2009? I bet I'll take 1000+ just during this one weekend in 2010! In addition, I'm very excited that I will finally be visiting the Shawnee State Forest and the Edge of Appalachia preserve. I've heard so many amazing things about the diverse flora and fauna that calls this part of the state home, and it's really ridiculous that I haven't visited this patch of forest that's only a few hours west of where I call home. I guess the allure of the Hocking Hills along with my home-body nature keeps me from feeling too compelled to seek out beauty elsewhere in this great state of Ohio.

Biggest Week in American Birding, May 6-16
"Warblers are dripping from the trees, right at eye level." That's one description I have heard of spring migration along the boardwalk at Magee Marsh in northwest Ohio. I've been wanting to make the spring pilgrimage up there for years, so when I heard about this inaugural festival during the Midwest Birding Symposium last September, I figured this was the "excuse" I needed to get my butt and my bins up there and see this warbler mania firsthand. LOTS of great activities are planned. Among other things, this will be a good chance for me to visit Oak Openings, another popular natural area in Ohio that I have heard great things about. One thing is for sure: I've got to start studying my warblers, both visually and auditorally (is that a word?), so I will know what the heck I'm seeing and hearing!

As I ponder what the new year holds, it's not just about naturalist events. I also hope to do more with creative writing (which I will, of course, share on these pages), expand my photographic skills, and to continue connecting with nature on meaningful levels. There will also be opportunities, I am sure, for meeting up with friends (old and new), and for making fun new recipes in the kitchen! I still have a pile of books that were purchased months ago that tell me I really need to read them (yes, they say to me in a zombie-like voice: "Read less on computer screen...more on paper pages....", and they are actually starting to win me over!). Hubby and I need to go on a camping trip this year (we didn't camp at all last year - so sad). I want to ride my bicycle and paddle my kayak more this year. And as the days grow longer, I will look forward to the first calls of the Eastern Pheobe around March 15th, hoping they will nest on the side of our house again. And all the cycles will continue on, and I will love every minute of it.

What are YOU looking forward to in 2010?