FeederWatch, week 3

This past weekend we had another blast of ridiculously, unseasonably warm weather, with temperatures in the mid-60's on Sunday, floated in on a stream of warm breezes coming out of the south. But oh what a difference a day makes! Today we had a stiff breeze cold enough to make my nose run, and I write this next to the first blaze of the month in the ol' wood stove.

But enough about the weather. What about the birds? Well, surely the two things go hand in hand. For example, the Eastern Towhees and Song Sparrows have been absent from our feeders so far this season, and I'm guessing that is in large part due to the mild weather. Mild weather has meant that lots of bugs are still out and about, thus extending the amount of time these birds can still rely on good "natural" food sources instead of resorting to the seed that we put out for them. These two species (Towhee and Song Sparrow) have made themselves known at our feeders in the past when daytime temps stayed well below 50 degrees, and even more so when snow fell - two conditions that have not been met so far on my FeederWatch days this year.

Other trend notes: Visiting Tufted Titmice are up from last year by a bird or two, and I'm consistently seeing 2 White-breasted Nuthatches each weekend (although I heard as many as 3 at once on several occasions), which has been a rarity in past years. Carolina Wren continues to show up weekly, always brightening my day with its spunky spirit and noisy chittering, chattering, and scolding.

One bird that was absent from the roll call last week was the Red-bellied Woodpecker. I searched high and low both days, and heard some calls far off in the woods, but it never showed up. This week, however, it was very active at the feeders, visiting both the peanut feeder and the suet feeder on numerous occasions. The Red-bellied has become quite adept at plucking whole peanuts from the feeder.



Sizing things up...


Looks like he picked a winner!


A closer view of this feeder beauty.


Tufted Titmice are by far the most frequent visitors to the peanut feeder. They use the little "tails" that are on a lot of the peanuts as a handle. Look at how it's using its toes in the right photo, getting a grip on the nut!


Success!



Here's a close-up of using a peanut "tail" as a handle. This little Tufty is in a precarious position, though. I've seen them hanging upside down like this with a nut in their beak, only to lose their grip and drop it. The comical thing about it is that they dive-bomb right down after the nut they just dropped!

Here's the tally of birds counted this past weekend (11/28-11/29):

Mourning Dove	15
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	2
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee	4
Tufted Titmouse	5
White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Carolina Wren	1
White-throated Sparrow	3
Dark-eyed Junco	1
Northern Cardinal	5
American Goldfinch	10

Happy birding!

Evening symphony

Even though I am not a fan of the shorter days that accompany fall and winter, I do enjoy spending time outside at dusk during this time of year. It's a nice way to wrap up the day, and it really quiets my mind. As with the gold-hued light that shows itself at dawn and dusk during this season, there is a special quality to the sounds at this time of year. It's hard to explain, but the difference is tangible in my mind. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that there is less vegetation around to dampen the sound. In the spring, birders have the dawn chorus to look forward to. In the fall and winter, I look forward to the evening symphony.

The players in this pastoral symphony are few, but the lack of diversity is made up for by the richness of the sound. At dusk the Cardinals and White-throated Sparrows come out to play. The Cardinals announce their presence with heavy wing beats, and their vrit vrit call that reminds me so much of the sound of corduroy pant legs rubbing together. The sparrows sing out their high chip note, and make such a racket as they dart in and out of the brush and leaf piles on the ground. Polite dinner conversation among friends is how I like to think of it. At present, I still await the sweet callings of the Towhee, saying it's name and foraging among the leaf litter with it's odd but effective hop-back style of scratching the ground.

From time to time a Barred Owl will let out out a bellowing "WHOOOOOOawwwwl" from deep in the woods. I try to call it in with my meager imitation of the owl's signature song of "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you alllll," but my attempts are usually met with silence. I've got to figure out how to make my voice more resonant when I do that one.

If I'm lucky, a flock of Canada Geese sounds off in the distance, no doubt heading to a pond or plowed corn field in search of their evening meal. If I'm really lucky, the flock flies right overhead and I hear the whistle of their wings while they honk alternately amongst themselves.

The air is crisp and clean, and a breeze causes the rattling of dry beech leaves which cling so tenaciously to their branches. Nature's own version of wind chimes, perhaps? Off in the neighboring valleys, cows moo and dogs bark. The dull hum of traffic drones softly from the not-so-distant highway. The report of a shotgun echos from hilltop to hilltop, sometimes a signal of target practice, other times telling of a hunt in progress.

And sometimes, briefly, there is quiet and stillness. I breathe it in deeply, happy to be an audience of one to it all. And the cost of admission? Free.

Giving thanks

It still hasn't quite hit me that Thanksgiving is this Thursday! Wow, how time flies. Given that it is a holiday week, and there things to do, food to eat, and family to visit, I'll be taking time off from blogging for the rest of the week.

I am thankful for many things, some of which are my family, a wonderful husband, good friends, good health, my puppeh Emmett, natural beauty that surrounds me every day... I could go on and on. I wish a good Thanksgiving to you all.

FeederWatch, week 2

Wow, what wonderful weather we had this weekend: sunny both days, with highs in the lower 60s. Needless to say, it was perfect for spending time outside watching and counting birds. When the weather stays this nice this late into November, it's like waiting for the other shoe to drop. According to the forecast, that shoe will be set to drop right around Thanksgiving. I can hardly wait (she says, voice dripping with sarcasm). Although, looking back at my FeederWatch data from last year, we experienced several rebounds in temperature after Thanksgiving in 2008, including one weekend in December, right after Christmas, when the temperature rose above 68 degrees! (Feederwatch data offers snapshots of weather conditions, as well trends in bird populations!)

I saw a Pileated Woodpecker this morning, but he was far away and showed no interest in the feeder area, so I wasn't able to count him. I also heard a Red-Tailed Hawk off in the distance this afternoon, but since it didn't show up to hunt any of my feeder birds, it couldn't be counted, either. I suppose I also cannot count the Eastern Towhee that I dreamt about last night (does anyone else out there dream about birds?).

Carolina Wrens showed up again this weekend, much to my delight. Hopefully someday soon I'll get a picture of one. They love hanging around in our wood shed, coming over to sample suet or to ground feed every once in a while. This weekend they were singing about cheeseburgers: "CHEESEburger, CHEESEburger, CHESSEburger - CHEESE!"

Overall, the bird count this weekend was similar to last weekend. The Goldfinches increased in number a little bit, and they were their usual feisty selves, squawking and posturing at each other on the feeder.


The peanut feeder has been a huge hit so far this season. It usually gets emptied within 2 hours of being filled, mostly by hungry Tufted Titmice. It took the birds weeks to catch on to this feeder last year, but they took right to it when we put it out this fall.


The Mourning Dove numbers were also up a little bit from last week. When they aren't on the feeders, they're working seed on the ground. And when they're not eating, they sun themselves in the trees all around the house.

I know there are people out there who think MODOs are "junk" birds, but I think they are so beautiful.






What makes a beautiful, warm day spent counting birds even better? Having a furry companion to help you count, of course! You did some good counting, buddy.


The official tally for the weekend:
Mourning Dove - 15
American Goldfinch - 8
White-breasted Nuthatch - 2
Tufted Titmouse - 4
Chickadee - 3
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Hair Woodpecker - 1
Carolina Wren - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 2
Northern Cardinal - 6

Shameless self-promotion

Most of the images that I showcase in this space are taken out "in the field." While that is no doubt my favorite place to take photos, and will undoubtedly remain my focus here on Heather of the Hills, I'm trying out some new photographic techniques over on my other blog, Photography of the Hills. That's my space for showing my more artistic side, whether it be concerning nature photography or food photography. I encourage you to take a look over there, if you haven't done so before (I realize several of you already follow both blogs, and I really appreciate that!). I've been doing some different stuff with seed heads recently, with more experiments planned in the near future.

Here's an image from my recent exploration of seed heads (as well as my first serious attempt at a triptych):


To see other similar work, just click on the link to Photography of the Hills listed up under my profile. Or click on the photo above. Hope to see you there!

Flora imitates fauna

What do these images look like to you?