qebo's 2013-2014 birds

FeederWatch counting starts today. I'm officially registered with an ID for data entry. The gist is to determine a site (which can be as small as a single window feeder, and as large as you can see from one spot) and count periods (two days in a row spaced at least five days apart, but it’s OK to miss a day or a week, and apparently OK to shift the days in advance if you’ll be away, but it’s not OK to shift days after the fact if you happen to see something interesting), then watch the site as long as you can (e.g. before and after work, or five minutes each hour) and record the maximum number of each species that you see during each count period. FeederWatch materials include a poster of typical feeder birds.

Here’s the Cornell Lab FeederWatch web cam.

Neat! I'll be watching your thread with interest. Saw my first downy woodpecker of the winter this morning, pecking away at my suet feeder. Love the downies. So cute.

I was getting a downy woodpecker for awhile last winter. Today, my balcony was a hotbed of invasive species: European Starlings and House Sparrows. Also one each of House Finch, Tufted Titmouse, and Black-Capped / Carolina Chickadee (I'm in the overlap area).

*settles down on your bird thread*

:)

Heh. Cat and FeederWatch bird cam:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smihan13/10757538575/in/pool-cornellbirdcams

My cats notice the chirping but don't pay any attention to the video.

Funny. My Max (Male, desexed, about 6/7 years old) totally ignores Birds. And I have a brand new Magpie chick at the moment. Boy is it clumsy/stupid. Of course the old Girl (18+) has never been interested in 'wildlife'. Just me. I guess that counts :-)

Starring this thread! :)

@guido47, my Java paws at the window where my feeders are located, but Moonpie doesn't seem to care.

One of them is a mighty hunter, though, because I find dead lizards by the air conditioner from time to time, and their condition indicates someone chewed them a bit.

My cats are very interested in real birds. They are strictly indoor cats. When I put the bird feeders up last year, one cat would get so excited that she'd bounce back and forth pawing at the window, scaring the birds away. She is learning, though she often forgets, to be more subdued.

Snow! Lots of birds yesterday but few today.


So here’s a downy woodpecker from a couple weeks ago.

I love Downies!

>9 qebo: What a cutie!

I'm so glad you're into birds now, Katherine. They really pep up the winter scene when we can't do our usual gardening (although I did very little of that this past year).

I also love downies, fuzzi. We call ours Pecorino (for any male, assuming it's always the same one - which it isn't) and Pecorina (for any female - assuming the same thing). :D

Lord Bravery (the alpha feral) got a bird yesterday. I think it must have been a sparrow. :( That is nature...and I have to get over it. Then, this silly cat made a sad face through the window as if she needed to be fed cat food (from me) right away. She doesn't like missing any meal (even if she doesn't need it).

Ah, nature...! :)

(12) You do your best not to make your feeders too accessible to the hunters, and hope.

My backyard is fenced, so dogs aren't an issue, and my three ferals don't seem to be interested in hunting, much. They like lying in the sun and watching the feeders, though.

I do that. The feeders are out in the open.

I have a heater in the birdbath now to keep it from freezing, but the cats think that's their water dish. :)

And I'm counting for FeederWatch. Nothing exciting, but they say that's fine and useful.

I was going to put more feeders in my yard, but decided not to because of neighborhood cats, so my FeederWatch site is the balcony and vicinity.

The hanging blue drop in the post 9 photo is water. I have two, so I can swap if one freezes. I did this because the bird bath is too annoying to keep fresh in the winter.

10,11: And the downy woodpecker showed up on a weekend, so I could count it for FeederWatch. I've seen a pair of cardinals too, but so far only on weekdays.

12: Pecorino ... Pecorina ... Lord Bravery
I love your names!

My daughter named the cat. :)

Today the male and female cardinals both showed up, but about 15 minutes apart so I can count only one. And neither stayed long enough for a photo.

The bird count was zip today because of rain. The rain subsided late afternoon, I took one last look before heading out for a walk, and... a hawk! Couldn’t see much from upstairs, so I grabbed the camera and ran downstairs and amazingly it stayed put until it was done with dinner. The photos are through layers of window and screen.

From a couple weeks ago (the balcony railing has since been fixed), alas not on a count day, two blue jays.

The cat helping with the tally.

What a thrill, a hawk!

Have you identified it yet? I have my Peterson's handy...

I'd guess Cooper's, but I'm not certain. I submitted photos to FeederWatch for ID from someone who is more familiar with the variations.

What was the hawk's dinner...or should I ask?

I'm not sure. Zooming in on the photos is blurry, but I think too big for a sparrow, maybe a starling.

It looks like either an immature Cooper's Hawk or immature Sharp-Shinned Hawk. They're really hard to tell apart.

25: From descriptions, Cooper's is more likely to show up in a city yard. Then the images I tried to match didn't have a white patch at the top of the head.

Juvenile birds often have different plumage, as do birds in Winter. I know, confusing! ;)

I have been seeing some excellent hawks lately (I guess because there are no leaves on the trees....) but none well enough to identify them.

Oh I saw a peregrine today sitting on a line right over the road. He didn't seem to mind the traffic just 10 feet below him.

(29) Oooooh! I wish I'd been there...

Info on hawks:

http://feederwatch.org/learn/tricky-bird-ids/coopers-hawk-and-sharp-shinned-hawk...

29: Cool!
31: Alas, my powers of observation and my photos aren't good enough for a certain match, and the FeederWatch people didn't respond to my request for ID.

Goldfinch! I've seen only a few over the winter, though the nyjer seed feeder shows evidence (I never see other birds on this feeder).

Lookit! He's turning yellow...Spring is coming!!!!!!!!

Yellow!

Almost all yellow!

Lovely! As soon as they start yellowing up down here, they migrate north. So nice to see them at their showiest, if only secondhand!

I've seen two goldfinches this month already here in Maryland. I just started recently trying to spot different bird species and keep some sort of record of them. I don't have a thistle seed feeder up, but I did see them stop by for a drink at the birdbath. I think both were male as they each had a bright yellow head and olive wings and body.

My thistle seed feeder remained full all winter. Nobody was interested until the goldfinches showed up.

When did they show up?

I don't remember exactly, but in the weeks immediately before the photo above I noticed the thistle seed level dropping, and occasionally saw a flitting bird that I wasn't able to catch in a photo.

My Goldfinches stuffed themselves with black oil Sunflower seeds while they were here...I think they've migrated, as I've not seen any in a week or so. :(