Birding!

[Chet E.]

This Hooded Merganser pair spent some time on the pond this morning. This may be a first time for me seeing this variety. Wood ducks and Mallards were also present.
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Thursday morning there were a few pockets of open water, by afternoon the pond was mostly clear and all the ice was gone yesterday evening. 75°F will do that. Fortunately the weather has returned to normal. (38°F).

 

[jjohnwm]

The feeders this winter were heavily used by Blue Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Grouse...and almost nothing else. It was a very poor year for winter finches and other birds we expect to host throughout the cold season...but the numbers of individual birds of the above species was very high; we have had over 15 Jays at a time on many occasions, and similarly high numbers of Grouse and we went through a crapload of seed. My wife, who would probably count each individual seed if there were a convenient way to do so, informs me that I have just opened my 12th 20kg bag of black oil sunflower seeds for the winter feeding season, which she starts counting on Nov1 each winter. That's well over 500lb of sunflower this season.

Well, that consumption is likely to go up for the next 6-8 weeks. Redpolls, which are normally at the feeder all winter long, were absent this winter until about 2 weeks ago. Then we saw one...then a few...and for the past week or so we have had dozens at a time all throughout the day. As I type this there are at least 100 all around the house. We have feeders on three sides of the building, so it's difficult to count precisely, but they are clustered on each feeder and all over the trees and shrubs, as well as picking up seed on the ground.

Today they were joined by small numbers of Juncos, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins and Am.Goldfinches. These species will swell in numbers as migration gets serious, and will be joined by several other species of sparrows and finches in coming weeks. The Siskins and Goldfinches in particular will likely be here in numbers rivalling those of the Redpolls, which will have largely moved on by that time.

We've also gone through more than 45lb of deer fat, which is a favourite of the Woodpeckers (3 species all winter), Nutchatches, Chickadees and Blue Jays.

The consumption of both of these foods...sunflower seeds and deer fat...has hit a record high for us this winter.

 

[Chet E.]

I forget sometimes that the birds in the backyard are transient and often migrate in large groups.
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Moving from a suburban home to the more rural house I now live in has exposed me to a new set of wildlife. Birds such as Cardinals which stayed year round or the Western Kingbird which returned each year and were assumed to be the very same which left the season before were common. Now with open areas and a small pond I'm seeing some, like the Mergansers mentioned #361, which I have to wonder ... Are they the same pair looking for a good place to nest or are they part of a larger group just passing through?
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Then again, it may be good if some of these birds would move it along, Turkey and these Cranes, for instance, will definitely make gardening a challenge. These Sandhill Cranes spent some time here this morning. They went all around pounding their beaks deep into the soil. Boy wouldn't it be great if it was gopher they were searching for. Ha!
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[jjohnwm]

The birds that show up during migration might be in either category; they might be just passing through, or they might very well be the same ones over and over, year after year.

The big flocks of Redpolls I have seen lately are, I'm certain, mostly different birds each time, as this species doesn't breed this far south. We typically have them all winter long, but this winter they've been absent until recently. Then a hundred or so drop in and party for a day...the next day there are only 20...then none...then 100+ again. But they are fairly variable in the amount of pink they show on their breasts, and some days there are numerous very bright pink ones while others there are very few, which makes me think I am looking at mostly different birds each day as one wave after another passes through on its way to its more northerly breeding grounds.

Hummingbirds are definitely repeat visitors; if I am a bit late in the spring putting up their feeders, I can look outside and see a beautiful Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering motionless in the air at the exact spot where the feeder was hanging last year. The same bird will often visit each of the spots where we put feeders, obviously hoping and expecting find them there again this year. The same partially-leucistic Red-tailed Hawk (very distinctive) nests at the broken top of the same big spruce tree each year.

This afternoon as I was working in the yard, I watched a Robin come flying in across the open fields and go directly to the nest that is fairly well hidden under the eaves of one of my sheds. He was clearly very aware that it was there, didn't need to search, just came right up like a cottager opening up the cabin for the summer season.

We also get a pair of Sandhill Cranes nesting and rearing their young in the pasture adjacent to house and yard. One of them has a weird little bump on its upper mandible, a couple inches forward of the eyes. It's not huge, but visible especially if you look for it. That bird and, I presume, its same mate, are back now for at least the 4 year running.

 

[Deadeye]

Question to all you birders on here, sharp-shinned or coopers?

I have my guess but I don’t want to sway anyone with it.

 

[jjohnwm]

Lol, too much of a challenge for me, at least. Can't see the relationship of the eyes and bill on the head...can't see the legs...can't really be sure I can see the end of the tail...

I'm gonna guess Cooper's because I can sorta kinda maybe see a somewhat rounded tail tip...I think...

And I seem to get a feel (even with nothing to give it scale) that this is a larger bird, larger than a typical Sharpie...I think...

Okay, I've convinced myself; I'm gonna say Cooper's. I'm so positive, I'd stake your life on it.

 

[jjohnwm]

Okay, I'm back in the house and on my laptop now. The larger screen makes the head/eye a little easier to see, and that seems to further my original analysis, i.e. Cooper's.

I'm also noticing that the underside streaking is a little stronger at the top of the breast and somewhat faded and diffuse lower down. Another point in favour of Cooper's.

This little exercise really draws attention to how much of birding identification hinges on general feelings and impressions that rely on experience. A single photograph, even a very good one...and, let's face it, this isn't one of those ...captures a single moment but can fail miserably at really showing you much of what you need to see. A good painting like one by Sibley or Peterson can do a much better job of revealing a lot more of those important little details, but even so it can only show so much. The commonly-used term is GISS...General Impression, Size and Shape...and it hinges on watching a living, breathing, moving bird in front of you, rather than just a picture. Add to that such important ID tips as flight style, tail-bobbing, wing-flicking, songs and calls, etc. and it's easy to see why a picture is very limiting.

 

[Deadeye]

And here I thought it was a sharpshin…
Unfortunately that was the best picture I could get before it took off. I do think I overestimated the size of coopers.

 

[jjohnwm]

And here I thought it was a sharpshin…

....and it might very well be! You were there in the flesh, seeing it in real time. That can easily trump somebody's SWAG based upon a single static photograph.

 

[jjohnwm]

Today was the Big Day; that first wonderful warm spring day when I set all my outdoor stock tanks in place for the season. My dog Duke and I were hard at work for a couple hours...although he was there in more of a supervisory capacity ...and about noon we were heading across the lawn to one of the sheds to get some tools. As we approached the corner of the house, an unmistakable and familiar thud! was heard from just around the corner. Immediately, a small bird crashed into view on the grass right at the corner. He'd struck the window on the other side and law stunned on the grass. But, a split second later, an Accipiter hawk careened around the corner and dove at the hapless victim, then spotted me and Duke and did a quick course correction into the nearby brushy pasture.

Obviously the small bird had been trying to evade the quick and agile hawk and had zigged when it should have zagged, smashing into the window. And wouldn't you know it? The yard is literally full of Dark-eyed Juncos, at least 60 or more swarming the feeders, but the sad victim of this debacle was the single Fox Sparrow that I had spotted this morning. Between spring and fall migration, we have hundreds of Juncos pass through the yard, often in large numbers together (as they are now); Fox Sparrows are seen for only a few days in the spring and again in the fall, and the largest number I've ever hosted at one time is likely less than a dozen. And yet that's the bird the dang hawk set his sights on for lunch.

I certainly don't begrudge seeing a hawk or shrike or other predator take a prey item, but sometimes I wish they were a little more cognizant of relative abundance of the various species they eat.

Oh, and... Deadeye ? The hawk put on his brakes, and for a split second was hanging in the air at eye level, not more than 10 feet from me, in full sunlight, wings and tail fully spread...before he hightailed it out of sight. It was a full adult bird, beautiful steely blue/gray above and barred with rust on his underside. Magnificent, and aside from the brief time involved, I couldn't really ask for a better view. And yet...I'm pretty sure it was a female Sharpie, but it might have been a male Cooper's...Accipiters are tough.

I took Duke inside to keep him from worrying the bird, and crossed my fingers for its recovery. Didn't happen.