Where Did My Squirrels Go?

 In April, I was complaining in this blog about one of the squirrels eating my spider plant. My husband came in the other day and asked me, "Have you seen our squirrels lately? I don't think I have seen them in a few days."

Thinking about it, I know it has been almost a week since I have seen any. We have three that regularly hang out in our yard, eating sunflower seeds from our feeder. I can see that one might get picked off by a predator, but three at once? Unlikely. The dogs still charge out the back door and look up in the tree where the squirrels hang out, but have been regularly disappointed. I miss watching the antics of the squirrels and the dogs.

I am hoping one of the neighbors didn't decide to poison the squirrels, since poisoned animals often end up prey of birds of prey, killing them as well. 

Of course, if the neighbors did kill the squirrels, others will move in at some point. In the meantime, the sunflower seed is lasting longer.

Good birding!

Project Feederwatch Starting Soon

 

Feederwatch Crowd

One of my favorite thing to do in the winter is participating in Project Feederwatch. This is a study of bird populations sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada. According to the Project Feederwatch website, this will be my 27th season.

My primary reason for taking part is that I like to watch the birds. I feed them regardless, so why not provide information that can help up learn more about them? The picture at the left is one from my backyard a couple of years ago during a particularly harsh bit of weather. The interesting thing, although you can't see it without enlarging the picture, is that there are some yellow-headed blackbirds in this photo. I had never seen yellow-headed blackbirds in the winter here--I thought they were a migrant that passed through in spring and fall. Apparently, a few do hang around (or at least, did that winter).

Last winter was particularly disappointing. I didn't have many birds at all-neither in numbers of species or in numbers of individuals. Some of the other local people who participate mentioned they were having a disappointing season as well. I chalked it up to a relatively mild winter. However, recently I received the newsletter for the project summarizing some of the data from last year, and we were not alone. Last year was a bad year for every one--in fact the numbers of individual birds seen was down significantly everywhere.

Chart from Sep 12 Feederwatch blog

You might find the possible reasons for these low numbers interesting. Check out the blog post. However, bird populations are declining everywhere. The link takes you to the Cornell Lab's page highlighting a study showing that nearly 3B birds have disappeared since 1970. This is not good news for us. Another reason to do what you can to provide habitat for all species, not just birds.

The Project Feederwatch starts November 1 and runs through April 30. If you want to take part, there is a small charge. If you are a member of the Lab, the cost is $18. It is a few dollars more for those who are not. If you are new to the project or don't know your birds very well, Cornell will send you a poster of common birds.  It's also a good idea to have access to a field guide. Here's the link to sign up.

I hope you'll take part. This is a good project to do with kids as well. They learn more about birds and about the scientific method.

Good Birding!

Three Mornings in Lake Wichita Park

 

White-faced ibis at Lake Wichita Park

Fall migration is definitely underway. It started several weeks ago with the departure of purple martins, but many birds are moving, or preparing to, now.

I spent a coupe of hours in Lake Wichita Park three mornings this week. I tend to go to Lake Wichita Park more often than other locations because it is close to my house.

The barrow pit is now a mudflat, which does attract shore birds, like the white-faced ibis in the picture to the left. Right now, this nearly dry pond is hosting several species of herons/egrets, as they prepare to move south or pass through on their way. There are several individuals of various species there, forming the groups that will one day, leave together. (Great egrets, snowy egrets, little blue herons, yellow-crowned night herons, black-necked stilts, killdeer). 

I also saw several warblers passing through. I am not the greatest at warbler identification. The birds are tiny and they are usually moving constantly. But I am confident of a yellow warbler and a mourning warbler, but I saw one or two others that I couldn't be sure of in the extremely short time I was able to see them.

I saw some individual Mississippi kites earlier this week, but not this morning. One of my friends said she saw a group of about 15 circling over her house, so they should be gone soon. Usually, these birds head out the end of August/early September.

Between Thursday and today, I saw the following birds: mallard duck, great egret, snowy egret, yellow-crowned night heron, little blue heron, great blue heron. white-faced ibis, black-necked stilt, killdeer, Mississippi kite, turkey vulture, Eurasian collared dove, white-winged dove, mourning doves, downy woodpecker, barn swallow, Northern cardinal, blue jay, Carolina chickadee, northern mockingbird, Carolina wren, yellow warbler, mourning warbler, Baltimore oriole, American pipit, American robin, red-winged blackbird, great-tailed grackle, European starling, house sparrow. In addition, I did see some small peeps fly over that I couldn't identify and a couple of other warblers that stumped me.

A runner went by me today and asked what my best bird seen was this morning. For me, it was the little blue heron, although it is tough to beat the black-necked stilt, but I had to make a quick decision, since he was running off.

Many of our summer birds are gone (or I just haven't seen them in the last week or so). I haven't yet seen any of the birds that come in here to stay for the winter, but I am sure they are coming. It does seem like there are more robins than are here in the summer, but it could just be they are starting to form up their winter flocks (more on that behavior in another post soon).

Fall migration is more drawn out than the spring migration, when the birds are rushing to get to their breeding grounds and get the best spots. We should have a few more weeks of prime birding coming up, so get outside.

Good birding!

How Do Birds Stand the Heat?

 

Patrick_K59, CC BY 2.0
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>,
 via Wikimedia Commons

I don't know about you, but it is way to hot for me. How do the birds stand it?

First of all, birds already maintain high body temperatures, so the ambient heat in this 100 degree weather isn't all that far from the temperature they usually maintain (106 -109F). So when it gets hot outside, they reduce their metabolic rate, since they don't need the energy to keep themselves warm. 

But sometimes they do get too hot. Since birds can't sweat, they have other adaptations to keep from overheating. You have probably seen pictures of birds "panting"  as seen in this photo (not one of our birds). This allows for some evaporative cooling. 

You will notice birds usually don't have feathers on their legs. Obviously, some birds wade or spend time swimming in the water. Bird baths are also helpful, so be sure to keep your bird baths full for a cool drink and a nice bath. Even a warm bath will cool down the bird as the water evaporates.

Evaporative cooling can also be achieved in some other ways. Some birds will defecate on their legs. The water in their waste cools their legs when it evaporates. Not very appealing to us, certainly, but it works.

Birds are generally more active in the morning and evening, all year around. This is especially true in the hot summers, when they stay in the shade and move as little as possible. People are not the only ones who take a siesta!

Good birding!

Summer Bird Feeding

 

Carolina chickadee

Most people don't feed birds (other than hummingbirds) in the summer, but I do. I get it. There is plenty of food available for the birds in the summer and quality bird food isn't cheap. But it's not about the birds, it's about me. I enjoy seeing the birds and having some food available brings the birds to me.

I do reduce the amount of food I provide. In the winter, I have 6 - 10 feeders out, depending upon the weather. In the summer, it's 2 - 4. 

To the left, you can see a Carolina chickadee at one of the feeders. If I have to choose just one feeder, it would be black oil sunflower in a wire tube feeder like this. Black oil sunflower is less expensive than most feed mixes and is enjoyed by almost all songbirds. In addition to chickadees, this feeder attracts cardinals, blue jays, house finches, common grackles, as well as house sparrows and starlings. I don't get many starlings, so it isn't a big deal for me. This feeder also attracts squirrels. You can see the feeders is bent up. That is courtesy of the squirrels. But the squirrels are fun also, and they aren't stealing food out of the birds' mouths, so it's all good.  I fill this feeder once a day in the summer. When its gone for the day, it's gone. The little moochers can go forage after that.

Peanuts for woodpeckers

My other favorite feeder is a heavier metal feeder that I fill with shelled peanuts. The chickadees also like this one, but I have it out mainly for the woodpeckers. I have downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, and occasionally, ladder-backed woodpeckers that visit the feeder every day. Blue jays, wrens, and starlings also are fond of this feeder. Shelled peanuts are expensive, but I use much less of this feed. What you see remaining in this feeder will last at least a week. Probably two. The squirrels don't bother this feeder--no idea why as they do like peanuts. Perhaps it's because this feeder is harder to get the peanuts out of and the feeder is much sturdier, making it harder to get open to pillage as they do the sunflower feeder.

I do throw a handful or two of mixed seed on the ground, more because it is amusing to watch the dogs go crazy than the birds it attracts (My husband calls this me "feeding the chickens" because of the way they go nuts.) Ground feeding does attract doves and great-tailed grackles and occasionally, a robin. The blue jays and cardinals also find this easier than pulling the sunflower seeds through wire mesh.

With temperatures holding around 100 degrees for weeks now, water is much more important than food. We'll talk about that another time

Good birding!

Doing the Spider Dance

When you've got your eye on a bird and trying to identify it, you can get so focused, you're not paying attention to much of anything else--not a good thing. 

I took a bit of time on Thursday morning to take a walk in Lake Wichita Park and twice walked into a spider's web. In my rational mind, I know there is no harmful spider in our area that builds a web that I am going to walk into, but as soon as I feel that spider silk on my skin, the reptilian brain takes over and I'm doing the spider dance trying to get it off me and to reassure myself the web resident is NOT crawling on me.

Safety should be a big concern for every birder, especially those, like me, who most often are out by themselves. Spiders are not a huge safety concern, but in years past I have had other near misses. A few years ago I was peering intently through my binoculars and moving forward, nearly stepping on a rattlesnake. He was nice enough to rattle to let me know I was getting too close, and allowed me to back away. However, most commonly, I stop to watch bird and don't notice I am standing in or close to a fire ant bed. They are not nice enough to give a warning before biting.

Although other critters are a hazard, it is more likely for me to twist an ankle or fall because I stepped into a hole I didn't see or off the edge of the trail with a bigger level change that I expected. Fortunately, other than some bumps and bruises (mostly to my pride), I haven't had any serious injuries. But I carry a cell phone and a duress alarm, just in case.

My Mom used to say, "I shoulda named you Grace." Sarcasm was her strong suit.

Get out and enjoy your birding, and be safe.

Good birding!

 

Monthly Bird Outing This Saturday

We have a bird outing the second Saturday of each month at Lake Arrowhead State Park. It is generally a small group and open to anyone who wants to see some birds.

We used to call this a "bird walk", but changed the name to "bird outing" last year to encourage anyone to come. Calling it a walk (although we do walk) discouraged those with mobility challenges. This is not a strenuous walk at all. Most of it is paved and the small portion that isn't, is level. If the ground is wet, there is still pavement not far away. We do occasionally have people in wheelchairs or using a cane participate, which is great. This is also not a strenuous walk. It is more of a saunter and can last anywhere from an hour to two hours, depending on the weather and the birds we see.

Members of the Rolling Plains chapter Texas Master Naturalist lead the walk, which means we look at more than birds--at this time of year, dragonflies, butterflies, grasshoppers, spiders, and plants are among the sights the group take a look at, and photograph. If we are lucky, we may get a good look at a painted bunting (picture, left). We hear them frequently in the summer, but we don't always get a good look.

Kids are welcome, as are other newcomers to the hobby of birdwatching.

There is an entry fee to enter the park ($4 per person). Since the office doesn't open until after the walk starts, come a little early to have time stop at the self-pay station. We meet in the parking lot of the admin building (previously called the dining hall). Not sure where that is? It's adjacent to the fishing wharf. We meet in the part of the parking lot on the other side of the building. If you have never been to the park, take the third right after entering the park, go to the right at the stop sign into the parking lot, and look for a small group of people with binoculars. We start at 8 AM. See you there!

Good birding!