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you thought this site was just about birds? It's true, birds are the
primary focus, but where you have birds - and especially food for
birds - chances are you're going to have quite a few critters
hanging around the yard as well. Normally it's squirrels,
groundhogs, chipmunks, raccoons, and the occasional skunk, but as
you can see in this photo, every so often you may get the totally
unexpected. That was the case on June 15, 2010 when this hungry
black bear showed up looking for an afternoon meal. |
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... black bear info and photos |
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May 13, 2010 - Today we were very fortunate to see a wonderful bird.
The Veery is named for its mysterious, sweet voice that spirals downward
making a veeer sound. His odd name, of course, comes from an imitation
of his sweet voice. Mostly found on the forest floor, he is considered
the secretive thrush. |
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... veery
info and photos |
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April
25, 2010 - This was an outstanding day! We saw and
photographed two new-to-us birds. I thought I was taking a
picture of a chipping sparrow at one of the seed feeders.
After viewing the day's photos, I realized this bird was
something else. Research in our personal bird library
indicated we had a field sparrow visitor. He has a
baby-like innocence to his coloring. Usually seen foraging
on the ground, he managed to find a rare alone-moment on a
feeder. This little sparrow is declining in its range, so we
feel doubly lucky to have corrected our identification of
this summer bird. We'll be keeping our eye out for more
activity. More of his personal information to come.
 April
25,2010 - The really astonishing visitor today was one who
doesn't migrate and is not found (according to current
reference material) north of Long Island, NY. But here was
unmistakably a male northern bobwhite. He spent the
afternoon and early evening grazing under our feeders.
Old bird books from
the 1950's and 60's indicate that bobwhites could easily be
found in this area and as far north as Maine. More on
that topic later.
April
22, 2010 - While waiting in the driveway for the plumber, we
spotted several tree swallows making swooping inspection of
the yard and the potential bird houses - no time to get the
camera. We had better luck on April 30th for pictures, but a
male swallow was not as fortunate in the luck department.
After inspecting a birdhouse that was used two summers ago
by tree swallows (maybe even this bird), he apparently was
startled and flew into Food Guy's office door. He was
stunned but didn't lose consciousness. After several of his
friends came over to look and probably encourage him, he
flew away, maybe to reconsider his house hunting
tactics.
...more photos and info
On April 23, 2010, we heard the unmistakable singing of a house
wren. Last year after what Food Guy called William the Wren,
had successfully had a wonderful little family in one of our
close bird houses, we saw very little of him and them. Soon
another male appeared. This one had white feathers on his
right wing edge. Even though he too sang his little heart
out and restuffed William's bird houses with new sticks, I
don't think he ever found his true love. This year Mr.
White Wing wren is back in full song and filling every box
he can find with twigs large and small. By May1st he found a
female who surveyed his crude nesting attempts and quickly
picked the one with the best potential and started
redecorating.
...more photos and info
Since
the spring has been so warm, I was surprised that we still
had juncos in our yard until April 24th. In looking over
last year's records, it turns out the little gray guys were
our guests until April 23, 2009. Juncos could stay in our
area year-round and I know of some that do about 20 miles
from here. I guess ours prefer to travel to the honeymoon
capital of Niagara Falls and beyond. See ya' in the
fall.
more photos and info
April 1, 2010 - We occasionally have seen two American tree sparrows
at once, but often actually have only one come to a feeder at a time.
In January we were excited to see four distinct birds. By April 1st
we were visited by three American tree sparrows, while they ate at
the feeders for what became a last fill-up before migration.
Back to the tundra of northern-North America to have babies.
On March 9, 2010 the red winged blackbirds arrived, or at least the
males did. There was no displaying of their red and gold epaulets
yet, as territory range and competition for a mate will occur later.
The next day brought us the grackles. They were soon raising
their heads in the rivalry game. The last black birds to return came
the following day on March 11th - the cowbird. This bird, unlike the
other black guys, has arrived in large numbers (Oh, joy! Look
out, little song birds! Guard your nests and eggs carefully.)
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| Red-winged Blackbird |
Common Grackle |
Brown-headed Cowbird |
 March 12, 2010 brought out the robins.
We observed a female robin with wings down, who was ready for
spring time action. Another arrival was the chipping sparrow. This
is the first year we've seen several of these cuties at a time.
The woodchuck was a little late in making an appearance this year on
March 17, 2010. We were worried that our terrier dog who came
to live with us late last summer might have been cause for possible
relocation on their part. But at least two distinct woodchucks
have been spotted. Food Guy says three
One of these guys is a lot smaller than the others, although all are
adults. Normally, they seem to live in different parts of our yard.
This is a photo of the southern (same size) duo together.
We've been seeing lots of the song sparrow, since March 20th.
Several times a day there has been lots of ground hopping and
shuffling. Joining in the fun came several white throated
sparrows on March 25th. Making a pass through appearance on
March 27th was the fox sparrow.
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| Song Sparrow |
White Crowned Sparrow |
Fox Sparrow |
 Bluebirds were seen looking in several of our houses, even
in the purple martin house (that is really the community nesting place
for the house sparrows.) We do have several bird houses around
the yard that have never had any takers, even though the price is
right and they are similar to the popular boxes (must be true about
location, location, location).
Early March 2010 - A chart was created which will show bird
sightings in our backyard for the year 2010. Specific arrival
and departure dates will soon be posted on the individual bird
pages. Single sighting dates will be listed for those
infrequent, elusive visitors.
...photos and chart
A similar chart for our critters is also available.
..photos and chart
Raccoon
page is new.
Indian tribes had many words for raccoons, based on various traits
(agile forepaws, dog-like, bear-like; ringed tail, pelt usage, eater
of crabs and crayfish, and other words with no real translation).
The present name for raccoon came from the North American tribal
word aroughcun which is translated "he who scratches with his
hands." While most of the raccoons' names tell us something about
them, their dexterous use of their front paws is a trait we all know
as both clever and sneaky. They are one of the cutest pests in our
yards.
...more photos and info
February
24, 2010 - We were doing our usual visual scan of the outdoors,
looking for night-time critters on the ground, around the feeders
and in the main maple tree. Clumps of snow were caught on the
branches. An unusually large whitish clump caught our eye. The
binoculars showed it to be an owl, the first one we have
actually seen since we moved here almost 3 years ago. Food guy says
he's heard an owl on several occasions, but I never have. Out came
the bird reference books, which identified our "lump of snow" as a
barred owl. I hadn't paid much attention to owl categories
before. It hasn't happened, if it hasn't been seen (and
preferably photographed) tends to be my admittedly narrow-minded
attitude. I think I may take listening to bird calls and songs more
seriously now.
...more photos and info
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February
12-15, 2010 - This was the weekend of The Great Backyard Bird Count.
It's the 20th today and I still find myself counting when I look out
of my windows.
The data gathered by young and old bird watchers
will be used by scientists in understanding winter bird populations
throughout North America. Information can compare birds with weather
conditions; follow any irruptive species for this winter; note
possible changes in migration patterns; match bird to preferred
types of habitats; and calculate trends of increasing or declining
populations.
Being part of this important count is a way to give
back to the researchers who freely share information on all things
bird with everyone who asks. Armed with knowledge gained by these
new counts and even our own observations, we can become better
caregivers to the special birds who visit our backyards. Plus
it's just plain fun!
This picture shown is one of the photos I sent to the photo gallery
for The Great Backyard Bird Count. (www.birdsource.org
to view other birder pictures from this count and previous years
from present back to 2005)
...more photos from count and bird
checklist totals
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February
9, 2010 - When my older grandgirl was a toddler and learning new
words, we would look through a children's picture dictionary. One
day I showed her a carousel, expecting her to say "Merry-go-round".
She looked up with a big smile and said very proudly,
"Horsey-go-round!" One look at this photo and all I could
think was "Goldy-go-round".
...more photos and info
February 8, 2010 - My Grandgirl, the kindergarten kid, received a
Valentine from her substitute teacher. Attached to a red
construction paper heart with a poem typed and glued on, was a small
snack plastic bag containing some black sunflower seeds. She was
also given a paper with 10 heart outlines that had a number 10, 20
,30, etc. typed in them. The idea was to count the seeds by 10's to
see how many were in the bag. She actually counted 112. The poem was
a good one that was timely for February bird feeding month:
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I made a pretty valentine
Just one did
I say?
I made a HUNDRED valentines
One cold and wintry
day.
I didn't put my name on them
Or any other words
Because my valentines were seeds
For February
birds.
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What a great idea from someone with a thankless task of temporarily
facing a room full of five year olds. Here's my thank you anyway for
a thoughtful way of teaching counting, giving, and bird
appreciation.
Don't forget the 2010 Great Backyard Bird Count from February 12th
through the 15th. Visit
www.birdcount.org for details.
It's fun!
The tufted titmouse in a heart is my early Valentine to everyone.
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