tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90566214432946524682024-02-19T09:30:06.059-06:00Backyard BirderCome and experience the world of birds with me. You don't have to go far - just out your back door!Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.comBlogger433125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-47546550215457688672014-02-24T18:30:00.002-06:002014-02-24T18:30:51.951-06:00Happy birding to you!For the past few years, I have maintained three - count 'em, three! - blogs. This one devoted to birding, <i><b><a href="http://gardeningwithnature.blogspot.com/">Gardening With Nature</a></b></i> devoted to habitat gardening, and <i>The Nature of Things</i>, an eclectic blog devoted to... well, a little bit of everything. I have greatly enjoyed doing all three blogs but none more so than this one.<br />
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<i>Backyard Birder</i> was my first attempt at blogging. I started it for <i>The Houston Chronicle</i> in the spring of 2006, so it has been going continuously now for almost eight years. In the world of blogging, that is a very long time indeed. <br />
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In August, 2011, after the <i>Chronicle</i> had changed its online format for reader blogs, I decided to post <i>Backyard Birder</i> on Blogger instead and I've been happily publishing here ever since. So, it has been particularly wrenching for me to make the decision to discontinue posting to this particular blog. I have reluctantly concluded that I simply do not have the time and energy - and maybe the ideas - to maintain three separate, though related, blogs.<br />
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Looking at the traffic on the three blogs, it is clear that <i>The Nature of Things</i> receives about twice as many visitors on average as the other two blogs combined. Consequently, my choice was made obvious. I will continue with <i>The Nature of Things</i> and in addition to all the other topics that I write about there, I will now be including birds and gardening. (I will also soon suspend writing <i>Gardening With Nature</i>.) <br />
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I want to thank those of you who have faithfully followed this blog over the years. It has been my great pleasure to share my enthusiasm for birds - especially our ordinary, everyday, overlooked backyard birds - with you. I invite you to follow me to <i><b><a href="http://birdwoman-thenatureofthings.blogspot.com/">The Nature of Things</a></b></i> where my first post about the birds of my backyard will be appearing tomorrow. But whether you do or not and whatever else you do, keep watching those birds!<br />
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Happy birding to you all.Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-62094973481292172392014-02-19T15:12:00.000-06:002014-02-19T15:12:21.301-06:00Wordless Wednesday: Female Red-winged Blackbirds <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-58515184701841494722014-02-18T22:26:00.002-06:002014-02-19T12:08:18.912-06:00Rare Birds of North America by Steve N.G. Howell: A review<b>(Cross-posted from <i><a href="http://birdwoman-thenatureofthings.blogspot.com/2014/02/rare-birds-of-north-american-by-steve.html">The Nature of Things.</a></i>)</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17942028-rare-birds-of-north-america" style="background-color: white; color: #7c93a1; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px; text-decoration: none;">Rare Birds of North America</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;"> by </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/33336.Steve_N_G_Howell" style="background-color: white; color: #7c93a1; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px; text-decoration: none;">Steve N.G. Howell</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">My rating: </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/858982536" style="background-color: white; color: #7c93a1; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px; text-decoration: none;">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">Readers might at first be misled by the title of this book. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">Rare Birds of North America</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;"> is not, in fact, about the endangered and rare species of endemic birds of this continent. Rather, it is a comprehensive illustrated guide to the birds that don't belong here but manage to find their way here anyway. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">These are the birds that are referred to as vagrants. They are native to some other part of the world - East Asia, Western Eurasia, Africa, the Southern Hemisphere, islands - but, for some reason, they have turned up on this continent.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">The book explains how and why these vagrants arrive here. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">The "how" is simple enough. Birds have wings and they tend to use them to fly to different places. Though they generally follow fairly well-defined routes in migration and in their wanderings about the planet, sometimes when they are in flight something might happen to steer them in a different direction. Most often this is probably related to weather, but other factors may play a role as well, and the authors explore some of the means of dispersal of species.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">But why do birds end up in places where they shouldn't be? Again, this is probably most often related to weather conditions, but sometimes birds might simply overshoot their mark. Or, as the population of a particular species increases in one place, they may begin to expand their range and disperse into other areas. This is how many Central and South American species have come to find their way into the states along the southern U.S. border and some have moved even farther north. There is also the possibility that disorientation or misorientation might play a role in the dispersal of species to new areas.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">However the vagrants manage to find their way here, when a birder spots one of them and gets the word out, other birders race to the scene, eager to add that bird to their life list. We love watching and documenting the everyday and familiar birds of our region, but the possibility of seeing something exotic from a whole different part of the world is an opportunity that no self-respecting birder would care to miss. And now we have an illustrated guide to help us identify and learn more about these unexpected visitors.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">The authors define rare vagrants as those which have had five or fewer individuals reported annually in North America since about 1950. They include species accounts of 262 such birds. These accounts give identification field marks and also discuss the patterns of vagrancy and where the bird might be most likely to be found. The text is accompanied by 275 informative color plates by Ian Lewington. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">The book includes helpful appendices which provide a list of birds that are new to North America from 1950 to 2011 and also explanations of why some birds that have hypothetically occurred on the continent are not included in this book. </span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">Overall, I think this book should be a valuable resource for any birder interested in the "birds that shouldn't be here but are." And that, I believe, includes most birders.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">(</span><em style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">Note: A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in return for an honest review of it. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">)</span>Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-55922098368975472222014-02-17T20:01:00.000-06:002014-02-17T22:33:23.513-06:00Great Backyard Bird Count 2014How did you spend your Presidents' Day weekend? I spent mine counting birds.<br />
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Yes, this was the weekend for the annual <b><a href="http://gbbc.birdcount.org/">Great Backyard Bird Count</a></b>, an activity that has now gone global. Beginning last year, the Count started accepting reports not just from North America but from all around the world. When I last checked the website, reports had been received this year from every continent except Antarctica. Participants count birds in their own yards or other designated places.<br />
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This year, I counted birds in my yard as I always do, and on Saturday I also did a count at Brazos Bend State Park. We had a family cookout there to celebrate our older daughter's birthday, and, of course, I insisted that we go on a bird walk after lunch.<br />
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In fact, the highlight of my weekend counting came on that walk. It was around 3:00 in the afternoon and we were walking around Forty-Acre Lake when we heard two <b>Barred Owls</b> calling to each other in the woods nearby. Since I do my bird counting during daylight hours, it isn't often that I get to list an owl species, but Barred Owls frequently become active in mid to late afternoon hours and, fortunately for me, these two certainly were!<br />
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I ended my day with 31 species counted at the park. With more time and effort, I could have probably doubled that, but, after all, birding was my secondary activity on this particular day.<br />
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On the other three days of the four-day holiday weekend, I observed and counted birds in my yard. My goal for the weekend was 40 species, but I ended with only 34. As always when I do an official count of birds in my yard, I was frustrated by the no-shows, the birds that I know are there but that just didn't turn up during my count period.<br />
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Where was that <b>Pileated Woodpecker</b> that has been so active in the area in recent weeks? Where are the <b>Eastern Phoebes</b>? I haven't seen one in my yard all winter. Where was the <b>Red-tailed Hawk</b> that flies over my yard every day - except for this weekend? That <b>Killdeer</b> that flies over and calls noisily on occasion - where was it this weekend?<br />
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And on most days I can count on flyovers in the late afternoon from a number of waterbirds and waders, but this weekend? Nary a one showed a feather.<br />
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Perhaps most frustratingly of all, the tiny <b>Brown-headed Nuthatch</b> did not make an appearance. I didn't even hear it calling during the time that I was counting.<br />
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For most of the weekend, I thought I would have to include the <b>Yellow-bellied Sapsucker</b> on my list of no-shows, but just at about 6:00 this afternoon as the light was fading and I was about to call it a count and head indoors, I heard the sapsucker calling in the big pine tree just across the fence in my neighbor's yard. I looked up and finally was able to find it far, far up the 100+ foot tree.<br />
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<i>It was really too dark for this picture, but I had to give it a try after waiting so long for him.</i><br />
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Encouraged, I decided to wait just a few more minutes to see if something wonderful might turn up. Nothing did. My last bird of the day, the last bird of my count was that Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.<br />
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*~*~*~*<br />
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Here are the 34 species that did deign to show themselves for my yard count.<br />
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<b>Black Vulture</b><br />
<b>Turkey Vulture</b><br />
<b>Cooper's Hawk</b><br />
<b>Sharp-shinned Hawk</b><br />
<b>Red-shouldered Hawk</b><br />
<b>Eurasian Collared-Dove</b><br />
<b>White-winged Dove</b><br />
<b>Mourning Dove </b><br />
<b>Inca Dove</b><br />
<b>Rufous Hummingbird</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker</b><br />
<b>Downy Woodpecker</b><br />
<b>Yellow-bellied Sapsucker</b><br />
<b>Blue Jay</b><br />
<b>American Crow</b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren</b><br />
<b>Ruby-crowned Kinglet</b><br />
<b>Eastern Bluebird</b><br />
<b>American Robin </b><br />
<b>Northern Mockingbird</b><br />
<b>Cedar Waxwing</b><br />
<b>Orange-crowned Warbler</b><br />
<b>Pine Warbler</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler</b><br />
<b>Chipping Sparrow</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal</b><br />
<b>Red-Winged Blackbird</b><br />
<b>Common Grackle</b><br />
<b>Brown-headed Cowbird </b><br />
<b>House Finch</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch</b><br />
<b>House Sparrow</b><br />
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*~*~*~*<br />
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And here is the species list from Brazos Bend.<br />
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<b>Blue-winged Teal</b><br />
<b>Northern Pintail</b><br />
<b>Pied-billed Grebe</b><br />
<b>Double-crested Cormorant</b><br />
<b>Anhinga</b><br />
<b>Great Egret</b><br />
<b>Snowy Egret</b><br />
<b>Little Blue Heron</b><br />
<b>White Ibis</b><br />
<b>Glossy/White-faced Ibis</b><br />
<b>Black Vulture</b><br />
<b>Turkey Vulture</b><br />
<b>Northern Harrier</b><br />
<b>Red-tailed Hawk</b><br />
<b>Common Gallinule</b><br />
<b>American Coot</b><br />
<b>Killdeer</b><br />
<b>Barred Owl</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker</b><br />
<b>Crested Caracara</b><br />
<b>Loggerhead Shrike</b><br />
<b>American Crow</b><br />
<b>Tree Swallow </b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse</b><br />
<b>Northern Mockingbird</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal</b><br />
<b>Red-winged Blackbird</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch</b><br />
<br />Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-18554023403719360212014-02-12T11:05:00.002-06:002014-02-12T11:05:30.987-06:00Backyard predators<b><i>(Cross-posted from <a href="http://birdwoman-thenatureofthings.blogspot.com/">The Nature of Things.</a>)</i></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">This is a busy time at the backyard bird feeders. When I step out into the yard, it is common to see a hundred or more songbirds at the feeders and on the ground around the feeders. It is no accident that February is designated as </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;"><a href="http://www.birdfeeders.com/resources/wild-bird-articles/wild-bird-feeding-month" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration: none;">National Bird Feeding Month</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;"> and that the </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;"><a href="http://gbbc.birdcount.org/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration: none;">Great Backyard Bird Count</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;"> which surveys where birds are in mid-winter takes place on this coming weekend. This is the month when birds are most visible in our yards.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">And where the little birds gather, the larger birds that prey on them soon follow. In my yard, this means the two </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">Accipiters</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">, Cooper's Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">The larger of the two is the Cooper's Hawk, which is a permanent resident in our area, and I do see him around the yard throughout the year, chasing the birds that come to my feeders. Seldom do I see him actually catch one. There is plenty of cover in the yard and at the first warning cry from a Blue Jay, all the birds scramble for it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">In the field, it is very hard to discern the difference between the Cooper's and the Sharp-shinned. They are very similar in appearance. The Cooper's Hawk is bigger, but there is a difference in size between the sexes among these raptors; the females are quite a bit larger and so it is that a female Sharp-shinned might be as large as a male Cooper's. The most reliable field mark, I find, is the shape of the tail - if you can see it. I think you can tell from this picture that the end of the bird's tail is rather rounded. That is a trait of the Cooper's.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-0RZnU_IhWlTCKQJ6F9KkrsMJv3iiYgvxoESxIXVErPqy0jNWsYWxOxjtdDcqdbOgcDzb6ykU_yptyRIDBORHODOo5CO5YN-7fQB9ERq2EGW7mRPVzd8YjLHjQo6lmkeCCYbwknO4-0/s1600/coopers1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="color: #7c93a1; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-0RZnU_IhWlTCKQJ6F9KkrsMJv3iiYgvxoESxIXVErPqy0jNWsYWxOxjtdDcqdbOgcDzb6ykU_yptyRIDBORHODOo5CO5YN-7fQB9ERq2EGW7mRPVzd8YjLHjQo6lmkeCCYbwknO4-0/s1600/coopers1.JPG" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="365" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">The Sharp-shinned, on the other hand, has a squared-off end of the tail. This bird, half hidden among the leaves of a tree, has that squared tail which marks him as a Sharp-shinned. The Sharp-shinned is a winter visitor to our area and, at this time of year, I see this bird almost daily when I am outside. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">Both of these raptors are magnificent birds and it is a great honor to have them as a part of my backyard ecosystem. Some bird lovers who maintain bird feeders for songbirds hate the birds that prey on them and try to discourage them, but I see them as an essential part of the habitat.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24.639999389648438px;">They are beautiful birds and, after all, they have to eat, too. Nature made them to eat other birds and we can hardly fault them for fulfilling that function. </span>Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-88468438238311338532014-02-08T19:11:00.000-06:002014-02-09T10:08:47.429-06:00This week in birds - #99<u><b>A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment</b></u>:<br />
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<b>Blue-winged Teal</b> are just one of the many species of ducks that visit our area in winter. The ponds and wetlands are teeming with water birds of all kinds at this time of year.<br />
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The eyes of the world (not including my own) will be on Sochi for the Olympics for the next couple of weeks. Russia pulled out all the stops to try and get ready to host the world for these Olympics. Unfortunately, their all-out effort was very destructive to the environment, including a <b><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzWH3viJSBsudLkUDsXG3vKbg2bg?docId=db0ff628-d244-495c-9039-387f55b42d22&hl=en">wetland where 65 species of birds</a></b>, including some that are endangered, used to make their home. The Russians have replaced the wetland with a manicured and manufactured "ornithological park," but there isn't a bird in sight. (<i>*Update below.</i>)<br />
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The <b><a href="http://www.onearth.org/articles/2014/01/snow-in-hotlanta-everybody-panic">debacle in Atlanta</a></b> during the recent snow event there simply reinforced how ill-prepared some, perhaps most, American cities are to deal with even minor climate-caused emergencies.<br />
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Meanwhile, summer in Australia has meant that that country has had to deal with a <b><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/02/03/3936716.htm">different kind of climate emergency - bushfires.</a></b> These fires have threatened some of Australia's rare bird species.<br />
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<b>Painted Buntings</b> are gorgeous birds. Many would say that they are the most beautiful of North American birds. Their beauty may possibly bring about the devastation of the species, however. There is a flourishing trade among disreputable people who <b><a href="http://www.birdingisfun.com/2014/02/painted-buntings-in-demand-and-decline.html">trap the birds to sell as caged birds.</a></b> The thought of one of these wild birds being doomed to live out its life in a cage is enough to break my heart.<br />
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New studies of sediments from the Ice Age indicate that wooly mammoths and other large mammals probably <b><a href="http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5898/20140205/mass-extinction-large-ice-age-mammals-linked-climate-induced-vegetation.htm">became extinct because of changes in vegetation</a></b> that were brought about by climate change.<br />
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One of our oldest animal protection laws, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, passed 96 years ago, makes is unlawful to hunt, kill, or harm in any way some 800 listed species of birds. However, some conservationists <b><a href="http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/birds-1/expert-theres-a-problem-with-fish-and-wildlifes-enforcement-of-bird-law.html">complain that the law is not being enforced uniformly</a></b> or in a transparent way.<br />
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Two <b>Pink-footed Geese</b> from Iceland have <b><a href="http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/3000-miles-off-course-icelandic-pink-footed-geese-on-falls-road-looking-for-ruxton/">turned up in a field near Baltimore</a></b>, delighting birders in the area. The geese normally winter in Europe, so they are just about 3,000 miles off-course.<br />
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California is suffering a severe drought which is drying up rivers and streams all over the state. As a result, the state Fish and Game Commission has <b><a href="http://www.capradio.org/articles/2014/02/06/drought-forces-broadest-fishing-ban-in-state-coho-at-risk-of-extinction/#.UvO6kfYwbwY.twitter">closed many areas to fishing</a></b> in an attempt to save threatened salmon and trout. There is fear that the drought may be pushing the coho salmon into extinction.<br />
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<b>Snowy Owls</b> can operate as either diurnal or nocturnal hunters, depending on the circumstances. A research project is attempting to <b><a href="http://www.projectsnowstorm.org/posts/snowday-science-snowy-owls-diurnal-nocturnal/">discover which is their preference</a></b> - which will they choose when both options are available.<br />
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Loss of habitat, use of chemical fertilizers, and human encroachment is <b><a href="http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/02/02/national/nepal-losing-its-bird-populations-experts/384781/">causing Nepal to lose its bird population</a></b>. As of 2011, the country had 149 species on the threatened list.<br />
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While most of the attention has been on the extremely cold temperatures suffered in much of the country, Alaska has been having to <b><a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83032&eocn=home&eoci=iotd_previous">cope with an unusually warm winter</a></b>. In fact, most of the Arctic area is having an exceptionally warm winter.<br />
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Many bird species gather in large flocks to roost in winter. The blackbird family is especially known for this, but the flocks are especially dramatic when they are <b><a href="http://coyot.es/thecorvidblog/2014/02/01/winter-crow-invasion/">composed of large birds like crows</a> </b>and this can sometimes be disconcerting to some onlookers.<br />
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<b><u>Around the backyard</u></b>:<br />
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I'm refilling the bird feeders every day now, trying to keep my hungry horde of backyard birds fed.<br />
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One bird that hasn't been emptying my feeders so far this winter is the neatly dressed little <b>White-throated Sparrow</b>. I usually have at least of few of them in my yard at this time of year, but I haven't seen a single one here this winter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmY6gQWHv83Ar3xGqCt7awh_ETtV8Xa3wGH_AKFiQl7rJVNhzB3eDJn41HnwXpGP-k14FZT5jkXXJ2EWeG-shJUV1olu4W7xPLo2udDDsqbV42aEwBrynrLbtz-z-KBeIDSvJ5nj4B8qU/s1600/grackle2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmY6gQWHv83Ar3xGqCt7awh_ETtV8Xa3wGH_AKFiQl7rJVNhzB3eDJn41HnwXpGP-k14FZT5jkXXJ2EWeG-shJUV1olu4W7xPLo2udDDsqbV42aEwBrynrLbtz-z-KBeIDSvJ5nj4B8qU/s1600/grackle2.JPG" height="355" width="400" /></a></div>
Another absentee this winter has been the handsome iridescent <b>Common Grackle</b>. This one was a visitor last winter, but although their cousins the <b>Red-winged Blackbird</b> and <b>Brown-headed Cowbird</b> have both been present, I've yet to see any grackles in the yard.<br />
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Only one more week until the <b><a href="http://gbbc.birdcount.org/">Great Backyard Bird Count</a></b>. Maybe some of my absentees will show up then.<br />
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<b><u>*Update 02/09/14</u></b>: For more on the destruction of the environment around Sochi, see <b><a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/02/09/the_sochi_scandal_no_ones_talking_about_how_russia_is_silencing_its_environmentalists/">this story in <i>Salon.com</i> today</a></b>.<br />
<br />Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-41119421837887372722014-02-06T18:54:00.001-06:002014-02-06T18:54:53.061-06:00FeederWatching - Week #12Action at the feeders stayed fast and furious this past weekend for week #12 of my <b><a href="http://feederwatch.org/about/project-overview/">Project FeederWatch</a></b>, as the cold weather continues and the birds are looking for a quick and easy meal - one on which they are not required to expend a lot of energy. Keeping the feeders stocked with the foods that they like has become a daily occupation of mine, as they empty as if by magic.<br />
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I did not note any new species in the yard this week, just more of the usual ones. There was a total of 29 species checked on my list by the time the weekend ended.<br />
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<b>Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>Red-shouldered Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>Eurasian Collared-dove - 1</b><br />
<b>White-winged Dove - 3</b><br />
<b>Mourning Dove - 1</b><br />
<b>Rufous Hummingbird - 1</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Downy Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Pileated Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Blue Jay - 3</b><br />
<b>American Crow - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee - 2</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse - 4</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren -2</b><br />
<b>Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1</b><br />
<b>Eastern Bluebird - 2</b><br />
<b>American Robin - 2</b><br />
<b>Northern Mockingbird - 1</b><br />
<b>Cedar Waxwing - 5</b><br />
<b>Orange-crowned Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Pine Warbler - 3</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Chipping Sparrow - 2</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal - 6</b><br />
<b>Red-winged Blackbird - 4 </b><br />
<b>Brown-headed Cowbird - 14</b><br />
<b>House Finch - 1</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch - 60</b><br />
<b>House Sparrow - 7</b><br />
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It was nice to see the Pileated Woodpecker put in an appearance once again. They seem to have been more active in the area in recent weeks and it is always fun to see them working their way up the trunks of the big pine trees in the area.<br />
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I've been thinking about the birds that I'm missing on my counts and wondering if they are here and I'm just not seeing them or if they are absent this winter. Normally, I would be seeing <b>White-throated Sparrows</b>, <b>Eastern Phoebes</b>, and <b>Common Grackles</b> among others, but so far none of these have appeared this winter. At least not while I've been looking.<br />
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Next weekend will be the last count before the big <b><a href="http://gbbc.birdcount.org/">Great Backyard Bird Count</a></b> weekend and it will be a tune-up for that count. It should give me a good idea of how many species I might expect for the GBBC. Of course, for that project, we can also count birds flying over the yard like <b>Black</b> and <b>Turkey</b> <b>Vultures</b>, <b>Black-bellied Whistling Ducks</b> and the occasional heron and egret. I hope to tally around 40 species for that weekend.Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-80970087608229338422014-02-01T21:49:00.000-06:002014-02-01T21:49:45.339-06:00This week in birds - #98<b><u>A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment</u></b>:<br />
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One benefit of the exceptionally cold weather that has been experienced in some parts of the country this winter is that it may have helped to kill off some persistent insect pests. In particular, scientists are hoping that the cold will be an ally in their fight against the Southern pine beetle. <b><a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/01/extreme_cold_could_freeze_invasive_beetle_out_of_nj_pinelands.html">Effects of the winter cold</a></b> are being monitored in the New Jersey pinelands to ascertain its impact on the beetle population.<br />
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<b>Mute Swans</b> are large and beautiful birds. Pairs of them are often used by artists to portray a symbol of love, but as we approach Valentine's Day, there is <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/nyregion/a-winged-symbol-of-love-that-new-york-state-wants-banished.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0">little love for the big birds in New York</a></b>. The state is attempting to eradicate at least 2,000 of them in the wild. The problem is that the birds are not native; they are an introduced species, and they wreak havoc on the environment, often making it unusable for other water birds. Moreover, these very big birds are also very aggressive in protecting their territory. They do not hesitate to attack humans who come too close, as well as other birds. They also pose an extreme threat to any aircraft that ventures into their flight path. So, the state has decided that they have to go unless they are on private lands and/or their wings can be clipped so that they cannot fly. <br />
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<b>Eastern Bluebirds</b> seem to face severe challenges to their survival throughout their range. <b><a href="http://phys.org/news/2014-01-bluebirds-struggle-happiness-island-paradise.html">This extends also to the island of Bermuda</a></b>, where the population of the birds is in decline.<br />
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The migratory Monarch butterfly population continues to decline. The butterflies that reached Mexico for the winter are covering the smallest area of land since this has been tracked. It is true that the population can fluctuate a great deal from year to year, but from a high of 20.97 hectares in the winter of 1996-97, the <b><a href="http://monarchwatch.org/blog/2014/01/monarch-population-status-20/">population this winter is down to 0.67 hectares</a></b>. The primary cause of this decline appears to be the use of pesticides and herbicides in farming, particularly the profligate use of the herbicide Round Up which has killed off much of the milkweed stands in the Midwest that the butterflies depended upon.<br />
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A lawsuit by conservation groups over a planned wind farm along the Ohio shore of Lake Erie has <b><a href="http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/wind/a-possible-first-lawsuit-over-birds-stops-federal-wind-project.html">stopped construction of the wind farm</a></b> at least for the time being. The wind turbines would be in the flight path of many migratory birds including the most endangered songbird of North America, the <b>Kirtland's Warbler.</b><br />
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A rare and endangered <b>Philippine Eagle</b> was killed at a conservation group's breeding compound on the island of Mindanao when it was <b><a href="http://phys.org/news/2014-01-endangered-philippine-eagle-falling.html">hit by a falling branch</a></b>.<br />
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Contrary to what you often hear from certain right-wing politicians, the use of <b><a href="http://desmogblog.com/2014/01/30/two-big-reasons-why-solar-power-under-siege">solar power is actually booming</a></b> in the United States. The biggest threat to its use seems to be those same politicians, who are generally allied with big oil and big coal and who apparently try to do everything in their power to impede the growth of solar energy.<br />
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The Ecuadoran government has <b><a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0124-antisana-ecuador.html">set aside 7,000 acres of prime habitat</a></b> as a preserve for the protection of the <b>Andean Condor</b>.<br />
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The most famous and, to our knowledge, the best-traveled <b>Red Knot</b> in the world has <b><a href="https://www.manomet.org/newsletter/moonbird-b95-spotted-again-argentina">been sighted on Tierra del Fuego</a></b> at the southern tip of South America this winter. The bird, designated as Moonbird B95, is also the longest-lived Red Knot on record at 20 years. He was originally banded on February 20, 1995.<br />
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It's not just Monarch butterflies whose existence is threatened. In Europe, <b><a href="http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/55601/europes-butterflies-face-extinction-because-of-habitat-loss">almost a third of the butterfly species are in decline</a></b> and fully one-tenth of them are in danger of extinction.<br />
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Researchers have found that, on Chesapeake Bay, <b>Great Blue Herons</b> and <b>Bald Eagles</b> <b><a href="http://phys.org/news/2014-01-blue-herons-bald-eagles.html">often nest in the same trees.</a></b> Although the observation is confirmed, they can't really explain why it happens.<br />
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Penguins are joining polar bears as poster animals to illustrate the dangers of global climate change. The existence of <b><a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/01/icebergs-storms-penguins/">Adelie and Magellanic Penguins in particular</a></b> is threatened by changing climatic conditions at the bottom of the planet.<br />
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<b><u>Around the backyard</u></b>:<br />
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I was reminded once again this afternoon of the vital role that <b>Blue Jays</b> play in the backyard avian ecosystem. I was idly watching the backyard feeders where at least a hundred little birds, mostly <b>American goldfinches</b>, were busily feeding when suddenly a Blue Jay in a tree at the southwest corner of the yard gave an urgent warning screech. Sometimes the birds will ignore the jay's calls I've noticed, but something must have been different today and they didn't hesitate. Every single one of them, even the <b>Chipping Sparrows</b>, made a dive for the shrubbery. A few seconds later, a <b>Sharp-shinned Hawk</b> streaked through the yard, but he didn't find a meal this time. Thanks to that backyard sentinel, the loud and obnoxious Blue Jay.Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-42029275865075323192014-01-28T13:13:00.000-06:002014-01-28T13:13:47.171-06:00FeederWatching - Week #11Wow! My yard is absolutely teeming with birds. It is difficult to get an accurate count of the types of species and of the overall numbers just because of the constant activity. But I did my best in this eleventh week of my observations for <b><a href="http://feederwatch.org/about/project-overview/">Project FeederWatch.</a></b><br />
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Here's my count for the two day period.<br />
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<b>Red-shouldered Hawk - 2</b><br />
<b>Red-tailed Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>White-winged Dove - 3</b><br />
<b>Rufous Hummingbird - 2</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1</b><br />
<b>Downy Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Blue Jay - 3</b><br />
<b>American Crow - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee - 2</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse - 3</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren - 2</b><br />
<b>Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1</b><br />
<b>Eastern Bluebird - 1</b><br />
<b>American Robin - 2</b><br />
<b>Northern Mockingbird - 1</b><br />
<b>Cedar Waxwing - 9</b><br />
<b>Orange-crowned Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Pine Warbler - 3</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler - 5</b><br />
<b>Chipping Sparrow - 1</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal - 5</b><br />
<b>Red-winged Blackbird - 14</b><br />
<b>Brown-headed Cowbird - 24</b><br />
<b>House Finch - 1</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch - 84</b><br />
<b>House Sparrow - 7 </b><br />
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So, 27 species in all for the period. I feel sure there were some that I missed, and I know my totals for some of the species are off. The American Goldfinches, for example. There were way more than 84 present at one time in the yard, but I couldn't accurately count more than that.<br />
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The goldfinches, by the way, have done something that I did not think was possible. They have crowded the House Sparrows away from the feeders! When I see sparrows at the feeders now, there are usually one or two, whereas in the past there might have been twenty. They mostly feed on the ground now, but there, too, they are crowded by the goldfinches which feed...everywhere!<br />
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I'm also quite sure there were more Chipping Sparrows and House Finches present than the one that I counted for each species. But the Orange-crowned Warbler continues to show up as a singleton - I've never seen more than one at the feeders this season. It is a very faithful visitor, though. I can just about set my watch by its appearances.<br />
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The biggest changes noted this week were the overall increase in numbers and the appearances from members of the blackbird family. Were there some <b>Brewer's Blackbirds</b> among those groups? It's possible but I couldn't confirm it. <br />
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As we count down toward the weekend of the <b><a href="http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/">Great Backyard Bird Count</a></b> in mid-February, the numbers of the birds continue to increase. It should be a very interesting count this year. Have you signed up for it yet?<br />
<br />Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-2617734527670613652014-01-25T20:09:00.000-06:002014-01-25T20:09:14.650-06:00This week in birds - #97 <b><u>A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment</u></b>:<br />
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<b>White Ibis</b> photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, February 2013.</div>
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South Africa has made a valiant effort to control poaching and protect its rhinoceros population, but in 2013 a <b><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/140121/south-africas-rhino-poaching-crisis">record 1004 of the animals were killed</a></b> there. At this rate, the country is losing the fight to save these magnificent critters.</div>
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The winter's most famous irruptives, the <b>Snowy Owls</b>, are still turning up in the darnedest places. Like <b><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-snowy-owl-perches-itself-atop-an-awning-during-rush-hour-in-downtown-washington/2014/01/22/49ca88c6-83bb-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost">McPherson Square in downtown Washington, D.C.</a></b> in the middle of rush hour traffic. And in Delaware, <b><a href="http://www.projectsnowstorm.org/posts/face-mother-birder-researcher-well-just-anyone-love/">feeding on a dolphin carcass</a></b>. Finally, at least 20 of the big white birds have been <b><a href="http://www.nj.com/south-jersey-voices/index.ssf/2014/01/gloucester_county_nature_big_w.html">seen in New Jersey</a></b> this season.</div>
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The data are in and 2013 is confirmed as the <b><a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2013/13">fourth warmest year on record</a></b> since those records have been kept. Meantime, in winter 2014, global climate change deniers in the Northeast are chortling over the cold weather there and claiming that it proves that global warming is a hoax, while, in the southern hemisphere, several countries, like Australia, are <b><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/scorchers-the-reality-of-a-sunburnt-country-20140117-3105t.html">suffering through some of the hottest summers ever</a></b>. </div>
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As the sea ice melts, the <b><a href="http://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/research-posts/polar-bear-diet-changes-as-sea-ice-melts?utm_source=social-media&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=2014-01-21-tue&utm_campaign=polar-bear">diet of polar bears is changing</a></b>. Instead of feasting on seal pups, they are eating more <b>Snow Geese</b> and dining on plants.</div>
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And in California this winter it has been so warm that the <b><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Sierra-s-bears-wide-awake-during-warm-winter-5160394.php">bears in the Sierra Nevadas</a></b> that would normally be hibernating are awake and active.</div>
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North America's most endangered songbird, the <b>Kirtland's Warbler</b>, may be making a comeback, however slowly. In a very hopeful sign, Bahamian researchers have reported finding some of the birds <b><a href="http://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/blog/2014/01/13/kirtlands-warblers-found-on-bahamian-island-for-the-first-time-in-46-years/">wintering on San Salvador Island</a></b> for the first time in 46 years. </div>
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It was reported this week that scientists in Brazil have <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25841135">discovered a new species of river dolphin</a></b>, the first new such species found since 1918.</div>
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The <b>Hoatzin</b> is an exceedingly strange bird only found in South America today, but new fossil evidence seems to indicate that it <b><a href="http://www.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=16991">may have originated in the Old World</a></b> and, at some point, made the transit to the New.</div>
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It seems that almost every week brings word of a new major oil spill somewhere. 2013 was a <b><a href="http://blog.nwf.org/2014/01/2013-was-historically-awful-for-u-s-oil-train-disasters/">historically bad year for such spills</a></b>. Many of those were from trains, but almost as much oil spilled from burst pipelines.</div>
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"Bug Eric" reports on a very <b><a href="http://bugeric.blogspot.com/2014/01/wasp-wednesday-pseudodynerus.html">handsome and interesting mason wasp</a></b> with the tongue-twisting scientific moniker of <i>Pseudodynerus quadrisectus.</i></div>
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Why do tree-dwelling sloths take to the ground to do their pooping? And does it have <b><a href="http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/21/can-moths-explain-why-sloths-poo-on-the-ground/">something to do with moths?</a></b> Stranger things occur in Nature!</div>
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Birders seem to be vying to come up with the most unusual type of "Big Year" in 2014. Here's a birder who is <b><a href="http://www.nemesisbird.com/birding/phone-skope-big-year-2014/">doing a Phone Skope Big Year</a></b>, seeing how many birds he can photograph employing a digiscope and his iPhone. </div>
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<b><u>Around the backyard</u></b>:</div>
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I'm having to refill my bird feeders almost every day now. A few more <b>Chipping Sparrows</b> and <b>Red-winged Blackbirds</b> are showing up to partake of the feast and the <b>American Goldfinch</b> flocks have more than doubled in size. It is not unusual to see a hundred or more fly up when I head out to the feeders. But they don't go far and they settle back down as soon as I leave. </div>
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I'm continuing to see lots of the big hawks over my yard - chiefly <b>Red-shouldered</b> and <b>Red-tailed</b>.</div>
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Warblers, too, have been very plentiful around the yard this week. All in all, it has been a very good week for bird watching. </div>
Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-72977770095880325072014-01-24T10:37:00.000-06:002014-01-24T10:37:39.496-06:00How and where do birds sleep?There's a really <b><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/wild_things/2014/01/23/where_do_birds_sleep_roosting_in_nests_water_flocks_cavities.html">interesting piece in <i>Slate.com</i></a></b> today about the way that birds sleep. It seems that a lot of people have misconceptions about that. They think that birds sleep in their nests. But the sole purpose of nests is to provide a place to hold eggs and chicks, and once that purpose is fulfilled, that nest is so nasty that no self-respecting bird is going to want to sleep in it.<br />
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The main concern of a bird looking for a bed for the night is to find a place that is safe from predators. A second concern may be to have some protection from the weather, but first and foremost is always the fear of predators.<br />
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The predator problem is such a threat to birds' survival that they have evolved a brain that will help them to meet it. They are essentially able to sleep while one-half of their brain stays awake and alert for danger.<br />
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This technique, called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep (USWS) allows the bird to have one hemisphere of their brain in a deep sleep while leaving the other hemisphere awake and alert. They are also able to turn USWS on and off depending on how safe their roost is. The <i>Slate</i> story gives the example of a large flock of ducks roosting on an open lake. The birds at the center of the flock are pretty safe and can shut down completely, while the birds on the outer edge are more vulnerable and have to keep half the brain alert.<br />
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So, birds, it turns out, sleep - it's called "roosting" as anyone who has ever raised chickens knows - in a lot of different places depending on what kind of birds they are. Big water birds like geese and ducks will generally sleep floating on the water. Big wading birds, like herons and egrets, usually will sleep perched in waterside trees. Shorebirds sleep in large flocks and utilize USWS and they are cryptically colored to fool predators. Hawks, eagles, and owls sleep pretty much wherever they want to. Grouse and quail which are favorite foods of so many predators depend on their coloring and on vegetation to hide, and they also generally sleep in flocks with half a brain awake. Woodpeckers roost in protected places like tree cavities or under roofs and bridges. Birds like crows, swallows, swifts, and starlings roost in large - sometimes gigantic - flocks for safety.<br />
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But the birds that we are most familiar with, the perching birds from the order <i>Passeriformes</i>, tend to roost in dense vegetation. These are our backyard birds like cardinals, sparrows, jays, and finches and around dusk you can see them flying into bushes, hedges, and trees where they will grab onto a a twig that suits them and settle down for the night.<br />
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So the next question is, how do they keep from falling off their perch while they are asleep? The answer once again is evolution. The perching birds have evolved "flexor tendons" in their legs that involuntarily clasp shut when a bird sits on a perch and they won't relax and release again until the bird straightens its leg. The grip is so tight that some birds, such as hummingbirds, have been observed sleeping upside down in apparent safety and comfort.<br />
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So the next time you see a cartoon of a little bird crawling into its nest at night and pulling a tiny blanket up to its beak, you'll know that it is just that - a cartoon. The true story of how birds sleep is a lot more complicated and a lot more interesting.<br />
Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-43943938923198356482014-01-20T11:25:00.000-06:002014-01-20T11:25:12.450-06:00FeederWatching - Week #10It was an exciting <b><a href="http://feederwatch.org/about/project-overview/">weekend of FeederWatching</a></b> - the most productive weekend yet for this season with a grand total of 26 species counted.<br />
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Much of the excitement was caused by the <b>Red-shouldered Hawks</b> which were in courtship mode. The pair spent much of their time circling and swooping in the sky over my yard, calling noisily all the time.<br />
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In fact, it was a great weekend for hawk watching in general, because in addition to the Red-shouldereds, both of the other hawks that I know to be in residence here now also showed up. A <b>Red-tailed Hawk</b> spent a lot of time circling over my yard, sometimes flying along with the Red-shouldered Hawks. The <b>Cooper's Hawk</b> made several assaults on the birds at the backyard feeders while I was watching. As far as I could tell, he never actually managed to catch one, but he chased a flock of <b>House Sparrows</b> into the shrubbery and perhaps got lucky there.<br />
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I was also excited to witness a visit by a <b>Yellow-bellied Sapsucker</b>. It was the first time I had seen one in my yard this winter. I always look forward to their seasonal trips to this area.<br />
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Additionally, it was a very good weekend for doves in my backyard. Three of the four resident doves put in an appearance. Here is the complete list of birds counted this weekend.<br />
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<b>Cooper's Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>Red-shouldered Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>Red-tailed Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>Eurasian Collared-dove - 1</b><br />
<b>White-winged Dove - 1</b><br />
<b>Mourning Dove - 1</b><br />
<b>Rufous Hummingbird - 2</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1</b><br />
<b>Downy Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Blue Jay - 2</b><br />
<b>American Crow - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee - 2</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse - 3</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren - 2 </b><br />
<b>Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1</b><br />
<b>Eastern Bluebird - 1</b><br />
<b>American Robin - 1</b><br />
<b>Northern Mockingbird - 1</b><br />
<b>Cedar Waxwing - 2</b><br />
<b>Orange-crowned Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Pine Warbler - 3</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal - 6</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch - 27</b><br />
<b>House Sparrow - 10 </b><br />
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Seeds are being consumed from the feeders at a much faster rate these days. Even the nyger seed feeders have to be refilled often, and the suet cakes disappear as if by magic! The birds are hungry at mid-winter, but they repay us for their food bill by their entertainment value. Actually, I think I come out ahead on the transaction.Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-81030666282091883362014-01-18T19:34:00.001-06:002014-01-18T19:34:22.780-06:00This week in birds - #96<b><u>A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment</u></b>:<br />
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A male <b>Vermilion Flycatcher</b> seems to glow on a gray day at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, January 2013.<br />
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The Fish and Wildlife Service is proceeding with <b><a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/01/15/262735123/to-save-threatened-owl-another-species-is-shot?ft=1&f=1025">its plan to reduce the invasive population</a></b> of Barred Owls in the Northwest in order to help protect the indigenous Northern Spotted Owl. So far they have shot 70 of the Barred Owls.<br />
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Ever wonder how birds survive in extremely cold weather like that experienced recently with the polar vortex storm? Well, down and feathers are among the warmest of insulations, but the real key is <b><a href="http://blog.allaboutbirds.org/2014/01/16/how-birds-survive-the-cold-feathers-food-warmth/">being able to find enough food</a></b>. Birds eat as much as they possibly can to generate the heat they need.<br />
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The <b>California Condor</b> is on a <b><a href="http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/commentary/california-and-the-passenger-pigeon.html">similar trajectory to the Passenger Pigeon</a></b>, a bird which became extinct one hundred years ago this year. The condor is luckier though in that it has the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service will <b><a href="http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/birds-1/new-15-year-plan-for-condor-refuges-may-expand-public-access.html">soon be releasing its fifteen year plan</a></b> for protecting the bird.<br />
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Flocks of birds that fly in a v-shape formation are conserving energy. But how and why do they learn to do that? Is is instinctual or learned behavior? Scientists are learning that the <b><a href="http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/01/15/birds-that-fly-in-a-v-formation-use-an-amazing-trick/">answer is more complicated </a></b>than they thought.<br />
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Honestly, sometimes I just despair over the stupidity of the human race. A mated pair of endangered <b>Whooping Cranes</b> have been <b><a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20140114/NEWS01/301140085/Reward-offered-whooping-cranes-illegally-shot-Western-Kentucky?gcheck=1">shot by some idiot in Kentucky</a></b>. That is a federal crime and wildlife officials will be offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the culprit.<br />
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The conservative government of Canada (of all places!) seems to be <b><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/research-cutbacks-by-government-alarm-scientists-1.2490081">conducting an all-out assault</a></b> on the scientists of that country. They are closing research facilities, firing scientists, and, most appallingly, destroying scientific records. Their actions seem directed primarily at scientists and institutions that work in the field of climate science, but this has a ripple effect to other areas of scientific endeavor. And you thought this only happened in places like Texas.<br />
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<b>Common Ravens</b> are known for their intelligence and it seems that they have figured out that <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25656289">greater height gives them an advantage</a></b> when looking for prey. In the American West, they tend to build their nests on tall utility poles so that they can look out over a wider area.<br />
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All things in Nature are related and if we pull on one thread, there is no telling what we may unravel. Specifically, large carnivores like mountain lions are <b><a href="http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/mammals/losing-big-carnivores-may-be-as-big-a-threat-as-climate-change.html">very important to the health of the ecosystem</a></b>, not only, it turns out, for their prey but for other species, even including insects and plants.<br />
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To find out how falcons hunt their prey, scientists strapped backpacks containing video cameras on them, and they learned some very <b><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24880-zoologger-hunting-falcons-rely-on-sailors-trick.html#.UtsksWTnZz8">interesting and somewhat unexpected things</a></b>.<br />
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I tend to think of Norway as a very enlightened country but I may have to reconsider. It seems that they are <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2014/jan/14/save-wolves-not-whales-norway?CMP=fb_gu">intent upon exterminating their wolves</a></b>.<br />
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Although macaws will lay up to four eggs in their nests, they will <b><a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/01/tambopata-macaw-project/">only raise and fledge one chick</a></b>. Scientists are studying this behavior to try to determine its evolutionary basis and why it would benefit the species.<br />
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<b><u>Around the backyard</u></b>:<br />
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It was very noisy in the backyard this morning. A pair of <b>Red-shouldered Hawks</b> engaged in courtship displays in the sky above the yard. They were sometimes joined in their flight by a third hawk, a <b>Red-tailed</b>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTm2HN8STVTRUh0mG19Gw17EubORtFnWKwVz9g1NX00Xm3bDltOvz435J3cl0fftlHLqi0OJjyKm5Bx5ffBuTDj-pHjqQOD-o1E9s5m8yCiNzNGfvcqJ8MbkhEQVYih9odtolMbIP36yU/s1600/IMG_0982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTm2HN8STVTRUh0mG19Gw17EubORtFnWKwVz9g1NX00Xm3bDltOvz435J3cl0fftlHLqi0OJjyKm5Bx5ffBuTDj-pHjqQOD-o1E9s5m8yCiNzNGfvcqJ8MbkhEQVYih9odtolMbIP36yU/s1600/IMG_0982.JPG" height="292" width="400" /></a></div>
No doubt about which one this is. That red tail is a flag.<br />
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Two of the hawks flying together.<br />
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One of the Red-shouldered Hawks flying right over my head.<br />
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There was another interesting visitor to the yard today - a <b>Yellow-bellied Sapsucker</b>, the first one I had seen in the yard this winter.<br />
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The feeders are dominated now by the <b>American Goldfinches</b>. Whenever I look at any of the feeders, they seem to be covered in goldfinches. That even includes the nyger seed feeders which they have finally discovered.<br />
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I hope your backyard birds are well fed and that you are finding time to enjoy them this winter. Happy birding!Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-73901736337781950682014-01-17T09:36:00.000-06:002014-01-17T09:36:43.613-06:00The Orange-crowned Warbler<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Orange-crowned Warblers</b> are never as plentiful in my yard as the other two winter warblers, the <b>Yellow-rumped</b> and the ever-present <b>Pine</b>. Some years, like last winter, they never show up at all, but this year has been different. They still don't show up in pairs or small groups like the Pine Warbler or in somewhat larger flocks like the Yellow-rumped, but there is at least one that now shows up regularly at my feeders.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrih25l17yHF-5WrP4R0m3hdUHI2kual1Mk4Ll7JUELYqPHdxs_B3Z77P_dwxYntrYXSfB6N3hw1o3iLz7_TuemZ2RRXhH4b1SDvZHo6FTZUVfCCsBlAshFESsBd4zFdavyrmNX4CZjo/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyrih25l17yHF-5WrP4R0m3hdUHI2kual1Mk4Ll7JUELYqPHdxs_B3Z77P_dwxYntrYXSfB6N3hw1o3iLz7_TuemZ2RRXhH4b1SDvZHo6FTZUVfCCsBlAshFESsBd4zFdavyrmNX4CZjo/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG" height="261" width="400" /></a></div>
Here is my little Orange-crowned visitor on the left, sharing the feeder with a Pine Warbler on the right.<br />
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All three of the species of warblers love the suet cakes.<br />
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The Orange-crowned is a plain bird and yet it is a very neat and pretty little critter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgj-Xv7awLQG9VuUNPDO7DmWR9C2ysBRAeMThTzMHog8wsZeBFpLtRH9N_IUGeC3W5nGluiftjsBefQ0eQYIDnt7IfcDH8-RctwoaQ_CisPMETGVTOhgJRHUBzGw38d6b592sVgKQi25M/s1600/IMG_0971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgj-Xv7awLQG9VuUNPDO7DmWR9C2ysBRAeMThTzMHog8wsZeBFpLtRH9N_IUGeC3W5nGluiftjsBefQ0eQYIDnt7IfcDH8-RctwoaQ_CisPMETGVTOhgJRHUBzGw38d6b592sVgKQi25M/s1600/IMG_0971.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
The bird decided to try the nearby seed cake.<br />
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"Hmmm... it just isn't the same."<br />
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Back to the suet cake!<br />
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"That's more like it!"<br />
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"This is MY suet cake!"<br />
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The Orange-crowned is a very active little bird, always flitting about, and is great fun to watch. He will always be a welcome visitor in my yard.Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-76751289997065443162014-01-13T19:05:00.000-06:002014-01-13T19:05:36.276-06:00FeederWatching - Week #9All the usual suspects - well, most of them anyway - turned up for my ninth weekend of <b><a href="http://feederwatch.org/about/project-overview/">Project FeederWatch.</a></b> There were also a couple of new entries; one expected, the other one pretty much unexpected. Here's this week's list:<br />
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<b>White-winged Dove - 5</b><br />
<b>Rufous Hummingbird - 1</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Downy Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Pileated Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Blue Jay - 2</b><br />
<b>American Crow - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee - 1</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse - 5</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren - 1</b><br />
<b>Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1</b><br />
<b>Eastern Bluebird - 1</b><br />
<b>Northern Mockingbird - 1</b><br />
<b>Cedar Waxwing - 50</b><br />
<b>Orange-crowned Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Pine Warbler - 3</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal - 5</b><br />
<b>Red-winged Blackbird - 2</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch - 22</b><br />
<b>House Sparrow - 10</b><br />
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There were slightly fewer species than in the last couple of weeks but more birds in total because the Cedar Waxwing and American Goldfinch flocks increased by quite a bit.<br />
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The two new species on the list were the Red-winged Blackbird and the Pileated Woodpecker. I had been expecting the Red-winged Blackbird to show up but the Pileated Woodpecker was a very pleasant surprise. <b><a href="http://backyardbirdinginsoutheasttexas.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-pileated-sighting.html">Pileateds are infrequent visitors to the yard</a></b> and so it is always a special treat when one drops in. <br />
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I was happy to find the Orange-crowned Warbler at the feeders this week, and, likewise, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I had only seen both of these birds feeding in the shrubbery previously.<br />
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As we near the mid-winter point, I would expect the numbers at the feeders to increase even more. Surely, most of the wild food has been depleted by now and birds will be searching elsewhere for a meal. I would especially hope to see more members of the sparrow family at my feeders. They've been mostly absent so far - except for House Sparrows, of course. Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-84465837833462604862014-01-11T20:35:00.002-06:002014-01-11T21:38:00.007-06:00This week in birds - #95<b><u>A roundup of this week's news of birds and the environment</u></b>:<br />
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While much of the country has been blanketed under heavy snows for the past couple of weeks, the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California has <b><a href="http://grist.org/news/california-is-dangerously-short-on-snow/">had seriously meager amounts of snow</a></b> this winter. This is very bad news for cities west and south of the range which depend on snow melt from these mountains for their water. It is also bad news for the animals which depend on rivers and streams being replenished by snow melt from the mountains.<br />
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Birders choose to do their birding in many creative ways. Here is a birder who is <b><a href="http://bikingforbirds.blogspot.com/">attempting a Big Year.</a></b>..on bicycle!<br />
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The recent rash of <b>Bald Eagle</b> deaths in Utah, which I had reported here in my last roundup, has been determined to have been <b><a href="http://www.livescience.com/42306-bald-eagle-deaths-west-nile.html">caused by West Nile virus</a></b>. We think of this as primarily a summer disease, but apparently the temperatures there have been conducive to the spread of the mosquito-borne virus. Evidently, the eagles got the disease by eating waterfowl that had been infected.<br />
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The EPA has published the first rule <b><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/09/3139921/epa-carbon-rule-power-plants/"><span id="goog_958537611"></span>governing emissions of carbon dioxide</a><span id="goog_958537612"></span></b> from new power plants.<br />
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Salvage logging in the <b><a href="http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/birds-1/rim-fire-logging-may-endanger-rare-woodpecker.html">area where the Rim Fire occurred in 2013</a></b> may be putting at risk the rare <b>Black-backed Woodpecker</b> which depends on that habitat.<br />
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A tracking device recovered from a male <b>Red-necked Phalarope</b> from Scotland has revealed a <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-25661650">unique migration by that bird</a></b>. He flew thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Pacific.<br />
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The Northern shrimp population in the Gulf of Maine has collapsed and, consequently, a <b><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/04/3021451/maine-shrimp-season-closed/">moratorium has been put on shrimping</a></b> in that area for the foreseeable future. This has dire economic implications for local restaurants that depend on the crustaceans. The shrimp are moving out of the Gulf and going farther north in reaction to warming waters. The same thing is happening with the famous Maine lobster.<br />
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Several bird conservation groups are <b><a href="http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/140108.html">attempting to block the installation of a wind farm</a></b> on the shores of Lake Erie in the path of an important flyway for migrating birds.<br />
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Antarctic penguins are attempting to adapt to the fast-changing climate which is affecting even that frigid area. In some cases, the penguins are <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/09/penguins-ice-walls-climate-change-antarctica">having to climb 100 foot high ice cliffs</a></b> to get to their breeding ground.<br />
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It is accepted fact - at least by people who accept the idea of evolution - that birds' skeletons have structures that are equivalent to our fingers. Now researchers are attempting to discover <b><a href="http://phys.org/news/2014-01-fingers-feathered-friends-results-evolution.html">which "fingers" the birds actually have</a></b>.<br />
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We are nearing the centennial anniversary of the death of the very last <b>Passenger Pigeon</b>, a bird named Martha who died in a zoo cage. These wild and beautiful birds were essentially blasted out of existence by human hunting. Just in time for the sad anniversary, a new book by Joel Greenberg has been released. It is called <i><b><a href="http://10000birds.com/a-feathered-river-across-the-sky-the-passenger-pigeons-flight-to-extinction.htm">A Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Fight to Extinction</a></b></i>. I heard a discussion of the book on NPR this week. It sounded very interesting.<br />
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While residents of the northern hemisphere have been dealing with heavy snow and record cold temperatures recently, residents in the southern hemisphere have had the opposite problem - <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/weather/2014/jan/08/temperatures-head-towards-record-52c?CMP=twt_gu">record high temperatures in many places</a></b>. For example, parts of Australia have been suffering with temperatures that climbed upwards of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.<br />
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<b><u>Around the backyard</u></b>:<br />
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The feeders, including the hummingbird feeders, have been under heavy pressure by hungry birds all week. I've had to refill them a couple of times. This is a drastic change from the recent past. I was particularly glad to see the return of the <b>House Finches</b> and the <b>American Robins</b> this week.<br />
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My Christmas present was a new Apple iMac. Its delivery was delayed by snow and inclement weather, but it finally arrived and I'm trying to learn to communicate with it. It's a bit like learning a whole new language.<br />
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My first real computer was an Apple, way back in the Stone Age of computing, and for several years, we always had Apples, but at some point, we started getting PCs. It's what we had at our offices so it seemed practical, I guess.<br />
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I've had an iPad for a while, but this is my first "big" Apple in years. I love it! It is faster than the speed of light and can leap tall buildings in a single bound! Now, I just have to master it.<br />
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Most especially, I have to learn how to deal with my photos on the iMac. You may notice that this post is photo-free. I hope by my next entry, I'll be more proficient in using my new toy! Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-24327661743530742172014-01-08T17:08:00.002-06:002014-01-08T18:19:31.899-06:00The goldfinches<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">(<i>Cross-posted from <b><a href="http://birdwoman-thenatureofthings.blogspot.com/2014/01/backyard-nature-wednesday-goldfinches.html">The Nature of Things</a></b>.</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">The most recent book that I finished reading, just a few days ago, was </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://birdwoman-thenatureofthings.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-goldfinch-by-donna-tartt-review.html" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration: none;"><i>The Goldfinch</i> by Donna Tartt</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">. The MacGuffin of that book is a small painting of a pet <b>European Goldfinch </b>that was painted in 1654 by the Dutch artist Carel Fabritius. It seems coincidental and somehow appropriate then that the stars of my backyard these days are the <b>American Goldfinches</b> that visit us in the late fall and winter.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">The goldfinches arrived in my yard several weeks ago, around the end of November. As soon as I saw the first ones in the area, I filled my nyger seed feeders and hung them in the backyard. They continued to hang there unutilized until this week.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">Finally, this week as the extreme cold hit our area along with most of the rest of the country and as the wild food for the birds began to be depleted, the goldfinches have started visiting my feeders.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">Even though the nyger seed feeders were waiting for them, the first feeders the finches visited were those filled with black oil sunflower seed. This is their pattern every year - they always go for the sunflower seeds first.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"> But, finally, yesterday they began visiting the feeders that had been hung just for them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">The number of goldfinches in my yard has been down quite a bit this winter over recent years. Last winter, for example, by this time, I was seeing flocks of more than fifty of the little birds around my feeders and those numbers were swelled even more by the addition of their cousins, the boisterous little <b>Pine Siskins</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">We have no siskins this year, though, which in fact had been predicted by the </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><a href="http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/wf1314/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration: none;">Winter Finch Forecast</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">. Some years they don't make it this far south, and, indeed, fewer goldfinches also seem to have come south this year. What I'm seeing now are flocks of 10 to 20 birds.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">I suppose the flocks could still grow as more of the wild food is exhausted farther north and the cold weather may continue to push them southward, but so far it has been a very lightly populated winter on the finch front.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">Though we have no Pine Siskins and fewer American Goldfinches than in some years, we do still have our resident <b>House Finches</b> to help the goldfinches in brightening our winter days.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">A House Finch and an American Goldfinch share a feeder in the backyard.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;">As a family, the finches are certainly among the most beautiful and the most interesting of our backyard birds.</span>Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-65771616663304471422014-01-06T18:05:00.002-06:002014-01-06T18:05:29.221-06:00FeederWatching - week #8The frigid weather has brought more birds to the feeders over the weekend, and consequently, I had my most successful <b><a href="http://feederwatch.org/about/project-overview/">Project FeederWatch</a></b> session for this reporting season, even though my time in counting the birds was really quite limited. I tallied a total of 23 species for this latest report.<br />
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<b>Cooper's Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>Red-shouldered Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>White-winged Dove - 1</b><br />
<b>Rufous Hummingbird - 2</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 </b><br />
<b>Downy Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Blue Jay - 2</b><br />
<b>American Crow - 4</b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee - 4</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse - 3</b><br />
<b>Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren - 1</b><br />
<b>Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1</b><br />
<b>Eastern Bluebird - 1</b><br />
<b>American Robin - 2</b><br />
<b>Northern Mockingbird - 1</b><br />
<b>Cedar Waxwing - 2</b><br />
<b>Pine Warbler - 3</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler - 4</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal - 5</b><br />
<b>House Finch - 4</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch - 3</b><br />
<b>House Sparrow - 20</b><br />
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This week marked the first observation this winter of American Robins in the yard. They may have been there all along, but they typically appear very early in the morning and late in the afternoon and I had missed them before. This week I saw them early in the morning.<br />
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This week also marked the reappearance of the House Finches. I had not seen any of them in the yard for several weeks, but there were four at the front yard feeder when I first looked out my window this morning. They are always welcome visitors.<br />
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Another first this week was the first visit to the feeders by the American Goldfinches. Although they have been in the yard for several weeks, I had not seen them visiting the feeders at all, but today, there they were, consuming the black oil sunflower seeds. I still haven't seen them visit the nyger seed feeders, set up especially for them.<br />
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This was also the first appearance by a Red-shouldered Hawk on my counts. I've had <b>Red-tailed Hawks</b> a couple of times, but this lone Red-shouldered was hunting over my backyard on Sunday, where, earlier, I had also seen the Cooper's Hawk.<br />
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I missed seeing the <b>Orange-crowned Warbler</b> this week, but I probably just wasn't out and observing when he visited. The other two winter warblers were present in the yard in relatively large numbers this weekend.<br />
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Overall, I was happy with my first FeederWatch count of the new year. Things should become even more interesting in coming weeks as the wild food continues to get scarcer and the birds look for other sources of food. They will find my feeders stocked and waiting for them.Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-282135001443297432014-01-04T18:04:00.002-06:002014-01-04T18:04:31.049-06:00A new year of birdingI like to start each new year with a day of birding. For the past several years, it has been our family tradition to visit Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge on New Year's Day - or as <b><a href="http://backyardbirdinginsoutheasttexas.blogspot.com/2013/01/anahuac-finally.html">close to New Year's Day</a></b> as we can manage. This year, we decided to stay a bit closer to home with a trip to Katy Prairie and particularly to Paul D. Rushing Park on the prairie.<br />
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Hubby and I had planned to go on New Year's Day, but a minor household emergency caused us to postpone the trip. We finally managed to get out there yesterday and spent a good part of the day looking for birds. It was a fairly successful adventure. The photography was a bit less successful.<br />
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Most of our time was spent at Rushing Park, which is a marvelous facility. If you live anywhere in the area and have not visited the park to see its birds, you really should make the effort to do so this year. You will be well-rewarded.<br />
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While following the Chain of Lakes around the park, we took over 200 photographs, but most of them, frankly, were crap. We had the bright early morning and mid-morning sun in our eyes everywhere we walked and it was hard to get a good angle on the birds with our cameras. Here are some of our better efforts.<br />
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The first bird to greet us at the parking lot was the ubiquitous <b>Northern Mockingbird</b>.<br />
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In the meadows, the<b> Eastern Meadowlark</b> was plentiful.<br />
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And at the edges of the lakes and waterways, the little <b>Killdeer</b> was ever-present.<br />
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This somewhat backlit <b>Loggerhead Shrike</b> was perusing the short grass beneath this barbed wire, looking for a likely meal.<br />
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I always have trouble identifying sparrows, especially those from the genus <i>Melospiza</i> or <i>Passerculus</i>. But this one, I think, is a <b>Savannah</b>, based on its yellow lores.<br />
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After some consideration, I decided this one was a <b>Song Sparrow</b>.<br />
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And this one? A <b>Lincoln's</b>, maybe?<br />
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Telling a <b>Greater Yellowlegs</b> from a <b>Lesser Yellowlegs</b> can also be problematic, but I think this is the Greater, based on the proportions of the bill. Both were present in the park this day.<br />
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These may not look like <b>White Ibises</b> but in a few months, they will be snowy white.<br />
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No doubt about this identification. It's a <b>Great Egret</b>. There were plenty of <b>Snowies</b> around as well, and we saw three <b>Great Blue Herons</b> but I was unable to get a usable picture of them.<br />
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We saw both the <b>American Pipit</b> and the <b>Sprague's Pipit</b> at the park. The ones with the plain backs are the Americans and the ones with the striped backs are the Sprague's. This high stepper is an American.<br />
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As always, there were plenty of <b>American Coots</b> around. Definitely not an endangered species!<br />
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There were also lots of <b>Mallards</b>.<br />
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The male <b>American Widgeon</b> is one of the prettier ducks, I think.<br />
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And the <b>Gadwall</b> is definitely one of the plainer ones.<br />
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We saw plenty of <b>Northern Pintails</b>.<br />
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And lots of <b>Canvasbacks</b>.<br />
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Here are a couple of Canvasbacks having their nap.<br />
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I watched an <b>American Kestrel</b> hunting above a meadow on Longenbaugh Road. The bird hovered for what seemed like minutes, hanging above the field. Then it dropped like a stone to the the grass below and rose with some small creature in its talons - most likely a mouse or vole. It carried its meal to the top of this utility pole where it proceeded to dismember it. The kestrel is a deadly hunter and also one of the prettiest members of the falcon family.<br />
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After several hours on the prairie on a cold, cold but brilliantly sunny winter day, we decided to call it quits even though I hadn't seen all the birds that I had hoped to see. It was a good start and there will be other days of birding. Maybe even a trip to Anahuac sometime soon.Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-54590348273008327862013-12-31T17:53:00.000-06:002013-12-31T17:53:00.759-06:00FeederWatching - Week #7Another weekend, another session of watching my bird feeders and my yard to count the birds for <b><a href="http://feederwatch.org/about/project-overview/">Project FeederWatch</a></b>.<br />
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It was another pretty successful weekend, with 21 species counted. I feel that I could have done better and gotten even more species if I had had more time to spend on it. I was limited by the weather. It was cold and dreary. And on Sunday I had family over so bird counting took a back seat. Still, I'm pretty happy with the birds I was able to check off my list.<br />
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<b>Red-tailed Hawk - 2</b><br />
<b>White-winged Dove - 3</b><br />
<b>Mourning Dove - 1</b><br />
<b>Rufous Hummingbird - 2</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Downy Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Blue Jay - 1 </b><br />
<b>American Crow - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee - 2</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse - 3</b><br />
<b>Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren - 1</b><br />
<b>Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1</b><br />
<b>Eastern Bluebird - 1</b><br />
<b>Cedar Waxwing - 2</b><br />
<b>Orange-crowned Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Pine Warbler - 3</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal - 4</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch - 1</b><br />
<b>House Sparrow - 23</b><br />
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I was delighted to be able to add the Mourning Dove to my 2013-14 FeederWatch record this week and there was a single male <b>Red-winged Blackbird</b> who flew over the yard while I was watching, but he didn't drop in so I didn't count him. At least, I know now that he's in the neighborhood so maybe he'll come to visit next week.<br />
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My most interesting observation this week was that pair of Red-tailed Hawks that circled over my yard for several minutes looking for a meal. They didn't find anything that interested them and finally moved on. And I was very happy to see the Orange-crowned Warbler return this week. He's become a bit of a welcome regular in the yard.<br />
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*~*~*~*<br />
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And now, before we bid farewell to this old year, let me take a moment to wish you all the best in 2014. Most importantly, may your life list of birds grow and may you never be confused by a bird ID.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>HAVE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!!! </i></b></span></div>
Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-38930531603977424262013-12-30T13:17:00.002-06:002013-12-30T13:17:18.849-06:00Backyard favoriteOne of my favorite backyard birds - and yes, I do say that about a lot of different birds - is the <b>Tufted Titmouse</b>. A pale gray bird with orangish flanks and a small pointed crest, it is not as colorful or flashy as some of our backyard birds, but it is an ever-present visitor to my yard, one that is here at all seasons of the year and is particularly noticeable during the gray days of winter when the trees are bare of leaves.<br />
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At this season of the year, these little, relatively tame birds travel in small flocks, often mixed with other species with whom they share an affinity for both seeds and insects. In my own yard, I frequently see five or six titmice mixed with <b>Carolina Chickadees</b>, <b>Downy Woodpeckers</b>, and <b>Brown-headed Nuthatches</b> as they visit the feeders or scour the bark of trees for insects. In winters in which <b>Red-breasted Nuthatches</b> visit our area, they, too, can be seen in these flocks.<br />
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The flocks visit the feeders sporadically throughout the day. They may swarm the feeders where they will feed for fifteen minutes or so and then they disappear for a time, only to return <i>en masse</i> perhaps thirty minutes or an hour later. But if one is patient one can be assured of seeing these birds several time in a day.<br />
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I love photographing titmice, although they are so active that it is sometimes hard to get them to sit still for a portrait. Still, sometimes I get lucky.<br />
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I caught this one as he was visiting the pressed seed cake feeder, a favorite spot for many in his mixed flock.<br />
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Of course, after his snack, he had to fly to the backyard fountain to wash it all down with a few sips of water.<br />
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Done with the water and on to a favorite perch in the crape myrtle tree, where he will contemplate returning to the feeders, maybe for some suet this time.<br />
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Pretty little bird! And a wonderful backyard companion. One of my favorites.Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-53764404727416964972013-12-28T19:13:00.001-06:002013-12-29T10:17:11.445-06:00This week in birds - #94<b><u>A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment</u></b>:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduqLNCaeHH2og4AFMINLNCnFjUGFSX9cjn8842Hfnk7ucM-5XtcWcXR-s8EqBYXsM-JQoyBPBD0TStG-O7Xdtzw4J0o_T5Un8M59WoCsbtBInSJvFT2s-a5VU5lRxXx7aoPl6yd0OQg4/s1600/snowy_owl_tom_middleton_sstock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjduqLNCaeHH2og4AFMINLNCnFjUGFSX9cjn8842Hfnk7ucM-5XtcWcXR-s8EqBYXsM-JQoyBPBD0TStG-O7Xdtzw4J0o_T5Un8M59WoCsbtBInSJvFT2s-a5VU5lRxXx7aoPl6yd0OQg4/s400/snowy_owl_tom_middleton_sstock.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Photo by Tom Middleton, courtesy of the American Bird Conservancy.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feathered from
beak to toe tips, the <b>Sn</b><b>owy Owl, </b>the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week,<b> </b> is well-equipped to survive on the frigid, high
Arctic tundra. Its thick feathers make this bird North America’s heaviest owl,
typically weighing about four pounds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some Snowy
Owls remain on their Arctic breeding grounds year-round, while others migrate in
winter to southern Canada and the northern half of the United States. In years
when food is scarce, Snowy Owls may stage “irruptions,” traveling far south of
their usual haunts in search of food, to the delight of birders and nonbirders
alike. This has definitely been one of those irruptive winters, with Snowies making an appearance all over the Northeast and Midwest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Snowy Owl loves open areas such as coastal dunes, prairies, fields, and airports. Its attraction to airports often brings it into fatal conflict with humans. The population of this charismatic bird is declining, most likely due to loss of habitat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And still more about Snowy Owls. Some well-meaning bird lovers, fearing that the irrupting birds are starving have <b><a href="http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2013/12/23/i-am-not-starving/">attempted to feed them with live mice</a></b> purchased for the purpose. In fact, there is no real evidence of widespread starvation, and this seems to be another example of uninformed and misguided interference with Nature.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are <b><a href="http://blog.aba.org/2013/12/the-2013-snowy-owl-invasion-its-getting-crazier-by-the-minute.html">some pictures and videos</a></b> of Snowies around the country, some of which feature their encounters with <b>Peregrine Falcons</b> that appear to resent the invasion of the big white owls into their territories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And speaking of raptors, have you ever noticed that movies and TV shows, even those that should know better, <b><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/12/28/raptor_porn_the_ridiculous_proliferation_of_the_red_tail_call/">almost invariably use the sound of the call</a></b> of the <b>Red-tailed Hawk</b> to stand in for any raptor or a large bird of any kind? I have noticed it and been annoyed by it over the years, but I never knew that other people noticed as well. I felt vindicated by the <i>Salon.com </i>article.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grasshoppers exist in a great variety of forms. Proof of that fact is found in this collection of <b><a href="http://lepscience.com/2013/10/31/grasshoppers-of-florida/">photographs of the grasshoppers of Florida</a></b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has announced that it has <b><a href="http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/plants/shrub-once-thought-extinct-gets-critical-habitat-in-san-francisco.html">designated as critical habitat for the Franciscan manzanita</a></b> 230 acres of open space in San Francisco. This shrub had been thought to be extinct for decades until its recent accidental rediscovery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.universityherald.com/articles/6434/20131225/investigation-of-mysterious-bald-eagle-deaths-continue.htm">Something is killing Bald Eagles in Utah</a></b>. A mysterious fatal illness has struck at least 16 of the birds since the beginning of December. Wildlife personnel are attempting to discover the cause of the illness and find a way to stop it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The largest predator in South America, the Orinoco crocodile, is in danger of extinction. Venezuelan wildlife officials <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/world/americas/venezuelas-fitful-effort-to-save-a-scaly-predator.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0">have mounted a last ditch effort</a></b> to try to save animal. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers to allow some of their land to be planted in native grasses or sometimes trees in order to provide natural habitat for wildlife, but now more and more <b><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/12/22/255732264/grasslands-get-squeezed-as-another-1-6-million-acres-go-into-crops?sc=tw&cc=share">acreage is being taken out of the program</a></b> due to government budget cuts and a failure by Congress to appreciate the importance of maintaining this habitat. This is proving detrimental to the welfare of the animals that depend on such habitat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the beneficiaries of restoring native grassland habitat is the Monarch butterfly. Such areas that allow for the growth of milkweed, the plant on which the Monarch's survival depends, are absolutely <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/us/setting-the-table-for-a-fluttering-comeback-with-milkweed.html">essential to the effort to prevent the extinction </a></b>of this species. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dolphin deaths along the coasts of our country continue to soar. Those that occurred along the East Coast particularly during this past summer were related to a virus, but there is some evidence that those happening along the Gulf Coast may be <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/us/focus-on-oceans-health-as-dolphin-deaths-soar.html?hp&_r=0&pagewanted=all">related to the continuing effects</a></b> of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in 2010.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Around the backyard</u></b>: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some more visitors to my backyard this week.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgniSHMvdIjbuS-kfCs-BT7DQMkpUHXlPyjsXSK0ytOsGfzp7di5GPKM0OiRU3cSPZhqnKvznh_AoNbJdVCm7LtjR96VJy6zJuXmd4PDq30OAxHQh0Q406CXe0FniCOhICWsSAcH9hSVg4/s1600/fem+downy2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgniSHMvdIjbuS-kfCs-BT7DQMkpUHXlPyjsXSK0ytOsGfzp7di5GPKM0OiRU3cSPZhqnKvznh_AoNbJdVCm7LtjR96VJy6zJuXmd4PDq30OAxHQh0Q406CXe0FniCOhICWsSAcH9hSVg4/s400/fem+downy2.JPG" width="350" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This female <b>Downy Woodpecker</b> and her mate are daily visitors to the suet cakes at the backyard feeder system.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxJJoATH7mV3s66VAhCgrjBIsA9RmSs3VpE4E7oBufB1wLc2EJ-iLsmsAcmqzW2KvSZS6ggtGWbmOvQvzHYHg24PSdX6wiDLWxy6Zi2UZ5FTjFWJn9EMIZgal2goF-qdELaaqS7iPHng/s1600/titmouse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxJJoATH7mV3s66VAhCgrjBIsA9RmSs3VpE4E7oBufB1wLc2EJ-iLsmsAcmqzW2KvSZS6ggtGWbmOvQvzHYHg24PSdX6wiDLWxy6Zi2UZ5FTjFWJn9EMIZgal2goF-qdELaaqS7iPHng/s400/titmouse.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <b>Tufted Titmice</b> are probably the most frequent visitors (beside the <b>House Sparrows</b>) to my feeders these days. I often see four or five at a time at the feeders. They are usually accompanied by <b>Carolina Chickadees</b>.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jemYws9n-k58CteC697dfq50sc7uhABHxfHhKOIjfeOiOXK79qMAESPDQ-zmUJ1hHXS4lYQ1yq6BRFm3PMGctYpEbYseWmE_w9jse58KCydgKwZ4UxtY7UFflhi3ILF6qcTqoLOyG7E/s1600/fem+pine+war4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jemYws9n-k58CteC697dfq50sc7uhABHxfHhKOIjfeOiOXK79qMAESPDQ-zmUJ1hHXS4lYQ1yq6BRFm3PMGctYpEbYseWmE_w9jse58KCydgKwZ4UxtY7UFflhi3ILF6qcTqoLOyG7E/s400/fem+pine+war4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another constant visitor is the <b>Pine Warbler</b>. This is the female of the species, who is much more drably colored than her sometimes gaudy mate.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXR_Mb_Q7NbVE3o4g0-ib5TT5JkXCi6Io8InRZzw-RqMcQ9-lFTU-nJWilES9QfaIstpwT1xIwvymtevuBUvhBhYAueB4tJ-TJgWMJNUnCuMNo-V_ZYce6a3BaKNawWxV0_vbgqAUL5M/s1600/mourning.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXR_Mb_Q7NbVE3o4g0-ib5TT5JkXCi6Io8InRZzw-RqMcQ9-lFTU-nJWilES9QfaIstpwT1xIwvymtevuBUvhBhYAueB4tJ-TJgWMJNUnCuMNo-V_ZYce6a3BaKNawWxV0_vbgqAUL5M/s400/mourning.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, yes, I did finally observe a visit by my favorite dove, the <b>Mourning Dove</b>. I'm sure they have been here all along. They just weren't around when I was looking.</span>Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-67153124548511402112013-12-26T17:37:00.002-06:002013-12-26T17:37:24.393-06:00FeederWatching - Week #6Week #6 of my observations for <b><a href="http://feederwatch.org/about/project-overview/">Project FeederWatch</a></b> was my most successful time of watching so far in this season. I tallied 22 species of birds.<br />
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<b>Red-tailed Hawk - 1</b><br />
<b>White-winged Dove - 7</b><br />
<b>Rufous Hummingbird - 2</b><br />
<b>Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Downy Woodpecker - 1</b><br />
<b>Blue Jay - 2</b><br />
<b>American Crow - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Chickadee - 4</b><br />
<b>Tufted Titmouse - 3</b><br />
<b>Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1</b><br />
<b>Carolina Wren - 2</b><br />
<b>Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1</b><br />
<b>Eastern Bluebird - 1</b><br />
<b>Northern Mockingbird - 1</b><br />
<b>Cedar Waxwing - 2</b><br />
<b>Orange-crowned Warbler - 1</b><br />
<b>Pine Warbler - 3</b><br />
<b>Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2</b><br />
<b>Chipping Sparrow - 1</b><br />
<b>Northern Cardinal - 3</b><br />
<b>American Goldfinch - 3</b><br />
<b>House Sparrow - 20</b><br />
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This was the first appearance on my FeederWatch reports for this season of Red-tailed Hawk, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Orange-crowned Warbler, and only the second appearance for Yellow-rumped Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, and American Goldfinch. Slowly, the numbers and the diversity of species at the feeders are beginning to increase.<br />
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I still haven't seen an <b>Eastern Phoebe</b>, a <b>Red-winged Blackbird</b> or any other member of the blackbird family, or a <b>Mourning Dove</b> or <b>Eurasian Collared-dove</b>. They are all species I'll be looking for in coming weeks.<br />
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Meantime, here are a few birds that I saw during my most recent observations.<br />
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Northern Mockingbird</div>
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Blue Jay</div>
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Carolina Wren</div>
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Carolina Chickadee</div>
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Red-bellied Woodpecker</div>
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Northern Cardinal</div>
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Pine Warbler</div>
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Chipping Sparrow</div>
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Rufous Hummingbird</div>
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Yellow-rumped Warbler</div>
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And, of course, what would a day of observations be without an appearance by my friend, the fox squirrel?<br />
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Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-74064339849515254782013-12-22T22:33:00.000-06:002013-12-22T22:33:10.920-06:00Holiday greetings<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmcJIMhZ0qZ9pgZ-65LT-b0FFRY7JCIdPsp37Dj9l_WNY_Y5Rarlw7jOScbE5syK1yy6xtQ0QfcxQY-k7brHYmXT4UutBcuEDPKHYjdp04PahT03uTzX-13tBK4W5RV45ehfHkrsAHHg/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #7c93a1; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmcJIMhZ0qZ9pgZ-65LT-b0FFRY7JCIdPsp37Dj9l_WNY_Y5Rarlw7jOScbE5syK1yy6xtQ0QfcxQY-k7brHYmXT4UutBcuEDPKHYjdp04PahT03uTzX-13tBK4W5RV45ehfHkrsAHHg/s1600/images.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>As we near the end of 2013, I want to thank all my readers for visiting my blog this year. I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts and experiences with you and I look forward to doing more of that in 2014.</b></i></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>For the next few days, I will be busy getting ready for the </b></i><i><b>holidays and then enjoying them with my family</b></i><i><b> and loved ones. I hope that your holidays find you surrounded by people that you love and who love you and that the coming year is a happy and healthy one for you.</b></i></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><i style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: 'Droid Sans'; font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>Have a joyous and peaceful holiday season.</b></i></span></div>
Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9056621443294652468.post-14633823447239648502013-12-21T19:50:00.000-06:002013-12-21T19:51:18.029-06:00This week in birds - #93<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment</u></b>:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAKHzvXxA-2bz5GWyrfBo-jRRdZorfsWZW4UkMTFbNlUb3lvacvWjJuGralrp8ldo0fSaxTroZSnx7qc3AIXRf1u70fRO-YLJhyphenhyphenNxlLFJORKVw40kTamhDWWos5gDyJh1LFDjdt3GHRg/s1600/CalliopeHummingbird_Tom-Grey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUAKHzvXxA-2bz5GWyrfBo-jRRdZorfsWZW4UkMTFbNlUb3lvacvWjJuGralrp8ldo0fSaxTroZSnx7qc3AIXRf1u70fRO-YLJhyphenhyphenNxlLFJORKVw40kTamhDWWos5gDyJh1LFDjdt3GHRg/s400/CalliopeHummingbird_Tom-Grey.jpg" height="247" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photo by Tom Grey, courtesy of American Bird Conservancy.</i></span></span></div>
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At 3.25 inches
long, the <b>Calliope Hummingbird</b> is the smallest breeding bird found in Canada and
the United States—and the smallest long-distance migrant bird in the world. This
tiny hummingbird travels over 5,500 miles round-trip during its
migration! This remarkable little bird is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week.</span><br />
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This is a bird of the west. It favors open forests, meadows, and canyons in high mountains, often preferring areas alongside streams.</span><br />
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Calliopes
winter in dry thorn forest and humid pine-oak forests in southwestern and
south-central Mexico. Vagrant Calliopes are increasingly found wintering in the
eastern U.S., however, much like other species of western hummingbirds such as the
<b>Rufous Hummingbird</b>. The population of the Calliope is considered stable.</span><br />
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November 2013 was the<b><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/science/november-was-hottest-earth-1880-2D11761734"> </a></b></span><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/science/november-was-hottest-earth-1880-2D11761734"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hottest Novembe</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">r on record since 1880</span></b></a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://./">.</a></b> Almost every region on Earth was warmer than usual with only a few exceptions, including central and eastern North America, the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, northern Australia, and southwest Greenland. On the other hand, Russia had its hottest November since 1880 with some areas seeing temperatures 14 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius) above normal.</span><br />
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The emerald ash borer is a noxious invasive pest from Asia that has caused considerable damage to forests in parts of the United States. But its <b><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131218170816.htm">progress has be slowed and maybe hal</a></b><b><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131218170816.htm">ted</a></b> by native bark-foraging birds like nuthatches and woodpeckers. It seems that these birds find the borer extremely tasty. </span><br />
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The <b>Bar-tailed Godwit</b> is the long-distance champion of migrating birds, flying from Alaska to New Zealand in autumn and then back again in the spring. Researchers believe that the bird is <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25274483">adapting its migration patterns</a></b> to fit the new reality of climate change. This affords some evidence and provides hope that other birds may be able to do likewise.</span><br />
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Some amazing bee portraits have been posted that provide views of bees that you have never seen before. You can take a look at those pictures <b><a href="http://blog.flickr.net/en/2013/12/13/bee-portraits-like-youve-never-seen-before/">here</a></b>.</span><br />
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Certain small birds engage in very energetic displays. A prime example is members of the manakin family. Researchers have studied the <b>Golden-collared Manakin</b> and found that these birds <b><a href="http://phys.org/news/2013-12-acrobatic-birds-arent-energetic.html">do not actually expend as much energy</a></b> in the displays as one might imagine. </span><br />
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A recently discovered <b>Emperor Penguin</b> colony on Antarctica is flourishing and has been found to <b><a href="http://www.livescience.com/42065-remote-antarctica-penguin-colony-bigger.html">contain even more birds </a></b>than originally thought. New estimates number the colony at around 15,000 birds.</span><br />
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Some of our <b><a href="http://lepscience.com/2013/12/19/the-smallest-butterflies-are-some-of-the-toughest-dainty-sulphur-nathalis-iole/">smallest butterflies are among the toughest</a></b> and are able to survive lower temperatures than many of their larger and flashier cousins. Among the toughest is the tiny Dainty Sulphur.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I photographed this Dainty Sulphur in my backyard earlier this fall. It is tiny and very pretty but the name "Dainty" Sulphur is deceiving. It is able to survive some fairly rugged conditions.</span><br />
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Scientists believe that the <b>Kiwi </b>bird, the national symbol of New Zealand, <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/19/kiwi-bird-could-have-australian-roots-says-expert-after-fossil-discovery">may actually have Australian roots</a></b>. The bird may have originated in Australia and flown to New Zealand where it evolved into its present flightless state. This is based on new fossil evidence.</span><br />
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There will be winners and losers in the climate change lottery. Research indicates that <b><a href="http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/reptiles/joshua-tree-study-highlights-climate-threat-to-desert-tortoise.html">one of the losers may be the desert tortoise</a></b> whose habitat is changing faster than it can adjust. </span><br />
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Research shows that birds that breed cooperatively, i.e., have more than the parental pair cooperating in defending the nest and care and feeding of the young, <b><a href="http://www.livescience.com/42119-how-birds-cooperate-to-defeat-cuckoos.html">have a greater degree of success</a></b> in repelling brood parasites such as old world cuckoos.</span><br />
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<b><u>Around the backyard</u></b>:</span><br />
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This was the week when I <a href="http://backyardbirdinginsoutheasttexas.blogspot.com/2013/12/let-those-seedheads-be.html">saw my first </a><b><a href="http://backyardbirdinginsoutheasttexas.blogspot.com/2013/12/let-those-seedheads-be.html">Orange-crowned Warbler</a> </b>in the backyard since 2011. That was a very exciting moment. But this was a big week for all the "winter warblers." <b>Yellow-rumped Warblers</b> seemed to be everywhere in the yard and <b>Pine Warblers</b> appeared at the bird feeders in twos and threes rather than the singletons that I had been seeing.</span><br />
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It was also nice to hear the voices of the <b>Cedar Waxwings</b> every time I stepped outside this week. They were a reminder that winter really was near and now, as of today, it has arrived.<b><a href="http://gardeningwithnature.blogspot.com/2013/12/happy-solstice-day.html"> Happy Solstice Day!</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></span>Dorothy Bordershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12441731296027227394noreply@blogger.com0