Wordless Wednesday: Female Downy Woodpecker

A Ruby-throat checks in

I've been expecting it for days and today it finally happened. The first male Ruby-throated Hummingbird turned up in my backyard.

Okay, I cannot tell a lie. This is not actually the bird I saw today but a visitor from last year. I didn't have a camera in my hand when I saw the bird today. But he looked just like this!

I was on one of my frequent breaks from pruning the thorny hedge along my back fence, and, seated in my favorite chair, I was gazing at my little redbud tree that is in full bloom just now, when the little bird darted in to visit the feeder hanging from one of the tree's limbs. He took a good long drink and then flew away to a limb to preen. After a bit, he came back for seconds. While he was visiting that feeder, I noticed that the Rufous Hummingbird that has spent the winter here was visiting her favorite feeder which is hung next to a crape myrtle tree about 25 feet away from the redbud. I didn't witness any hummingbird disputes while I was watching. Each bird seemed content with its own feeder. Since I have confirmation that the Ruby-throats have arrived now, I may hang my third feeder in the front yard.

I checked the migration map for the Ruby-throats and saw that there are sightings reported in six southern states now. I also checked back over my own eBird records, because I couldn't remember ever having seen a Ruby-throat quite this early. Sure enough - March 13 is my earliest yard record for the bird. My previous earliest record was March 17, 2006.

Just passing through

Slogging through the swamp that is my backyard this afternoon, after almost three inches of rain over the weekend, I sensed movement on the trunk of my magnolia tree and looked to see a small brown bird with a slightly curved bill making its way up the tree, looking for insects. It has been a while since I've seen one of these birds in my yard, but I recognized it immediately. It was a Brown Creeper.

The creeper is a winter visitor here. I have sometimes seen them in my yard in the fall, but I've never recorded one at this time of year. That doesn't mean they haven't been here. This is a very cryptically-colored bird which can be totally inconspicuous against the bark of a tree where it is usually found. In its coloration and the shape of its beak, it might be mistaken for a wren, but on second look, you would never make that error. The posture of the two birds is entirely different. Wrens are very perky birds, quick in their movements, and they most often carry their tails pointed jauntily toward the sky. Creepers, on the other hand, carry their long tails on a plane with their bodies, very much as woodpeckers do, and, in fact, they use them the same way that woodpeckers do, to brace their bodies as they creep up the trunks of trees.

This little bird has a very thin and high-pitched song appropriate to its size. It reminds me a lot of another tiny bird that is visiting just now, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. It also sounds a bit like one of the kinglets and might be mistaken for them if you couldn't get a good look at the bird.

The Brown Creeper is normally a solitary bird, but like many of the other small birds, in winter it will sometimes travel in flocks with chickadees, kinglets, and titmice. The one that I saw today, though, was on its own.

It's likely that my visitor is just passing through on its way north. These birds nest along the far northern tier of states and up into Canada, as well as along the West Coast. Spring has come early this year and the migrants seem to be moving on quickly as they hurry to get to their breeding grounds, so I may not see this bird again. Still, I'm very glad that I got a glimpse of it. It brightened what had otherwise been a rather gloomy and soggy outlook around the old backyard today.

This week in birds - #12

The Carolina Wren, along with all the other permanent resident backyard birds, is singing its spring song to define its territory and attract its mate. Carolina Wren pairs often sing a duet of call and response. The tiny bird has a prodigious repertoire of different songs and sounds.

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You will perhaps not be surprised to learn that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced that the winter of 2011-2012 is the fourth warmest on record. A look at the maps which can be seen at the link paints an interesting picture of which states have had normal winter temperatures, which are above normal, and which are far above normal.  Texas is merely above normal. There is also a map there which shows rainfall for the winter, and, luckily, parched Texas has been above normal in that category as well.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking answers to the question of how an unusually warm winter affects the behavior of certain animals.

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The United Kingdom is seeing record numbers of colorful European Goldfinches in home gardens and backyards.

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The Obama Administration is considering a reinterpretation of language in the Endangered Species Act. The effect of that reinterpretation would be to reduce the number of animals that would qualify for endangered or threatened status.

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Scrub Jays are canny birds which hide and then constantly re-hide their food - acorns and the like. It is an activity that is called recaching. Scientists who have studied them believe that the behavior may be triggered when the bird observes that it has been seen hiding food by another jay. It seems there is little that a jay likes better than stealing food from a neighbor!

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Peru has undertaken a massive tree-planting program in the hope of providing appropriate habitat for and thus saving certain endangered endemic birds.

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The City of Los Angeles is creating a new park on land that was previously a brownfield, part of a bus storage area. The new park will include a 4.5 acre wetland. 

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An underwater oil seep off the coast of Santa Barbara is creating misery for seabirds in the area. Dozens of the birds have been coated in oil.

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The U.S. Senate has passed the RESTORE act which would require that at least 80% of fines levied against BP as a result of the Gulf oil disaster of two years ago would be used to restore ecosystems in the area. The  measure has yet to be taken up in the House of Representatives. 

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One country's native birds are another country's invasive species. The United Kingdom is in the process of culling Ruddy Ducks and Canada Geese, North American species that have expanded their ranges into that country.  

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The observations and documentation of citizen scientists are revealing the shifts in seasons and particularly the early arrival of spring in the migration of birds and the earlier flowering of plants.

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Around the backyard: I haven't seen or heard an American Goldfinch all week. I think they are completely gone now. I am still seeing plenty of Cedar Waxwings. Also, at least one of the Rufous Hummingbirds is still here. I haven't seen two at the same time in a few days so one of them may be gone.

According to the hummingbird migration website, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are crowding along the Gulf Coast now and should soon be in our area. Have you seen one yet?

Wordless Wednesday: Willet

Still here!

I've been wondering how long I would have my Rufous Hummingbirds with me. Every day when I go outside, I half expect that they will be gone. But not yet!

There's No. 1, sitting in her favorite spot, sunning herself. While I was watching her, I sensed movement at the feeder.

No. 2 is still accounted for.

It won't be long now before the migrating Ruby-throated Hummingbirds begin to arrive. I usually see the first one in my yard around the last of March or first of April, but considering how the season is going, I wouldn't be surprised to find one earlier this year. Will the Rufouses still be here when they arrive?

This week in birds - #11

Blue Jays were turning up in noisy flocks of 10 - 15 birds in my yard this week.

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The big irruption of an Arctic bird, the Snowy Owl, into the lower 48 states has been the big news in birding this winter. As far as I know, none made it as far south as we are, but at least one did make it to Dallas and caused quite a stir. 

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I always like looking at the data from the Great Backyard Bird Count, especially all the "top ten" lists. If you participated in the count and haven't yet entered your data, you have until March 5 to do so.

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A new report which analyzes water availability and usage indicates that water scarcity affects 2.7 billion people around the world for at least part of each year.

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A new protected area has been established in Colombia for an endangered bird, the beautiful and colorful Gold-ringed Tanager.

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A very rare and reclusive bird, the Junin Rail, has recently been seen and photographed at a high Andean lake in Peru. The bird is sometimes called the "Holy Grail of birding" because of its reclusive nature and the fact that it is so rarely seen. 

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The largest sea turtle in the world, the leatherback, is a threatened species and a recent study of the turtles' migration routes indicate that there are places in the Pacific where additional protection may be needed for the ancient creature.

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There's been a lot of excitement in Southeast Texas over all the overwintering hummingbirds this season. Imagine the excitement in New Jersey when a Broad-tailed Hummingbird turned up there! It was the state's first recorded and confirmed visit by the bird.

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And in other news from New Jersey, wildlife officials are hoping to buy up more high ground in Cape May County to provide protected areas for the salt marshes to expand as the earth warms and sea levels rise.

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Studies have found that deer ticks, which carry Lyme disease, are more prevalent in areas that have a lot of an invasive plant called Japanese barberry.  Scientists theorize that one key to controlling the ticks and the disease may be to control the exotic plant. 

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The survival of the Northern Spotted Owl continues to be problematic. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designating more old-growth timber areas for the protection of the owl, and they may take a more proactive role in controlling the Barred Owl, a more aggressive owl which is expanding its range into areas where the Spotted Owl lives. These control measures may include killing some Barred Owls.

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The wild parrots of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco were made famous by a book and a television documentary about them a few years ago. The flock has thrived to the extent that some of the birds have split off into a satellite flock that has moved to the suburbs.

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Scientists doing the wolf study at Isle Royale National Park have noted some interesting interactions at moose carcasses between the wolves and Common Ravens.

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Around my backyard: This week, I've noted a few new birds around the yard. I heard my first Purple Martin of the year flying overhead on Wednesday.  Earlier in the week, I had noticed that the beautiful little Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was back as well. I haven't been able to catch one with the camera yet but I'll keep trying.

Another bird, which hasn't been entirely absent from my yard but is often scarce, is my favorite dove, the Mourning Dove. I see it in my yard much less often since the advent and dominance of the White-winged Dove in recent years. It's always a treat for me to see one here. 

The beautiful dove often comes to the feeders late in the afternoon to feed on the ground beneath them.

I love the song of the Mourning Dove, a sound I remember well from my childhood. For me, it is not a mournful sound at all. Rather, it is peaceful.

Now if I could just get the little Inca Doves to return to my yard.