Bird Watching

[Jackpine Rob]

This morning at the feeder:

Downy woodpecker

Blue Jays

Cardinals

Nuthatches

Sparrows

Chickadees

Nothing too exotic yet - and the cat problem appears to have been resolved.

[Dotch]

Oh no! Look out at Jackpine's New Years bash. (1st Guest) "What's that strange meat on the tray?" (2nd Guest) "I don't know but I keep yackin' up these hairballs. Where's the litterbox, er, bathroom?"

[Jackpine Rob]

Jerky anyone?

[M.T. Bucket]

Here's a New Year's resolution for ya...

How about keeping a checklist of all of the bird species you see in 2005? You'll learn how to identify quite a few more than you thought were out there. If that's too ambitious, maybe just a checklist for your yard, or favorite park... If that's not ambitious enough, try documenting nesting records--you can find out which species haven't been documented as nesting in your area on the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union (MOU) site, as well as get forms for doing this.

Or it's a great time to start a phenology calendar/journal--when do the loons molt, when do the fox sparrows arrive and leave, when did the ice go out? Commit to an entry a day and you'll have a piece of science that will bring back memories of time spent outdoors whenever you read back through it to compare years.

You can get a checklist of all of the birds ever documented in Minnesota from the MOU HSOforum--you'll need Adobe Reader (no prob ). The list will also tell you if the bird is a casual or accidental (rare) and you can get paperwork to have your sighting documented if you are lucky enough to encounter a rarity.

(BTW - I did submit one casual to the MOU last spring, a Lark Bunting I saw near Nashwauk, but the record was rejected by the panel because my documentation was inadequate. Seek some assistance if you ever decide to do this. Better luck next time!)

[Dotch]

Sounds like a good idea MT. Thought about making a bird diary before at least of those I spot in the trees where the feeders are. Some days I have time to go off scrounging around but spring makes it tough to get too detailed about nesting dates. However I did have a brown thrasher nest in the yew bush right outside the front door this past spring. Fun to watch a species I'd never seen actually nest before. There was a cat involved there too, for awhile. Nestlings made it despite his efforts however.

[The Grebe]

"Ahhh, Mon Ami!" You reminded me of two more birds I've seen in our yard...a Brown and/or a Wood Thrush and when I thought of the Thrush, I thought of the Cedar Waxwing, which I don't recall mentioning?

I seen the Waxwing on a couple of occassions over the years and I seen two other birds one time each...a Meadow Lark on our split rail post one summer morning and a Crow of some kind, with yellow tips on it's wing tops?

[M.T. Bucket]

Dotch,

Brown Thrasher, eh? Very cool bird. Did you know you can get them to a feeder? Feed them fruit (raisons, apples pieces, etc...) near dense brush, low to the ground. Sometimes they will stay all winter if the food is consistent. Brown Thrashers have a huge vocal repertoire. One male was known to have sung over 1,000 separate songs.

Grebe,

Cedar Waxwings are easy to find during the breeding season. Up in a conifer or fruit tree you'll hear an extremely thin, high-pitched whistle--like if you put your buck teeth against your tongue and blow lightly.

Brown Thrasher or Wood Thrush, hmmm...

Brown Thrasher

Wood Thrush

I'm pretty confused about your "crow". A Yellow-headed Blackbird, perhaps???

photos from enature

[Dotch]

Nice pics, MT! I gotta figure out how to do that someday. Have been watching and listening to brown thrashers since I was a wee lad but was not aware they would come to a feeder. Will have to try that. The wife hates raisins anyway. The brown thrasher's song(s) is/are a signal here that spring has sprung. The nest in the yew bush this last spring had 2 creamy white eggs in it. It was just kewl to watch them develop. Didn't take more than about 10 days for them to leave the nest once they hatched. Had never seen a nest before as they probably had them stuck in places I wasn't. Still an occasional yellow headed blackbird here and there in my travels. Would love to see one take up residence in the re-established wetland. Occasionally they wander around the sheep pasture along with the cowbirds.

[The Grebe]

Crow, Blackbird, well, a Crow IS techniquely a black bird, but a Blackbird is'nt necessarily a Crow? I sometimes use the word Crow loosely....helps to be more specific sometimes.

Nah, I've seen those birds that you posted, the ones with the yellow heads (Nice pic) before. The bird I seen was the size of a Grackle maybe?

It had the markings at the top of it's wings, like a Redwing Blackbird. Maybe it was some kind of a Redwinged Blackbird without the Red? It was a long time ago and I only seen it once.

The Brown Thrush and the Wood Thrush don't look to much alike, I did'nt know that. The ones that come into the yard are the long tails, definately Brown Thrush!

[tie flyer]

I saw this gray owl and another north of Duluth on Christmas day. They are coming down from Canada en masse for our rodent supply. They are welcome!

I hope to photograph some crossbills this year as well, but they tend to stay high in the treetops so a telephoto lens might be required. Santa is not so rich up here.

[M.T. Bucket]

Your best bet on photographing the crossbills is find someone who lives amongst the conifers along the North Shore and try to catch 'em near a feeder.

[The Grebe]

My son and I were talking abot birds this morning and he mentioned another bird that we had in the yard and I forgot to add to the original list, a PeeWee!

He said that he thinks Chickadees and PeeWees are fierce competitors for the same foods and envoirments? Dotch, M T Bucket, anyone know if this is so?

[M.T. Bucket]

Well Grebe, I've never seen any aggression between them. I did a few web searches and couldn't find anything either. What I do know is that chickadees don't normally have trouble foraging with other species and peewees (Eastern Wood-peewee in our area) catch flying insects in midair while chickadees gleen insects from bark and foliage. Also chickadees are cavity nesters while peewees build a cup nest, so I don't think they compete for nest sites either--but I definitely do not know for sure.

[M.T. Bucket]

Argghhh!!! The snow is coming down in buckets here! Our Christmas Bird Count is tomorrow morning--it's going to be tough finding birds. They're calling for 6-10 inches tonight.

I do have to give credit to our CBC compiler. He said the count would go on, even if he was the only person who showed up. I'll be there even if a foot falls tonight, but it's still going to be tough to get around and count.

[The Grebe]

M.T. Bucket...thank you, that is alot more factual info then what we had about the PeeWees! I'll pass it on to my son.

[tie flyer]

Good point, M.T. I usually end up hiking with my dogs and camera. Get more photos of dogs than anything else, but I would feel bad leaving them at home. A bird feeder would definitely simplify the process.

[Dotch]

From this week's column:

"Interesting behavior exhibited by the nuthatches this past Saturday afternoon’s rain. They spent most of it with their rumps glued to the leeward side of the ash trees. Looked like a knot on the trunk at first glance. When they got bored or hungry they’d swoop down to the feeder, pluck a seed and head back to the tree trunk for a little lunch.

Downy woodpeckers were very active at the suet feeders this weekend. Can’t help but believe they’re not finding the amount of European corn borer in the fields this winter they have some years. Corn borer overwinters as a larva inside of corn stalks. How do they survive our cold MN winters? Between the Styrofoam-like pith tissue of the cornstalk and the anti-freeze-like innards of the corn borer, quite nicely actually. Have seen many a downy extracting them while on a winter walk or snowshoeing excursion. Sure, there are more standing corn stalks going into no till soybeans out here but there was a fair amount of Bt corn planted last spring. Second generation corn borer numbers were down so it’s not surprising they’re spending lots of time on the suet cakes.

After Saturday night’s ice storm, I did place some ear corn in the wildlife feeder. It’s intended for the pheasants when the snowcover gets deep enough or their food gets iced down. In the meantime, the blue jays, bunnies and squirrels seem to have laid claim to it.

The sheep were beneficiaries of the expiring squash from the basement. Seeing a few fruit flies flying around the house makes the basement a good place to scout for them. The ovines also received a sprouted onion. Noticed there was one sheep they were shunning as it must’ve had bad breath. A few weeks ago, had tossed the pumpkins that Shannon Schonrock’s uncle had given them over the fence. They were frozen solid and when they hit the rock-hard frozen ground, they shattered like light bulbs, only with a little louder ‘pop’ in the sub-zero air. Was lots of fun to hear the mini-explosion and see them disintegrate into small pieces. Reminded me of my escapades as a lad while burning the trash but for now we’ll save those tales for another time.

Monday morning the Mall for Men was open for business as there were still some holiday goodies on the table awaiting evaluation by our crack inspection staff. The ice did not seem to impact the first shift anyway. Traffic has been slowed this week with all the ice, including foot traffic. Lots of people taking baby steps and focusing so much on staying upright that they sometimes lose track of their destination. They then must rely on sense of smell to navigate. Had to renew the Star subscription for the former resident of suburban Little Jerusalem. With my head down while concentrating intensely on remaining vertical, I walked until I smelled the intense odor of cigarette smoke. Can’t wait for garlic toast day at the Bakery! One has to learn to live by their wits if they are to survive in greater Bugtussle."

[The Grebe]

While out and about today, getting up the goofy deposit left by 1/1/05 storm, I noticed 3 Morning Doves. In thinking about it, it does not bode well for the line of work I do in the winter....snow removal!

To date, it has made for some pretty thin soup! When I start seeing warm weather birds in the middle of winter, a gang of them no less, it makes me wonder? If this keeps up, I will have to find a new line of work for the winter season!

[fishface5]

Lots of Goldfinches, Chickadees, and Woodpeckers. Couple of Cardinals, and a few sparrows. The Juncos went away, and haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Anybody know how far south Grossbeaks go? We get a few of them in the warmer months.

[M.T. Bucket]

Dotch,

I didn't know any of that about Downy Woodpeckers. Interesting stuff. Thanks. I tried planting some corn and sunflowers in the yard for the birds this winter, but my wife's grotesquely overfed gray squirrel population harvested them all prematurely.

FF,

Which Grosbeaks are you referring to? In the summer we have Evening and Rose-breasted and in the winter we have Evening and Pine--at least in northern Minnesota. I found Evening and Pine last weekend on the Grand Rapids CBC.

The total species list (18) for my section:

- Canada Goose

- Ring-necked Duck

- Common Goldeneye

- Common Merganser

- Black-capped Chickadee (72!)

- Blue Jay

- Pine Grosbeak

- Red-breasted Nuthatch

- Great Gray Owl

- White-breasted Nuthatch

- Common Redpoll

- Evening Grosbeak

- Rock Pigeon

- Common Raven

- European Starling

- American Crow

- Hairy Woodpecker

- Downy Woodpecker

My total bird count was 360 individuals. Pretty good year, considering I got 10 species and 64 individuals last year. I was surprised to not find any Mallards, Ruffed Grouse, Rough-legged Hawks, Pileated Woodpeckers, Snow Buntings, Pine Siskins, House Sparrows, or Gray Jays. Some of the other participants found them in their sectors.

[fishface5]

Rose Breasted is the only kind I've seen. This past summer they didn't hang around like they did the year before. I wish I could get them to stick aroud more. Two years ago there was a pair that seemed to always be here. Tame too. But this spring they blew right through.

[M.T. Bucket]

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are not all that closely related to Pine and Evening Grosbeaks. RBGs can be found throughout MN (and the upper Midwest & NE) during the breeding season. Usually I'll get them at my feeders daily in the spring until they settle down to nest. After that, I only get the occasional visit through the summer. I've found them most often in young to pole-sized aspen stands near 'edge' habitat--along fields and trails.

RBGs winter WELL south of the Mexican border.

[Dotch]

Usually the first RGB's I see through here arrive around Mother's Day. This started about 10 years ago. Made a mental note of it as several times my Mom, an avid bird watcher & feeder, has been on hand to witness their appearance. They usually hang around a week or so, stuff themselves with sunflower seeds then disappear. This past year, there was a pair that kept coming to the feeders all summer. Enjoyed their singing; it complimented the orioles nicely. I didn't notice any grosbeak offspring but maybe they were practicing safe sex!

The sunflower & thistle feeders were invaded by a horde of goldfinches once again this AM. Every perch held one and the thistle sock was covered, until the blue jay temporarily shooed them away that is. Pheasant tracks in the snow by the ear corn feeder too. Need to get some oyster shell to put out for them if the farm store isn't all out. Used up the last of what I had and it got froze down. People are using anything they can get their hands on for traction on this ice.

[The Grebe]

M T Bucket/Dotch.... do either of you fellas know what a "Rock Dove" is?

An article in the paper was accompanied by a picture, that showed some people releasing what they termed Rock Doves? Looked like plain old garden variety Pidgeons to me?

[Dotch]

Not much of an authority on pigeons other than they dump all over stuff...