Chickadees hang out for a drink
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This is my favorite, a lot going on. Besides the wing stabilizer and the fact that
the bird is drinking, notice you can see him through the clear ice. Also look how it clings to both sides of the icicle. I suppose they do it but I have never seen a bird cling with its feet in opposition like that, |
April 23, 2017
This year for the first time I was at the East Pole long enough to justify putting out a bird feeder. I hung it off a corner post on the deck and it was there and full most of the time from the middle of December until the end of March.
In that time there was a constant flurry around it. At first maybe a dozen chickadees began hanging out. In time redpolls discovered it and a couple dozen of them came over. Interspersed with them, a couple of Pine grosbeaks stopped by every day and one day a hairy woodpecker showed up.
My presence didn't seem to deter them a bit. A couple of times they almost hit me as they flew around. My chopping block was almost directly under the feeder and even that activity didn't discourage activity around the feeder. It is so quiet in the woods, I could hear their wing beats overhead as I wrestled with firewood and they flew back and forth.
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| Note the drop of water from another icicle at upper left. |
In all it mesmerized me at times and I would discover I had stopped doing whatever my task was and I was watching the interactions among the various birds.
Then one day something new happened. It came about around the middle of March, a time when I have mentioned the temperature on the porch sometimes reaches 80 degrees in the sunshine. I had finished my work for the day and poured three fingers of an expensive scotch over a handful of compressed snow and settled into my deck chair to sip the whiskey and watch the birds. In that heat snow on the roof had begun to melt and icicles formed along the eaves. It took a while to focus on the fact that some of the chickadees were landing on the icicles, clinging to them and staying for a moment or two. At one point I noticed a couple of drips falling off the tip of an icicle and it was in that
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| Note two drops falling. My friend Gretchen Small was inspired by this photo to paint the picture at left. |
Over the next few days I sat out there for several hours with my camera in my lap, watching them drink and sometimes even forgetting to lift the camera. In the process I was able to capture several good photos of this phenomenon. I posted a few of the photos on the Birds of Alaska facebook page and one of them got more than 200 likes and the other about 150. It seemed few if any people had observed this activity by chickadees.
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| Artwork by Gretchen Small |
I found it so interesting, if rain hadn't appeared in the weather forecast, I'd probably still be out there photographing drinking chickadees. I've posted some photos here that show different ways the birds approached the icicles in order to catch a drink.
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Chicadon'ts
December 29, 2017
Often a naturalist or even at times a full-blown scientist will observe some critter's behavior immediately apply it to every member of a species, as if there are no individuals. Not all animals or birds act like all other members of their species.
Case in point: A few years ago I read something about chickadees in which the author said when around a feeder, one bird will dominate, chasing others off the feeder until he leaves and they can come get their share. The way he wrote it seemed to say all chickadees do this. Take a look at that picture. Four of them visible on the feeder at one time. I have seen that more often than not. For sure sometimes one bird will chase another off but just as often more than one will be there at the same time.
There may be another aspect of what seems to be dominant behavior, like when one bird flies in and another takes off. I have seen this in gulls around harbors. One gull stands atop a piling. A second gull approaches for a landing and the first gull takes off. Rather than dominant/submissive behavior, this is probably a simple function in physics. The gull flying in has the weight and momentum to knock the first gull off the piling, so the first gull takes off, knowing full well he can't withstand a collision on such tiny platform. I've seen chickadees and other birds for that matter do the same thing.
On a step outdoors today I noticed the feeder was getting low. I had packed in 25 pounds of sunflower seeds for just that purpose. Later I went out and noticed there weren't any chickadees in sight so I figured it was a perfect time to take the feeder in and fill it, which I did.
When I brought it back out there still wewe no birds in sight. I said out loud, "Here you go guys, meat." It's only five steps from the feeder to the door but before I got there a whole cloud of chickadees had descended from somewhere to the feeder. Chickadee telegraph?
The sun also sets
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A chickadee catches a drink from a melting icicle while
two drops get away from him. |
Eighty degrees in the sun on the deck. Comfortable chair, boots up on the generator box, five feet from the feeder. A mediocre scotch in hand with a tight-fisted chunk of snow to cool and temper it mixed with a few birch chatains to give it that woody flavor.
Action is brisk at the Chickadee Singles Bar as we all wait for the grosbeacks to come by for their afternoon set. One even landed on my boot.
You know, I write a lot about the birds, but I am not a real birder. I mean if somebody says there is a tufted titmouse in the neighborhood, I am not going to grab my binoculars and camera and race out the door. I like the ones who come to me, the ones I feed, and the few individuals I recognize as I watch them and try to decipher what their behavior means. Think about this. It is so quiet in the woods I can hear their wingbeats as they flutter about and the clicking of their feet as they land on the plastic feeder rim.
They have been checking the ventilation holes under the eaves, I think for nesting spots and it makes me glad I took the time to put screening over them when I built years ago. It's not that I wouldn't love to entertain a nesting pair or two, but I would rather not have them tearing into my insulation. The other day I watched one explore the whole front of the house, even once clinging to the siding. How I wished I had had a camera when it perched on the fin of the killer whale decoration on the door.
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| A couple of days later, a good one, almost 80 degrees again. |
So I watch them now, the day's work done, a big chunk of the wiring project completed, even a light hanging over the kitchen, and firewood packed away. I split and stacked three sledfuls and brought out one for the next 24 hours. And, satisfied, scotch in hand, I can relax and enjoy the sun while it lasts.
I had an interesting revelation today. Someone came out to that neighboring cabin I can see these days. Whoever it was didn't stay the night and I got the idea he was just checking on it. The same thing happened last weekend.
I got to wondering why, and if anything were missing would I be the chief suspect. Giving it some thought, I realized there is probably nothing in that cabin I would want. I did a mental inventory of this place and realized I really have everything I could possibly want. Short of a hot woman or a couple of sitcom DVDs, nothing. I have it all. How many people can say that? If this keeps up I might need another bottle of scotch, though, but no need to break into someone's cabin on the off chance I might find one. I can afford a trip out and a good one if need be.
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| My friend Gretchen Small says the chickadee drinking
in the photo above inspired her to paint this picture of a
Swainson's thrush.
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The sun is heading into the trees now, so it might be time for a little dinner and a movie. I am thinking Moulin Rouge, the new one with Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman. Did I ever write about the night I chatted with her for a few minutes online, just a couple of days before her marriage to Keith Urban? Honest, I did. Jokingly I told her I had this great script with a part prefect for her. I could almost hear her mind snap shut. I told her I was only kidding, but she only came back a little way.
Well with dinner and a movie in the near future, I am guessing the following applies.
With two more weeks to go, I think I am going to have to go out for another bottle of scotch. This one lasted 30 years. I might as well pay the money for a good one for the next 30.
Collision avoidance radar?
March 9, 2018
There's a stand of birch trees about 15 feet from the end of the porch, two large ones and two small.
The big ones might be 70 feet tall, the others a little shorter. Among the branches the chickadees gather as they stage for their dive to the feeder full of black sunflower seeds. Sometimes you can see them coming from a long distance, their wavelike flight pattern a straight line to the feeder or the staging tree.
So many of them gather at times I'm reminded of sailors manning the rigging of a tall ship. It seems every branch and twig is alive with a bird.
Given the size of the trees you can imagine the maze of branches and twigs reaching almost from the ground, up to 70 feet in the air.
Watching the birds flit among the branches today raised a serious question. Chickadees only have one speed when they fly — fast. So, given fast, how can they tear around all those twigs at top speed and never hit even a little twig? I've seen them bump into each other around the feeder, but never in the trees. What allows them to zoom through all that brush? Do they have bat radar?
There may be a reason they learn to fly headlong through a thicket of twigs and branches. A merlin came by today, a falcon-family bird of prey. He made a couple of dives at chickadees but they escaped into the mesh. Being considerably larger, the merlin couldn't follow into that tangle and he gave up fairly quickly.
Whatever the reason, maybe those folks designing driverless cars and trucks could learn something from the chickadees. Elon Musk are you following?
More bird posts
Photobomb!
August 28, 2017
There's a cow pasture right on the edge of town; actually within the city limits. Twice a year, usually, sandhill cranes stop by there for a couple of days during their annual migrations. This year has been a little different. Very few showed up in the spring and sporadically rather than in a large group. I've seen as many as maybe 100 at a time other years. The fall migration seemed to be going the same way. I'd seen them overhead but not on the ground. Then yesterday on a whim I put the camera in the truck and went to look. Sure enough, maybe a dozen working their ways around the pasture and for a time close to the road. There was good cover
between me and them so I could get right next to the fence without spooking them. All set up and ready to shoot and what happens? Photobomb. Thanks, cow.
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| Do you think it's safe? |
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| They did allow me a few nice ones too. I call this one "The Lookout." |
Redpolls
January 13, 2017
What goes around comes around. In early 2013 common redpolls ganged up in the yard for a couple
of months. In all they went through 11 40-pound bags of sunflower seeds. They were recorded in large numbers at least from Homer to Talkeetna. Since then they have been few and far between, at least until yesterday. I looked out the window and there must have been a couple of dozen of them spread among four feeders in the yard. I had to make a hasty trip to the store for more seed. They are back again today so this may be another irruption that lands them in southern Alaska. They are fun to have around, if a bit expensive. And it's good to see them among the Pine grosbeaks, nuthatches and chickadees who've been here all winter. More to come.
A spruce grouse all puffed out in the cold.
of months. In all they went through 11 40-pound bags of sunflower seeds. They were recorded in large numbers at least from Homer to Talkeetna. Since then they have been few and far between, at least until yesterday. I looked out the window and there must have been a couple of dozen of them spread among four feeders in the yard. I had to make a hasty trip to the store for more seed. They are back again today so this may be another irruption that lands them in southern Alaska. They are fun to have around, if a bit expensive. And it's good to see them among the Pine grosbeaks, nuthatches and chickadees who've been here all winter. More to come.
Owl house is a very, very fine house …
April 5, 2016
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| In place and ready for occupants the very next day. |
With apologies to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, look what I built. I had been thinking about it for several years and finally did something about it a couple of days ago, hit the lumber yard and built it yesterday.
I might be a little late already but I am going to give it a try. The drill motor battery didn't have enough oomph left to generate the torque necessary to make that 4-inch circular blade cut or I would be finished by now. Just have to cut the hole and paint and mount it in a tree. Then I can wait to see if it lures an owl. Might have to wait for next year.
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| Later that same day. |
It might be a little bigger than necessary. Around here I could expect boreal or Saw whet owls which are tiny and this is designed for the next size up which would be a western screech owl. I figured the little ones could get into this nesting box, but the screech owl couldn't get into the smaller one. We'll see what happens.I'm kind of hoping I don't get a saw whet owl. Years ago in another town, I heard this strange call from the woods, a constant beep beep beep going on for hours. With a little research I learned it was a saw whet owl, but also that their range extended only as far north as southeastern Alaska. I lived 500 miles from there and it hit me that this little guy might have been hooting the loneliest bachelor call in the world being he was so far from the nearest female. The beeping grew old in a hurry. That constant toot toot toot kept me awake at night, irritated me before I fully woke up in the morning and just kept going on and on. I thought this might be a substitute for waterboarding. I could do without one beeping in my backyard here. Just to show you what I mean, here's a clip of that sound: (In reality the calls are a lot louder than this.)
To tell the truth though I would be happy with any type of owl that chooses to reside and perhaps nest and raise young in this fancy new condo. You could call it affordable housing even. Watch this space.
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| These are the dimensions in case anyone is interested. The smaller one is about an inch shorter all the way around and has a 3-inch entry hole. Plan is from the 50birds.com website. |
Owl be seeing you in the polar vortex
Labels: Alaska birds, birds, owls
Wakeup call
One recent morning I awakened to this incessant banging on the side of the house right next to my head. I know what it is, but I never feel like getting out of bed, finding the camera and going outside only to find nothing there.
But she made a mistake today. Mid afternoon, I am happily typing away and comes a "rapping, rapping, rapping on my bedroom wall" (with a sincere apology to Edgar Allen Poe.) Already clothed I fumbled the long lens onto the camera and sneaked out the door. There she was almost close enough to touch. She
flew to a tree and I got a shot there and then she flew off, but five minutes later the rapping started and this time I caught her good. A female hairy woodpecker and working her way along the wall and around the corner to the back where she slowed down enough to get a pretty good picture.
As I write this she is back rapping rapping rapping. Now she has moved around to the front. But I have what I want, though. Next time I will put on some shoes and pants before I go chasing a woodpecker around the yard. Isn't living back in the woods fun?
But she made a mistake today. Mid afternoon, I am happily typing away and comes a "rapping, rapping, rapping on my bedroom wall" (with a sincere apology to Edgar Allen Poe.) Already clothed I fumbled the long lens onto the camera and sneaked out the door. There she was almost close enough to touch. She
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| Around to the front of the house. |
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| Back to nature and, I hope, a more successful hunt. |
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| Poetry in motion? |
As I write this she is back rapping rapping rapping. Now she has moved around to the front. But I have what I want, though. Next time I will put on some shoes and pants before I go chasing a woodpecker around the yard. Isn't living back in the woods fun?
Sandhill cranes August 29, 2016
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| I might have made better shots but as I set up when they were much closer, an ambulance went by, siren wailing. |
Robin primps for a day in the sun
June 1, 2016
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| The beginning: A bad feather day? |
There's an axiom for writers that goes "look at something common and find something uncommon in it." Robins certainly aren't the most exotic birds posted on the Birds of Alaska facebook page. As a matter of fact an ibis has been sighted in western Alaska recently. Now that's exotic, at least in the sub Arctic. Robins were so common in Western New York where I grew up, we barely noticed them. Even around here they get little attention, at least until yesterday. This robin stood on the edge of the little water bath I put out for the birds for a good 10 minutes preening and primping. I think I caught him after he had already been in the pool and this was his cleanup regimen. One thing I noticed was he could turn his head almost 180 degrees and could reach most parts of his body, mostly with his beak but some with a foot. The camera just kept going off in my hands until I had dozens of images. I can be pretty ruthless when it comes to culling pictures but today the fascination with all the poses was too much to resist. I hope others find it as entertaining as I did.
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| Got to get the pits. |
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| Am I the only one who didn't know robins could do this? |
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| And … ready to go |
Labels: Alaska birds, robin
It's about all the Pine grosbeaks in Southcentral Alaska this year
February 27, 2015
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| Pine grosbeak male |
For starters, I have noticed larger numbers of the grosbeaks around the feeders this year. It's not exactly the attack of the Redpolls like a couple of years ago but where i might see one or two a couple of times a week, this year I have seen as many as a dozen several times, and there are always a few around the feeders. A friend in Seward said today she has had as many as 200 in her yard, but she has mountain ash with the berries a lot of these birds like.
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| Pine grosbeak female |
With that in mind a post showed up on the Birds of Alaska Facebook page with two pictures of grosbeaks, one an obvious female with the subdued orange and olive colors and another with those colors but right red on its head. The poster asked why the difference in colors. After no one posted an answer for more than four hours, I chimed in with this:
I have read that juvenile male grosbeaks are colored like females well into the first winter and begin to show the red as spring approaches. The one on the right is probably a male going through puberty. lol
Almost immediately another person posted this:
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Photo by Alysse Zimmerman
Immature male Pine grosbeak posted on Facebook. |
You are correct Tim! I found a picture of a juvenile male on Google
With that issue settled, I thought I would share my thoughts about numbers and posted this:
I am curious. I have seen more pine grosbeaks at my feeders this year than any time in the past 10 years. I have also noticed a lot more pictures of them on this page and a lot more people reporting larger groups of the birds. Anybody have an idea why there are so many this year? Might it have something to do with the unusual winter? Higher survival maybe?
Fairly quickly another responder wrote:
I seem to get a handful each winter but this winter has been greater than normal. Have had large numbers at our place a half dozen winters in the 35 years we have lived in this house. My theory is that their natural foods are in short supply during the years when they are fairly common. There also seems to be more crossbills around this winter but I see that as the Spruce Trees have a bumper crop of cones. So its feast or famine depending on the species we are talking about.
I added this:
This from the Cornel lab page: During most of the year, 99% of diet is vegetable matter, especially buds, seeds, and fruits of spruce, pine, juniper, elm, maple, mountain ash, apple, and crabapple. It feeds insects and spiders to its young, though, often mixed with plant foods. It drinks water or eats snow daily.
A bunch of "likes went back and forth after that and then it looks like everybody moved on.
So, I posted this:
The ( Cornell Lab) page mentions irregular irruptions where flocks will show up pretty far south. Maybe this year they think they are in British Columbia.
You have to wonder.
Labels: Alaska birds, birds, climate, Pine grosbeak, weather
Springtime in Alaska: cranes and cows
April 27, 2015
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| The pasture on the edge of Palmer, Alaska, always has something going on. Last month it was a trampoline; Sunday (4/26) sandhill cranes showed up. Snow geese and Canada geese can't be far behind. |
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| Years ago when I worked for Alaska Magazine, which is well-known for its wildlife pictures, we on the staff used to love herd pictures where we could carefully count all the animals and put the exact number in the caption and then defy readers to find them all. Once we even added an extra carubou just to fool people. When we did that a reader did catch us. Anyway, my friend Gail and I counted 39 cranes in this picture. Can you find them all? Hint: Count the legs and divide by two. |
Labels: alaska, Alaska birds, Sandhill cranes, Spring
May 3, 2015
Garden puttering the other day, the pair of Pine grosbeaks that's been hanging around came by to kibitz. I've seen them splash in melt water even in winter so I put out the bird bath for them. Then, the next day look who showed up. The female grosbeak watched from her tree perch for several minutes.
Although it was suggested, I don't think the chickadee is landing on the rim of the bird bath. Her wings would be spread. Just before I hit the shutter she was perched on the rim. For some reason I think she hopped. She is looking at her reflection and maybe that spooked her, also another chickadee had just taken off. Totally surprised me when I saw her feet in the air in the photo. I have other (fuzzy) pictures of her taken both before and after this one and she is perched on the rim in both.
Meanwhile the female grosbeak sat in a tree branch watching for several minutes. Later in the evening she came down to the garden. The robin showed up the next day.
I've been trying to follow the grosbeaks to see where they might have a nest. I think it's high up in one of the two huge spruce trees in the side yard but can't be sure.
It's getting very green in the house with most of the plantings from last week pushing shoots up through the soil now. I may have to start transplanting into larger vessels soon.
Scarecrows dressed in the latest style
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| You don't bother me at all. |
Stylish or not, I don't think this fake owl is nearly as frightening as it is supposed to be. It certainly didn't deter that female Pine grosbeak when she paused for a breather.
Actually she and her mate who have been hanging around all summer seem pretty fearless, owl or not. I think they are nesting in the big spruce at the back of the house. One or both stop by just about every day and poke about in the yard, still finding spilled sunflower seeds left over from winter.
They are pretty cavalier even about me. I have walked to within a couple of feet of them and sometimes they will just stay put or at the most flutter off a few feet and go back about their business. I kind of like them hanging around giving me company while I work in the garden, my two friends. They don't demand much.
I do worry a little about the neighbor's cat that wanders into the yard fairly regularly though. I have seen the remains of a few birds over the years that I am pretty sure that cat killed. I chase him when I see him and following a suggestion from a woman gardener, after dark I play wolf and mark my territory around the garden which seems to keep him away. Maybe it will help protect the birds as well.
I'm expecting to see young ones any day now and if they get to the ground before they can fly well and before they gain some protective fear, they would make easy pickings for the cat. I look at the BB gun in the closet and wonder, but I am pretty sure if I shot it, there would be a row in the neighborhood.
Maybe I need to dress a scare-cat in the latest style.
Actually she and her mate who have been hanging around all summer seem pretty fearless, owl or not. I think they are nesting in the big spruce at the back of the house. One or both stop by just about every day and poke about in the yard, still finding spilled sunflower seeds left over from winter.
They are pretty cavalier even about me. I have walked to within a couple of feet of them and sometimes they will just stay put or at the most flutter off a few feet and go back about their business. I kind of like them hanging around giving me company while I work in the garden, my two friends. They don't demand much.
I do worry a little about the neighbor's cat that wanders into the yard fairly regularly though. I have seen the remains of a few birds over the years that I am pretty sure that cat killed. I chase him when I see him and following a suggestion from a woman gardener, after dark I play wolf and mark my territory around the garden which seems to keep him away. Maybe it will help protect the birds as well.
I'm expecting to see young ones any day now and if they get to the ground before they can fly well and before they gain some protective fear, they would make easy pickings for the cat. I look at the BB gun in the closet and wonder, but I am pretty sure if I shot it, there would be a row in the neighborhood.
Maybe I need to dress a scare-cat in the latest style.
Labels: alaska, Alaska birds, Alaska garden, birds
Lighten up already, there are birds around
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| Black-capped Chickadee fledgling. |
Over the past two summers the makeshift bird bath in the garden hasn't ever seen much activity. When the weather turned so hot this year, I gave it a little more attention, cleaning it out once after algae colored the water green. Now every night when I water the garden, I empty and refill it. That keeps the algae under control and at least in part may be the reason the bath has received more traffic this year.
Chickadees, Pine grosbeaks, white-crowned sparrows, woodpeckers, robins, juncoes, Pine siskins and gray jays have all taken a dip or a sip from it at one time or other.
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| Gray jay. |
I still think I need to find a prettier bird bath.
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| Pine siskin |
This one's for the birds, literally
July 10, 2015
Any of us who feed birds have heard the alarming thump of a larger bird hitting a window. Most often they land below the window, sit for a while until their heads clear and then fly away. Once in a while one dies, and then some might need rescue and rehabilitation. I remember a chickadee at the East Pole that flew in through the open doorway and then crashed into the picture window thinking it was a way out. I managed to get that little fellow onto a snowshoe so I could move him around. I left the door open and moved him closer to it and facing out, not wanting to put him outside because as small as they are if they don't keep moving they will get hypothermic quickly.
In November 2013 a Pine grosbeak hit the window here and hurt itself badly. I ended up sending it to Bird TLC in Anchorage.
Birds don't see the glass; all they see is a continuation of the habitat, particularly if it reflects trees and bushes behind them. They probably even see their own reflections as another bird rather than a solid object. I have tried several methods to prevent this: silhouettes of raptors on the windows, wind chimes, wind socks. One person suggested a netting over the window which they would hit first and bounce off. Another method is to keep the feeders within five feet of the windows so the birds can't get going fast enough to hurt themselves. Mine are within eight feet, but the crashes still occur.
I am probably the last person on earth to learn about these, but not too long ago I came upon these reflective deterrents. According to the literature, birds can see the UV light spectrum as well as they see the visible spectrum. The surface of the window mountings in the picture reflect UV light, making them more visible to birds. In addition the pattern in them is called dichroic glass which creates a color shifting, changing appearance visible from different angles and reflected in many directions. I ordered some but hadn't put them up yet.
The other day driving back from the East Pole I stopped at a couple of friends' house for a visit and noticed they had the reflectors in their windows. They said they had been suggested by another friend and they worked well. My friends had seen birds pull up before hitting the window, only to move over and hit the one next to it that didn't have the films.
That was enough for me. In this massive physical life reformation I am going through, today I put them in the window and we shall see how they work. Watch this space.
I gave her the bird, literally: Rescuing a Pine grosbeak
Artscape, where I bought mine; I am sure there must be other vendors
Anchorage Bird Treatment and Learning Center
A new visitor in the neighborhood
As I was passing the living room window on the way to the kitchen tonight I caught some motion in my peripheral vision of a larger bird with wings spread, landing, definite yellow showing through the feathers as the sun hit them. I immediately suspected a flicker, a species I have never seen before.
Immediately I knew this was something different and I ducked down crawled over to where my camera was ready. I slowly rose to see my initial guess had been right, a flicker was dipping into the water in the bird bath. I managed six shots and two of them are close to being in focus. Although I enjoy the birds tremendously, I seldom get excited about seeing one, but a new one is special, especially such a colorful one.It took a while to figure out exactly what it was. I usually use the National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America and at first the citation was confusing. According to the illustration this one is a yellow-shafted woodpecker. But there were no words for that particular bird. I googled it and got northern flicker. Going deeper it turns out some time ago three variations of flicker were combined into the catch-all northern flicker. Each of the three has slightly different markings but they are considered one species. So it goes.
Mostly I am just happy to see a new species and such a colorful one at that.
First feeders, first photos
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| Is that the face of a storm trooper? |
September 30, 2015
It snowed most of the way home from Roger Waters' film "The Wall" in Anchorage last night, but not around the house. It did snow here a little overnight and there was enough residue this morning to spur some action on the feeder front and I filled and put out two feeders.
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| Red-breasted nuthatch. |
Mind you I haven't seen a bird around here in about two weeks at least. Drove to town for some errands and when I got home both feeders were crowded with black-capped chickadees and red-breasted nuthatches. The sun peeked out and lighted up the yellow leaves left in the trees so it seemed like time to fool around with that new lens. After wrestling with a new lighter tripod that refused to do what I wanted it to, I went and got my old reliable and set about making magic. About then a woodpecker flew over and I chased him back into the woods by never did see him again.
The chickadees and nuthatches were much more agreeable and I think I managed to pull off some interesting photos at the same time experimenting with the lens to make sure I can use it the way it is supposed to be used.
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| Female pine grosbeak at twilight |
Later in the day a female pine grosbeak showed up and that shot of her was handheld and through a window, but at the shorter end of the zoom lens. The lens does have an image stabilizer, but that was turned off for the tripod work and by the time I thought of it, the bird had departed.
Anyway, a pleasant day to get out in the sun and mess around a little.
Labels: Alaska birds, Alaska garden, northern flicker
A new game
FIND THE NUTHATCH
I know. It's easier than I thought it would be but it does show off the bird's natural camo protection.
Labels: Alaska birds, nuthatch
Hide and seek
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| Head and tail. |
Maybe this is where the word "peckerwood" comes from. Just as I was finishing up my bout with the woodpile today, a woodpecker flew over and landed in a tree with a southern exposure. I raced for the camera, got the new lens on it and headed back out to test the image stabilization feature and hand hold for a shot. The woodpecker had disappeared.
They will work their way around a trunk so I watched for a while scanning up and down the tree where he landed. Not a bit of motion except for chickadees fluttering around the nearby feeder.
I started looking around at the other trees I know they like, mostly huge cottonwoods but still no motion. Then I noticed the new feeder I had put out a few days ago was moving but I couldn't see a bird on it. It's one of those cage deals with a block of seed held together somehow inside. It was swinging unnaturally and then some protrusions showed that shouldn't have been there. Sure enough there he was, working it over pretty good, but on the shady side with the feeder between us. The few shots available never showed the bird's whole self. If he had come around into the sun there might have been a great shot, but silly me to think the bird would cooperate.
Then he flew off into another cottonwood, again on the shady side. I chased him up the tree with the camera, sometimes hand holding with the lens at 400 mm with somewhat positive results. Pretty sure it's a downy and that's only by judging him by his size on the feeder. Downy woodpeckers have the same markings as hairy woodpeckers but are considerably smaller. Given that only part of his head and part of his tail feathers showed from the back side of the feeder which is maybe 3 or 4 inches wide, my guess was the smaller downy.
So, that's the adventure from the wood lot today. Stay tuned.
They will work their way around a trunk so I watched for a while scanning up and down the tree where he landed. Not a bit of motion except for chickadees fluttering around the nearby feeder.
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| Here's a watchbird watching you. A nickel to anyone who can guess the reference. |
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| Woodpecker pecking wood. |
So, that's the adventure from the wood lot today. Stay tuned.
Labels: Alaska birds, Downy woodpecker, feeding birds, woodpecker
This is really for the birds
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| One of the gray jays perches in a spruce for a moment. |
December 20, 2015
It's just not fair. I had to come out for a day to do some business, pay some bills, restock a little bit (and maybe see Star Wars :). So there I am puttering about, organizing, packing, watching some football and I look out the window and there not one but two unusual species of birds at the recently restocked feeders.
Neither is unusual for Alaska or for this area but they haven't been around my feeders very often recently. The first were redpolls. After almost breaking the bank buying feed for them three winters ago I hadn't seen many over the past two. Today a dozen or so attacked the feeders and the spilled seed on the ground. Most of the feeders had been empty when I pulled in last night, but a friend had come by and filled one sometime while I was gone and I filled the rest before daybreak and the birds were back when the sun came up. Chickadees and nuthatches of course, and the hairy woodpecker, but the ground was moving with the rolling carpet of redpolls pecking about at seed dumped by the others.
Then I noticed two larger birds poking about as well and flying up to the feeders. These were Canada or gray jays. They've come by the bird bath in the summer but I've never seen them at the feeders in winter. They stayed for much of the afternoon along with the redpolls and the regulars so there was quite a lot of action in the yard.
That's where the unfairness comes in. You see I had brought my camera gear out rather than leave it at the cabin on the off chance somebody might break in. So with all the action in the yard there was no way I wouldn't try at least one picture. Right, just like the potato chips. So there went about two hours I could have been packing and napping in front of televised football games. Maybe I should just close the curtains. Nah. Back to the mountain tomorrow.
Neither is unusual for Alaska or for this area but they haven't been around my feeders very often recently. The first were redpolls. After almost breaking the bank buying feed for them three winters ago I hadn't seen many over the past two. Today a dozen or so attacked the feeders and the spilled seed on the ground. Most of the feeders had been empty when I pulled in last night, but a friend had come by and filled one sometime while I was gone and I filled the rest before daybreak and the birds were back when the sun came up. Chickadees and nuthatches of course, and the hairy woodpecker, but the ground was moving with the rolling carpet of redpolls pecking about at seed dumped by the others.
 |
There are several redpolls in this picture. I am too tired
to count, and they were too spooky.
|
Then I noticed two larger birds poking about as well and flying up to the feeders. These were Canada or gray jays. They've come by the bird bath in the summer but I've never seen them at the feeders in winter. They stayed for much of the afternoon along with the redpolls and the regulars so there was quite a lot of action in the yard.
That's where the unfairness comes in. You see I had brought my camera gear out rather than leave it at the cabin on the off chance somebody might break in. So with all the action in the yard there was no way I wouldn't try at least one picture. Right, just like the potato chips. So there went about two hours I could have been packing and napping in front of televised football games. Maybe I should just close the curtains. Nah. Back to the mountain tomorrow.
Labels: Alaska birds, Canada jay, feeding birds, gray jay, redpolls
Where have all the redpolls gone, long time passing ...
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| One of those picky nuthatches. |
How things change over the course of a year. Last year at this time I had gone through two and a half 40-pound bags of sunflower seeds feeding a horde of redpolls mostly. Eventually I used 11 bags.
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| Alaska version of an angry bird. |
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| Pine grosbeak. |
And then, just to prove my theory is all wet, it is about 38 degrees out right now and maybe a dozen chickadees are fussing around the feeders.
At any rate, the costs are down and though I would rather have the birds, I don't mind not shelling out $37 a week to feed them.
Putting up a couple of pictures just to show who's been around.
A redpoll update
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| Getting plenty of these guys. |
Heard from my friend who lives near Denali Park yesterday – he has lots of redpolls at his feeders. There hasn't been even one at my feeders this year after last winter when hundreds showed up daily for almost three months. At this time last year I had gone through about eight 40-pound bags of black sunflower seeds. This year I am not even halfway through the second one.
The invasion of the redpolls is on (2013)
Superflights
The invasion of the redpolls is on (2013)
Superflights
Just a quick nature observation
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CHRISTINE KAPLER via flickr photo share.
Final approach, full flaps, landing gear down. |
Trumpeter swans often stop in Southcentral Alaska on their way to more southern climes for the winter. Several photographs of them have shown up recently on the Facebook page Birds of Alaska. A few of the images captured the interesting way these huge birds apply the landing brakes when they hit the water.
The trumpeter swan according to Wikipedia is the heaviest bird native to North America with males weighing as much as 30 pounds. Keep that in mind and then consider them landing from a flight. That's a lot of weight in motion to hit the water with and unless you have been lucky enough and close enough to see one land on water, you might miss the actual mechanics of their landing. Picture a jet landing on an aircraft carrier and you might get the idea of forces, at least to scale, involved in this.
What is obvious in the photographs is that as the swan approaches the landing, he puts his legs well forward under the breast with the webbed feet spread in a wide water-shoving position. The feet hit first, pushing against the water, raising a small wave and slowing the big bird until its breast hits the water – swan brakes like a cartoon coyote screeching to a quick halt.
Now I wonder if all waterfowl land the same way. Over the years there have been quite a few humorous photos and videos of birds crash landing in water, so it's likely not all of them know this neat trick the swans have developed.
–––––––
A NOTE: I'd like to pass some acknowledgement of sorts to two frequent contributors to Birds of Alaska, Ian Reid and Harvey Mann. I sent messages to both requesting permission to use their photographs to illustrate this post. Neither had the courtesy to respond even with a refusal. Thank you both, you are great Alaskans. The thing is I could have used their images anyway and they probably never would have known.
Oh no! Swans!
The trumpeter swan according to Wikipedia is the heaviest bird native to North America with males weighing as much as 30 pounds. Keep that in mind and then consider them landing from a flight. That's a lot of weight in motion to hit the water with and unless you have been lucky enough and close enough to see one land on water, you might miss the actual mechanics of their landing. Picture a jet landing on an aircraft carrier and you might get the idea of forces, at least to scale, involved in this.
What is obvious in the photographs is that as the swan approaches the landing, he puts his legs well forward under the breast with the webbed feet spread in a wide water-shoving position. The feet hit first, pushing against the water, raising a small wave and slowing the big bird until its breast hits the water – swan brakes like a cartoon coyote screeching to a quick halt.
Now I wonder if all waterfowl land the same way. Over the years there have been quite a few humorous photos and videos of birds crash landing in water, so it's likely not all of them know this neat trick the swans have developed.
–––––––
A NOTE: I'd like to pass some acknowledgement of sorts to two frequent contributors to Birds of Alaska, Ian Reid and Harvey Mann. I sent messages to both requesting permission to use their photographs to illustrate this post. Neither had the courtesy to respond even with a refusal. Thank you both, you are great Alaskans. The thing is I could have used their images anyway and they probably never would have known.
Oh no! Swans!
Labels: Alaska birds, Birds of Alaska, Harvey Mann, Ian Reid, swans
Seasons change and so do I
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| Red-breasted nuthatch |
Woke up this morning to the peace-shattering rap of a woodpecker on the wall outside right over my head. One has been flitting around the yard for the past few days and I've chased him with a camera without much luck. Perhaps this rude awakening was a warning not to intrude into his privacy.
The woodpecker isn't alone. I've been keeping one feeder filled and it's been attacked constantly by a group of chickadees and a couple of nuthatches. Yesterday seven pine grosbeaks came around. Then later in the day, as if to mock the photographer chasing him, the woodpecker landed on the feeder and stared into the house. By the time I retrieved the camera he was gone.
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| Black-capped chickadee |
It's such a treat to go to the window in the morning and see birds flocking around the feeder, a sort of reassurance that all is right with the world, everything is moving along the way it is supposed to and it's all right to join the day's parade.
Most of the leaves are raked into piles, at least, waiting for someone to find the energy to haul them into the woods. I usually dump them over the septic tank thinking it might insulate and prevent freezing.
Just sitting here feeling the cold, waiting for the darkness and snow. Seasons change and so do I.
"No time left for you. Distant roads are calling me.
"No time for a summer friend
"No time for the love you send
"Seasons change and so did I
"You need not wonder why
"There's no time left for you, no time left for you."
– The Guess Who, No Time
Perseverance pays off
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| Hairy woodpecker female |
Finally caught up with her.
Seasons change and so do I
And, a few others.
So far no redpolls so maybe I will make it through the winter still solvent. We had quite an invasion of them two years ago.
Redpoll invasion
Seasons change and so do I
And, a few others.
So far no redpolls so maybe I will make it through the winter still solvent. We had quite an invasion of them two years ago.
Redpoll invasion
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Revving up for takeoff. Or, maybe he's just trying not to slide off that slippery plastic.  |
Labels: Alaska birds, chickadee, hairy woodpecker, Pine grosbeak, redpolls
The poll of polls
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| An individual redpoll. |
And this one's red. These pictures might give a little indication why the birds have gone through about 75 pounds of seeds this winter and it's only the middle of January. This group is made up of common redpolls and they fly in clouds. I would guess I have had as many as 100 in the yard at one time. They tend to push the other birds out of the way but amid the flock there are always the usual chickadees, nuthatches and grosbeaks.
Some snow finally fell, too. So, it's beginning to look a lot more like winter, after about two weeks of bare, brown ground.
So, the poll. How many redpolls do you count in the photo at the bottom, the big one. Those are thistle seeds they are fighting over.
Winner gets to buy the next bag of thistle seeds with their thank you.
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| Gathering at the sunflower hearts feeder. |
So, the poll. How many redpolls do you count in the photo at the bottom, the big one. Those are thistle seeds they are fighting over.
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| This is the contest. How many redpolls do you see. |
Hey birds! Fixed income here
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| A redpoll picks through the last of the seeds. |
These feeders were all full to the brim Thursday morning. The pictures were taken around 1 p.m. Friday (today).
While filling them, some quick guesstimate calculations came up with these numbers, the feed so far this winter: black sunflower seeds, almost 90 pounds; sunflower chips, about 16 pounds; and thistle seeds about 5 pounds. So, up until now these birds have eaten more than 100 pounds of feed put out for them. Those are farm numbers for crying out loud. Of course some of that poundage is what they spill on the ground, but juncoes, grosbeaks and some redpolls, along with the grouse when they show up pick through those leavings. Sometimes I will let the feeders stay empty for a day to force them to pick through what's on the ground. Two days and they are gone for a while to somebody else's yard, I assume. At times they can be
quite discerning diners.
I remember years ago when in another climate we put out peanuts for the Steller's jays. Several times we saw a jay land, puke up some sunflower seeds it had picked up somewhere else and then grab a peanut and take off with it.
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| This is always the first one emptied. |
quite discerning diners.
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| A couple of redpolls aim at the remaining thistle seeds. |
I remember years ago when in another climate we put out peanuts for the Steller's jays. Several times we saw a jay land, puke up some sunflower seeds it had picked up somewhere else and then grab a peanut and take off with it.
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| Chickadees will come to the feeder while I am filling it. |
Today to refill the feeders, I opened the second 40-pound bag of sunflower seeds this season and another 4-pound bag of sunflower chips. (The chips are expensive and go very fast so I only put a little out as kind of frosting for the rest.)
And what do I get for that? I mean besides the pleasure of seeing them, and all the photographs I can find nothing else to do with except post them on here and facebook.
At this point it's a commitment. If I were to just quit filling them, I might have a real game of Angry Birds on my hands.
One thing I better get is well-fertilized soil when it comes to gardening in a few months. That's why the biggest concentration of feeders is in the garden in the first place.
UPDATE: Just 24 hours later, had to refill them all again.
And what do I get for that? I mean besides the pleasure of seeing them, and all the photographs I can find nothing else to do with except post them on here and facebook.
At this point it's a commitment. If I were to just quit filling them, I might have a real game of Angry Birds on my hands.
One thing I better get is well-fertilized soil when it comes to gardening in a few months. That's why the biggest concentration of feeders is in the garden in the first place.
UPDATE: Just 24 hours later, had to refill them all again.
The invasion of the redpolls is on!
February 2, 2013
ANOTHER UPDATE: Articles addresses superflights and causes for alterations in irruptive migration by birds including redpolls. 2/13
BIG UPDATE: Last week as mentioned below I asked people on the Audubon website if anyone else was seeing unusually large numbers of redpolls this year. There have been several responses along with some good advice and a wonderful rescue story. I added them below with the newer ones at the top. Polling Hollywood now for invasion of the redpolls movie. (I boldfaced the advice)
Original blog post:
This has become fun, if expensive. The birds, mostly common redpolls went through 40 pounds of sunflower seeds in a week. That's not an exaggeration. I opened one a week ago Thursday and Thursday this week I had to buy another one and open it immediately to keep up with them.
A news story February 13.
The answer might be in this article about superflights from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
ANOTHER UPDATE: Articles addresses superflights and causes for alterations in irruptive migration by birds including redpolls. 2/13BIG UPDATE: Last week as mentioned below I asked people on the Audubon website if anyone else was seeing unusually large numbers of redpolls this year. There have been several responses along with some good advice and a wonderful rescue story. I added them below with the newer ones at the top. Polling Hollywood now for invasion of the redpolls movie. (I boldfaced the advice)
Original blog post:
This has become fun, if expensive. The birds, mostly common redpolls went through 40 pounds of sunflower seeds in a week. That's not an exaggeration. I opened one a week ago Thursday and Thursday this week I had to buy another one and open it immediately to keep up with them.
They pretty much empty five feeders in about 24 hours. That's three of them in the picture. Of the other two one is a duplicate of the one with the red top and the other holds more than twice what that red one holds.
At times if I could count them I bet there are more than 100 in the yard.
This is more than I have ever seen. Over the years I've noticed there are lots one year and hardly any the next. For a while I thought they alternated years, but then went through three or four where there were very few. Then this year they are overwhelming.
I wondered if I am alone and feeding every redpoll in Alaska, so I joined an Alaska Audubon bulletin board and asked if anyone was experiencing the same thing. So far I heard from people in Soldotna, Talkeetna, Homer and south Anchorage and all report unusually large numbers of redpolls at feeders this year. No one has offered a good theory so far as to why.
I had one thought. Perhaps the crappy summer we had stunted the growth of whatever they usually eat in winter and so they are having trouble finding feed in the wild. Another thought is the crappy summer somehow allowed for a greater survival rate among them and as more chicks survived, more are thus coming to the feeders. Hmm, just checking on something. Maybe it's global warming. Maybe they migrate and because of new climate changes, they are staying all winter. Hang on, going to look that up.
A partial answer from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Common Redpolls are active foragers that travel in busy flocks. Look for them feeding on catkins in birch trees or visiting feeders in winter. These small finches of the Arctic tundra and boreal forest migrate erratically, and they occasionally show up in large numbers as far south as the central U.S. During such irruption years, redpolls often congregate at bird feeders (particularly thistle or nyjer seed), allowing delightfully close looks.
So, there's the answer. They migrate erratically. Sometimes they fly south, sometimes they don't. Now you have to wonder what triggers either action, and it does indicate warming could have an effect. If it stays warmer here that may be what keeps them It's good enough for me, perhaps a combination of high survival rate and one of those years when they erratically stay in the north.
Now I wonder if I could somehow shift the expense of these sunflower seeds to someone who usually feeds them in the Lower 48. Probably not, but donations are welcomed.
A news story February 13.
The answer might be in this article about superflights from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Redpolls from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
HERE ARE SOME OF THE AUDUBON RESPONSES:
QUICK UPDATE: Forty pound bags of black oil sunflower seeds are $4 cheaper at 3 Bears than they are at Walmart. Same Alaska brand. $33 and change.
I believe this is a Leucistic Redpoll. It was amongst the Common Redpolls that frequent my bird feeders on a daily basis. Here's the link.
--South Anchorage, mid hillside 2/8
The redpolls here in Nikiski seem to be increasing in numbers. Plus I'm still getting lots of chickadees (black capped and boreal) and nuthatches. Not as many Grosbeaks and gray jays, but I'm sure they will come back soon.
-- Nikiski 2/8
Back in the 70's and 80's we used to have flocks of redpolls at our bird feeders and I literally haven't seen one since -- until this year. This past week we've had lots of them. I don't have a clue … but I'm glad you're on it.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE AUDUBON RESPONSES:
QUICK UPDATE: Forty pound bags of black oil sunflower seeds are $4 cheaper at 3 Bears than they are at Walmart. Same Alaska brand. $33 and change.
I believe this is a Leucistic Redpoll. It was amongst the Common Redpolls that frequent my bird feeders on a daily basis. Here's the link.
--South Anchorage, mid hillside 2/8
The redpolls here in Nikiski seem to be increasing in numbers. Plus I'm still getting lots of chickadees (black capped and boreal) and nuthatches. Not as many Grosbeaks and gray jays, but I'm sure they will come back soon.
-- Nikiski 2/8
Thanks for continuing the conversation about the Red Polls, as I find this very interesting, especially since the Red Polls are across such a large territory - Anchorage to Talkeetna.
The Red Polls did come back to our south Anchorage feeders. They were gone for two days, then the snow hit and they are back at the feeders. However, there's not the same numbers as before when they were a mob.
-- south Anchorage 2/8
I was gone for four days and of course the feeders were down to dust when I came back. Filled them this morning and the redpolls are back in big numbers again.
-- Tim 2/8
-- Tim 2/8
Back in the 70's and 80's we used to have flocks of redpolls at our bird feeders and I literally haven't seen one since -- until this year. This past week we've had lots of them. I don't have a clue … but I'm glad you're on it.
-- East Anchorage 2/3
The best price on Black-oiled Sunflower Seeds, currently, is @ 3 Bears. Also best to buy a large bag of mixed seed for redpolls, as they will eat the millet. Avoid mixes with those large, striped sunflower seeds- nobody eats those!
-Talkeetna Robin 2/4
Two days ago I went out onto the porch to put out yet more seed in the afternoon & found a juvenile female redpoll laying on her back on the snow on top of the flat fuel tank at the end of the porch,which serves as a feeder. I thought she was dead but when I started to pick her up her legs kicked a little. I gently picked her up and brought her into the cabin. She was clearly dazed, though I had been inside for the prior 2 hours and had not heard a window hit. Plus I have black screens on the outsides of all my windows so even if the birds fly into a window, they see the screen and swing their feet up and hang from it for a second before flying away.
I gave the bird a few drops of water with an eyedropper, which she drank eagerly. I set her in a small animal cage in a back room and left her quiet for an hour.
The sun was due to set in a 1/2 hour when I checked on her. She would need to acclimate to the cold again to be set loose for the night, so I set the cage on a table on the porch. I put a handful of seeds in the cage and stood watching. She hopped around the cage and when she came upon the seed she began to eat. I eased the lid off the cage and in a few moments she looked up and then flew out and off to the forest.
Since then she has been back with the flock, but whenever they all fly away, she stays, calmly eating seed while I am nearby. I know it's her because a few feathers on her head were bent out of shape by whatever she hit, and she has a gold-colored poll instead of red, which I learned a few years ago, when I did research on redpolls when writing a column about them for The Talkeetna Good Times, denotes a juvenile bird. This girl seems to have lost some of her fear of me.
There is a squirrel which jumps onto the feeders and leaps at the birds and I wonder if it leaped at the flock while they were feeding and this female flew into the wall and knocked herself out. I'm just glad she re-cooperated and seems to see me as a helper, perhaps.
-- Talkeetna Robin 2/4
-- Talkeetna Robin 2/4
Thanks for the comment and the story. I have those hawk sillouettes on my windows and they still hit it. And I have seen squirrels do exactly what you described.
-- Tim
-- Tim
I've tried everything too, and the mesh screen on the outside of the window works best. Only thing is I can't take photos through it. I've put up streamers, hawk silhouettes, paint daubs, & plastic owls & the mesh finally stopped window fatalities. That's why I think this redpoll flew into the wall -- especially since I did not hear a window hit. She still greets me on a feeder each morning now and hangs around a little while after the others fly to the trees. My pal.
Cheers,
Robin Song 2/5
Is the feeding frenzy over for the Red Polls? We haven't seen any Red Polls since Sunday here in south Anchorage. The birds had been emptying the feeders about every two days. Yesterday there was only one or two birds at a time. I'm wondering where they went and who still has Red Polls at their feeders?
-- South Anchorage 2/5
-- South Anchorage 2/5
For a few days our numbers were down, but they started going back up today.
-- Homer 2/5
-- Homer 2/5
They are still showing up at my feeders in Nikiski.
-- Nikiski 2/5
-- Nikiski 2/5
We have about 50-100 daily, not an unusual amount but not every year amount.
-- Anchorage 2/6
Last week, while driving north on Minnesota near Tudor in Anchorage, a large
flock of redpolls flew over. While I know they are more common in town this
year, this flock was unusually large.I am guessing about 200 birds. So,
there may be more in town than one thinks.
-- Anchorage
-- Anchorage
We've had up to 65 or more Common Redpolls at our feeder, whereas in previous years we've had only one or two. A bonanza year for redpolls at feeders.
--- Homer
We just started with bird feeders about 4 weeks ago. First some Arctic Blend and then a little thistle to bring those dang Pine Siskins in (it didn't work). Started with two feeders, one about 8 inches high and one about 16 inches high.
-- Anchorage
-- Anchorage
Yes-about 70 redpolls here in the Talkeetna area. Usually I have around 25 at my feeders and they don't come in to the feeders until mid Feb. This winter I started out with 8 redpolls coming in with 12 Pine Grosbeaks back in Nov. The flock slowly increased to its present size by mid Jan. The PG flock numbers around 20 birds. Just had a Shrike here 2 days ago and a Sharp-shinned Hawk does a fly-by every once in awhile.
Black-capped Chickadee flock is down about 1/2 this winter, numbering around 25 birds.
I put out mixed seed for the redpolls to slow down their consumption of sunflower seeds. Happy little birds!
-- Talkeetna
-- Talkeetna
Yes! I'm in the south end of Anchorage. We started out with about 20 birds, now it's a mob scene at the front and back yard feeders several times a day and ran through two 10 lb bags quickly. My husband couldn't find plain sunflower seeds at two stores in town and ended up buying a mix of millet, cracked corn, peanuts and sunflower seeds. Corn and millet are scattered everywhere. Don't understand why stores here carry mixes like this. Is millet good for anything? Am I missing something? I've always wondered.
-- Anchorage
A NOTE: If anyone else can't find sunflower seeds, while I hesitate to promote Walmart, they do carry 40-pound bags (and also smaller ones). They have a variety of other feeds as well and they at least sell the Alaska brand. Also note the message from Talkeetna above. Putting out mixed feed slows down the consumption of sunflower seeds.
-- Anchorage
A NOTE: If anyone else can't find sunflower seeds, while I hesitate to promote Walmart, they do carry 40-pound bags (and also smaller ones). They have a variety of other feeds as well and they at least sell the Alaska brand. Also note the message from Talkeetna above. Putting out mixed feed slows down the consumption of sunflower seeds.
It took just slightly over two weeks for the birds (mostly Redpolls, but a few Nuthatches and BCCHs) to empty the feeders the first time I filled them. It took about a week for the birds to empty the feeders the second time I filled them. Then about four days...now it's done to about two days.
-- Anchorage
The Blacked-capped Chickadees still are around a bit, but the Nuthatches seem to have "been driven off" perhaps. I won't complain though...it's a wonderful Sunday morning sipping coffee and watching the Redpolls mob the feeders. I bet the word "Redpoll" is mentioned 25 times a day in my house these days.
-- Anchorage
-- Anchorage
The Blacked-capped Chickadees still are around a bit, but the Nuthatches seem to have "been driven off" perhaps. I won't complain though...it's a wonderful Sunday morning sipping coffee and watching the Redpolls mob the feeders. I bet the word "Redpoll" is mentioned 25 times a day in my house these days.
-- Anchorage
I have 100-200 in my yard feeders in Soldotna. This is one of the higher years (I have had 300 at one time) and they just showed up a week or two ago,
-- Soldotna
-- Soldotna
Labels: Alaska birds, bird migrations, redpolls
Enough redpolls yet?
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| I put some fancy feed in this one and they crowded it until it was empty. |
Probably a little bit of overkill, but there is something new about them, especially if anybody is feeding them. Last night I cleaned and disinfected all my feeders after reading the following on the Audubon user groups page.
With so many people reporting large flocks of redpolls mobbing their
feeders, I’d like to share some tips from the Bird Treatment &
Learning Center about preventing the spread of disease.
Salmonella and E. coli are two pathogens that can be spread at bird
feeders. Birds suffering from an infection will often appear more
fluffed and less active than the rest of the flock and may stay for
long periods of time on or under a feeder, seeming to eat but actually
just mumbling their food around and dropping it again (well bathed in
microbes).
It’s a good idea to start sanitizing feeders between fill-ups with a
10% bleach solution, if it is a plastic feeder. For wooden tray
feeders and areas on the ground, scrape up seed remains and spray with
diluted white vinegar (I'm guessing 30% vinegar).
Chris Maack
Bird Treatment & Learning CenterAnchorage
I had seen one bird that look and acted like it had the symptoms he describes. It was a male pine grosbeak and here is a picture of it.
And last night cleaned and disinfected and refilled the feeders.
Nothing stops them. Another week another 40-pound bag of sunflower seeds. Come on Spring.
If you haven't had enough YET, here's a gallery from today.
With so many people reporting large flocks of redpolls mobbing their
feeders, I’d like to share some tips from the Bird Treatment &
Learning Center about preventing the spread of disease.
Salmonella and E. coli are two pathogens that can be spread at bird
feeders. Birds suffering from an infection will often appear more
fluffed and less active than the rest of the flock and may stay for
long periods of time on or under a feeder, seeming to eat but actually
just mumbling their food around and dropping it again (well bathed in
microbes).
It’s a good idea to start sanitizing feeders between fill-ups with a
10% bleach solution, if it is a plastic feeder. For wooden tray
feeders and areas on the ground, scrape up seed remains and spray with
diluted white vinegar (I'm guessing 30% vinegar).
Chris Maack
Bird Treatment & Learning CenterAnchorage
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| A male pine grosbeak maybe have been suffering from what Chris Maack was talking about. |
And last night cleaned and disinfected and refilled the feeders.
Nothing stops them. Another week another 40-pound bag of sunflower seeds. Come on Spring.
If you haven't had enough YET, here's a gallery from today.
Also the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has an article about superflights and why we might be seeing so many redpolls this year.
Original story
Original story
Those redpolls are still at it
The day after I emptied my 10th 40-pound bag of sunflower seeds this winter I received this email:
We've got your friend Cheryl.
Bring 500 pounds of hulled sunflower seeds (no fillers) in unmarked 5-pound plastic bags or the Texan gets it.
The Redpolls
Frantically bagging seeds now to save my friend.
Enough redpolls yet?
The invasion of the redpolls is on!
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Links to this post
We've got your friend Cheryl.
Bring 500 pounds of hulled sunflower seeds (no fillers) in unmarked 5-pound plastic bags or the Texan gets it.
The Redpolls
Frantically bagging seeds now to save my friend.
Enough redpolls yet?
The invasion of the redpolls is on!
No comments:
Links to this post
Labels: Alaska birds, birds, feeding birds, redpolls
Spring snow, Winter birds
April 7, 2013
As the snow melted away to almost nothing, fewer and fewer redpolls showed up at the feeders. Also, to kind of wean them away from dependence on the feeders, I didn't fill them as often, and the redpolls that did show up seemed content to pick through what they had spilled onto the ground over the winter. But I knew they were around because every time I ventured outdoors I could hear their songs filling the woods. With fewer redpolls, the chickadees and nuthatches took advantage and came back to pick through what remained.
Then overnight from yesterday to today, about five or six inches of snow fell and covered everything. Figuring whatever natural food and what was on the ground near the feeders was now under snow, I filled them this morning. When I went out I noticed right away no songs came out of the woods and there wasn't a redpoll in sight. A single chickadee tested all the feeders, found what he wanted and flew off to crack open a husk.
As soon as one feeder had seeds in it, I noticed the bird sounds in the woods had picked up. By the time I reached the second feeder, 30 or 40 feet away, redpolls had already found the first one, and likewise as I proceeded from one to another until by the time I had finished, maybe 50 were squabbling over seeds again.
Ten minutes after I came indoors not one was visible and the yard had no motion in it whatsoever. Something must have spooked them, probably the neighbor's cat that I frequently have to chase.
I have had another sighting as well. I was sitting on the porch at the East Pole a week or so ago and enjoying the sunlight. When I shovel snow off that deck, I always leave a pile for melting to make water. When the wind blows, these little brown what I thought were seeds blow off the birch trees and land in the snow. I think those are called catkins and they are what redpolls eat when there are no feeders around. I watched seven of them land on the deck and begin picking up all these little brown tidbits. My first thought was they followed me there, knowing they could find food if I were around. Silly, of course. Every time I would scrape a layer away to take some snow indoors it would expose another layer of the catkins and back the birds would come. As they did, I began to wonder what else I was drinking besides melted snow. Not a pleasant thought, but boiling should take care of it I figure.
So, now, thanks to a late winter snowfall, I have the redpolls back in big numbers and am almost to the bottom of the tenth 40-pound bag of feed. I had hoped that was the last for the year, but maybe not.
Labels: alaska, Alaska brds, feeding birds, redpolls, winter birds
What's good for the goose …
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| Snow geese and Canada geese (background) gather in a field left uncovered by spring near Pioneer Peak |
April 25. 2013
With overnight snow in the forecast for the next few days, winter still clings to the landscape like a puppy who won't let go of the rope. But winter is losing as temperatures rise and more of those spring signs show up daily. Although the flights must have been in progress, I hadn’t noticed a wedge of geese until maybe a week ago.
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| Snow geese begin to encroach into Canada territory. |
Then driving out of town yesterday I noticed a line of cars parked along the roadside just near the farm right at the edge of the residential area.
White spots against the sandy tan background of a fallow field had drawn the attention of passersby and I pulled over as well. Snow geese and Canada geese were picking their way through the field very close to the road, much to the delight of folks who stopped.
I made the photograph at the tip with my iPhone, took a few more and just before I left I spotted a fellow with his daughter of 3 or 4 attempting to take one of those long-armed self portraits of the two of them so I offered to take one for them with their camera. I hope it came out, glare was so bad it was difficult to see on their phone's screen.
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| Diversity in the goose world. I only saw one little dust up. |
Upon waking today I looked at the photo on my facebook page and decided it was too fuzzy (camera shake in an old guy's hands) and with the sun coming out wrestled with the idea of going back with a real camera, wrestled at least until I realized there would be no more sleep until I did.
Of course, when I reached the field the geese had moved way back from the road and the closest approach (it is private land with a healthy fence around it) would not have the mountain in the background. Still a sharp picture was worth making and I did.
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| A flight of geese approaches the field. |
As I was preparing to leave I drove back to where I had taken the picture the previous day, thinking white spots way off in the field with the mountain in sunlight might still make a good photo. But before I could get the car in position and get out, all together the snow geese rose from the field, formed a loosely organized wedge and flew off toward the mountain. They didn't circle like birds will do when they are disturbed by something. looking to come back and land once it's safe. Those birds were going somewhere. Oddly, none of the Canada geese flew way, but continued pecking about in the field. What trigger had signaled all the white geese to take off in the same direction at the same time? Obviously nothing had frightened them into flight or all the geese would have taken off. But something basic had sparked all the snow geese to rise at once and leave while their darker cousins couldn't have cared less.
By the time I recovered from that thought process enough to remember the camera in my hands, the snow geese had disappeared into the white of the mountain background leaving me and maybe a Canada goose or two to wonder what the heck caused that. |
| Snow geese not long before the big takeoff. |
Labels: Alaska birds, bird migrations, birds, Canada geese, snow geese
I gave her the bird, literally
November 25, 2013
What a day. Convalescing and housebound, with just me and Walter and the birds, lazy day in front of the television with not much going on, just chillin'.
Then the bird hit the window, a big one making a loud thud. I went to look and saw a female pine grosbeak down in the snow, knocked silly. This happens once in a while and they usually sit there for a minute or two, gather their wits and fly off. Not so with this one and so I worried and finally went out, gathered it up and brought it into the house. I found a way to confine it and let it warm up but wasn't sure what to do beyond that.
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| In the picture the bird looks red, like a male, but in real life she was more of an orange color, definitely female. |
I messaged a bird-knowledgeable friend but she wasn't online, so I put a post on an Alaska birding bulletin board called akbirding@yahoogroups to see if anyone knew what could be done. I joined that group last winter during the invasion of the redpolls. What I was told was that about all I could do is what I was already doing, keep it warm, let it wake up and when it was lively let it go. What is amazing is the number of responses that came back to me. A dozen people at least responded, all of whom had pretty much the same advice which was what I was already doing.
When I saw the bird standing with her head up I tried to put her outside. I picked her out of the cooler and she perched on my finger and stayed there. I gently guided her to the top of the wood pile hoping she would fly off, but when she did she just fluttered to the ground. Not good. I tried to catch her but she flopped along in the snow into the woods then stopped and I realized I was just stressing her with the chase, and, too, trying to discourage a very curious Walter.
A few minutes later I went back out and collected her and brought her back inside where she now sits in a cooler with a screen over the top. I am not optimistic now and I don't want to let her go after dark for the neighbors' cats to have a meal.
Then as I was trying to figure out what to do next, I received a message from Chris Maack at the Bird Treatment & Learning Center in Anchorage. I had already received a note about taking the bird there, but the one out where I live isn't accepting injured birds and the TLC is 50 miles away in Anchorage. It doesn't help that part of my convalescence prevents me from driving a car because jerking my neck around could cause serious problems.
Then someone came up with a solution. Someone who volunteers at the center lives near here and can stop on her way home to pick up the bird. She hoped to be here around 10 after she and her daughter who was returning from college took in a movie first.
Meanwhile about the time the arrangements were being made I had to face a crisis of personal identity. Just coming on TV at the moment, Lady Gaga was due on the Ellen show and the Monday Night Football game was about to start. Not saying which one I chose, but as a hint, the game goes on for two and a half more hours while there was only half an hour of Gaga with Ellen. And, San Francisco won, so, do the math.
Meanwhile the night went on and a little later I heard from the woman volunteer from TLC and said she was leaving Anchorage and would pick the bird up on her way home about 10 p.m. or so.
The conclusion: As of 10:30 p.m. the woman had stopped by and I gave her the bird which is now on her way to TLC. By the time she left, the bird was pretty scrappy, squawking and flapping around, so she might make it. Anyway, my work here is done, except to hang the warnings in the windows for them so it doesn't happen again.
Pine grosbeak
Pine grosbeak
One good tern deserves another
May 12, 2012
On a different road to Anchorage today, lots of wildlife showed themselves. Out in the lowlands at the mouths of the Knik and Matanuska rivers two moose browsed through the low brush. Both looked blond compared with the dark hair they usually sport. Maybe it was the light, but the color at first looked more like a grizzly they might call silvertip rather than a moose no one has ever called silvertip. A little farther along a third moose lay by the side of the road, the victim of traffic, at 65 mph looking more like it was scavenged than butchered, which makes for waste in a couple of ways.
Landing on the wires along the roadside an arctic tern hovered and then perched for a while, first one of the year, the veteran of a yearly 20,000- mile round trip commute.
They've always been a special bird. There was a night soaked with beer on the bow of a boat in harbor when a group of us began scoring their dives like they were Olympians.
There was the female standing on the top of a piling as suitors approached her and hovered before her with fish in their beaks in hopes of winning her favor as she haughtily lifted her own beak like a society matron might sniff at some lesser human being who had the audacity to approach her, and turn her head to the side, rejecting one offer after another.
They have another side too. For years working with oil spill response, I had to wear a hard hat during the drills and training sessions I observed. The only time I ever really needed one was when I ventured too close to a tern's nest. Talk about being dive bombed, they hit the hat, hard and I had to beat it out of there, watching very carefully where I stepped as I made my escape because they lay their well-camouflaged eggs exposed among rocks.
Still, it is always a treat to see the first one of spring every year.
For anyone who might like terns (and puns) The Book of Terns is highly entertaining. Puns from the book were always fun on the tour boat when we saw the birds. At times in late summer they would gather before their migration. When they took off as a flock, they would make sharp turns as a group like those tiny fish in so many films. I loved the groans from the tourists when we saw that and I could say over the loudspeaker, "looks like one good tern deserves another," or talk about the big ternout we had that day.
And now for the weather report
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| Checking the menu. |
Apologies for several days of political rants. Back, now, to Alaska. For a couple of weeks it's been clear and pretty cold, some nights into the single digits. Monday night we had a dusting of snow, enough to cover the ground and cold enough to stick. That meant, late Tuesday afternoon the bird feeders went out. By midday one looked half full and this morning it had been emptied. Fortunately yesterday I made a stop at the feed store and picked up $50 worth of black sunflower seeds and sunflower chips. Most likely that won't last the winter.
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| Excuse me, dining here! |
Bunches of chickadees and nuthatches have shown up at the feeders and today the first Pine grosbeak (female) arrived. Then later a new species came in and poked around for several minutes. I had heard some rapping on the house walls earlier and it was not as sharp or as loud as the hairy woodpeckers make. Then a downy woodpecker perched at the feeder and I am guessing this was the one testing the T-111. This was the first confirmed downy I have seen although I know they have been around. Maybe it is time to start a picture window life list. My son and I had this one years ago.
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| All right then. I'm outta here. |
How much wood could a woodpecker peck if a woodpecker could peck wood
Here's a gallery of more shots of this one today plus others that have visited this winter so far.
On an unrelated note: There's a new gadget on this blog at the bottom of this column. Take a look and if you want to see whose writing yours resembles, click the link. I am all OK with who I resemble. My friend who writes a lot of nonfiction wildlife and adventure books, got Rudyard Kipling. See what yours is like and post it as a comment.
2011
Birds and boys
January 26, 2011
You just never know what sort of influence you might be having on your kids and of course they are never going to tell you, but I realized one tonight and it was a pretty good one.
A friend of mine wrote a nice, thoughtful piece in the paper tonight about his young son’s encounter with a flock of Bohemian waxwings in the past week. It reminded me of my own son’s adventures with birds or at least my efforts to encourage some adventures and I thought maybe it would be an idea for my friend to try.
In the house my son and I shared every other week for seven years we had huge picture windows that overlooked a large woodland. Of course there were birds, a wide variety and we put out feeders for them. There were enough different species that I suggested we keep a life list. I called it “Our extra special picture window life list” and we taped it to the glass. The rule was we both had to see the bird and we had to identify it exactly, no “little brown chippies.” Over the next few years we added to that list often. Once in a while I would take it down and type the new ones into the computer to replace the handwritten ones and then tape it back up. That windowsill was always cluttered with bird identification books and binoculars.
Our favorites were the Steller’s jays who came to the deck for the peanuts we put out for them. They came every day in winter, often in gangs. One day we counted 13 on the deck and in the nearby trees waiting for their turn to swoop in for a peanut. We even recognized a few individuals. One we called Tank was noticeably bigger than the others and we swore the house shook when he landed. There was a day, too, when I hadn’t put any peanuts out yet. I heard a tapping on the window and when I went to look there was a jay perched on the back of a deck chair pecking at the window, demanding nuts.
Another favorite of mine was sometimes we could see a chickadee start from way deep in the woods and make a line in that up and down wave-like flight pattern they fly straight to the feeder that held sunflower seeds.
There are too many stories about the birds we saw and what they did for me to relate in a short blog post but they were almost constant entertainment. A friend from way back in high school visited once and added several species to his life list just sitting drinking coffee one morning.
My son more tolerated my passion for it more than he actually participated. But he surprised me when he was in sixth grade and wanted to do his science project testing what foods the jays would like best. His project won a statewide science fair division and earned him a big blue ribbon from a birding group.
After that junior high school took over and he got way too cool for dad’s bird interests. and I never noticed him paying much attention to birds again.
I hadn’t realized it until just today as I was telling my friend about our life list when it hit me. On our square-rigger sail this summer it came up we needed a bird identification book and no one seemed to have brought one. Turns out one person had. My 20-year-old son quickly produced his, the only one among that environmentally conscious crew to have one. And it was in telling my friend about it today that I realized what an event that really had been, the realization that at some point I had planted a positive idea with a growing boy. Perhaps in the encounter with the Bohemian waxwings, my friend has planted the same sort of idea with his son and one day the boy will reveal that influence to his father as well. I can tell him now it is one great, if unexpected, reward for being a parent.
Here is the last life list from the picture window:
JUSTIN AND TIM'S VERY SPECIAL PICTURE WINDOW LIFE LIST
(Seen through our window by both of us and confirmed with bird books)
Birds we've seen Birds we've heard
Varied Thrush Owl (Saw whet)
Steller's Jay Woodpecker
Common Redpoll Loon
Robin Birds we fed
Raven Steller's jay
Hermit Thrush Black-capped chickadee
Wilson's Warbler Rufous humingbird
Hairy Woodpecker Redpolls
Bald Eagle Red breasted nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee Junco
Black billed Magpie Hairy woodpecker
Rufous Humingbird Pine grosbeak (m&f)
Red-breasted Nuthatch Pine siskin
Dark-eyed Junco
Three-toed Woodpecker
Pine Grosbeak (m & f)
Blackpoll warbler
Pine siskin
Downey woodpecker
Sharp-shinned hawk
Great horned owl
Violet green swallow
Dad saw: Hawk, either red-tailed or sharp-shinned
and, either red-tailed immature or Goshawk; also a falcon, probably peregrin
My friend's story: Waxwing diversion
They'rrrrrre back
February 4, 2011
Grouse at the feeders tonight. You'll just have to take my word for it.
A whole new take on Angry Birds
November 4, 2011
All the feeders out now and it wasn't an hour before one of them was down to 2/3 full. You can have your Angry Birds. I'll take my hungry birds any time. But, um, maybe not the expensive birds. I've joked in the past how fast they go through the feed I buy, but this year I learned a whole new lesson in bird feeding.
A couple of the old feeders needed replacing and I thought maybe adding a couple would be nice as well so have been looking for the past few weeks at various stores with some specific kinds in mind. I found some but others weren't available and I was beginning to think about making my own. I went to one last place, kind of the high end of pet supplies and bird seed and feeders.
They had quite a selection and as I looked through it, I came across one that was on sale for $110. One hundred ten dollars American! I laughed, Who the heck would ever pay $100 for a bird feeder? I found three I liked plus a hanging device and, oh what the heck, one of those silhouettes of a raptor that are meant to warn birds away from windows. And, oh yeah, a bag of thistle seed.
In a hurry to get to work, i hustled to the checkout and put them down for the cashier. She totaled it all up and very calmly as if this were an everyday occurrence said to me in the sweetest voice: one hundred twenty six dollars. I just about fainted. Very silently I paid for all this, right at that moment not sure these birds were worth that. Still regretting the amount, I put all those feeders out yesterday and filled them with seed that of course I am gong to have to replace at more great expense wondering again was this really worth it.
Then the first chickadee landed on the first one even before I had the second one filled and I started to feel a little better about it. But, today, I am programming a video game to challenge Angry Birds. It is called Hungry Birds and basically you start with a million dollars and start feeding birds. They find increasingly devious ways to get you to spend money on them until at about the 20th level you are broke. No human can win this game.
A very chickadee Thanksgiving
November 24. 2011
A few friends flew in for the holiday. And, oh yes, the woodpecker came by for the first visit of the year that I know of. Also had a couple of merlins hanging out in the trees looking for a meal I hope they don't get. May everyone feel the day and enjoy it as much as my guests seem to.
Ewwww gros
November 26, 2011
Pine grosbeak, seven of them around the feeders today. Something new this year; always before they fed on the ground, picking up what the chickadees spilled, but this year they have gotten up on the feeders several times. In that they are more than twice the size of a chickadee, it looks like the food bill is going up. Just opened a 40 pound bag of sunflower seeds today.
Redbird goes a'courtin'
December 1, 2011
There were at least a dozen of these guys around the feeders yesterday morning. I have never seen that many together before. Something else is new also. See how red these two males are. Normally they have a very muted blush of red on their heads and maybe a little on there breasts. These were red all over. Assuming the get very red for mating to attract females something must have gone horribly wrong for them to get all dressed up about five months early. But, there might be a reason.
When I left the house around 10 a.m. yesterday the temperature was 10 above. When I left work about midnight it was 10 in Anchorage too. Nice drive home on clear road and turned off the highway onto the blue highway and though there was some packed snow it was pretty easy going. That was until I came around the curve out of the woods onto the open area next to the river. A blast of wind hit the Jeep so hard I thought for a moment it might go over. With it came driving rain. Om the bridge, the wind had whipped up snow from the river forming drifts across the road every place there was an opening it could find its way through. Bumpy drive across the bridge and more wind. When I got home the weather had softened the snow in the driveway. There's a lot of it. Still waiting for that snowblower repair. The Jeep really worked hard to get up near the house. Once out of it, a blast of warmth hit me from a wind gust. The thermometer read 38-40. The rain had let up. Then in the morning it was back down to about 15. Amazing. And, the red birds showed up en masse.
So could the warm wind have tricked those horny males into thinking it was spring and they put on their fine feathers to go courting. That's my take on it anyway.
AN ADDENDUM: They showed up again the next day and didn't seem to be nearly as red. My friend had this idea about that:
"That's an easy one! The flashy birds you saw yesterday were part of the rich and famous jet-setting crowd. They moved on when the common pine grosbeaks started showing up. Once your feeders were no longer exclusive, it was all over for them. They were so out of there... (Ha, ha, I am so funny.) "
(One of the days I will get on the sunny side of these birds and get a good picture.)
Labels: Alaska birds, Alaska winter, feeding birds, Pine grosbeak
One of those polar bear plunges we hear so much about?
December 4, 2011
Quick post on my way out the door. I was about to lower the blinds when I saw this. Not the greatest quality picture, through the window and blocking the flash, but it will have to do. Who would have thought birds would take baths in winter? This pine grosbeak was shaking and fluffing up in the puddle caused by the rain. I sure hope he dries out before it freezes.
Saw a new bird today, too. Some kind of sparrow I think. Heading for the books.
UPDATE: About that sparrow. Turns out it was a redpoll. They just don't look the same when there is only one of them. Now there is a bunch of them around the feeders (12/6/11)
Saw a new bird today, too. Some kind of sparrow I think. Heading for the books.
UPDATE: About that sparrow. Turns out it was a redpoll. They just don't look the same when there is only one of them. Now there is a bunch of them around the feeders (12/6/11)
Labels: Alaska birds, Alaska weather, Alaska winter, Pine grosbeak
Feeding frenzy
December 10, 2011
Busy day at the feeders today. At one point I counted 20 pine grosbeaks and then kind of lost track. And, now redpolls are showing up in greater and greater numbers. The feeder full of thistle seeds has gone untouched for as long as it has been up. That was until today when the redpolls discovered it. There really was a crowd out there. Oh and as promised got out on the lighted side of them today. I figured out a perfect blind and if we ever get a sunny day again, I am looking forward to some good pictures. Love me, love my birds lol.
Labels: Alaska birds, birds, feeding birds, Pine grosbeak, redpolls
2010
Table for two, with a view, please
January 8, 2010A couple of new critters showed up at the feeders today. Two choices, they are either spruce grouse or willow ptarmigan. Because ptarmigan are supposed to be white in winter, and because in the book these look slightly more like spruce grouse, that is my semi-educated guess. Still have never seen either kind around here before and these look so much fatter than the spruce hens I see around the East Pole. Later when I filled the feeders I spread a little extra on the ground where they were in hopes they will come back. Although I am not sure I want them to. There are some free running cats around here and these birds are not the smartest ones on the wire. It was kind of cool, while I was sneaking up on them and photographing them, I could hear the fluttering of the chickadees as they dove toward the feeder. Later when I filled the one they like most, me being around didn't even bother them. At one point there were three on the feeder while I was holding it in my hand. Besides the grouse, redpolls showed up for the first time this year today too. They come in clouds and eat way too much. Last year it got to be 15 pounds of sunflower seeds and 6 pounds of hearts every two weeks. Also learned a sad lesson today I should have learned a long time ago. Another of those phrases to live by: Don't park your car under the bird feeder. When I saw half a dozen redpolls on it I realized the mistake but I got it out of there before they had enough time to really foul it. Still maroon. Whew.
Another sighting today also: I went to see Sherlock Holmes tonight. Good movie but not the Holmes I grew up reading about. I am sure Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would say the same. As I pulled into the parking lot I saw a familiar shape only much closer than I have ever seen him before. Wide brimmed hat, long grayish beard, puffy winter coat, backpack. Pretty sure this was the solitary man. This is the town he was always heading toward when I saw him in the mornings and leaving when I saw him in the afternoons. He was talking to another man. I walked as close as I dared without drawing suspicion and I'm pretty sure it was him. Problem was, he was out of context and I realized I have never seen him close enough to recognize facial characteristics, so I can't be sure.
At any rate it was a good day to have my eyes open.
Labels: Alaska birds, chickadee, feeding birds, grouse, redpolls, solitary man
They'rrrrrrrr baaaaaaack
March 20, 2010Turned on the yard light last night and look who was out there.
Owl be seeing you in the polar vortex
OK, here goes. Wacko theory No. 8,634.
Earlier in the winter, in November and December, people began spotting snowy owls way south of their usual habitat. Normally they nest in Arctic regions and migrate south for the winter but generally stay north of 60 degrees latitude. Anchorage, Alaska is at about 60 North. This year there were sightings throughout the midwest and as far east and south as Virginia. It struck me that these two events might have something in common.
I remember suggesting to one friend she overlay a map of the vortex onto a map owl sightings, but I never heard back. So, today I gave it a try and look what I came up with. The map on the left below is of the vortex; the one on the right is snowy owl sightings in November and December. Coincidence? Ha, I don't think so. Of course there are exceptions but it sure looks like the snowy owls congregated just where the vortex was gong to show up later.
Years ago I read an article in Sports Illustrated magazine written during the construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline. In it the author wrote of his fascination with bananas on a dining hall table on the Arctic Coast of Alaska. He noted that in nature when an animal appears far outside its normal habitat, it's an indication the herd is in trouble. And then he's looking at humans and bananas in the Arctic and wondering if our herd was in trouble.
Were the owls such a warning? Is the snowy owl in trouble for some reason? Was there a low point in their normal prey species? Were they just trying to be friendly alarmists to warn people of the coming harsh winter? What else could be going on? One would take a whole new wacky theory and I am only good for one a day. But consider this, Alaska is in the weather path for winds to bring radiation from Japan. Ponder that one for a while. Meanwhile I am sticking with the owls simply going where they were most comfortable, and willing to go so far as to guess they have some indicator that helps them anticipate what winter is going to do and they act accordingly.
The point here, though, is not the speculation about why it happened or theories about motivation. The point is simply the observation that snowy owls showed up ahead of time in the same areas where the polar vortex later brought its storms.
But we have a warning for those folks on the East Coast. We are going to be wanting our owls back, and soon.
A BIT OF AN UPDATE: Some comments have shown up, several saying the change in migration is due to a change in prey species. One said voles were down in the Arctic while another blamed a decline in the lemming population. That makes sense. That, however doesn't change the basic premise pointing out the correlation between the owl migration and the location of the polar vortex. Perhaps it's the lemmings or voles that signal the change in weather pattern. There a couple of new links to articles about the phenomenon below.
ANOTHER UPDATE: That snowy owl a commenter on here mentioned, the one who was rescued after it was hit by a bus in Washington, D.C., was scheduled to be released today (4/19) in northern Minnesota. Here's that story. There were other rescues, too, at least two, one in Cleveland and another in Portland, Oregon.
Graphic credits: Polar vortex: Accuweather.com; owl spottings: eBird.com; snowy owl photo: Wikkipedia
Another version from Alaska Dispatch News 12/10/16
It's happening again in 2015
Audubon magazine article on the snowy owl irruption
New York Times: Snowy owl a harbinger of climate change?
Snowy owl
Snowy owl migration 2013, eBird
NASA animated depiction of the winter's polar vortex
What's a polar vortex?