I am looking forward to doing some counts this winter. Maybe not so many as last year...oh I probably will. :)

This past summer is going to be a tough act to follow however. It was so exciting when a pair of Bluebirds decided to nest in two of the pine snags in the backyard. 3 broods were successfully fledged - I don't know the exact #fledglings, but estimate a minimum of 7 fledglings.

Anti-climactic or not, I'm happy to be distracted by the birds and other winter visitors that will help to ride out those long tedious winter months.

August 2009, 3rd brood -

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Three broods of Bluebirds! Very impressive; such beautiful birds and not so common in your average yard (I've never even seen one). Maybe the families will come back next year, or even stick around for the winter. You had some last winter I remember. Very pretty in the snow.

Claire

Hi Claire, I hope they come back to nest next year. :) PFW considers Eastern Bluebirds an uncommon feeder bird. They've been coming to the suet log for the past 3 winters, but I know they were here even before I put feeders up. They love the home-made peanut butter/suet mixtures. They also love meal worms, and will eat sunflower hearts, and even raw suet when they are hungry!

In late April, on a couple occasions I observed a female Bluebird drop into the mostly barren gardens, pick up a bug, and then fly back up to the same dead snag. It got me thinking that she could be bringing bugs to a nest. (And she was, which was confirmed and photographed by a local Bluebird expert.)

Bluebirds on the suet log 2 years ago -

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I love seeing the bluebirds feeding on your suet log! It's almost surreal - fantasy birds on a very realistic feeder.

My most interesting bird lately has been the turkey. Since late summer I've had little flocks of turkeys under my feeders pretty much every day, often many times a day. These photos were all taken in the last three weeks.

Toms strolling around, picking seeds off the ground.

Hens looking in at me while I'm at the computer.

Turkeys lounging in the backyard looking out at the view.

But as soon as Project FeederWatch started, and I began counting birds, do you think the turkeys would show up? No! I counted yesterday and today and not one turkey appeared. I think they all took to the road like this one.

They'll probably come back tomorrow now that my weekly count is over.

Claire

Well, it's tomorrow, and the turkeys are back. About a dozen, without an apology or even an explanation (Where WERE you!).

So my count data is limited to the usual: blue jays, cardinals, house sparrows, a mourning dove, white-throated sparrows, song sparrows, a white-breasted nuthatch, a junco, goldfinches, crows, house finches, titmice, and of course, chickadees. And a lot of squirrels.

Not bad (don't tell the turkeys, I'm trying to lay some guilt on them).

Claire

I love the picture of the turkey lounging in the grass - he looks like he's taking in the ocean view.

There have been lots of birds in the yard the last couple days, eating seeds or berries or crabapples, coming to the feeders or the bird baths. Which reminds me of a PFW question - maybe you know Claire - can I count the birds that are in the yard but don't come to the feeders? For example, there are a lot of Cedar Waxwings in the yard, but they don't come to the feeders (well except for one time when they DID come to the suet log - that was pretty surreal!)

Took this pic yesterday, a couple cuties enjoying the bird baths -

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Nice spa for the robin and bluebird! I like the way you positioned the baths - are they heavy enough so squirrels don't tip them over?

RE counting:According to PFW;

"Please count...

all of the individuals that are in view at one time. For example, if two House Sparrows are on your feeder and six more are waiting their turn in a nearby bush, count all eight.

birds that are attracted to your Count Site because of something you provided, either directly or indirectly. For example, count birds that are investigating your feeder or birdbath even if they do not eat food or take a bath.

birds that are attracted to fruits or ornamental plantings in your Count Site, even if only a few individuals actually visit your feeders. Examples might include Cedar Waxwings and American Robins.

hawks, owls, and other predatory birds such as roadrunners and shrikes that are attracted by birds at your feeders, even if the predators are not successful in catching a meal."

If they were attracted to your yard, you can count them - just no fly-overs.

These are two birds from my first count day:

Blue Jay. They seem to take pride in being able to use the small bird feeders, even though I have two bigger feeders that fit them better.

Song Sparrow. The song sparrows love the ornamental grasses. They never come to the hanging feeders, but I'll see them on the grasses and on the ground under the nyjer socks.

Claire

I've got a new bird hanging around, a Dickcissel! It's a Great Plains type of bird and not commonly seen here in the east. I'm not sure how long it's been here because I hadn't been paying much attention to the house sparrows, and the dickcissel was lurking with them. It wasn't until I noticed that one of the sparrows had a pale yellow breast and I got a photo that I realized the bird was something different.

I pored over some field guides for a tentative ID, then emailed various people for confirmation. The presence of a dickcissel here is not newspaper-worthy, but it is rare. One source says dickcissels will occasionally winter here in MA, so maybe it will stay for a while.

So for my count this week I have a dickcissel and the turkeys are back! Oh, and I still have roses blooming.

Claire

Hi Claire, I would have thought that Dicksissel was a House Sparrow too. It looks a lot like a female, except for the yellow markings. How interesting!

Thanks for the info above, I decided to start counting this week (Sunday/Monday), and just renewed my membership today. I've expanded the "count area" to include the back gardens and a bit of the back yard where there are crabapples and pokeberries. There are many more birds to count that way.

Today was kind of an exciting bird day - there was Pileated Woodpecker on a snag - caught sight of it for a few seconds only and it was long gone by the time I grabbed the camera! The birds seemed to be traveling in flocks today - there were at about 3 dozen Cedar Waxwings, 2 dozen Robins, and about a dozen Starlings and Cowbirds each. And at least 40-50 Juncoes in the back and the front gardens.

Wow, Terrene, you have huge numbers of birds! Maybe it's the flight of the procrastinators - all the birds that put off migrating until the last moment and all caught the same winds out of the north.

And a Pileated Woodpecker! Not often seen.

Claire

This morning's discovery:

Feeder Down! Score one for the squirrels (although I can't rule out a turkey landing on it).

Claire

Well, Thanksgiving is over and I hope Gardenwebbers had a good day.

Not everyone looked forward to the holiday - these are the turkeys on the day before, discussing the situation with much agitation.

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Claire (who didn't eat turkey on Thanksgiving this year).

I couldn't resist this pair of cardinals, male and female, I saw perched on my winterberry today. This female has a particularly pretty, delicate coloration, not like the usual (also pretty) olive and red color I see here.

If the robins had left many berries, the cardinals would be surrounded by red counterpoints.

Claire

Claire, aren't you lucky to have all those turkeys in your backyard. It seems to me they are increasing everywhere in recent years, which is great. You have really put the effort into creating a bird friendly garden. I started down that road, but I think I am stalled somewhat. I feel like I bought a lot of shrubs for berries but I'm not getting very many berries on them. I can't figure out if I don't get enough sun, or if I am missing a pollinator viburnum for some of them. I also see a variegated shrub in that last photo on your Nov 23rd post that I wondered if it was an English Ivy? I saw a photo of someone's 'Cardinal Candy' Viburnum the other day and it was covered with berries. I am wondering why I never planted that one. [g] I have a lot of part shade. That may be my problem.

Enjoying your bird photos. We have the usual amount of birds at the feeders this year and a trio of crows that keep showing up which is a little unusual for us, but no turkeys in our neck of the woods.

Yay! The birds are back! Missed Project Feeder. That's the thread that made me go out and buy and new camera! Sure looks like a turkey convention to me. Undoubtedly you have created the Turkey Ritz Carlton in your back yard. Good thing the turkey vultures were here and not there!

Ok, since people are still watching I'll start posting photos again. Nice vulture shot, Jane!

PM2: I've really enjoyed the turkeys this winter, particularly in the snow. Turkeys really, really would rather walk than fly. To the point where they would walk up and down the road trying to figure out how to get over the snowbanks into the feeding area (no, turkeys, I will not shovel a path for you). They will slog through the snow when they could easily fly over. Yet they fly up to the trees to roost at night. Although actually the setup here is that there's a steep wooded downhill across the street. The turkeys often walk over to the edge of the road then fly horizontally out, landing in the middle of a tree that's halfway down the hill. Then they can fly more or less horizontally to distribute themselves safely up in the trees in the woods.

That variegated shrub is a Euonymus Silver King which really lights up the garden in the winter. This photo is through rain-streaked windows today. To the left is my osmanthus grove with three small Goshikis next to the big old heterophyllus. I'm hoping these Goshikis will also perk up the garden when they get bigger (and will be joined by the four small Goshikis I got at Home Depot in December, if they survive the winter).

This is one of the Goshikis surrounded by turkeys on December 21 when we had a lot of snow. The Goshiki is half buried.

The euonymus had been doing very well until recently when I noticed that a lot of small branches had been cut off and some bigger ones as well. At first I thought that the squirrels were breaking them when they tried to get up to the birdfeeder, or landed in it when they tried the Hail Mary leap from the pine tree. Then I saw this squirrel gnawing on the euonymus trunk.

I'm betting that a squirrel accidentally broke a few stems off and then discovered they taste good! I now spray the euonymus with Critter Ridder as I do some of the rhododendrons where the buds mysteriously disappear each spring. I don't know yet whether this will work.

Claire

I don't think I have ever seen a vulture in person, that is amazing that you have them there in CT, Jane! What a wingspan! Is that near your house? I'm not sure I would be thrilled to have one in the neighborhood. [g]

Love that second photo of your 'rafter' of turkeys. It sounds like you are enjoying watching them, Claire. Do they stick around during the growing season? They sound a little on the dumb side. [g] I've heard they can be cranky and destructive, do they cause any problems for you?

Thanks for posting the name of your Euonymus, Claire. It's interesting that you're only 1/2 a zone warmer than me. Do you usually try to stick with plants that are known to work in your zone, or do you try some that are zone 7 sometimes? You do seem to focus on winter interest, what got you started in that direction?

pm2

PM2: Oh, CT has many vultures and some are even retiring from public office. This chap, however, along with two cohorts, ride the thermals nearly everyday over my neighborhood. There are many open acres nearby - good hunting. One day last fall when I was driving, I spotted a turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)a block away from my house, perched on a lower branch of an oak with its wings fully extended, drying them in full sunshine. Absolutely shiny dark sable colour - like Russian mink - and the one I saw had to be a 4.5'open wingspan. When they fly over my house and quite low, every voice of nature goes silent. The little birds disappear into bushes for protection. Even the cat goes into hiding. This is a large bird for around here and it rivals the size of the bald eagle which is now increasing its numbers along the Connecticut River. In Feb., there is usually an Eagle Festival at the mouth of the CT River, alas, not this year - $ shortage.

Separately, this morning is the first time in January that I have seen robins in my back yard. A pair were resting quite high in a maple. (do those maple buds look a little chubbier than usual for January?)
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Jane :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Eagle Festival

Jane: There was a lovely set of photos on the Bird Watching Forum of Black Vultures sunbathing with wings outspread.

PM2: The turkeys here have never threatened me, or anyone else that I know of. It may be that this is a rural area with predators around, so they don't get arrogant.

This morning I went out to get the paper and saw a few turkeys on the ground, but also noticed some in the trees watching me and talking to each other. By the time I got back to the house and got the container of bird seed, there was a flock of a dozen or more swarming around waiting and clucking softly. They make a very sweet soft cluck which doesn't sound at all threatening. They move quickly out of my way, but now don't run too far.

A little later I saw a bunch surrounding the wisteria pseudo-standard which has suet cages on it. The turkeys were looking at the starlings eating the suet and probably wondering how to climb up to it.

My quest for winter interest is probably partly due to my looking out the windows at the birds in the winter, and wanting to improve the view. However, I'm also trying to go for interest all year round - it's just easier in the winter to get an overall view. In other seasons you can get distracted by a lovely rose, or some daffodils, or whatever, and not see the forest.

I usually stick to plants that will be comfortable in my zone and microclimate and don't need much emergency care.

Claire

I guess I have to get out more, Jane. Eagles and vultures in CT, wow. Actually, I rarely have visited CT and most of my impressions of the state were formed watching White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. [g] Pretty limited. I enjoyed that link to the Eagle Festival. They are amazing birds. ... The robins could be fatter this year, the fall was warm so late.

Claire, have the turkeys made the connection between you and food? Are they eating bird seed you put out? What do they eat? I can't say I find them an attractive bird, but the colors of their plumage are very pretty.

The little that I've done to try to add some winter interest in my garden has pleased me, so I am sure I will continue to look for opportunities to do so. Last year, I added a variegated holly, 'Honey Maid' and a small variegated boxwood. I wish I had started sooner and they would be larger by now.

PM2: There are eagles and vultures in MA, too. I've seen both of them here (turkey vultures and bald eagles).

The turkeys definitely connect me with food - if I look closely, I often see a turkey scout in the driveway next door, or across the street, or in a tree. Soon after I put food out they'll come sauntering over to grab a snack. Sometimes I try to outlast them so the smaller ground-feeding birds can eat in peace, but just when I think they've gone to roost and put food out, they come right back.

Yet every once in a while they'll disappear for a week or two, which I think is their normal routine in the wild. Feed for a few days or a week in one area then move on to another. I also don't see them much during the breeding season when the big flocks split up and there's food available in the woods.

I put mixed seed out so I'm not sure what they prefer, except that they really like nyjer. I had a low-hanging nyjer sock for a while and the turkeys discovered they could peck a hole in the sock and the seed would spill out onto the ground where they could easily slurp it all up. That sock is now encased in a metal feeder.

The best thing I've read that they eat is ticks! In fact, I haven't seen any ticks here for a few years, although the other birds could be eating them too. I don't know if everybody is willing to keep a flock of turkeys in their yard for tick control (sort of like keeping goats to eat the poison ivy) but it's an added benefit.

I've been thinking about that Ilex "Honey Maid" for a while - do you know if the Ilex "Blue Stallion" will pollinate it?

Claire

Claire, I think you have the ideal situation with the turkeys, if they are part time guests. Especially if the main season they show up is winter. Eating ticks would be a really big benefit. too. Nijer seed, wow, what an expense to feed turkeys. I buy some for the gold finches, but like you, I would draw the line at feeding the turkeys with it. [g] I just bought another new squirrel proof feeder this year. They were on sale for 25% off in the fall and this one is guaranteed for life. The last one conked out on us after two years. I only have two feeder stations. One is a triple tube with two safflower and one nijer. The squirrels ignore this feeder and the doves and cardinals etc use it a lot. The other is a shepherd's hook with two squirrel proof feeders, one with a mix and the other straight black sunflower, that the small birds enjoy. No turkeys or vultures. [g] Just a stray hawk once in awhile. I think I must be more urban than suburban, because our lots are a small 1/4 acre, so I don't see some of the sights all of you are seeing. You and Jane are lucky!

The 'Honey Maid' is actually a Blue Holly. I have 'Blue Prince' as a pollinator, but I just read that any Blue male will pollinate it. I am crossing my fingers that I don't get a lot of dieback over the winter. It is a beautiful shrub! Really lights up a dim corner.

Hi guys, it's nice to see this thread revived. Since last posting, I've been watching and counting those birdies. This is helping the long winter to pass.

There are no Turkeys or Vultures here, but I did have a couple Pine Siskins show up last week. But only for a couple days, and they weren't count days, bummer! They are cute birds but not nearly as numerous as last year (so far).

There is a little flock of 6 Bluebirds that visit most every day to eat suet nuggets. I think they are the breeding pair and 4 of their offspring from the summer, but really can't be sure. Here's some pics from last week.

Pretty sure this is the Mom & Dad Bluebird -

I put out a plastic plant tray with water in the morning. When it freezes, the ice comes out pretty easily so I can refill. On mild days a few birds will take baths.

Oh how cute! I just love bluebirds! None around here. I love watching birds take baths. I decided to get a heated bath this year. I didn't want to spend the money so I bought a heated pet bowl instead. [g] So I hope that works out okay. It was supposed to be delivered today but it hasn't come yet. I can't wait to put it out. Nice photos terrene. You have a steadier hand than I do. :-)

I don't t get close enough and my hand isn't steady enough for the zoom. I was outside today too. The sun came out and there was actually steam rising from the stockade fence. It was very pleasant. I took a few photos but nothing was that great. The best I could do was this boring photo of a squirrel.

But here's that 'Honey Maid', Claire....

It's going to take forever to grow to a decent size. [g]

PM2 - I think the heated dog bowls work well, except they might be a bit deep for bathing. Some people put a rock or something on the bottom for the birds to step on.

I was thinking about a heated one, but the cheap plastic plant tray from Ace Hardware works pretty well. With a twist of the tray, the ice falls out, kinda like an ice cube tray. Got the idea when Claire posted about her makeshift birdbaths on the Birdwatching forum.

terrene, that is a great idea about using the tray like an ice cube tray. lol The last few years, I've tried bringing out a tea kettle and melting the ice but sometimes it would be frozen again in a couple of hours. Thanks for that link. I see Claire does have one of the heated birdbaths that I saw for sale when I was looking. I use a lot of plastic pot saucers too. [g]

PM2: Cute squirrel, and I really like that Honey Maid. There's a Blue Stallion nearby (pollinator to a Blue Maid) and if I could only figure out where to put a Honey Maid I'd definitely get one.

Terrene: Lovely that your bluebirds have come back - and clean birds too! As is the Tufted Titmouse.

I miss the Pine Siskins that were swarming all over last year, but apparently the food situation is better this year in the north so they're mostly staying up there. I haven't seen any here - lots of goldfinches though.

These were the siskins last year, resting on the wisteria:

And feeding with the goldfinches:

Claire

There's hope here. Maybe this chap will stay and find a wife.

The geese were just passing by.
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Nice photos, Jane. :-) My DH loves to see the geese fly overhead. That's a very plump bluebird. Did you say you just got a new camera?

This thread is taking too long to load, so I'll start a new one. Please post on the new thread, not here.

Thanks,
Claire