I keep forgetting the robins!

Here's one of them on the winterberry

Claire

Excellent pictures, Claire! How far away from the birds are you? What zoom does your camera have?

I have never seen a Cedar Waxwing. They are beautiful birds. I love the *eyeliner* and top tuff and that yellow tip under the tail is wonderful. I also have never seen a Common Redpoll...that one is a cutie. We have flocks of Robbins all winter but I have not seen any so far this season. I did have a Red-bellied Woodpecker at the suet feeder for my count this week. I don't think I've ever noticed one before. You have a great crop of winterberry, the birds must love you. The only red/yellow berries we have around us can be found on the Asian Bitterswweet. Tons of berries on that vine this year but, the thought of the birds spreading those seeds around sends chills up my spine.

I saw my first Purple Finch this week. Only one and he was at the sunflower feeder. I was able to see him a few times, more of a true red than the House Finch.

Still no squirrels at the sunflower feeder. I know one of these days they will figure it out and I'll be out there filling the feeder every day. But so far, so good...no squirrels.

Thanks, sooey: The tube feeder is about 30 ft away from the house, the winterberry is 45 ft and the hopper feeder is about 65 ft.

The camera has a 12X zoom and it wasn't zoomed all the way for any of these photos although it was close to the limit (Canon Powershot S5IS).

This is early for the birds to start eating the winterberry; usually they leave it alone until later in the season. the berries may need some cold/warm cycles before they start getting tasty - we've had unseasonable cold spells this December so this may have accelerated the process.

This is a venerable old winterberry, a remnant from my mother's garden. It's definitely in decline - I prune off the big old branches as they die off. I'm letting the suckers grow up to fill in and eventually replace it. The suckers are now about 4 - 5 ft tall and fruited themselves this year, although not as voluminously as the big one. I love the red haze you see from a distance letting the mottled grey branches show through.

There are also holly and cotoneaster berries around, and the Virginia rose hips are still there. This is cedar tree country, so the birds have those berries too. Lots of bittersweet in the woods and on the bank, but I've eradicated most of the ones in the yard.

Claire

Love your Winterberry bush, the berries are so attractive. And the birds seem to really like them. I think I'm going to get some of those next Spring (seedlings, from the NH Nursery).

My list of regulars is pretty close to yours:

Blue Jays
Northern Cardinals
Chickadees
Tufted Titmice
White-throated Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows
Juncoes
Downy Woodpeckers
Mourning Doves
House Finches
Goldfinches
Purple Finches
Red-breasted Nuthatches
White-breased Nuthatches
Catbirds
Bluebirds
Carolina Wrens
Grackles
Ruby-throat Hummingbirds
Coopers & Sharp-shinned Hawks
Robins
Crows

Birds that I've seen occasionally this year:

Hairy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
White Winged Crossbill
White crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
House Wren
House Sparrow
Wood Thrush
Cedar Waxwings
Northern Mockingbird
Some other miscellaneous Sparrows

I think that's most of them! And occasionally others come through the yard that I don't recognize. But I'm still a relative newbie at birding...

terrene: Can you get male and female winterberries from the NH Nursery? Or is it just a crap shoot? I don't know what pollinates my winterberry, but there are plenty of them in the woods here so there must be a male close by.

Your bird list is very similar to mine, but there are several birds I've never seen.

Such as bluebird - the only bluebirds I've ever seen are the juvenile Camp Fire Girls (I was one myself many years ago).

I didn't mention some of the summer birds, simply because I was fixated on my Project FeederWatch winter entry. I get catbirds in the summer, and the ubiquitous blackbird invasion in the spring - grackles, brown-headed cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds.

I've never seen a crossbill or a mockingbird or thrush or some of the more exotic sparrows. At least as far as I know - I'm still struggling with identifying little brown birds. I saw a male indigo bunting last summer and maybe a couple of females.

I wonder if there are fewer species here on the southeast coast because of the difference in wooded areas - this is the edge of the pine barrens where the pines/oaks meet the cedars.

I do have a lot of hawks though, I'm just not good yet at identifying them - Yesterday I emailed the Project FeederWatch people to ask if this was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. They confirmed it.

The hawk first landed on the tube feeder then flew to the winterberry. Not what you want to see when you're feeding little birds.

Claire

Claire - the seedlings are not sexed, I'll probably buy 10 seedlings and figure there's got to be both males and females in there. Same with the Bayberry I bought this past spring. Too bad it'll be a few years before they make berries and a decade or so before they make nice specimens like yours! What conditions is yours growing under? Full sun? Moist/dry?

I get several Bluebirds off and on through the winter on the Suet Log - they like the peanut butter suet mixture. Also they use the bird bath in front in the summer. I heard through the neighborhood grapevine that there is someone a few blocks over who has Bluebird boxes. As for the more unusual sparrows, they seem to stay for a week or two and then move on - I think Mass. in on their migration route.

The pictures of the Cooper's Hawk are great! But I gotta laugh - does he really think the birds are going to show up while he's sitting there on top of their food? LOL At least the Coopers who hangs around here is a little more stealthy - he lurks in the trees.

In the past couple months, I think the hawks have taken at least 2 birds from the feeders. One was a Downy and I saw him carry it off into the back. The other was a Blue Jay, just saw a bunch of feathers in the lawn. It a little disheartening, but I accept it as part of nature.

Here's a pic of the Bluebird pair from last April and a pic of Mom and fledgling dated May 31st. I was honored that Mom and Dad Bluebird considered my Suet Log to be an "official food source". :)

{{gwi:1099264}}

{{gwi:1099265}}

terrene: Great bluebird photos! I wish I had some. Your suet log reminds me, I have three pine cones that I bought on sale that were filled with a supposedly vegetarian suet. The birds hated the vegetarian suet, and I ended up removing it with hot water and just hanging the pine cones on the wisteria for decoration. Maybe I'll smear some peanut butter- non-veggie suet on them and see how the birds like them.

My winterberry is growing in full sun in sandy loam, in a generally dry site. However, the leaching field is nearby and probably contributes water to the roots. The winterberry predates the leaching field, but I think there's an underground stream there also. Generally around here the winterberries are found in the bogs or by a stream. I haven't seen any in dry areas, although I haven't looked too hard this time of year.

This hawk is just a kid and I suspect hasn't really gotten serious yet. Usually the hawks are very business-like and fly in and out and move on if they're not successful. Although I once saw a sharp-shinned hawk land on the porch railing and stare in the window at me at my computer.

The winterberry is a major staging area for the birds visiting the feeders. In the spring, the mother birds park their fledglings there - it's a much shorter flight to feed them than flying back to the nest.

Claire

terrene: I just checked out your original post on the suet log - it's in the attached thread, scroll down to Jan. 11, 2007.

You said "I made a simple suet mixture using suet from the grocery store, peanut butter, rolled oats, whole wheat flour, and some leftover nuts."

Do you just warm up the stuff and smush it together? Apply it with your fingers? or a putty knife?

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: 2006 thread on Project FeederWatch

Wow - I forgot I posted to that thread! The Suet Log has evolved since then. I added longer perches and some branches at the top. The birds love to sit on these and hang around, even the ones that don't eat the suet (Finches). Also, I added a squirrel/raccoon baffle to the pole, because the pesky squirrels discovered food up there.

Now I make the suet mixture using rendered suet from WBU (it's called "Simply Suet"). Much easier than unrendered suet from the grocery store, as it can be stored at room temperature and remains solid up to 95 degree F.

I plop a cup or two into a glass bowl and melt it in the microwave. Then I add the same amount of crunchy peanut butter, which melts in the hot suet. Then I add about equal parts of dried ingredients - blended rolled oats, ww flour, and corn meal. Then I take mixed raw nuts and crush them up a bit in a plastic bag with a maul - and mix those in. The birds love to "mine" for the nuts and when they get one, they fly away with their little prize. I have also added leftover dried cat food, crushed up baked eggshells, dried fruits, leftover cookies, etc.

One lady over on Bird Watching makes a suet mixture and pours it into empty cat food cans, and then just sticks the can up on her platform. Much easier than filling the holes on my suet log, which I fill using my hand and wear a nitrile glove. But the birds really love the log. It's like a funny tree they can eat from and sometimes there are 4 or 5 different species of birds on it.

Here's what the suet mixture looks like:

{{gwi:1099267}}

I just got a vision of Julia Child demonstrating the preparation of the suet mixture, and applying it to the suet log ..... It would have been another classic, like her Yule Log show.

Claire

LOL claire...funny you should mention that, it's kinda silly but I spend more time preparing the suet mixture for the birds than most meals for myself or my son! But I do enjoy it and feel that I'm supplementing their diet with some nutritious food to help them through the winter.

Coincidentally, yesterday afternoon I came home and looked out at the feeders and a Cooper's Hawk was sitting on the top of my WBU Hanger - looked just like your first picture! What a sight! He was only there for a minute or two though, not long enough for me to get the camera.

Guess our feeders help to supplement the Hawks' diet too!

It's hard not to take sides.... the hawks have to eat too. They didn't choose their dietary needs. But it still hurts when they take a bird, particularly if it wasn't a clean kill.

Yet I felt like a hypocrite on the day before Thanksgiving. I was busily seasoning a turkey breast to marinate overnight, all the while glancing out the window watching the little birds at the feeders.

Claire

OK, I really wanted to reload those pine cones with suet, but I wasn't about to go the Julia Child French Chef route like you do. I was thinking something more on the line of fast food - like taking a can of soup and throwing some things in it to jazz it up.

So I took a block of store-bought suet bird feed mix - the one with nuts and millet and corn in it. I microwaved the block to melt it and added about half a jar of chunky peanut butter. After stirring it, I used disposable gloves and smeared the three pine cones with the glop. It made a very satisfying mess - the photo is after about an hour of chilling. The stuff will sit overnight in the refrigerator and I'll put the cones outside in the morning.

I don't know if the suet will stay on the cones or if some of it will fall off.

The original product was apparently just a big pine cone with a hook screwed into it, and then dipped in a suet preparation.

Claire

First snow of the year - a lot of the birds seem really spooked. It's probably the first snow of their lives. What is that cold white stuff and where did the food go!!!!!!!

Claire

Hey Claire - those look interesting! I'm sure the birds will love them, but the squirrels will too. Are you going to hang them on the feeder setup with the baffle or on shrubbery?

I haven't quite wrapped my head around all this snow we've gotten already. Looks like we're having a white Christmas this year.

terrene: I hung two of the cones on the feeder setups with the baffles, and one on the wisteria where the squirrels can reach it.

So far I haven't seen any birds on the cones, and I'm highly offended. My cooking isn't THAT bad! Of course, the fact that we had an emergency crew outside this afternoon pumping out the septic tank might have scared the birds away....

I did get a few shots of birds in the snow this morning - mostly a blue jay with sparrows.

I'm not counting on a white Christmas here - I measured 7 inches of snow this morning and it was already sagging as it melted. What's left will freeze solid tomorrow, then they're forecasting the dreaded "wintry mix" with the nor'easter on Sunday.

So I expect a yard full of slop by Monday. With maybe another power outage.

Claire

Claire are the birdies eating on your cones yet? :) It usually takes at least a few days for the birds to find a new source of food I put out, and it's usually the Chickadees that find it first.

I don't know about where you live, but I'm about 20 miles northwest of Boston and we have about 18" of snow on the ground now. Yikes! Winter has come fast and furious.

I looked out this morning and there were two HUGE crows sitting on my suet log eating the suet! They were quite skittish so there was no way I was getting a picture. I've never had crows come to the feeding station before, although one morning, I watched a crow sneak up and grab a dead chipmunk right off the deck that my cat had killed and left there (she doesn't eat the chipmunks, just the moles and mice).

The birds must be having a hard time finding food with all this snow on the ground, poor things.

terrene: Unusual bird dynamics going on here (unusual to me anyway). The blue jays are now the main suet eaters - both of regular suet and my suet-packed cones. I haven't seen any downy woodpeckers or nuthatches for over a week. The titmice and chickadees are concentrating on seed.

I always sprinkle some bird seed on the ground for the ground feeders, but I've anxiously been adding more for each wave of snow we get. Then as the snow melts, the previous layer gets exposed. The result is that a whole lot of birds have been busily gobbling up the seed on the ground and not bothering with the hanging feeders.

I'm in the south end of Plymouth just 5 miles north of the Cape Cod Canal and the snow is spotty - maybe 6 inches now in hard clumps, but some areas have exposed ground. Large amounts of snow are unusual here - very often there will be no snow cover in the winter, just high winds - rough on plants.

The crows have been coming to the ground feeding areas for about a week now, and will probably come all winter. A few weeks ago I saw a crow on my bird bath.

Claire

Hi Kids,

Well, since PFW started last month, my birds, both by species and numbers, seem to be down. I'm not sure how normal that is or, if it will change as the winter rolls on. So far I've had:

Tufted Titmice

Chickadees

Harry Woodpecker

Downey Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

House Finch

Purple Finch

Goldfinch

Carolina Wren

Red Breasted Nuthatch

White Breasted Nuthatch

Northern Cardnial

Mourning Dove

Blue Jay

Crow

I also have what I think is a white-throated Sparrow but I've only seen it on the ground...can't get a good look at it. Of course, it would help if my slider door in the basement was a little cleaner. No joke.

As far as the seed, the Safflower is always the first to go. I thought it would be the Sunflower seed, but I was wrong. It really helps that the squirrels are not an issue. But those darn, little hyper Chickadees...they toss out four seeds before they find one they like. I added a seed tray to the Safflower tube which helps catch some seeds but more than that...the birds love having the extra area on which to perch. The Carolina Wren loves to sit IN the tray and go after any birds that try to make off with seed. The big hit so far has been the heated bird bath. They love it!

I'm having a good time also. It's fun to have all that life and activity just outside my windows. Birds make nice company.

sooey

I forgot to add some pictures to that last post...

This female Cardinal loves the seed tray. I think it allows her to sit with a more relaxed posture to eat the Safflower seed. I'm not sure what that other bird is. Can anyone see it well enough? It could be a female House Finch.

One of my favs...a female Downey Woodpecker. She will hang at the suet feeder and eat and eat and eat. I love it!

Sorry they are not better pictures. I had to take them from inside the house. I love my camera but it's a little old...the zoom is not what I would like. But...I think Santa might have a nice surprise for us next week. We'll see if it makes it here in time.

sooey

sooey: My bird numbers are picking up now, but there is at least one hawk around. I'll see great crowds of birds feeding, and suddenly every one of them will hightail it (highwing it?) away as fast as possible.

I can't see the little bird very well - could it be a goldfinch in its subdued winter coat? Downies are great birds - I love the way they seem to tilt their whole bodies back and forth in one piece when they look around.

Most of the action here is on the ground or in the winterberry. The berries must be aged well now - the robins have started stripping the tree.

and then there are the squirrels, who seem to like the berries too.

Claire

Great shots, Claire! Even that pesky little squirrel! What a cutie! Those Robins look fat and happy. Did you hear Vern Laux talking about the Robins we have here during the winter? He's so good.

I do not have a single Hawk. The crows will make there way down to feast on the suet but they are the largest birds I get. I can hear the Hawks but they do not visit.

I need to work on my Sparrow IDs. I know they are out there but between my limited view and their common markings, I just can't be sure. It's all in their heads.

sooey

Hi fellow New England forum bird lovers (hehe)...had some new visitors in the last few days, that have never come to the feeding station before. It must be the early winter we are getting!

The crows have come each day to eat on the suet log or pick through the food on the ground. I throw BOSS, leftover corn chips, peanuts, dried corn cobs, etc on the ground.

Then a flock of Starlings has shown up, first time I've seen Starlings here. Was happy that they stayed away! They sit in the big Oak right above the feeding station making their squeaky-squawky noises and pooping out red and purple splotches on the snow. Everytime they get on the Suet log, I bang on the window or yell at them and chase them off. Fortunately they don't hung around for long (so far).

Also a new sparrow - American tree sparrow. At first I thought they were Chipping Sparrows, they look very similar, but the Chippies have a white eyebrow, the Tree Sparrow a gray eyebrow and is a little bit bigger.

And the most exciting thing - this morning I looked out and saw a new woodpecker on the suet log - Northern Flicker! What a beauty! I see lots of Downies but not too many of the other woodpeckers.

Here are pics - the Tree sparrow is in a little tray feeder with Black oil Sunflower seed, it's a little fuzzy but I got a nice pic of the Flicker...

{{gwi:1099282}}

{{gwi:1099283}}

terrene: Classic photo of the Northern Flicker! I've seen one a few times here, but only on neighboring trees, not on my feeders. One time the flicker was eating the cedar berries.

I sometimes get starlings, but only one or two at a time, usually with the grackle/red-winged blackbird/cowbird spring invasion. I remember watching one young one trying to hover like a hummingbird at the tube feeder. It actually got a few bites of seed, but couldn't hold position for long.

sooey: I don't envy you If you're trying to identify the sparrows from above - not only is the head critical, but you really need to see the breast too. Some of them have black spots, and streaks, and white throats, and who knows what else. And then there are the little brown birds that aren't sparrows, but are really finches....

Today and tomorrow are my FeederWatch count days, and I'm exasperated because no robins showed up today, at least not while I was watching. A few days ago they were swarming all over the winterberry, and the heated bird bath. I really want to list them. Worse comes to worst though, I'll enter a "comment" on the data entry page.

No good photos today.

Claire

And yes, I heard Vern Laux's show on robins. He's in the camp that says that robins play musical chairs. The New England locals go south for the winter, to be replaced by Canadian robins who consider New England warm enough. Other people say many New England robins stay here, they just stay in sheltered spots. Without a passport check, it's hard to know which is true.

I missed yesterday's show so I looked it up on WCAI's website:

Cold Weather Birding

Claire

Did I say I rarely get starlings here? Around noon today a huge flock, at least 50 starlings, circled around, landed in an oak tree for a while and then left, or so I thought. I went out to get the mail and the whole bunch were in the trees across the road, chattering away, and looking down at my feeder area. I heard a loud bang, maybe a shot, and they all flew away.

While I was checking out winter plumage and songs for starlings, since I usually see them in the spring or summer, I found this website of starling lovers:

StartlingCentral.net

In the meantime, nothing exotic has visited my yard, but the goldfinches are now up to about a dozen and they all want to eat at the tube feeder at the same time. Unfortunately, my tube feeder only has 4 ports.

Yesterday morning I looked out and there were 5 or 6 goldfinches waiting in the winterberry for their turn. These two looked particularly disgruntled.

Of course, they can feed on the hopper or on the ground, and do, but the tube feeder seems to be a favorite dining spot.

Claire

Great shot of the Goldfince que, Claire! I have sunflower and thistle seed in 6 port tubes. The Goldfinch will sit on a perch and eat away until they are full. The Chicadees will flit around and hop from perce to perch, but once a Goldfinch is at a port, s/he will stay until they have had a good feed.

I'm sure I have had a starling or two in the yard over the years but very seldom. No great flocks pass through. I still do not have any House sparrows...color me happy on that one!

Great shot of the Flicker, terrene. We get them a lot during the summer, not the case since PFW has started. I'll keep watching.

sooey

Claire are you feeding the Goldfinches BOSS? I have a couple small BOSS feeders, and get a few Goldfinches, but only 1 or 2 at a time. I also saved some of the Echinacea seedheads and tie them up in a clump and put it out for the Goldfinches. They pick on them over the winter.

It's continued to be very busy at the feeders these last few days. Mr. Flicker was back yesterday, and a Red Bellied Woodpecker came by too. It's taken about a year, but now I'm starting to see more variety of woodpeckers on the Suet Log.

I was also happy to see a small flock of 6 Bluebirds come by. 2 males and 4 females, they were so pretty. Unfortunately the Suet log was empty but they ate some BOSS and went along their merry way. Maybe they've decided to stay the winter in this area?

I got a picture of 4 of them in my little tray feeder -

{{gwi:1099287}}

OK, Kids...I give...what is BOSS?

I love the Blues, terrene. I hope to see some this winter. They are the real reason for the heated bird bath on my deck.

sooey

I want to see bluebirds! I did see a male indigo bunting last summer, and probably a few females, but it's not the same as bluebirds!

sooey: BOSS is black oil sunflower seed - I mulled it over and had just decided to google it when the head came through (I googled it anyway to confirm).

terrene: I used to use a mixture of BOSS and cracked corn only. I didn't use thistle seed because my next door neighbor had a thistle seed feeder and I didn't want to rain on her parade. I'd see the goldfinches over there, but they rarely came to my feeders.

However, she was lax about keeping the feeder full, and then started taking long trips in an RV, so I added thistle seed to my mix and now I have lots of goldfinches.

Winters are relatively mild here, so minimal snow cover, but the NW winds can get really nasty. This is rough on plants, so I leave most perennials standing all winter and cut them down in spring if necessary. Consequently there are lots of seedheads out there for the birds. Asters, goldenrods, sedums, echinacea, Miscanthus ..... I've seen the song sparrows picking at the miscanthus seeds, and the chickadees and titmice nibbling on something.

It doesn't make for a neat garden (sort of matches my house), but I see lots of little birds scurrying in and out of the plant stalks, probably both for food and for protection from hawks.

Claire

terrene...if you have Blues at this point you should have them all winter. We had great numbers of Blues when we lived on the Shoreline of CT. They winter over very well. They seem to stay is family flocks, fly from one food source to the next as a unit. I fed them live worms all year. They love them. I did not know that they like sunflower seed...silly me. I have started to see them here on the Cape but only one male at a time...out scouting (?). This year, I had a male singing his little heart out, trying to attract a mate...no luck. I have a bluebird house that I brought from my yard in CT which I will put up in early March. They are here, I just need to get them a little closer.

OK...BOSS is black oil Sunflower seed...who knew? thanks for the info.

Enjoy!

sooey

Alright, I'm getting serious here - I checked the Great Backyard Bird Count results from last February to see where the bluebirds were.

Eastern bluebirds in New England winter 2007

There are clusters on the North Shore, in CT, and on Cape Cod. Nothing shown on the South Shore.

I checked diet and call:

Diet: Insects, esp. grasshoppers, katydids, beetles, crickets, and caterpillars; spiders and earthworms, wild fruit.

Eastern bluebird

I draw the line at putting live worms out, but we do have insects and wild fruit here, and the robins seem OK with that.

I want to see bluebirds.
I want to see bluebirds.
I want to see bluebirds.

Here bluebirds, come on pretty birds, here, here.....

Claire

Yes, I know it's Christmas Eve. But, dinner is all over, company has left, the dishes are all finished. I thought I would post just one little question...Did any of you see the Vern Laux artical in the Cape Cod Times yesterday? It was about the Christmas bird count. Lots of fun info in it...the most interesting of which was about the Titmouse...It was not found on the Cape until 1977. It's numbers are increasing and it would seem that it is here to stay. Let's hope the same holds true for the Bluebird...

Merry Christmas, everyone...

sooey

sooey: Thanks for alerting me to that article - I don't often get the Cape Cod Times, so I went to capecodonline.com:

Annual bird count booms

"Most impressive was the total of 442 tufted titmouse recorded, smashing the previous high of 268. This species colonized Cape Cod in 1977 and so loathes flying over water that they came across the canal by flying from girder to girder on the bridges. They are apparently here to stay.

Impressive as well was the record-high count for Eastern bluebirds, with 48 individuals recorded on count day."

I love the image of the titmice flying from girder to girder - probably beating the Cape traffic on some summer holiday weekends.

*************** *************** **************** ***************** ************ *************

I made my own Christmas Bird Count using this as my count site:

Christmas Bird Ornaments - 2007

1 blue-speckled top-perching bird
2 red-breasted yellow-backed wooden birds
2 red-breasted green-backed wooden birds
1 ruby-throated cloisonne hummingbird
1 blue-capped cloisonne hummingbird
4 Mexican painted metal birds
1 shiny gold metal bird

and 7 assorted eggs

I didn't consciously set out to collect bird ornaments - they just seemed to fit my ornament tree. Did I mention I love my new digital camera?

Hope the Holidays are flying high for all of you!

Claire

I would say that you have had a very successful Christmas Bird Count, Claire...from the comfort of your own kitchen. Lucky You! And, you were lucky enough to spot the Blue Capped Cloisonne Hummingbird...a first for Plymouth, I'm sure! AND, the ever elusive Shiny Gold Metal Bird - Oh My! And photos to prove your finds! When word gets out...the Audubon Society will camp at your door! Better put on an extra pot of coffee...

Yes, the Tufted Titmouse...I love the mental image of them flying from girder to girder. I'm sure they tried not to look down as they flew.

sooey

Hi guys, hope everybody's having a good Holiday. Tomorrow I am participating in a Christmas Bird Count. I'm supposed to count the maximum # of birds of each species that shows up in the feeder or yard tomorrow. Stock up the feeders and hope lots of birds will show up!

Sooey, that's great that the Blues will hang around this winter. I think you're right, it's a family. As far as I know, Bluebirds will eat Sunflower chips, but I don't think they crack the seed. In that picture above, they were picking through the seeds to get the pieces that were already cracked.

I saw 2 Bluebirds today (both females), and at least 4 Blues showed up on the Suet log the other day. It's hard to tell how many are here because 1 or 2 may be up in a tree waiting, or maybe watching out for the others?

Claire your spangly birds are pretty, but these guys are prettier!

{{gwi:1056916}}

{{gwi:1099303}}

Gosh...I need to get a suet log...

sooey

I was thinking that myself. If you don't want to make one, you can buy a suet log feeder and even buy suet plugs to refill them.

{{gwi:1099304}}

{{gwi:1099305}}

Bluebirds Forever Suet Feeders

The same feeder is sold on several sites and appears to be made by Songbird.

Claire

That Bluebirds Forever site also sells goodies like freeze-dried mealworms - you can buy a package containing approximately 2800 mealworms for only $12.97.

and now I have to go prepare dinner..... maybe not pasta....

Claire

The Suet log works pretty well attracting a variety of birds, but I bet the Bluebirds would rather eat mealworms or other insects than peanut butter suet. I'm not doing mealworms, but it's nice that they grace me with their presence every so often. I hope your male finds a female mate and that they come nest in your yard Sooey. I would love to have a nestbox but my yard is too wooded for Bluebirds.

I had the usual assortment of birds today at the feeders for the Christmas Bird Count, with a quick visit by a male Red-Belly WP and an exciting first. Six Common Redpolls! They loved to eat the BOSS. They're not shy birds at all.

{{gwi:1099306}}

{{gwi:1099307}}

I've only seen the Common Redpoll once. Cute little bird.

One thing I do have is lots of Mourning Doves, up to 20 at a time now - often they roost overnight under my big old Osmanthus (which is next to my big old winterberry). I spread bird seed/cracked corn there and there's water available.

The doves weren't quite up yet that morning. The cardinal didn't roost there, it flew in for breakfast. Cardinals get up early.

I try not to walk near the Osmanthus at dusk. The sound of 20 panicked doves taking flight is upsetting.

Claire

How did I miss this thread? Those bluebirds are amazing!! Thanks to everybody for posting all these photos, I am really enjoying them. I will post some pics soon..right now we have the usual suspects at our feeders of chickadee/junco/titmouse/white-breasted nuthatch/downy woodpecker/cardinal/goldfinch but I have not been seening our resident song sparrow this year :-(

These photos have inspired me to find some mealworms to attract bluebirds. I know they live around here in nearby open farm fields but I have never been able to attract them to my more wooded property, even on a fencepost on the edge of a pasture area.

I just got a really nice new digital camera for Christmas and it's so complicated that I haven't taken many good photos of the feeders near our house yet.. it is a digital SLR and I am having to re-learn photographic techniques in order to take any real pictures!

Happy New Year everybody!

Hello, bird friends!
Just back from a visit to family on the west coast -- where hummingbird feeders were literally loaded with ruby-throated and green-throated hummers. I had a nice friend continue feeding my birds while we were gone, so I've still got a nice gang of squirrels, sparrows, juncoes, downies, chickadees, finches, mourning doves and cardinals with occasional bluejays, but no bluebirds ever. I think they just don't like me! Maybe next year? I love Terrene's link to the NH nursery. I am now planning lots of ilex and myrica seedlings for next spring's gardening. I hope they'll live thru my intermittent watering!
Happy New Year to all of you -- and I am thankful for the nice, supportive community I find here on GW. I miss you whenever I am gone!
Best,
ML

Hi Kids,

Happy New Year to you all.

I saw my first Hawk in the yard today. I think it was a Northern Goshawk. I got a few pictures of it which I will post as soon as I am able. It was beautiful.

It sounds like we are all enjoying the birds. The worms I always kept on hand for the Blues were live mealworms. I know you can get the freeze dried, but I have always used the live ones. They are not gross at all. They are small, only about an inch, dry and easy to handle...no slime. I order them on line and they arrive in a bag, inside a box. I take them out, put them in a shallow plastic container that has a lid and, put them in the lower part of the refrig. They last for a long time. I would even feed them apples so they stayed plump and happy. I think I got 5,000 for about $15. The Blues LOVED them.

I was lucky enough to have a Flicker visit during my PFW count this past week. I was so excited. We seem to have a mini flock of 3 that now visit the suet feeder just about every day. They are so beautiful.

I'll try to post the pictures of the Hawk. I would like to know if you all agree wtih my ID of it as a Goshawk.

sooey

Hi Kids,

This is what I think is a Northern Goshawk. I am sorry the quality is so poor. Out of the 4 pictures I took, this is the only one I am able to open. I think you can see it's yellow feet and it mostly gray back, head and wings. It's belly was a soft buff color. It also had a white tip to it's tail.

Any thoughts?

sooey

It looks more like a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned hawk to me, but I'm not very experienced at identifying hawks. The size is about right for these hawks and the habit of sitting on a feeder looking for little bird tidbits is indicative.

When I was uncertain about my juvenile Cooper's, I emailed Project FeederWatch - I included the photos and my FeederWatch ID.

feederwatch@cornell.edu

I got a response in a day, and they included this link:

identifying Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks

They also said:
Thank you for sending photos to Project FeederWatch. We will add them to the Lab's collection. If we use the photos, we will credit them with your name and perhaps your city and state.

Please remember to include your name and address or ID number with all photo submissions so that they can be archived with the correct credit information. You can find more tips for submitting photos here:
submitting photos

Claire

I'm with Claire, I think it's more likely to be a Sharp-shinned or Coopers Hawk, esp. with the yellow legs and the size. The Goshawk is really big - almost 2' I think.

Sharp-shinned and Coopers are often seen preying upon backyard feeder birds.

Hi Kids,

I think you are both right...I am now thinking that it is a Sharp-shinned. The size and color are right. The Goshawk is a lighter gray and larger. I'm sending the pic off to Cornell as soon as I finish this. I'll let you know.

Thanks, Kids.

sooey

Hi Kids,

I have a response to my Hawk ID question from Project Feeder Watch. According to Anne Marie Johnson at Cornell,it is a Sharp-shinned Hawk or a Cooper's Hawk. Hummm...Isn't that exactly what Claire said?... I'm going with Sharp-shinned. I had not seen this bird before and I have not seen it since. But, if it ever comes back, I know what to look for.

Thanks, Kids.

sooey

sooey: It will be back .... or one of its ilk. The word is probably out about your restaurant.

This thread is getting long, so I started a new one. I would have done it earlier, but I was having a terrible time getting my photos uploaded onto TinyPic. Maybe it was the new holiday gift digital cameras, or the kids being out of school, but TinyPic wasn't responding. I may switch over to Picasa Web.

Please post on the Project FeederWatch 2008 thread now (or start a thread of your own).

Thanks,
Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: Project FeederWatch 2008