Solution To An Ongoing Problem - 10/08/2009

My backyard through the year has been a feeding frenzy and I would like to keep it that way - with a few changes. I have had numerous Pigeons, Doves, Grackles, Starlings, Sparrows, Finches, Woodpeckers, Robins and Blue Jays. Oh yeah! did I mention the squirrels (three of them)? I have replaced suet cakes on a daily basis (because of the bigger birds and the squirrels) thistle was every other day (until I moved it to another spot), the black oiled sunflower seeds also every other day (because of the squirrels - even though it's caged). I have watched this and decided that something had to be done.

At the beginning of the year I bought a decorative bird cage, one that you would put artificial flowers in, maybe a fake bird to add to it. The ribbing on the cage is as wide as the suet holders so what I did was hooked my suet holder in the center of the cage and hung it out on a shepards hook. The little birds have figured out that they can fit through the openings - this keeps the larger birds out of this suet cake. Now I replace this double holder once a week.

On the back fence I have another double holder and what I did to this one is took one of those clear baffles and bolted it to the front of the holder. It took a while for the little birds to figure out how this works - a few of them got it down, some are still trying to get at it by flying straight at it. This keeps the big birds out and the squirrels.

The Downy's that visit my yard were my concern - especially for the winter. Since they cling to the fence they figured that they just need to side step through or step down. Hopefully this cake will last a little longer and the baffle should protect its visitors in the winter.

I realize that this won't get rid of all the pigeons, doves, grackles, starlings, squirrels, but this should keep them from attacking these two feeders and leaving something for the little ones that visit. Besides without a few of these guys around - the Hawk that visited last year and has made an appearance this year won't come back.

Til my next post!

Last Weekend of the Month 09/27/09

Headed up north on Friday (last days for fishing on the Ausable River) to give ourselves an extra day for fishing. Saturday was overcast with no rain and Sunday was the best out of all three days. Friday out on the river gave me nothing but Saturday I did get a rainbow which makes this year (after eleven years) the first time I didn't get skinked on the last day.

I decided to move a bench out to the area of my blind. Every now and then while sitting in my blind I always hear sounds and noises on the roof and even though I do go out and look around and walk a little it always seems like I'm missing something. With the bench in place I can go out now and keep an eye on all feeders and also watch the trees tops.

The feeders were full of Chickadees and Nuthatches, a couple Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, but the tree tops had some activity of its own and without the bench in place I would have missed: a Cape May Warbler, a female American Redstart, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. A Brown Creeper has been spotted a couple of times but not close enough to get a shot and certainly not while the sun was out. From the blind in the thicket just under the window appeared an immature White-crowned Sparrow.

The bench serves another purpose - see while I'm sitting on it the squirrels stay away - my little scavenger (a chipmunk) feels free to run around gathering what the birds drop from the feeders and the Blue Jays keep their distance.

Six white tails ran through my little wildlife refuge I've created for myself, but too fast to snap a picture. Over this weekend I decided to do a little planting as well (in hopes to add to my little spot). I planted some trumpet pods, some sumac and some crab apples. Not sure if they'll take - it is sandy ground - but it's worth trying. Til my next post.

Hawk Fest Visited - 9/19/09

The Hawk Fest was the 19 and 20 of September and the first time I've been home to go to this event. I started out by visiting Pte Mouillee HQ to see the Hawk counters - surprised that there were only maybe a handful (~10-15 people). Then I went over to Lake Erie Metro Park, parked my vehicle and walked down to the boat launch where there too were only a handful of viewers.

I walked over to the Museum where there were tents set up with the best in spotting scopes and tri-pods. Books and pamplets on birds, butterflies, plants and more. Learning areas where you could learn how to describe a bird. And of course there were the raptors on display. To get a chance to see these powerful creatures from the smallest - an American Ketrel - to the largest owl in the world - an Eurasian Eagle Owl was great.

Looking at this Eurasian Eagle Owl, I would have thought it was a Great Horned, but this guy has a body length of 24-29 inches; a wingspand of 5 - 6 feet and weighs anywhere from 3.5 - 9 pounds.

The Great Horned Owl has a body length of approximately 22 inches; wingspan of 44 inches and weighs approximately 3.1 pounds.

A Peregrine Falcon was sitting on a perch under the tent. I managed to get this close-up after the crowd moved away. Although he sat still - at one point he started to quiver or shiver (not quite sure). I know with the hawks every now and then they would try to take flight as the trainers would pull them back in and then spritz them with water. Is this shivering that the Peregrine did a way of cooling down?

Ther were two Red-tail Hawks a female and two males. Another trainer (ungloved) held an American Kestrel and finally decided to put the bird on a perch because his little talons were starting to hurt. Unfortunately this little guy would only give me a back of the head shot and although he is only 9 inches tall and weighs 4.1 ounces I wasn't going to argue the direction he was looking in.

I never got a chance to go back on Sunday - I was curious as to what birds they might have had that day but there were other things I needed to take care of before the weekend was over. Oh well at least I got a chance to see a Hawk Fest for a day - glad I did. Til my next post.

A Quiet Weekend - 09/12/2009

With the Waterfowl Festival going on over the weekend on Campau Road I headed on over to Roberts Road. Not a soul parked on the road, not a bird flying back and forth across the street. I headed all the way down to the end ofthe road and parked near the small boat launch. There was alot of singing and some flying back and forth. With the sun not quite up over the fragmites any shot taken was dark and not viewable. Behind me there was alittle racket going on so I stopped to turn and watch what my appear. In the depths of the growth a Common Yellow-throat made its way to the front and then in view where I could get a good shot of him.

Across from that area a Gray Catbird is making himself heard and seen, in fact the trip down Roberts Road on Saturday and Sunday produced quite a few views of the Catbird. The Cedar Waxwings are still in numbers in the area. The Black-capped Chickadee can be heard but is keeping itself hidden in the thicket. A Great-crested Flycatcher sits atop a tree while a Downy Woodpecker plays hide and seek where I can't get a photo. A Dragonfly in a thicket patch gives me a challenge but I manage to focus on the stem of the flower just below him and get my shot.

After leaving Roberts Road I headed over to Lake Erie Metro Park to see if any is happening over there. A quick trek down to the picnic area gives me the opportunity to get a shot of a Hawk sitting on the bat house on the little road to the right - just before you get to the bridge.

On Sunday I make my way back down to Roberts Road to see if I can get some more photos - while standing down at the edge of the boat launch I see something flying towards. As it passes me I notice that it's a Hummingbird. What were my chances? By the time I could get a focus on him he was gone. Feeling like I missed my chance I decided to leave only to turn back and park. No one was there and where was I going to go. Standing back down at the edge of the boat launch that little bugger came back and hovered over the rock that he disappeared behind early. Not the best picture but I did get one.

A quick stop on the way home to LEMP to take a walk around the trail to the boat launch gave me no photos. Headed on home.

Next weekend the Hawkfest but I'll be up north. Good luck to all who will be out there counting the hawks. Til my next post.

Wrens, Warblers and more...8/29/2009

Inspite of the gloomy start to Saturday morning I decided to take a ride out to Pte. Mouillee. First I traveled down Campau Road to look and listen for activity. If you've ever been down this road you know that there are a couple bridges that cross inlets. The first one to the right has a lot of greenery growing and nothing was there. The second bridge however had an Egret standing in front of the log that sits in the center where three young Wood Ducks are just biding their time. About midway between the road and the log there are about six just doing nothing. I tried to get a photo of these guys but because of the gray skies I just couldn't get them in focus. The last bridge is just before you reach the gate to the HQ and on the left side there are a couple of adults and quite a few young Wood Ducks. They were in the shadows so no real good photo there either.

The tree to the right of the gate has a lot of activity so I drove through to the waters edge and then parked just before passing back through the gate. "Patience is definitely a virtue" for birding and it seems these days I have more for the birds than I do for people. I sat and watched every movement of the branches - not just in the tree but in the bushes that are in that little horse-shoe shaped driveway. The Black-capped Chickadees are just "chicka-dee-dee -dee" their way back and forth. There's a Warbling Vireo jumping around in the branches "come on baby just a little closer to the edge". Well he didn't get all the way to the edge but he tried.

In the bushes to my right while looking a the tree there's a lot of movement. It pays to watch that jagged movement of the bushes - you never know what's going to pop out of it. The first movement I watched produced a squirrel - not far from that one popped a House Wren who was very cooperative. He looked this way and that - looked at me - then turned around so I could get the back view - then he was gone. In the bushes over just a little more was a Common Yellow-throat making it's way through the branches. After spending a couple hours there I decided to take a ride down to Roberts Road to see if there was any activity there.

Roberts Road was a very productive. The Great-crested Flycatchers were in abundance, just as the Cedar Waxwings were months before. The area was full of Baltimore Orioles, Warblers, Eastern Kingbirds, Goldfinch, Tanagers, Catbirds and more.

On Sunday I made the same trip - same route and had the opportunity to get some more photos of some of the birds I saw on Saturday and a few new ones. My time on Sunday was only two hours but in that time I took about 627 pictures (600 on Saturday).

My final shot for the day and my very first decent shot was this of an Osprey having breakfast in an old tree that sat off of Jefferson Road between Roberts Road and Campau Road.

Coming up next Labor day weekend and I'm heading north. Til my next post.

A Very Active Weekend - Mio - 08/16/2009

I have mentioned a couple of times that my birding has become a little limited, this is due to the fact that I need knee surgery and walking isn’t very pleasant at times. My weekends up north are my salvation to do my birding and in the past couple of months I can say “it’s been crappy”. I was beginning to think that all the birds went on vacation – even the Black-capped Chickadees who I thought were always around no matter what. This past weekend however was great. The first birds to hit the feeder behind the house was a Black-capped Chickadee, then came a White-breasted Nuthatch and sitting in a tree at the side of the house in the shade of the trees was an immature Eastern Phoebe.

I continued to fill all my feeders and then wait around for a while to see if I can here that “yank, yank, yank” from the White-breasted Nuthatch. Once he’s heard everybody comes a flying in. Feeders are all filled and now I’m off to go fishing – when I get back I’ll check the feeders to see if there’s been any activity while I was gone. Its 9 p.m. by the time we get back from fishing - so checking the feeders will have to wait til the morning.

Sunday morning with bag and camera and scope (if things are slow) and after making coffee I head out to my blind where there is more movement than I have seen in along time. The Black-capped Chickadees are everywhere, a Red-breasted Nuthatch flies in to the tree to my right and finds its way down to the feeder where I have black oiled sunflower seeds. In flies a White-breasted Nuthatch chasing the Red-breasted Nuthatch away. A little striped bird keeps bouncing through the thicket just below the window of my blind; finally he lands in a spot where I can get a look at it and then where I can actually get a picture. The bird is moving around so much that I’m taken by surprise when it lands on a branch an arm lengths reach out my window – a very pretty Black and White Warbler. This little one will come and go several times before he calls it quits.

As fast as the birds come in and entertain me they suddenly disappear and for a brief 20 minutes all is quiet except for a little bit of stirring in the thicket below my window. As I look down I catch the glimpse of something small moving around. I thought it might be a chipmunk checking around for seeds that I occasionally drop for him so he doesn’t get beat up by the squirrels. As I keep watching I see this little yellow face peek through – then the body and now he’s making his way to the top of branches – a Canada Warbler (a first for me). Since 9 a.m. and some 700 pictures later it is now 12:15 and time for lunch. I have taken photos of the Black-capped Chickadees, White and Red-breasted Nuthatches, an immature Eastern Phoebe, a young Chipped Sparrow and an adult, Black and White Warbler, Canada Warbler, the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Grackles and a Willow Flycatcher.

At lunch I mention to my better half that it’s been a year since I last saw the Pileated Woodpecker in our woods and to see him or her today would really top off my weekend. So after lunch I went back out to the blind and he went to take a nap before we head home. As I sit out there I watch a Hairy Woodpecker chase off a Downy Woodpecker. The Downy sits patiently waiting its turn to feed on the suet when the Hairy is done. In the meantime while sitting and watching I feel a nudge at the bottom of my chair, as I look down I see a chipmunk has come to visit. Since I really don’t want him in there for now I open the door and scurry him out the – as I step back in I look over to the left and notice my wish. There chipping away is a Pileated Woodpecker, a young one is my guess, and she didn’t seem to be bothered by my movements as I tried to get closer to get some photos. In fact, instead of flying away she kept coming closer to my blind with every short flight. She did land on a short stump that is just outside my blind which stands every bit of 24” and I would say that she came up ~6” short of that stump.

Approximately 200 shots later she flew away and I grabbed all of my toys, locked up my blind and headed for the house. This weekend truly did make up for what I haven’t been able to get in the past couple of months. Til my next post.

Birding By Car - 07/31/2009

With my birding being limited these days- I decided to take Friday off from work to do a little birding from my vehicle. Usually when I do this I travel down Compau Road but this morning I decided to head down Roberts Rd just to see - maybe even get lucky. As I travel I can see the birds flying back and forth across the road and with the morning sun on my left I can guarantee that's the side the birds are. A Song Sparrow sits on a wire with an Indigo Bunting sitting not too far from him.

When I got to the end of the road (and since there were cars there) I decided to park and take a short walk. I have never ventured that part and was amazed at how pretty the view was. I walked up to where there were some guys fishing and then turned around to go back to my vehicle. I stopped just outside the gate to watch the activity in a tree. When all was quiet I got into my vehicle and started my (very) slow drive back down Roberts Road.

I managed photos of a juvenile European Starling which worked it's way through the branches to the top of the tree - a couple of Goldfinches and a Yellow Warbler that sat very pretty while I snapped away. An Indigo Bunting flew up from the grasses and clung to the stalk long enough for me to get my first good shot of one. Several shots of a Cabbage White, a Common Sulfur and a Viceroy. While driving through I spotted a Black-billed Cuckoo with the hopes of him landing in a spot that would give me a decent shot. He did. My favorite out of all the birds I saw and photographed is the Cedar Waxwing. Last year was the first time I had ever seen one and this year I have seen them in abundance, such an elegant bird.

That was my outing - and it wasn't a disappointment.

Til my next post.