2018 - Year of the Bird: Our amazing sightings, Part I

Between the winter storms, there were many wonderful beautiful bird sightings.

To end 2017 on a very cold December 31, at the feeder there were northern cardinals, a Hairy woodpecker, juncos, house finch, titmice and on the spruce by the window, a white throated sparrow:

Also, that afternoon, a large flock of Cedar waxwings descended on our Winterberry bushes.

On January 4th, during one of our icy snow storms, the Serviceberry tree was adorned with brillant male Northern cardinals with a couple of females in tow as well as some Tufted titmice and Blue jays.

Late in the morning on a clear 50 degree January 20th, a small group of Sandhill Cranes flew in and milled about the meadow looking for food for a few hours. It was a rare sighting and they lingered in the area for weeks. We were fortunate to see them up close and personal.

March brought 3 major winter storms and weeks in between of very cold and dreary weather. During that time, a pair of bluebirds regularly used the bird feeder, often with the male holding watch, as the female ate. A White breasted nuthatch also can be seen here on March 28th!

A small deer carcass lay in the side meadow and was found quickly by our local vultures, who fed on it for days as well as by the resident fox on April 3rd.

After the Northeasters, spring winds brought our first ever seen here Eastern phoebes on April 7 in the late afternoon. They caught my attention, as they were flying actively around the deer in the lower meadow, who were kicking up some flying insects. They were diving in and around the deer, who were also curious about them, approaching them to smell them. 

A couple of days later, a pileated woodpecker was seen on a fallen willow tree stump down by the stream.

With warmer temperatures in May, trees are finally bursting with leaves, flowers are blooming, insects are emerging and migratory birds are moving north. Returning back after a long walk, Lilli caught sight of a squirrel which gave me pause to notice a very red bird flying back and forth above me next to the vernal pond. At first glance, I thought it was a Northern cardinal, but then quickly noticed that it had black wings - a Scarlet tanager! I thought he was just hoping back and forth, curious about me, but more likely he was trying to get the attention of a nearby female.

I have binoculars ready and looking forward to seeing more exciting birds, 

this Year of the Bird!

Who's coming to dinner?

On dreary and cold Sunday, January 18, with pouring and freezing rain and 27 degrees, we had over 12 different species visit our backyard feeder in just an hour, between 10 and 11:00 a.m. This is even with the main bird feeder not filled.

Here is the breakdown, including visits to the feeder. I've counted visits rather than number of different birds feeding, as it's hard to determine if it's a different bird each time.

Dark-eyed Junco - 13 visits
Song sparrow - 1
Tufted titmouse - 22
House sparrow - 5
Mourning dove - 6
Black-capped chickadee - 4
Carolina wren - 1
White-breasted nuthatch - 4
Northern cardinal - 4
Northern flicker - 1
Downy woodpecker - 2
Red-bellied woodpecker - 3

It definitely is the day for the Tufted titmice, who hung around, eating, even grooming at the feeder. The Juncos spent additional time on the ground feeding throughout the hour. They were not bothered by other visitors. The Woodpeckers came within a few minutes of each other and really filled up. In the hour, only the Tufted titmouse used the squirrel-proof feeder. By in large, the birds don't like feeding from it.