Michael
Forum Replies Created
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
-
Birds matter to me because they show me the myriad connections between a species and its habitat, the amazing capabilities of these highly evolved animals and the vast reach of life on this planet. Taking the course deepened my appreciation and amazement. There's so much to learn and enjoy. We are now focused on the seven things to do for birds. In 2021 we will be reducing our use of pesticides and planting more native plants and flowers to beef up the natural food supply. Next steps on the journey are to become even more "bird aware" on our travels and to improve our observation skills. Will continue to use e-Bird to report our sightings.
-
Our suburban neighborhood is largely arboreal with many large, mature trees such as oaks and sycamores. They attract woodpeckers, blue jays, nuthatches. Yards are planted with hedgerows and bushes that shelter sparrows, wrens, finches and titmice. There are also nearby parks with ponds and streams that attract redwing blackbirds and mallards. The Roger Road refuge is clearly home to a wide variety of water fowl and arboreal inhabitants. It must be a large and diverse ecosystem, perhaps with woods in close proximity to a large body of water. Doesn't seem to attract species that prefer open habitat. Mt. Lemmon, on the other hand, has hardly any waterfowl, and seems to combine forest and open areas based on the species sighted.
-
Listening to the birds in our backyard we can usually hear the chickadee's distinctive song as well as the northern cardinal's call. The blue jay announces itself before swooping in, and the downy woodpecker seems to have a warning call when we disturb it by passing too close to the feeder. There are some pre-dawn songs, but I don't know which birds are up singing that early. This morning a small flock of geese passed overhead. It sounded like Canada geese, but when they came into view they seemed to be a much lighter color. Will check my guide to find some suspects.
-
The white-breasted nuthatch that visits daily has a definite preference for our peanut feeder. It pecks away until it gets a peanut in its beak and then immediately leaves the feeder. This behavior contrasts with the tufted titmouse that perches on top of a seed cake and only seems to leave when challenged by a larger bird.
-
We have a pair of northern cardinals (male and female) that appear to take turns at our feeders. It could be that one is keeping watch while the other feeds. They don't seem threatened by any other birds (except perhaps the blue jay). Perhaps they are keeping an eye out for cats and hawks.
-
I really enjoy watching birds during the summer on a lake in northern Wisconsin. It's breeding season, so we see common loons, bald eagles and osprey fishing and flying about. They apparently leave town during the winter, so they show some sense, except for the loon which actually heads north.
-
Male goldfinches lose their dramatic breeding colors in the winter. I have seen them retaining no more than a light glow of yellow. Their dark wing and light wing bars still make them stand out. The loon has a regal look during the summer as it patrols the northern lakes. Its winter plumage is far more understated and provides some camouflage against the drab winter landscape.
-
Three of my favorites are year-round residents: downy woodpecker, northern flicker and white-breasted nuthatch. We see the downy and the nuthatch on almost a daily basis, but the flicker has been scarce lately. Three I am on the lookout for are the red-breasted nuthatch, the eastern phoebe and the red-eyed vireo. The nuthatch is with us in non-breeding season, but we have sighted it but twice. The phoebe and the vireo visit during breeding season, so we will have to wait for spring.
-
The ruby-throated hummingbird is in our neighborhood from April to September and stretches its range all along the Atlantic coast into Canada. The rufous hummingbird has a similar migrating pattern along the Pacific coast with the relative abundance closely mirroring the ruby-throated along lines of latitude. The sandhill crane winters in tightly packed colonies in Texas and Florida and then spends its summers spread from the northern U.S. up through all of Canada to the Arctic circle. The yellow-bellied fly catcher, on the other hand, summers in a much tighter range concentrated in southeastern Canada.
-
The northern cardinal is a very steady inhabitant; its range does not vary with the seasons. The blackburnian warbler, on the other hand, migrates great distances from the Andes to eastern Canada. The scarlet tanager is also a great traveler, covering long distances from South America to eastern Canada, while the wester tanager keeps to the Pacific side of North America from Mexico in the winter to the American and Canadian west in the summer.
-
Just wanted to share three birds that I find unforgettable: the common loon, the pileated woodpecker and the osprey. I have vivid memories of them surprising me--demanding to be noticed, so to speak. Now I go out of my way to see them again to receive their message from the wild side. Honorable mention to every hummingbird I'ver ever seen and the elusive cedar waxwing.
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)