Krystal
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Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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I think I was most surprised by how many different species of woodpeckers there are - and how similar some are to each other when they are not closely related. I was also fascinated to learn about the acorn woodpeckers. I've often wondered what the red-bellied woodpeckers that come to my feeders do with the unshelled peanuts they take away and how they keep the squirrels from getting them.
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Activity 1: I'm not sure my perspective on birds has changed due to the course as I always thought they were important but the course has helped me appreciate how much impact we have on birds through our often thoughtless actions that alter their envrionments. In some ways I think the course has made me feel more hopeful, learning how we have made some gains in correcting this. Activity 2: I have been trying to convert my yard to all native plants for some time, although it is a slow process. My next project is to replace the grass in front with what I saw described recently in an article as "tidy wildlands" -- native groundcover, wildflowers, and native bushes. My backyard is further along in this goal and it is such a joy to watch the birds, squirrels, butterflies, bees, and lizards as they go about their lives there.
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Activity 1: I had been using eBird to track birds I see and it is convenient since I typically have my phone handy so I don't forget. Since going through this lesson though, I've been keeping a little notebook handy to write down my observations instead. One thing I like about the notebook method is that it is a little faster and I can record behavioral observations together with specifics about the physical characteristics of the birds more quickly.Then when I have time to look it up later, I can verify that I have the right species without missing out on watching the bird or misidentifying what I saw on eBird. I did learn a cool trick while on an Audubon field trip this weekend for simplifying eBird searching: you can search for the 4-letter code for the bird to pull it up faster (e.g., NOCA for Northern Cardinal).
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Activity 1: While some of the birds I saw at the Celery Fields in Sarasota (a mix of marshlands, ponds, and fields edged by trees) were the same as the ones I see in my backyard (mockingbirds, cardinals, woodpeckers, warblers), there were others not as common. In addition to being closer to the Gulf and having more water, it's also about 50 miles south of where I live so there are multiple differences in this habitat from my backyard. Many, many more wading birds and ducks in and near the water (even saw a least bittern which was exciting!) and lots of grackles and purple martins.
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Activity 1:
- When the crows visit the feeder, I can see most distinctly how similar they are to blue jays. They too prefer the peanuts in the shell - though they try to collect as many as they can in one go. The other common trait is that they usually start at the top of the feeder and then flip down to the platform feeder, as if they were a gymnast.
- This morning I got to witness a cardinal pair courting ritual! They both landed on the feeder and looked at it a bit, then the female flew over to the bougainvillea, followed shortly by the male. They sat side by side on one of the branches while the male put a peanut from the feeder into her beak.
- Most of the songbirds (northern cardinals, titmice, Carolina chickadees, warblers) I've observed arrive at the feeder, check out the options available, seize the piece they want, and fly off to enjoy it elsewhere (I'm assuming). The titmouse always flies off with the seed or nut into the trees. Occasionally the other songbirds will stay for a short while to eat for a bit.
- The blue jays and American crows will usually alight on the top "branch" of the feeder to survey what is on offer, then will swing themselves down to on of the lower levels. The blue jays will often meticulously weigh each peanut (in the shell) before deciding on the one they want (heaviest?). The crows on the other hand try to collect as many peanuts as they can fit into their beaks at once.
- The red-bellied woodpecker and the downy woodpecker both will stay for some time at the suet feeder, pecking away at the food on offer.
- The doves (primarily mourning doves) tend to hand out in large groups for long periods of time, sitting on the various platforms and "branches", sometimes eating, sometimes just sitting there.
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In my app (Android), there is a filter by button in the top-right corner of the screen. Once you open that up, you can sort by the most likely birds for my area. You can change the date from Today to pick a specific date or select Year-Round.
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Activity 1: the first pairing was as I expected - the Northern Cardinal stays within the same general area year-round while the Blackburnian Warbler migrates. The last pair was very unexpected. Both go north to breed with the Sandhill Crane going up into the Arctic - though they also live in Florida year-round. Retirees, I guess. Activity 2: Most of the birds shown in Merlin as "most likely" are also year-round, even when I change the setting to "year-round" (blue jay, northern mockingbird, red-bellied woodpecker to name three - and I see them daily). The top three seasonal birds, who visit us only in the winter (Tampa, FL), are the palm warbler, the yellow-rumped warbler, and the grey catbird. I have seen all of these seasonal birds but I only discovered a month or so ago that I figured out what the palm warbler looks like here in their non-breeding season. I had been dismissing that identification because they weren't as yellow as they looked in most of the pictures I had seen. On a recent local Audubon walk I learned about the yellow-rumped warbler (or "butter butt" as a member of the group called it). The catbird I had heard and identified using Merlin before.
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Activity 2: Of the top 5 most likely according to Merlin, I see and hear four of these almost every day in my backyard at the feeder. They were:
- Blue Jay ✅
- Fish Crow ✅
- Laughing Gull
- Northern Mockingbird ✅
- Mourning Dove ✅
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Exercise 2: redwing blackbird - red epaulets (though they appear more orange in some photos) male northern cardinal - entire body while female has reddish coloring on her tale and wings hairy woodpecker - back of neck
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Activity 1: The Blue and Yellow Macaw was the first to catch my eye in the Wall, perhaps because that is my first memory of an interaction with a bird. We lived in a tiny village in Bolivia when I was little and had a macaw that lived just outside our house. I remember feeding it macadamia nuts and that it used to ride on the back of my dad's motorcycle! The reason I remember it so vividly though was more tragic, at least from my 3 year old perspective. I had put some stuffed dolls of mine on the window sill and came back to find them disemboweled by the macaw. Activity 2: I was very surprised to discover that crows are part of the song birds group! I sat in my backyard for a bit this morning and most of the birds fell into the song birds group, including 2 fish crows and 3 blue jays. The woodpeckers group were represented by a downy woodpecker and a red-breasted woodpecker and the pigeons and doves group were *well* represented by 8 mourning doves. Activity 3: My favorite bird to hear as I'm walking around my neighborhood is the carolina wren. I love it's clear sound and tone. My favorite to see at the feeder (although I do not have a good enough camera to have a good photo to upload) is the Titmouse. They are so cute with their little spikey mohawks.
Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)