Birding

[steve daniels]

Only an amateur but I`ll try to answer any questions I can.

[Cedars]

Only an amateur but I`ll try to answer any questions I can.

 

OK. whats your favorite types to watch / types you are most familiar with?

 

What changes in bird numbers have you noticed if any?

 

Are these migratory or resident birds?

[steve daniels]

Favourites? I like them all. I've recently published an article on sparrows, particularly the hybrid "Cretan" sparrow. http://www.cretegazette.com (March issue) and Sardinian warblers are another favourite as we didn`t used to get them in England. (I moved to Crete 2 years ago).

Bird numbers - yes, there has been a decline over the last three months in resident species. I haven't done a full analysis yet but off the top of my head I would say there has been a 50% decline in sparrows and 30-40% decline in other small birds. The reasons could be many and varied but obviously Bird Flu is a prime suspect (I`ve not seen any evidence by way of dead birds so I`ll reserve judgement at this stage.

All the best

Steve

[Cedars]

Favourites? I like them all. I've recently published an article on sparrows, particularly the hybrid "Cretan" sparrow. http://www.cretegazette.com (March issue) and Sardinian warblers are another favourite as we didn`t used to get them in England. (I moved to Crete 2 years ago).

Bird numbers - yes, there has been a decline over the last three months in resident species. I haven't done a full analysis yet but off the top of my head I would say there has been a 50% decline in sparrows and 30-40% decline in other small birds. The reasons could be many and varied but obviously Bird Flu is a prime suspect (I`ve not seen any evidence by way of dead birds so I`ll reserve judgement at this stage.

All the best

Steve

 

Cool article! I hope you do get a Crete sparrow!

 

In my area it was noted a few years ago that the house sparrow (the imported bird from england) was in a huge decline. My own yard told the same story and it was suggested that the birds had picked up a virus or fungus from one of our local population. But I did not hear more about it. This would have preceeded any known infections of the current bird flu we are reading about, but that doesnt mean it wasnt another strain. This sparrow population decline was noted right before the west nile virus hit our area but again, nothing was confirmed as far as I know.

 

I do know the populations are comming up a bit. I do have some in my yard but not the numbers that once were here. hmmm...

 

For your migrants, where do they winter? I was reading somewhere that the draining of the marshes in Iraq may have had an impact on migrants. Would that have impacted your populations (in your opinion) or would this have hit another regions birds much more?

[Racoon]

Nice postings fella's :(

 

I have been torn a bit on this. Turtle pointed it out to me.

 

Does having Bird Feeders promote the spread of diseases and bacterias amongst birds that might not have as much contact otherwise??

[Cedars]

'Tis the season everyone!

 

Bird Cam Links!

 

Lots of links on this page

http://www.pitt.edu/~dziadosz/

 

Barn owl is what attracted me to this one:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/

 

xcel energy bird cam page. Osprey and Kestrel cams will be active once the birds return.

 

http://www.xcelenergy.com/XLWEB/CDA/0,3080,1-1-1_22545_17792-874-0_0_0-0,00.html

[Cedars]

Nice postings fella's :(

 

I have been torn a bit on this. Turtle pointed it out to me.

 

Does having Bird Feeders promote the spread of diseases and bacterias amongst birds that might not have as much contact otherwise??

 

Yes it can. There was an eye fungus going around in the Finch populations a couple years ago. Seems to be caused by a fungus that grows on wet seed. Keeping your feeders clean by washing them out with soap and water can really help.

 

I rake my feeding area and I spread the seed in different areas of my yard to try to reduce this potential.

[Racoon]

Bird Cam Links!

Lots of links on this page

http://www.pitt.edu/~dziadosz/

 

Barn owl is what attracted me to this one:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/

 

xcel energy bird cam page. Osprey and Kestrel cams will be active once the birds return.

 

http://www.xcelenergy.com/XLWEB/CDA/0,3080,1-1-1_22545_17792-874-0_0_0-0,00.html

 

Reality Bird TV! :(

cool links Cedars...

 

Some of the nests were empty, But I did see the Texas barn Owl!

[Racoon]

Yes it can. There was an eye fungus going around in the Finch populations a couple years ago. Seems to be caused by a fungus that grows on wet seed. Keeping your feeders clean by washing them out with soap and water can really help.

 

I rake my feeding area and I spread the seed in different areas of my yard to try to reduce this potential.

 

Right!

Keep em' clean, and spread seed around...:(

 

Those little birds can be so messy!

[Cedars]

The rain and clouds have moved away for a while. More and more birds are flooding our area. Large numbers of gulls are moving thru. Each day I see different types, but I am not good at identifing these birds other than I know they are gulls.

 

Yesterdays winds opened up a few of the more shallow waters. On my drive home I saw around a dozen swans on the pool by the eagles nest. Today they were not to be seen.

 

The morning skys are filled with v's of canadian geese headed north. Lots of ducks have begun moving in. Sunday and Monday I had a pair of wood ducks in one of my oak trees.

 

I think the eagles are nearing hatch. The sitting parent is higher in the nest and seems to be moving around a bit more.

[Cedars]

This has been a good week for high speed birding (my drive to/from work).

 

I saw my first Great Egret wednesday morning. A Great Blue Heron has returned to the swamp about a mile from me the same day. I saw my first Blue Heron sunday flying by the house, so the bird in the swamp was the 2nd sighting (and possibly the same bird).

 

Marsh hawks are moving in now. Tonight I saw one fly over the freeway with a vole or mouse in talon. It worries me to see these birds in the traffic. Too many of them are killed by cars/trucks. There was a pair of these birds flying over my building tuesday. The sparrows who had been chirping and fighting went silent at once. After the hawks had passed by the birds continued with their chatter.

 

My first song sparrow showed up while I was on break at work yesterday. We had strong winds out of the north today. If they calm down, or switch to the south I will see large numbers of sparrows, white throated, white crowned, fox, and swamp sparrows.

 

A pair of House Finches are building a nest at my work. Yesterday, two other males tried to lure the female away to no avail. It was fun to watch these birds on my break.

[Cedars]

I have to start carrying a notebook with me again. Its getting harder to remember all I have seen this last week.

 

Swallows started coming back now. I didnt have bino's so I couldnt tell if they were bank or tree swallows. I caught a brief glimpe of some sandpiper type birds tuesday. There were two of them and they took off as we drove by. No way to identify them so I wont even try. Seeing any of these birds always makes my day. They suffer greatly from habitat loss and pesticides really took a toll.

 

My Eastern Phoebe showed up. He was singing away on a pretty low branch only about 15 - 20 feet from me. They used to nest in an old storage shed, but that fell down. I thought they were nesting in this delivery van shell (we used it to store firewood in the past) but I searched the insides and could not find the nest. I am always amazed at the insect eating birds early returns. The ground is barely thawed and they start coming in. I have no idea how they find enough insects.

 

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/EASPHO/

 

Lots of pairs of swans showing up on local ponds and lakes. As always, I hope the birds decided to settle that area but it could be they are still moving to their real nesting spots. The swan populations have made a huge comeback since the reintroduction programs began. Lots of hunter awareness helped reduce the casualties

 

Several Common Mergansers were floating around on a large lake near walmart. Their bright orange bill always is easy to spot and clear up the identification of this bird.

 

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i1290id.html

 

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Common_Merganser.html

 

One of my favorites, a pair of wood ducks were swiming around in a little pothole type pond just down the road from me. Once in a while this pond attracts sandpiper type birds during migration.

 

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Wood_Duck_dtl.html

 

The farm to the northeast of me has a good duck hole. There were several Blue winged Teals floating around on it. Sometimes they nest there, but its too early to tell if these ones will stay or move on.

 

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Blue-winged_Teal.html

 

And I saw my first bat wednesday evening. Not a bird but hey... they fly too.

[Turtle]

I have to start carrying a notebook with me again. Its getting harder to remember all I have seen this last week.

 

Notebook or not, thanks for taking the time to post your observations & links.

Favourites? I like them all...

Welcome Steve, and thanks for posting as well. I always enjoy international observations.

Due to my recent move I have neglected the birding ('twitching' in England don't they say?:steering: ) We haven't put the feeders up yet, & I only have noticed some crows to date in the new location.

That is all,

Turtle

[steve daniels]

Hi everyone

 

Thanks for all the replies and the nice feedback on the "Cretan" sparrow article. Haven't been able to get back to you sooner as the computer has been in for repair (not a quick process on a Mediterranean island!) Weve had terrific winds here for the past couple of days so haven't been out much but over the past week the goldfinches have been very active in the olive groves and we've had a heron fly over the house which is a first.

 

All the best

 

Steve

[Cedars]

Good to have you back Steve! You reminded me to post something. I had a goldfinch at my feeder yesterday. They have turned yellow again but there is still the grey undercoat. They are not fully color crayon yellow yet, but it is coming soon.

 

Sad event yesterday. I found a wounded Mourning Dove in my yard. Its injuries are extensive. I think it was hit and rolled under a car. Possibly blind in its left eye. All the feathers and most of the skin was missing from the left side of its neck. It had meat showing on the upper part of its breast. The poor thing had ONE tail feather left and a few feathers on each wing.

 

It could still fly so I dont think it has any broken wing bones. We finally caught the bird and I put it in my home made bird carrier. I use this when birds knock themselves senseless when hitting my windows. They usually recover well with a few hours of rest to shake it off.

 

Anyways I did not expect this bird to live long. 3 hours later it was still alive so I gave it some water via a paint brush. It was quite thirsty. That was a good sign.

 

When I awoke this morn, I found the bird was still alive and quite alert considering the injury. I attempted to give it water again and it tried to escape. So I took it to work with me and found a rehab center not far from my work.

 

http://www.wrcmn.org/public/default.asp

 

Which got me thinking. I wonder how many people find wounded animals and dont know what to do with them. So here's some good links:

 

US states A-M

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contactA.htm

 

US states N-W

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contactN.htm

 

International contacts (outside of USA)

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contactI.htm

 

Some of these places offer events for kids and adults. A lot of these places run on donations only, whether voluteering time, items (theres pics on the first link of baby birds in bowls for their nests) or cash. If any of you are so inclined...

[Cedars]

This week I saw my first osprey of the season. On my drive home floating above the freeway.

 

The week was cold and rainy so birding wasnt as good to me as usual. It seems most of the water birds have moved thru in the big push and that part of the migration is winding down. I saw Thrush movement on some of my drives home early in the week, but havent seen any in my yard.

 

Cardinals are feeding their mates alot now. It is fun to watch a male bird giving his partner the coveted sunflower seed, trimmed from its shell and ready to feast on.

 

Last night I heard both Great horned and Screech owls to the west of me.

 

I hope to take a drive to one of my favorite bird areas this week. Gas prices, car woahs, and weather have prevented my doing this sooner in the season.

[Racoon]

Cool Cedars!

 

Turtle and I went advance scouting for Sasquatch.

I was a little disappointed with the number and varieties of bird we saw, in such an isolated and wooded area.

 

We saw some really cool Bird "Condos" in tall, standing, and dead trees. Obvious Woodpecker activity. :singer:

 

That was until a hummingbird flew through the window of the drivers side car door and got trapped inside the car!:) (it was hot inside)

 

Poor little guy was flapping away like mad. Turtle got some video of the Hummingbird. I am trying to classify it with my Audubon book, but I don't really find a 100% match.

 

It had little florescent orange along the neck

I'm going "out on a limb" and say it was a Rufous Hummingbird! :singer: