Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts

Gloria's Birds: He liked to croon Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve...

Saturday, December 31, 2022

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(Willie the American Wigeon fancied himself a ringer for ol' Blue Eyes... except Willie would be ol' Blue Beak:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Robin in snow

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Photo by Jan Hansen

Robin is all puffed out to retain body heat. If it really were as fat as it looks, that tiny branch would never hold it.




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Gloria's Birds: One of my goals each winter

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

 
Puffy black-capped chickadee
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler


Puffy varied thrush
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

Puffy junco
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

 is to capture images of puffy boids (it's how they insulate themselves in cold weather).

--Gloria Z. Nagler


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Cold hummingbird finds a little warmth

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Photo by Mike Remarcke

This cold little hummer found some warmth in Mike Remarcke's Christmas lights. Temperatures are up for now but another storm is due mid-January.



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For the Birds: Hummers need winter nectar

Feeder under eave with trouble light keeping it
 and the area warm Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

When the winter cold temperatures start making the hummingbird feeders freeze up, it is time for extra attention. 

Because of their high metabolism hummingbirds always have a thin margin between adequate nutrition and starvation, especially when insects are scarce.

“Anna's hummingbirds eat more insects than any other North American hummingbird, and this may help them in bad weather. 
"It is thought that Anna's hummingbirds are able to spend the winter so far north because they eat more insects and spiders than most hummingbirds.”  kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/annas-hummingbird 

As long as there are no cats, putting a feeder
under shelter can keep nectar warmer.
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Anna’s are able to eat spiders and bugs wedged in crevices to supplement their instant nectar shots. These little smarties know where to look, but ice makes it hard to get to them.

To help conserve their energy, Anna’s Hummingbirds are able to down-shift their metabolism by entering “torpor” where heart rate and body temperature are reduced to a bare minimum of about 40 beats per minute (down from 400) and body temp about 48F (down from 107F).

Many other hummingbird species do this, like the ones in the Andes.

When temperatures get below 30 degrees people with hummingbird feeders need to keep them from freezing. 

One way is to bring them in at night, but Anna’s feed very early in the morning, often before sunrise, because our long northern nights make it too long to wait any longer, so you need to put them out early, early. 

Rotating a couple of feeders throughout the day works but requires diligence.

Anna's Hummer on covered
heated feeder. Photo by Mary
Another way to keep the feeders from freezing is to put the feeder under an eave and shine an incandescent light near it to keep the feeder area warm, or one can buy a hummingbird feeder heater.

Adding a baffle over a feeder will keep the snow and ice off the feeder ports, protect the hummers, and keep the feeder a little warmer during the cold. 

Hand warmers and incandescent Christmas light work marginally, but not down into the teens.

It is important to clean your feeders about once a week during cold weather.

Keep the nectar solution at four-parts water to one-part cane sugar. Don’t believe the myth that the ratio should be changed in cold weather.

These little bundles of energy bring us delight as we watch them zipping around. Help keep them alive by keeping their nectar liquid during cold spells.



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Breakfast at the Juice Bar

Saturday, December 24, 2022

Photo by Wayne Pridemore
 
Wayne's juice bar was in demand, as usual, as this little hummer came in for breakfast.



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and what will poor robin do then, poor thing?

Thursday, December 22, 2022

 
Robin in snow photo by David Walton

The North wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?

He'll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

--16th century English rhyme


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Today was something to crow about

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Photo by Jan Hansen

Crow in Snow


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Gloria's Birds: Move your hand, photog.

Monday, December 19, 2022

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

I can't see what model camera you have. I hope it's a pricey puppy! I'm worth it.

(It's a good-enough camera, Sylvia the Steller's Jay! And you ARE worth it!)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Gloria's Birds: Nope, that's it for today, photog, said Varied Thrush

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

you must have a hundred shots already.  (Truth to tell, about 650 in that hour:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Help count birds for science during Audubon’s Annual Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 17, 2022

Friday, December 9, 2022

The Pilchuck Audubon Society invites birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts to participate in the longest running community science survey – the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC). 

On Saturday, December 17, 2022 birders and bird-enthusiasts will take part in this century-long project once again.

“Over the past few years we’ve made an effort to increase the number of people counting the birds in their yards and at their feeders. This is really important as so much of our count area consists of residential areas. 
"To get the full picture of how many birds we have and of which species, we need to survey more than just our parks,” says Brian Zinke, Executive Director of the Pilchuck Audubon Society.

Birders of all ages are welcome to contribute to this fun, nationwide community science project, which provides scientists and conservationists with a crucial snapshot of our native bird populations during the winter months.


Areas 1 and 9S are in King county

The Edmonds/South Snohomish County CBC is performed in a count circle with a diameter of 15 miles that is centered near Martha Lake in Lynnwood. This circle includes south Snohomish cities (but not Woodway), part of north Shoreline, and a large portion of Lake Forest Park.

In 2021, 101 people participated by counting birds in their yards at 71 locations. This was in addition to the 96 people who participated on field teams surveying our parks, greenbelts, and other places birds congregate. The yard counters detected 3,039 birds belonging to 49 species. This accounted for 11% of the birds detected on the count.

The yard counters found 100% of the Band-tailed Pigeons, 71% of the Anna’s Hummingbirds, 80% of the Hairy Woodpeckers, 52% of the Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and 73% of the Townsend’s Warblers. 

Overall, the yard counters had a significant positive impact on the success of the count. Complete results of the 2021 Edmonds/South County CBC can be found on the Pilchuck Audubon website.

To participate by counting birds in your yard and/or at your feeders, please confirm that you live within the count circle using the zoomable map on the Pilchuck Audubon website

If you’d like to participate or have questions, please contact Brian Zinke at director@pilchuckaudubon.org.

Each year, the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count mobilizes over 75,000 volunteer bird counters in more than 2,500 locations across the Western Hemisphere. 

The Audubon Christmas Bird Count utilizes the power of volunteers to track the health of bird populations at a scale that scientists could never accomplish alone. 

Data compiled in the South Snohomish and Northern King County area will record every individual bird and bird species seen in a specified area, contributing to a vast community science network that continues a tradition stretching back more than 100 years.

To date, over 200 peer-reviewed articles have resulted from analysis done with Christmas Bird Count data. Bird-related community science efforts are also critical to understanding how birds are responding to a changing climate. 

This documentation is what enabled Audubon scientists to discover that 314 species of North American birds are threatened by climate change as reported in Audubon’s groundbreaking Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink. The tradition of counting birds combined with modern technology and mapping is enabling researchers to make discoveries that were not possible in earlier decades.

For photos of local birds, check the For the Birds columns of Christine Southwick.


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Bog Whisperer: Kingfisher has trouble deciding on pose

Thursday, December 8, 2022

 
This kingfisher, who was posing for her formal portrait from Martin DeGrazia at Ronald Bog, had a lot of trouble deciding on her pose. Right profile?

How about the left profile? It shows off my lovely brown ekg markings the best, and the white tip on my beak.

How about a 3/4 view - but wait - I don't have my feathers in place yet - Don't use that one! All right, I'm done. Catch me another day.

--Kingfisher

Update: Christine Southwick says that the lovely zigzag band across the chest identifies this kingfisher as a female. Pronouns have been changes accordingly.  - DKH



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For the Birds: Tiny Bug-eating Birds

Female bushtit
Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

Have you seen a group of small birds darting from one bush to the next toward your suet feeder?

Consider yourself lucky (and also a good steward of a healthy yard). You have Bushtits!

Bushtits are tiny, weighing only 0.18-0.21 ounces (about 2 pennies) making them one of the smallest passerines (perching birds) in North America.

These little guys only live in the west where there are shrubs, bushes, and open tree canopy.

Male Bushtit fluffed up to stay warm
Photo by Craig Kerns
This makes sense when you realize that they eat insects found on shrubs, flowers, tree leaves and needles, really anywhere that bugs like to hide, including blackberries. 

Their acrobatic positions while finding their food are fun to watch as they often cling upside-down like chickadees do.

These diminutive balls of fluff fly in small flocks, usually darting one or two at a time from one bush to another with members on both sides making contact chatter, almost as if the wide-open spaces between branches are too daunting without flock support.

Small bushtit flock eating suet
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Bushtits eat those tiny scale insects that like flowering currants and other plants, plus aphids and leafhoppers, even spiders - a bug-eating reason to protect these gregarious spritely birds.

Their tail is almost half the length of their body, and this proportion results in a high rate of body heat loss, so in cold weather they must eat about 80% of their weight a day. 

Freezing weather kills the bugs they need, so offering them suet is vitally important.

Bushtits sleep together for warmth, and in the summer they will sleep in their unusual foot-long pendant-hanging nests made of lichen and held together by spider webbing lined with feathers, hanging from a branch.

Flock eating much needed suet during cold spell
Photo by L. Topinka
I have not yet found one of their nests in my yard, but I know a nest has to be nearby because every summer I have a nesting pair eating in my yard, the only time that Bushtits don’t fly in a flock.

Bushtits often come to a favorite feeding area about the same each day. I usually miss “my” flock since it usually eats about noon in my yard, and I don’t hear their soft calls unless I am outside. 

In the winter they may also fly with chickadees, probably because more eyes find more food.

Hang a suet feeder where you can see it—the ones with a cage around it will let more Bushtits eat at the same time. 

You and the Bushtits will be glad you did.



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Bog Whisperer: Crows on Ice

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

Two days ago there were 4-5 crows walking on the ice at Ronald Bog. (See previous article

They obviously enjoyed it and shared the experience with a large number of their murder. (Really - a murder of crows).

Crows are known to play. They will drop fir cones at the peak of a roof and chase them as they roll down. I'm waiting for a photo of them will little sticks, hitting cones across the ice. 

--Diane Hettrick



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Bog Whisperer: Snow birds of Shoreline

Monday, December 5, 2022

Photo by Martin De Grazia
The snow, ice, and cold weather gave Bog Whisperer Martin De Grazia a chance to see the Bog Birds in different ways.

For example, this flock of geese, unconcerned about the snow on their backs - and they're not even Snow Geese!

Photo by Martin De Grazia
The Bog is actually quite shallow and often freezes over in cold weather. The crows don't usually spend time on lakes, so this is a novelty for them (and us!) They seem to be co-existing just fine with the killdeer in the background, who look a little puzzled at the icy footing.

Photo by Martin De Grazia
The heron sits in his usual tree, unperturbed by the snow clinging to the bark. I have to admit that when I first looked at the photo in a thumbnail version, I didn't see the bird. Even now, his feathers look much like the bark of his tree.

Martin says that the otters love the ice, swimming under it and popping up through the thin crust. Their dens have underwater entrances, so they are quite comfortable in this weather.

Ronald Bog is between I-5 and Meridian Ave N, with the entrance to the park on N 175th.

--Diane Hettrick



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Gloria's Birds: Patience isn't just a virtue; it's a photog's best tool

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler
My first Varied Thrush sighting this Fall. Not an intimate portrait:).

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler
I sat outside with camera in hand and waited several days, and voilà! A quizzical thrush appeared and queried: This close enough, photog?

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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Gloria's Birds: Up, up, and away!

Saturday, November 26, 2022

 
Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

(American Wigeon taking flight over Lake Washington the other day)

--Gloria Z. Nagler


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Cormorants at the Bog

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

Suddenly Ronald Bog seems to be full of birds. Maybe it's the rain and change of weather. These are cormorants. We have a lot in the area. Besides the Bog there is a cormorant nesting tree by Echo Lake. Cormorants are often seen at Lake Washington and Puget Sound.

Christine Southwick wrote an article about them in her For the Birds column which we previously published: Cormorants, the Fishing Birds.

--Diane Hettrick



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Scene over the Sound: Catch of the Day

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Photo by Adam Helland
Photographed over the Innis Arden Reserve. The fish is almost as big as the osprey!



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Gloria's Birds: There's just no sneaking up on a Cooper's Hawk!

Monday, November 21, 2022

Photo copyright Gloria Z. Nagler

 (At least I’m pretty sure it’s a Cooper’s Hawk! They look frustratingly similar to Sharp-shinned Hawks:)

--Gloria Z. Nagler



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