Kathie's Birds: Chickadees

Showing posts with label Chickadees. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Harpswell Yard Birds

Black-capped Chickadee 8-31-2015 Harpswell, Maine

Though we moved into this new house in mid-August, it wasn’t until the end of the month that I started photographing birds, since first I took a trip to Connecticut to help my mom out and to pick up my cats and bring them back with me. My cats are strictly indoor cats so they can watch the birds but they cannot harm them. Here are just some of the 60+ species of birds I have seen since moving into this house. I have been amazed at how quickly the list has grown after a very slow start. Fall migration has helped a lot and I have seen several birds species only once as they passed by on their way through. Of course, since this is Maine, there are always chickadees!

Each species was seen in or from this yard and I have posted their pictures with the date each photo was taken beneath, though this is not necessarily the first date that species was observed. You can see the full list of species at the end of this post.

Black-capped Chickadee 8-31-15

Magnolia Warbler 9-1-15

Red-breasted Nuthatch 9-1-15

Song Sparrow 9-1-15

Tufted Titmouse (juvenile) 9-1-15

Blue Jay 9-1-15

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 9-1-15

Since moving to Harpswell I have seen several stray cats in this yard hunting my feeders and the little critters that live here. Cats kill millions of songbirds each year and do not belong outdoors. I have noticed that this does affect the number of ground feeding birds in this yard. I photographed this one on September 3rd.

Black-and-White Warbler in the birch tree 9-4-15

Northern Harrier flyover 9-7-15

American Goldfinches 9-20-15

It is no secret that I love woodpeckers and I have seen several species in this yard. I do not have photos of the Pileated Woodpeckers or Northern Flickers I have seen here, but I was so pleased to have the following species drop by during migration!

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the bird tree 9-24-15

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker trying to hide 9-24-15

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Red-bellied woodpecker 9-24-15

Two red-bellied woodpeckers and 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 9-24-15

Tufted Titmouse 9-24-15

Downy Woodpecker 9-24-15

White-throated Sparrow 9-25-15

Male House Finch 9-25-15

It was over a month before I saw a House Finch here. Now there is a pair that shows up sporadically.

Red-bellied Woodpecker 9-26-15

Downy Woodpecker 10-10-15

And just last week I had a big surprise when a pair of migrating Baltimore Orioles plopped down into the fruit trees in the front yard. I was sitting in my chair near a downstairs window and I was shocked, especially when I realized my camera was all the way upstairs! I was hoping they would stay there and they did. I managed to take these pictures through the upstairs window before they flew off!

Baltimore Oriole 10-16-15

Baltimore Oriole looking for insects 10-16-15

Harpswell Yard Life List

Herring Gull, 7-7-2015
Common Tern
Northern Flicker
Red-eyed Vireo
American Crow
Gray Catbird
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 8-14-15
American Goldfinch
Dobule-crested Cormorant, 8-15-15 (our first full day in this huse)
Red-shouldered Hawk
downy Woodpecker
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Tufted Titmouse, 8-16-15
Canada Goose, 8-17-15
Red-bellied Woodpecker
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Black-and-white Warbler
Osprey
Wilson’s Warbler, 8-18-15
Mourning Dove, 8-19-15
Belted Kingfisher
Eastern Wood Pewee (then I was gone for 9 days)
Pileated Woodpecker, 8-28-15
Red-breasted Nuthatch
American Redstart, 8-30-15
Black-throated Green Warbler
Great Blue Heron, 9-1-15
Magnolia Warbler
Hairy Woodpecker
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Cooper’s Hawk, 9-2-15
Carolina Wren
Brown Creeper, 9-3-15
Northern Parula
Northern Cardinal 9-4-15
Philadelphia Vireo
Northern Harrier, 9-7-15
Peregrine Falcon, 9-15-15
Broad-winged hawk, 9-16-15
Eastern Phoebe, 9-17-15
Nashville Warbler, 9-18-15
Bald Eagle, 9-21-15
Dark-eyed Junco
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 9-22-15
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 9-24-15
White-throated Sparrow, 9-25-15
House Finch
Red-tailed Hawk, 10-1-15
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle), 10-2-15
Sharp-shinned Hawk, 10-3-15
Palm Warbler (yellow)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 10-4-15
Turkey Vulture, 10-8-15
White-crowned Sparrow
Common Grackle, 10-12-15
Merlin, 10-15-15
Baltimore Oriole, 10-16-15

It is interesting to note that in a little over 2 months I have seen almost as many birds in this yard as I did in 18 months in my Tucson Yard, where I saw 69 species of birds before I moved back here to Maine.

Here are how My Yards Lists Compare

Yard	Years	Number of Species
Sycamore Canyon	April 2007 thru August 2010	83
Andover Yard	October 2010 thru August 2012	65
Tucson Yard	September 2012 thru January 2014	69
Mere Point Yard	February 2014 thru August 2015	117
Harpswell Yard	August 2015 to present*	66

*I counted birds for 15 minutes on one day in July when we first looked at this house, but my actual day to day counting did not start until August 14th in the evening.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

A Chickadee Inspects a Tree

A cheerful little chickadee

in spring a nesting hole did see,

It stuck its tiny head inside

to check how deep and how wide

But looking was not good enough

Would this hole hold all their stuff?

And so the birdy ventured in,

was there room for kith and kin?

A deeper look and then a ponder,

would this do, or should it wander?

Like all of us in this state,

I am sure it must consult its mate!

I photographed this little chickadee at the Mere Point Boat Launch on April 29, 2015. I have since seen several chickadees in my yard and at the boat launch, so I would say that this nesting season was successful!

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

More Yard Birds

Hairy Woodpecker in yard 3-31-15

These are a few of the birds I have seen in my yard as winter has transitioned into spring. Species names and dates they were seen are noted below each photograph.

American Goldfinch 2-25-15

Black-capped Chickadee 3-16-15

American Robin 3-16-15

Red-winged Blackbird 3-17-15

European Starling 3-24-15

Black-capped Chickadee 3-24-15

Common Redpoll 3-24-15

On this date this bird became a rare bird in my yard. However, I continued to see redpolls until April 12!

Northern Cardinal 3-24-15

On March 31 as I came home from counting birds at the boat launch I saw something in my back yard tree where some of my bird feeders hang.

Do you see what I see?

Adult Cooper’s Hawk 3-31-15

Cooper’s Hawks stalked my bird feeders all winter. I saw both juveniles and adults. One even ate my only Hermit Thrush that was hanging around my yard for a little over two weeks in January and early February. I paused in my steps but this bird was so focused on finding food it didn’t even notice me, or care if it did see me. It jumped down onto the ground and started walking around in search of prey.

It even ran into the thicket hoping to catch a bird, but they were long gone!

I’m afraid this bird went hungry this time!

Links:

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Winter Birding around Brunswick, ME

Downy woodpecker at the Mere Point Boat Launch 2-13-15

I find it hard to go into town to do errands because I just can’t seem to go anywhere without stopping to count birds! This makes all my trips to town take much longer than they do for most people, but I think of it as my reward for doing all the errands! On February 13, after spotting the Barred owl in my own yard, I went into town and counted birds at Brunswick Landing.

During the winter they block the road of near the south end of the landing so one can no longer drive through to the golf course and out onto Route 123. However, they do still allow walkers and bikers to go through, though you needed skies or snow shoes to get through here this winter! Beyond these barriers is the area where many good birds were being seen, including some red crossbills which I may have seen on March 27 but didn’t know it! How could I not know it? Because I saw them in the distance fly across the road all in a line calling to each other, but I am not familiar with this species and did not recognize the behavior or the call. When I described it to another birder I encountered at a later date, he said that was probably them! Yikes! I have been back several times looking for them but to no avail!

Birding Brunswick Landing was an easy choice for me this winter, since I can bird most of it from my car, and with my dislocated arm, I did not want to get out and walk and risk falling and reinjuring it again!

It was hard finding open water with ducks in it this winter, but I found this small pond on the Parkview Adventists Hospital campus in Brunswick where a small portion stayed open all winter. Mallards and Black Ducks were the only species I saw there however. On my way home I would often drive through the Mere Point Boat Launch and count birds from the safely and warmth of my vehicle.

I spotted this White-throated Sparrow there on 2-13-15

Now the snow is finally melting and it’s almost hard to believe it was this deep just 2 months ago. Migration is in full swing here and while I only added 3 species to my 2015 yard list in February, I have added 5 species in March and 7 species so far this month with a Chipping Sparrow showing up yesterday and an Eastern Phoebe arriving just this morning! I am up to 111 Total species for this yard with 52 species seen so far this year and 35 species seen so far this month!

Downy woodpeckers are seen here year round!

Brunswick Landing
Mere Point Boat Launch
Backyard Barred Owl-seen earlier on this same day

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Winter at Mere Point Boat Launch

Buffleheads in Mere Point Bay 12-21-14

On the first day of winter I took a walk to Mere Point Boat Launch. Gray skies predominated the landscape, and though it was cold, I bundled up and enjoyed my walk.

A tangle of bittersweet vines was visible as I started down the road. I knew that later in the season these would be frequented by robins and waxwings. However, I never would have thought I would see an Eastern Bluebird feeding here on February of this year, my first sighting of that species at this location!

But for today, I just watched as a female Hairy Woodpecker chipped away at an insect infested tree trunk!

Below the woodpecker a black-capped chickadee foraged in the brush.

As I neared the boat launch I sighted a red-tailed hawk!

Though I had seen many hawks fly over my yard, this was the first time I had seen a Red-tail at the boat launch!

Down in the bay some surf scoters paddled 12-21-14

And while I was watching birds, the crows were watching me!

I have seen crows at the boat launch almost every time I count here!

Today the shallow cove was filled with female buffleheads.

While out in deeper water a Common Loon drifted.

I heard the whistle of wings as a black duck and a mallard landed in the cove. I counted 24 species of birds here on this winter afternoon. By early January I was back again. I was not here at this time of year last year and I wanted to be sure to get a record of the species that were being seen. I wanted to add some data to the Mere Point Life List on eBird.

January 6th was a gray and dreary day.

A distant immature bald eagle was little more than a fuzzy speck in the sky as it flew ponderously over the bay! The flat gray light made for lousy photos, but I still enjoyed seeing and counting birds.

I spotted a couple of Common Goldeneyes paddling by.

A few of the buffleheads were still around 1-6-15

January 11, 2015

I had barely started down the road when I saw a pair of red foxes crossing the parking lot of the boat launch. I could only get one in the frame as the other was farther ahead and behind a snow bank.