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Post by bwatcher on Apr 18, 2018 18:16:22 GMT -5
It's 6:15 p.m. and still snowing. The radar shows we are on the back end of the front but we have a lot of heavy wet snow out there.
It does look like a song sparrow by my search pictures but I've never seen these birds here before. Are song sparrows bigger than a regular sparrows because these two birds seem pretty hefty?
I did see a pair of cowbirds at the tray awhile ago. I don't know if this is a different male as I never saw any females with the earlier 4 males.
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Post by nybirder on Apr 19, 2018 9:39:21 GMT -5
I checked on the measurements for the sparrows. The song sparrow and house sparrow measure just about the same size but are shaped differently. According to "allaboutbirds", "House Sparrows are chunkier, fuller in the chest, with a larger, rounded head, shorter tail, and stouter bill than most American sparrows." There is also a range in size within each sparrow species of up to an inch among themselves. I don't know if that is male vs. female or just a difference because of habitat.
It's interesting that you haven't seen song sparrows before. They are usually one of our early sparrow migrants here in central NY. I love to hear them singing. Perhaps you will get more.
I had a bird this morning that was giving me some problems with ID. It was on the ground, small like a sparrow, and very brown. It wasn't moving very much. Then I realized I was watching a leaf! LOL!
Another gloomy, damp day. I need to get going. I have to do some grocery shopping. I'm hoping I'll see some birds while I'm out there.
Talk to you later.
Birdy
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Post by bwatcher on Apr 19, 2018 12:13:36 GMT -5
Well, the sun is shining. DH blew all the snow and I followed up with a shovel. Pretty much everything is melted off and now dried off.
The juncos are still out there but I haven't seen the cowbirds, or any of the sparrows. I guess I was "Mary's Main Diner" again.
I filled up the jelly dish and I see the robin had his fill. Once I filled the dish this morning I'm down to a half full jar; the jar was a 32 oz jar so he's eating pretty well.
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Post by nybirder on Apr 19, 2018 14:25:53 GMT -5
I think the idea of your robin getting its fill of the jelly is so cute. That sure is a new one for me. By the way, your avatar still doesn't show up for me. I wonder why?
As for cowbirds, they are a real problem. Since they are native songbirds, they're protected so it's against the law here in HY to destroy their eggs in other birds' nests. The poor birds who end up raising their young have their work cut out for them. There are a lot of warbler species on the downhill slide because of cowbirds. Boo! Hiss!
Still snowing but at least I don't have to shovel it. Have a good evening, all.
Birdy
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Post by bwatcher on Apr 19, 2018 15:08:11 GMT -5
Birdy, Do you see it now? :D
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Post by nybirder on Apr 19, 2018 17:40:17 GMT -5
I sure do! Ditto on that one! LOL!
Birdy
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Post by grammyoh on Apr 19, 2018 20:08:53 GMT -5
What started as a wintery day with snow flurries ended as a spring like day with a temp of 50 and sunshine.
I was busy with the family catering work today so not much time for watching the feeders. Birding can be done anywhere! Sitting in the car, in a parking lot, while waiting for someone I watched a robin check out a small tree for just the right nesting spot. So interesting to watch as she carefully fit herself into several different places in the tree then fluffed her feathers and wiggled about. When DD #2 was a little girl she noticed a robin doing this and said, she's measuring for her nest. That sure looks like what they do.
I have song sparrows here all year. I saw the first female red wing this week they will be nesting and raiding the feeders soon!
I've put out grape jelly several times but ants seem to be the only things that want to eat it!
A very sad sight as we watched a pr of tiny chipping sparrows feed a huge baby cow bird!
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Post by nybirder on Apr 20, 2018 6:21:27 GMT -5
Grammy--I had chipping sparrows feeding a cow bird baby once. Poor little things looked a little ragged--hard work. Imagine tiny warblers doing the same thing when they should be feeding and raising their own young. Cute observation about the robins. What amazes me is the incredible variety of building materials that they use in their nests. Anything and everything. Speaking of nests--Cornell Lab of Orn. holds a funky nest contest every year. If you see something that makes you scratch your head or laugh, take a picture and submit it! Here are the entries from last year--the stories that go with them are a lot of fun. celebrateurbanbirds.org/community/challenges/funky-nests-2017/results/ We had light snow again last night but it has already mostly melted--it was just a light coating on roofs. I came out of a store yesterday when it was snowing so hard that I couldn't see across the parking lot. Luckily it is too warm right now to keep it on the ground. The good news is that it is supposed to dry out tomorrow and we are actually going to warm up next week to normal. Woohoo! Have a good day, all. Keep your eyes out for migrating birds. Birdy |
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Post by bwatcher on Apr 20, 2018 9:33:43 GMT -5
Still the same cast of characters out at the feeders. I am seeing a few juncos eating while sitting at actual feeders. One was on the safflower feeder eating with a pair of house finches. Another junco was eating at a thistle feeder all by itself. Mostly they sit on my big tray feeder or eat off the ground. I did see the one song sparrow for a little bit yesterday.
I just spotted a dead bird laying upside down in the snow outside my window here by the computer. I think that's the third dead bird since last fall. I'll have to get dressed and go investigate. It was a female junco. After this last snow storm I'm not surprised. I can also see 5 juncos, 2 robins, and 3 grackles out the same window.
The snow is melting fast. It should all be gone in a few days. The weather man showed time lapse video of 2 hrs. south of us along a 4 lane highway. There was 4" of snow in the morning and by late afternoon it was totally gone. The other time lapse was of the snow cover for the whole state of Iowa. The southern counties were clear but we still had some patchy snow. Many of the upper counties in central Iowa along the Minnesota boarder were still totally white.
Birdy, I did look at those nests and have seen similar things over the years. I remember DH going to use the gas grill and pulling off the cover and a robin was trying to build a nest underneath the cover. They have also built nests on the light outside the door. Well, I should say she tried. She built and we kept tearing it down. I finally put a board over the light to create a slant and then she left. I had one on the second story window ledge of the attic. I could walk into the attic and look right into the nest. It took me a long time to get rid of that nest as that window didn't open. I eventually was able to blast it off the ledge with a water hose. They should have a saying, 'Built Robin Tough'. I did see a grackle flying with building material into the huge pine in the neighbor's yard. I don't want them around here if I can help it.
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Post by davehhhj on Apr 20, 2018 10:20:48 GMT -5
since i live in south
we got humming birds on 18 on april
later
dave
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Post by nybirder on Apr 20, 2018 15:29:34 GMT -5
Aww, Dave. Rub it in! It'll be a while before ours show up.
The House Finches can be a problem making nests in hanging baskets. I had a pair ruin a beautiful fuscia--they broke off all the stems in the middle to make room for the nest. House finches built a nest in my neighbor's decorative wreath on their front door. They had to stop using the door until the young fledged!
Got to love robins, though. They can build some pretty sturdy nests!
Birdy
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Post by nybirder on Apr 21, 2018 9:06:01 GMT -5
Good morning, birders! I hope the weather is improving for you and your bird friends. I know it is for us--and it is about time. The sun is shining but it's still just barely 40. Today will be cool but it's going to be edging up gradually over the next week.
There are a couple of days early in the week that look like they'd be good for getting out for some birding--and I plan to do that very thing. Unfortunately, I also have to clean the yard, too. Phooey! LOL!
Time to get rolling--I've finished my coffee and it is beyond time to get some chores done so I can go out to play.
Birdy
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Post by grandmazn8 on Apr 21, 2018 9:42:39 GMT -5
Dave, I saw my first hummer this morning so I cleaned and refilled the feeder again to make sure it is fresh. I haven't really been here much this week, so don't know if he was around before today.
Unfortunately the only dead birds I usually see are because of the cats. I was really disappointed 2 weeks ago when I was loading the car to go visit my sons and GKs and saw a dead catbird next to the car. They had not eaten it like they usually do, but there were only a few feathers there when I got home, so I guess something did later. I have liked catbirds since many years ago our neighborhood (different from here) had a friendly resident catbird for a while. He would eat from our hands.
I also need to get some inside chores done and get outside. While out there I need to check the seed feeder as well.
Leslie
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Post by Stella on Apr 21, 2018 9:51:38 GMT -5
Good morning! Finally.....the sun is out! Not to mention....so is the temperature.
We are still not completely out of the woods, but it won't be long now. Looks like
double digits next week.
I still can't figure out why there are not more migrating birds around here. The
snow is melting rapidly, and you can see lots more green. I am hoping that there
is no further decline in the bird population.
Along with the sun, the Goldfinches bring in light.
Hope bird songs are entertaining you this morning!
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Post by bwatcher on Apr 21, 2018 9:53:29 GMT -5
I grabbed my big binoculars yesterday when I was looking at the neighbor's flowering crab apple tree. It's infested with whatever and I've seen woodpeckers on it before. I first thought it was the Downy woodpecker but it was too big. It flew to the telephone pole and then I knew for sure that it was a Hairy because of its really long beak size; that was a dead give away.
I thought the 2 song sparrows had left but I did see one this morning. I haven't seen the other visiting sparrows since the day after the snow storm. My pine siskins are down to just a few and the juncos have dropped to maybe a couple dozen.
Our 6+" of heavy snow has been melting quickly; yesterday it was 48º It's now just the snow banks and piles left to melt. It's 45º today so we should hopefully lose some more. It's cloudy today but those west of me, that got the 11", may get some rain and will appreciate losing some of their snow.
They did mention on our news (comes from 2 hrs. south of me) that the record of 10" of snow for the month of April was surpassed and now stands at 12" for the month of April. Waterloo's 10" record was met and surpassed by their 4" snow fall which disappeared in a single day. They showed a time lapse video from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. going from snowy white to green roadside ditches.
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