Josh's Project Bird Feeder Watch

I know that BBG was going to be posting about bird watching this winter, and I wanted to also share my bird watching project as well.

Starting this month through Feb. I will be joining in on a project
feeder watch for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. You too can become a
Feeder Watch member, or you can find some great free info on how to set
up a feeder station, what to feed the birds, and a free printable ID
poster. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/

I'll
be posting what birds I see, some pictures of the birds that visit my
feeder and other information about the birds.

I am posting in the Everything else topics, but SFGing is not just for growing vegetables, I have SFGs set up with flowers and other plants that the birds are attracted to in the winter, by leaving the flower heads of many of the flowers growing in the SFGs the birds like to eat the seeds.

Yabba dabba doo, buddy. Great to see another on board.

Next week, I plan to give some tips to setting up. I'll even get an article in there for you to take better pictures by bringing the birds to you.

I look forward to comparing notes this winter!

Here is what I have set up for the birds. I have a stand that holds several bird feeders, a couple places for water, and close to the tree and house. This is a photo taken inside the house looking out the window.


I couldn't get any pictures of the birds, cause when I got home from school it was raining. But I think I will be able to get some with the zoom on the camera, but nothing as good as BBG!

I did see 4 American Goldfinch and 3 Black Capped Chickadees.

You've got yourself a nice bird sanctuary there

nKedrOoStEr wrote:You've got yourself a nice bird sanctuary there

Thanks nKedrOoStEr!

Today was the first day I have been able to get any pictures because it has been raining so much, I still haven't started my count for the feederwatch project, I'm still waiting on my information from them.

My mom gave me a new ceramic bird feeder to hang in the tree and just as soon as I got it hung in the tree a titmouse came to check it out.


Checking it out


Checking it out a little closer


Going for it!


Also got a Carolina Chickadee and White crowned Sprarrow






If you see that I've made a mistake in IDing them, let me know, some of them are hard to ID.

Pic #4 is awesome! What are you using for a camera? Not that I know anything about them (cameras or birds lol) but curious nontheless

What Josh? No live streaming web cam? Darn.

You got them right, Josh. I only seem to get White-crowned sparrows on their way north in May. I love watching them the two weeks I have them.

Are you actually south of me? Could be I'm more wooded than you, too.

Oh, and one quick tip on the photo side.....make sure the shutter speed you use is at least "1/focal length of the lens". Meaning, if you have a 200mm lens, you shouldn't be shooting less than 1/200th of a second, or even faster, without a tripod. And, you'll find chickadees and titmice are so ridiculously twitchy, you have to be super quick to even catch them sitting still....lol.

nKedrOoStEr it's a Sony-SLT-A55V with a 18-55 mm photo lens, and 55-200 zoom lens. It's my mom's camera, but I have gotten her to where she is saying "our" camera

I don't know much about the camera either, but BBG has been teaching me about it for a while now.
Most of the good pic are just by luck!

Thanks BBG for the info! I don't have a tripod, but may get one. I knew the titmouse was going to go for the sunflower seeds in the new feeder, I was waiting for it...I took the pic just as soon as I seen the bird go for it, I was trying to get it with his head inside the feeder, but ended up with him with the seed in his mouth, that's how fast he was...or how slow I was

BBG I live about 90-100 miles from you, go to google maps and type in Bluford Illinois. We go to Fairview Heights shopping sometimes, I like to shop at the guitar Center, it's not to far from you.
We live out in the country, lots of wooded area around us.

I am even more impressed now looking back and seeing the seed in the birds mouth. I can't shoot stationary objects lol.

Josh, if the Guitar Center you are talking about is in Crestwood on Watson Rd, I will be very upset if you don't PM me next time you come over. It's about a block away from my house. Would love to shake your hand.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Josh, if the Guitar Center you are talking about is in Crestwood on Watson Rd, I will be very upset if you don't PM me next time you come over. It's about a block away from my house. Would love to shake your hand.

BBG it's not the same one, the one I go to is still on the Illinois side, but I googled your guitar center and it's about 25 minutes from the one I go to, so I might just make the trip just so I could meet you! I'll for sure PM you next time we go.

That would be pretty cool. If it happens, here's what we do...

We run back over to the garden, if it's spring, and take a quick picture of us for the forum. It might encourage others to meet up and do the same thing.

Well, that's provided your mom, or you, trust someone you "met off the internet machine."

I was doing my bird watch count this weekend, and I was having a little trouble counting these, how many would you say there are?

I don't know what the problem was with counting them, Josh. There were only a few! (hundred, that is! or maybe thousand.....)



GG

1) I hate Starlings. They are like grackles, which are likely in this flock, too. They sweep through the just clean you out of feed...taking from native species. But, whatever, it's not that big a deal. I used to watch them as a kid on the golf course, and was amazed by the way they ate in a "rolling" formation.

2) You have a bunch, no doubt. The only way to count numbers like these is to mentally block off an area, count the birds in said area, and multiply by how many "areas" you can fit into the group. For easy math, I try and chop off about a tenth of the flock and count the individuals in there.

Fwiw, I would put about 500 and call it good. And, there are definitely grackles in with the starlings...about half and half. Also, there are likely cowbirds. Those three like to hang together in the winters.

Sweet nibblets! That's a lot of birds.

Would these birds count??

They were scrounging around the senior citizen dog ramp for the bird seeds that the birds were tossing around at the bird feeder above.

Lol.....nice.

Hey, I thought I'd mention to Josh that I all but abandoned my counting in the SFG forum. I still am on my own, but it's just too much for me to keep a blog going, post off-topic stuff in here, etc.

You will notice that when the weather turns bad/cold, your feeders heat up with activity. Just yesterday, among the flurries of snow, I saw the Cardinals flock together.....something I only saw once last year. Cardinals prefer to eat just before sunset as opposed to early morning. So, they had the feeders all to themselves. I saw no less than 7 males and 5 females at the same time. The cold really snuffs their territorialism, too. In there with them were some peaceful White-throated Sparrows (the first I've seen this year, too) and a couple of Juncos.

I just sat and watched for at least 10 minutes. Very relaxing.

Hope you are enjoying your results so far, Josh. Catch you around.

We had a Cardinal all Spring and Summer show up at our feeder every morning and evening with his lady friend. The funny thing is the poor guy was bald! No feather at all on his head or neck...just dark purple colored skin...guess his lady friend liked the look though!

Maybe he was a rebel without a clue. Or the bird version of goth.

Btw, I am itching to drive cross country and if I do I will be going through Illinois. I have GOT to see that garden if I get close.

Could be mites or molting. This article claims they lose all the head feathers at once when molting. Maybe BBG has more on this

-- sorry Josh I do not want to hijack your thread!

http://www.birdchick.com/wp/2007/08/bald-cardinals-and-other-bald-birds/

I saw a new bird at my feeders today - a dark-eyed junco. As far as i know he hadn't come before. The starlings aren't leaving much for anyone else. Also saw a female cardinal and a goldfich today. Hadnt seen either in months. I was surprised to see so many birds considering we didn't make it out of the teens today. Oy! Silly birds!

I've never seen a bald Cardinal, personally. So, I'm not much of an authority there. I do see them molt twice a year and they are a raggedy bunch when they do.

My Juncos are my favorite winter bird and I look forward to their arrival each year. They are nicknamed "snow birds" in the Midwest because they usually come in just ahead of the snow and don't leave until the threat is over......mid-March for us in STL.

In the winters, I am mostly looking for native sparrows. Lots of colorful birds molt into something more drab and boring, or fly south. The sparrows, however, come back from way up in Canada to winter here. If you want to look up some interesting birds (and drive yourself nuts trying to identify them correctly), google "white throated sparrow," "lincoln's sparrow," "fox sparrow," or "chipping sparrow." These are some of the more common ones. The reason they are "native" is because they have always been here. The House Sparrow, European Starling, and Eurasian Tree Sparrow all hitched rides on boats like the Mayflower, or were brought over here for the 1904 World's Fair...in the case of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. They multiply like rabbits and are a bit more aggressive when nesting in spring...kicking the more docile, native species out. So, outproducing and taking homes away from others is why they spread like wildfire around the US and are being labeled a "nuisance species." I try not to feed them much more than I have to. If I find my feeders being run over by them, I just stop feeding for a couple weeks in hopes they move on.

Two other tricks: 1- European Starlings cannot feed upside down. If you feed suet, mount your cage in a block of wood where the only access is from underneath. 2- Sparrows (all kinds) love millet and cracked corn.....the fillers in your cheap seed mixes. If they are a problem, spend the little bit extra and stick to black-oil sunflower seeds. B/O sunflower attracts the biggest diversity AND cuts down on the nuisance birds kind of at the same time. It's my #1 seed year round. I do other mixes I play with, but I'm never without B/O sunflower.

I guess I'm a bad bird feeder then. I enjoy watching all of them so I feed them all. I also feed the squirrels which seems to tick off some bird purists.

I've got stuff out for thistle eaters, ground feeders, woodpeckers - like the suet I make & the occasional orange nailed to the tree, and hummingbirds come spring.