BIRD OF THE WEEK - Week Ten (AMERICAN GOLDFINCH)

Our bird this week, the American Goldfinch, will wrap up our series on Bird of the Week.  It has been very helpful to me, to brush up on my bird calls and I hope it was helpful to you.

The American Goldfinch vocalizations are considered to be complex vocalizations.  The songs are a lively, high-pitched series of chirps, twitters, and trills.  They have a flight call which sounds like perchickaree, perchickaree.  Fledglings have a call of their own:  chipee, chipee, chipeepee.  Again it is best to listen to the audio at www.birdjam.com/learn.php. Click on American Goldfinch.

Though small, American Goldfinches are easy to spot because of their color, not their location.  This time of year the male is a vibrant yellow with black wings, the female, a duller yellow.  If you have a thistle feeder, you no doubt see these birds on a regular basis.  If not, learn their vocalizations.  Since they frequent leafy trees and are obscured by foliage, it is helpful to listen for them first and then search them out. 

Keep in mind that some birds sing all of the time and all birds sing some of the time!  So keep listening and make good use of the websites that provide audio:  www.birdjam.com/learn.php and www.enature.com/birding/audio.asp.  

So keep on birding.  It adds another dimension to the out-of-doors.  Bird of the Week will be back next spring.  Thanks for tuning in.  Stay tuned for the further adventures of Ar and San as they Bird and Bond.

Truly a Work of Art!

As I sit here on this second to the last day of May, I can't believe that the month is almost over.  Even though May seems to be a perfect birding month, it also is a perfect spring cleaning, get stuff done around the yard month.  So therefore, aside from our long service day together, Ar and I have not spent much time birding and bonding, together, that is.  Birding is a way of life for each of us and we discuss our birding experiences with each other, and we bond when we can find the time.  Perhaps June will find us off on our next birding adventure! 

For now, I wanted to share something our blogging buddy, Raven, discovered.  While out in the field, she found what we think to be a Robin's nest.  There were remnants of blue egg shells.  The nest was in the street.  Upon examining it, we marveled at the design and construction.  It was so beautifully made and so well made.  I am quite sure that Raven will blog about it, but I was anxious to share the picture.  I would love to do some research on the nest building of Robins.  I will try to do that if I can find the time, if Raven doesn't do it first.  The instictive wisdom of our feathered friends certainly testifies about the wisdom of our wonderful Creator, Jehovah!

P.S.  Our friend Raven researched this first.  If you want to get a Robin's perspective of nest building, please check out her post of June 1. 2010 at http://www.asthecrowflies-raven.blogspot.com/.

Morning Seranades

Woke up this morning around 4:30am to the sounds of birds singing.  Thanks to San's tutelage I was able to identify a few of them. 

There was the American Goldfinch, which I recognize easily because I hear them everyday outside my kitchen window.  I also heard a Song Sparrow singing his heart out.

When I went outside later to water my plants, I could hear the Red Breasted Woodpecker, Northern Cardinals and Mourning Doves.

I look forward to this weekend where I can lay in my hammock with a drink and a book and take in all the sounds of spring.  I hope you all enjoy it as well.

Nesting Material Dispenser

Since we are getting near to our Birding and Bonding party I thought I should set it up a bit by providing even more ideas that someone could do at our little shindig. 

I hang out nesting material every spring and I always have a lot of birds visiting it and pulling at it so they can make them homes as comfortable as possible, not all birds nest on twigs.

What's great about this is that you can use practically anything to fill it including hair, string old yarn.

So look around your house, pull the hair out of your brush and scavenge what you can out of your garage and let's use it  in our Nesting Material Dispensers.




                                                             

Feeder - Bird Table

There is nothing like a beautifully set table to attract everyone to it.  So why not do the same for our backyard birds.

This feeder is one of the simplest ones I've seen.
Keep in mind, that this type of feeder will be easy for the squirrels to get to as well, so if you don't mind having some four legged friends at your feeder this one will attract quite a few different types of birds.

Of course the table setting will get them there, but what you put on the table makes all the difference in the world. 

BIRD OF THE WEEK - Week Nine (NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD)

Finally, I can say that the Northern Mockingbirds are in full swing.  Or should I say "in full SING"!  This is one of my favorite birds to listen to because his song is so varied.  Yes, he does mock other birds.  He may sound like a blue jay, robin, cardinal or a host of many other birds.  Mockingbirds have also been know to imitate crying babies, car alarms, cell phones and other natural and manmade sounds.  So just how do you identify a bird that imitates other birds?  Mockingbirds repeat their songs anywhere from three to six times and then they move on to a different song.  So just keep listening.  If it is a melange of different songs, it's a Northern Mockingbird.   Their call note is a loud tchack or chair.  Another easy way to identify a Northern Mockingbird?  They also sing at night.  So just about the only benefit of not being able to sleep at night in the springtime is being able to listen to the beautiful song of this tirelessly singing bird!  If you hear them during the day, check the top of trees or the top of poles.  They usually sit within sight so that they can oversee their territory.  You can have a listen at www.birdjam.com/learn.php.  Click on Northern Mockingbird. Keep in mind, every song is different.  What is always the same is the pattern:  repetitions from three to six times before moving on to a new song.  Enjoy your week and happy birding!

Friday in the Field!

What a wonderful day we had.  The weather was phenomenal, and the company was even better.  Our day together started early in the door to door work, but we were hopeful we would see some birds together.  And we were rewarded.  We noticed a bird that we were pretty sure was a Gray Catbird, and it was.  Needless to say we were thrilled that we were able to add a bird to our list even though it wasn't an official Bird Watching venture. 

San will be heading to Florida, so we were fortunate that we were able to squeeze this one long day of service in before she left. 

The process of finding the birds who live on Long Island all year round has been slow, but the adventure so far has been wonderful. 

My New Bird!

Not happy about this, but I thought I would share it anyway!  This is not exactly the species of bird I am trying to attract to my feeder!
Rat or mouse?  Any thoughts, please let me know.

BIRD OF THE WEEK - Week Eight (DOWNY WOODPECKER)

I must apologize.  Much to my chagrin, last weekend came and went much too quickly and it was not until Tuesday that I realized I forgot to post Bird of the Week!  That did not stop the birds from singing though.  I think I hear all the birds from the past seven weeks each and every day.  The bird I was planning to feature next was the Northern Mockingbird, however, I see many of them, but I don't hear them singing!  What's up with that?  So in the meantime, we will cover the Downy Woodpecker.  If you are not familiar with his song, you probably have heard it often and just didn't give it much thought.  You can pretty much see a Downy just about anywhere.  Always in the woods, but also in neighborhoods.  If you have a suet feeder, they are frequent visitors.  They have a whinny rather than a song.  It is a rapid whinny of notes that descend in pitch.  Their call note is a flat pick.  Of course, it is much easier to listen to it than to try to describe their sound, so here is the link:  www.enature.com/birding/audio.asp.  Under Tree-Clinging Birds click Woodpeckers.  Go to page 2 and click on Downy Woodpecker.  So "keep your ear to the ground," as they say, or perhaps, "keep your ear to the air."  In any case, be well and bird well!

The Perfect Gift

Have you ever wondered what to get the bird lover in your life?  Well, just in case you have, here's an idea.  Why not make a gift basket for them.  This one is almost too simple.  Just fill with different types of bird food and you have the perfect gift!  You can even buy bird food at your local supermarket in small packages.  Or if you like, my husband and I picked up a 75lb bag of black oil sunflower seeds at Sam's Club.  So, you can find bird food just about in any type of store.

New Project - Coconut Feeder

Okay, we have another feeder that looks pretty interesting.  It is a 'Coconut feeder'.  I don't come across too many coconuts in my travels, but I am sure they are out there somewhere.

We are counting down to our Birding soiree!  So pick a project from our list or feel free to bring one of your own. 

The list of items you need doesn't look that difficult. 

We will have some general supplies for our birding projects such as paint and the wire clippers etc.  I have a limited supply of bird food, so we can put together our feeders with  enough to start them out. 

Rare sighting in an Industrial Park!

San, ever since you told me what you thought you saw the other day when you were over by my job I have been diligently looking for this bird.

And guess what!!!  Today I actually saw him (or her) in the grassy part of a parking lot on my way to work.   I immediately turned my car around and tried taking pictures with my phone.   Needless to say, he is so small in the pictures you can't really make him out.  But it was most definitely a Killdeer.
I must admit, I have never in my entire life seen this bird.  I thought  they were only near water, which my job definitely is not unless you count puddles.

Thanks San for telling me to keep on the lookout.  Once I looked this bird up, I realized it isn't so rare a find in a parking lot after all.

This is what I found when I researched the bird:

• 
  

  Habitat

  Look for Killdeer on open ground with low vegetation (or no vegetation at all), including lawns, golf courses, driveways, parking lots, and gravel-covered roofs, as well as pastures, fields, sandbars and mudflats. This species is one of the least water-associated of all shorebirds.
  
  
  

Food Project - Suet

A Fat treat...doesn't that just sound delicious.  This food project is real simple.  And the birds love suet.  This project really doesn't need a lot of explanation, but it is fairly easy and in the summertime we just need to hang it in the shade, not in the full sun.

Ooops!!!

We need to issue our first retraction.  We were so caught up in the excitement of seeing so many birds that we misspoke when we listed the Common Merganser as a year round Duck on Long Island.  

They actually don't arrive on Long Island until around March each year.  So to remain true to our original goal  we will remove them from our list.   

We know that most of our followers wouldn't have been none the wiser, so we offer this apology to all who were offended by our faux pas.   We shall keep birding.

BIRD OF THE WEEK - Week Seven (BLUE JAY)

Welcome to Week Seven of Bird of the Week.  We are again featuring a very common and very recognizable bird, the Blue Jay.  This bird can be heard any time of the year.  They were flying amuck in the preserves we were in Friday so I thought I'd make them the Bird of the Week.  Their call is a very loud jay, jay, jay.  It often signals an alarm, but at lower intensities is used to attract other jays, as in courtship.  Also heard at any time of the year is a bell-like call of two parts - toolool, toolool.  There is also the rattle call, which is a dry, non-musical rattle.  As with most birds, there are variations depending on the area.  If you are trying to learn these calls, it will be easy because Blue Jays are usually out in the open and you can see just who is making all that racket!  As always, BirdJam has a good audio of the Blue Jay.  It is a little varied from the Long Island Blue Jays, but close enough to learn the call.  The link is www.birdjam/learn.php.  Click on Blue Jay.  Until next time....