The Owl and the Pussycat

Great-horned Owls begin their breeding season in the depths of winter. Courting begins in December when you can hear them hooting a lot in the evenings and see them perched out in the open during the day. Nesting begins in January and once that happens, the owls disappear. The female is hidden on the nest which is usually in a large cavity in a tree and the male is hiding out nearby keeping a careful watch on his mate. This continues through February and March. We hike the trails and never see an owl. In late March or April, things change again and we begin to see an adult owl sitting out during the day. She is watching the nest from nearby now because her babies are so big that she doesn't have room to sit with them in the nest.

Dad is also sitting nearby to keep an eye out for trouble.

The babies are big enough to move around and can be seen in the nest cavity most days. Connie and I have been keeping tabs on the family for the past week.

And now for the pussycat. Well, not exactly a cat. More like our dog Peanut acting more like a cat than a dog. While Connie and I were watching the owlets (who were watching us right back), Peanut found a tree to climb.

She was up there so high, it scared me to death. Here she is scrambling back down.

That's Why They Call it Fox Chase Farm

Like all of America, I'm doing my best to stop the spread of Corona Virus by staying home and keeping up with the social distancing requirements. I generally work from home anyway, so that part is easy for me. Connie and I are set up in different parts of the house to work (somehow, she got the sunroom). We still get outside every day to walk Peanut. We are going to Pennypack and Lorimer parks which is really nice. Lorimer Park butts up against Fox Chase Farm which has big open cow pastures and a beautiful view.

The other day, I noticed a fox one of the cow pastures at Fox Chase Farm. And, as the name suggests, I watched her as she stalked and chased her prey. She would sit very still with laser focus on the grass in front of her.

Listening for critters

Then, she would leap into the air and come down hard hoping to pin the prey.

The Pounce!

She did this several times. Stare. Pounce. Stare. Pounce.

And finally, one last pounce lunging directly away from my camera lens . . .

Victory! A rodent of some sort to bring back to her kits. She looked directly at me as if to say "Got it!"

Success

She trotted off through the field. What a way to spend 15 minutes before going back to the reality of our pandemic situation.

Spring has Sprung

It's April and officially spring. For us birders, we get really excited when we see or hear the first arrivals from the south. For me at home, spring is signified by Chipping Sparrows who showed up en-masse last week with a record high 7 of them hanging on the feeder at the same time.

Meanwhile, in the woods at Pennypack, I have been treated to seeing Louisiana Waterthrush on multiple occasions along the creek. I don't know if it is the same bird hanging around or a different bird moving through each day but one of them put on a show on Sunday morning singing his heart out.

Louisiana Waterthrush

The Wood Ducks are up in the trees whistling. That only means one thing - love is in the air for them. Wood Ducks make their nests in holes in the tree just like an owl. Here is a crazy photo for you:

https://www.facebook.com/AudubonEverglades/photos/a.1172524176139159/2695677033823858/?type=1&theater

That's a Screech Owl and a baby Wood Duck in the same hole!

More signs of spring in the woods include these wildflowers that Connie and I photographed on Saturday.

Virginia Bluebell

Trout Lily

Blood Root

Cut-leaf Toothworth

 Things are definitely ramping up for spring. and, I've been asked to participate in the World Series of Birding this year. Stay tuned for details.

Christmas Bird Count 2019

Another year, another Christmas Bird Count. It always seems like the worst weather too. This year, I did Pennypack Park on Saturday in drizzle and dreary overcast conditions. My territory is pretty boring but at least I found a Great-horned Owl sitting out. Poor thing was harrassed by a group of crows later in the day but didn't budge from his perch.

Great-horned Owl

And caught this Pileated Woodpecker in flight. You can see the white wing panels that make this bird easy to ID in flight.

Pileated Woodpecker

You can see by the photographs that the lighting was TERRIBLE for photographing birds.

On Sunday, I joined Paul Guris' CBC group to cover the Two Mile Unit of Cape May. I have helped with this territory in the past but this year, the weather was really snotty with sideways rain, wind and fog that prevented us from seeing very much. This Cooper's Hawk sat on the railing at the boat dock dripping wet for a long time. Even she didn't want to fly in that weather.

Once I downloaded the photo, I noticed that this hawk has leg bands. I can't read the band information but interesting to find one with "jewelry".

We were the only group in Cape May to spot a Snow Bunting this year which is weird because there are a lot of professional birders that cover this area. I guess we just got lucky. This little guy was gobbling up seeds in the parking lot of the restaurant.

Snow Bunting

I quit around 2:30 and headed home to host the DVOC photo contest judging. There were alot of great submissions this year. The judges had a tough time choosing winners to be announced on Thursday.

Philadelphia Breeding Bird Census

The second Philadelphia Breeding Bird Census is taking place this year. It is coordinated by the DVOC to try to document the birds that breed in the city. My section, as usual is Pennypack Park between Verree and Pine Road. I do the same area for the Christmas Bird Count and the Mid-winter Bird Census too. We not only count the birds but also document if they are building nests, on eggs, have chicks or other breeding activity.

I think I did pretty good today with 32 species. Mostly Catbirds, Robins and Wood Thrushes. They are all easy to find by listening. Catbirds just cackle and meow all day long.

Catbird

Robins nests are pretty easy to find.

Robin's nest

I also managed to find a Red-bellied Woodpecker nest. Here is Mom getting ready to go inside to feed the babies.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

The Downy Woodpeckers have already fledged and are out and about following Mom and Dad around the woods. Here is one of the little fellows.  Look at his cute little beak - not ready to hammer away at the trees quite yet.

Juvenile Downy Woodpecker

 I was getting worried about where all of the Wood Ducks were but finally found 2 Moms with babies down by the dam. Here is one brood resting on a log.

Mom and baby Wood Ducks

There aren't many warblers nesting in our woods. I managed to find a few Yellow Warblers and this Common Yellowthroat over by Fox Chase farm.

Common Yellowthroat

I will head back later today to see if I can find any other birds at dusk.

A Great Find in Pennypack

I've been taking Peanut to Pennypack park in the mornings lately. We've been running into the Director of the Environmental Center, Pete almost every morning. He's been birding before work too. Each day, we exchange sightings and sometimes walk together for a short stretch. We found some nice warblers including those that I posted about last week. On Friday, he was all smiles. He found a  Barred Owl along the stream. That is a rare bird for Philadelphia. I hustled to the spot but only found owl poop. No owl.

On Monday, the Barred Owl was sitting along the stream again. I took a few photos and left him alone. On Tuesday, I saw the Owl again and tried not to disturb him but he was disturbed anyway. Owls are harassed by other birds in the woods when they are spotted. The birds want the Owl out of there territory so that they feel safer. This Blue Jay was absolutely on a mission to get the Owl to move on. The Jay would sit close and squawk.

Barred Owl and Blue Jay

The Jay moved all around the Owl but mainly sat on the branch above the Owl's head.

Barred Owl and Tormenter

The Owl didn't move, so the Jay took it up a notch. He swooped down . . .

Swoop

And whacked that Owl in the head!

Whack!

The Owl took the abuse and just ducked.

bob and weave

I think this is the Owl's tactic. Just sit still and take the abuse and let the attacker get tired or bored or both and leave. That is exactly what the Jay did. He left. I took one more photo.

Barred Owl

And the Owl was finally left undisturbed.

Home Turf Spring Migration

Back at home and N-V-T-S with work but I managed to get out to see a few birds this week before work. I have been walking Peanut at Pennypack lately due to bird migration and the fact that our "Mudhole" is being developed for 62+ housing. The contractor sprayed herbicide last week to kill the vegetation so we stayed away. At Pennypack, we managed to pick out a few golden nuggets including a Hooded Warbler for the second year in a row. Not the best photo but at least I managed to get one. Hooded Warblers are notorious for signing and hiding in plain sight.

Hooded Warbler

Blackpoll Warblers have the reputation of being the last warblers to migrate through in spring. Not this year. I heard and saw many already and migration isn't even in full swing. This guy was singing at the top of a tree in the field.

Early Blackpoll Warbler

Both birds were also seen by the park administrator and another local birder. I met up with them on the trail as they started their day off of birding. The woods were alive with the song of Wood Thrush. They are really active and out in the open this week. Such rich colors.

Handsome Wood Thrush

Wood Thrushes are HUGE compared to their cousin the Veery. This is the first one I've seen this year.

Veery

On our way out of the park, we saw this Red-tailed Hawk with her breakfast. Yummy squirrel. Not a great photo. I didn't want to move closer and scare her off. Sometimes the bird drops the prey when spooked and I didn't want that to happen.

Red-tail and Squirrel

Big shore weekend planned. Hoping for good weather and good birds.

Signs of Spring

Let's be clear, March 21st is the first day of spring. Meaning the day of the vernal equinox which means that the northern hemisphere will start to have more of the sun's warmth. It doesn't mean that winter is over. In fact, we got 6 inches of heavy snow dumped on us on March 21st. Our Screech Owl suffered through it with dignity.

Screech Owl

Despite that fact, Peanut and I have seen some small signs of spring. Starting with this Eastern Phoebe that showed up at the mudhole this week. His pumping tail was a sight for sore eyes.

Phoebe

Slowly, slowly, winter may be giving up it's grip. Peanut and I felt energized and decided to take a walk at Pennypack park to see if we could find other signs of spring. Walking by the creek, I heard and saw a big splash. I looked for a Kingfisher but no bird was in sight. I looked for a tree branch but none surfaced. I looked for kids throwing rocks but Peanut and I were the only ones on the trail. Then, I saw something swimming along. I couldn't believe it - a Beaver!

Beaver

 The splash that I saw was the Beaver slapping his tail on the surface just before diving under. He did it again and next thing I knew, he was swimming about 3 feet in front of me.

Beaver

And then . . .

Splash, he was gone again. Peanut and I left him alone to explore our Pennypack creek. I hope he makes our creek his home.

Closer to Home

Our search for Snowy Owls and other winter birds took Todd and I to Canada in December. I guess we could have saved some gas money by waiting for the Snowy Owls to come south. Marty and I went to the Philadelphia airport this morning to see this Snowy Owl which has been hanging around the UPS hangar for a few weeks. We found him/her sitting on a light pole.

Snow Owl

A different angle shows that this location is in fact an airport. That's the radar tower behind the owl.

Snow Owl with Radar

There is talk of capturing this owl, banding it and relocating it to the farmlands in Lancaster county. The last Snowy that tried to make the airport it's winter home was killed by a UPS plane on the runway. Runways are not safe for birds (or any living thing). The trouble is that the same bird that was killed was also captured, banded and relocated to Lancaster. It took him less than 2 days to return to the airport! So, why bother? I hope they leave the bird alone and let him/her take it's chances.

Marty and I headed up to Pennypack on the Delaware park in search of ducks. We found icebergs.

Marty surveys the river

Some of them were grounded at low tide. It's less of an ice berg, than a big ice ball. It is accumulated ice slabs mixed with dirt and debris that froze together. Kind of neat looking.

Stranded Iceberg

We did find a few ducks. Here are Bufflehead amongst the ice flows.

Bufflehead

Birding has been really slow lately. Hoping next weekend is better.

Funny How These Things Happen

Last night at the DVOC meeting, a 14 year old girl gave a presentation about owls. The presentation was cute and informative. I went to Pennypack park this evening to look for Wood Thrushes. I'm volunteering to do a study to help Fairmount Park document 100 nesting pairs. If we can find 200 birds, the park will be designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) of continental significance.

Unfortunately, the Wood Thrushes weren't singing tonight. What are the chances that I would see this guy instead:

An owl! The day after we had a presentation on owls. Crazy. This is a Red Phase Screech Owl. He was being harassed by every little bird in the woods which is how I found him. He was sitting quietly trying to use camouflage to hide but it obviously wasn't working.

A couple of teenagers walked by and I showed them the owl. They were floored! Funny how these things happen.

Christmas Bird Count(s) 2016

The annual Christmas Bird Count is a time honored tradition. I've been doing it one for the past few years. My territory is Pennypack park near the Environmental Center. I dutifully cover this territory year after year come rain or shine, warm or freezing cold. This year was of the rainy and cold variety. Needless to say, the day was pretty shitty. No birds. Cold  and wet. Peanut didn't even really have a good time. She was happy to call it quits by 1 PM. That was Saturday Dec 17th. The only photo that I managed was this miserable Cooper's Hawk.

Cooper's Hawk

Sunday was a totally different day. I offered to help Paul Guris cover his CBC area in Cape May and we had a much better day. Not only did we have better weather, but you can imagine that we had better birds too due to the habitat. We cover an area called Two Mile which is north of the Cape May inlet. It has beach and sea viewing, the inlet, marshes and also extends into Wildwood Crest. Peanut has a great day running the beach.

Here are a few Ruddy Turnstones that Peanut ran right past.

Ruddy Turnstones

We also found a these Conch shells washed up on the beach. I think they are really called Welks but whatever.

Welk Shells

Over in the marsh behind the Two Mile Restaurant, we found this very confiding Western Sandpiper. This bird sat still while we all took photographs. It didn't even fly away when Peanut ran past. I kind of felt bad for the bird - all alone on the marsh. It seemed out of sorts. I took a bajillion photos. This is the best one given the overcast lighting and rubble where the bird seemed most comfortable.

Western Sandpiper

We cruised through Wildwood Crest counting neighborhood birds along the way. Pigeons, Starlings, Mourning Doves and House Sparrows. Wait. Did that House Sparrow have yellow on it? Turn around. Let's give it another look. Sure enough, Andy and Paul had spotted a Dickcissel among the flock of House Sparrows at a feeder while driving 30 MPH down New Jersey Ave. Wow. These guys are good. Look at the subtle difference between the House Sparrow in the foreground and the Dickcissel sitting up on the bush.

Dickcissel and House Sparrow

The Dickcissel was the only one of it's species to be seen on the Cape May CBC. Sunday was like payback for my effort on Saturday. Yay.