Tax Time!

I am writing today to remind you to do a few things. Some before it is too late and some earlier than normal.

Every year I use tax season as a marker for a few things. Yes, taxes is one of them but luckily I have Connie and an accountant (mostly Connie) to help me with that. But I'm not going to discuss taxes on a bird blog, don't worry.

Tax season happens to occur right at the brink of migration season.  An interesting thing happens at the bird feeders in our yard each year on or around April 1st: 

• Chipping Sparrows arrive - those tiny, sprite birds with rufous caps and huge trilling songs.
• Juncos - start to get agitated and annoyed with each other even though they spent the whole winter in gregarious harmony. You should appreciate these black and white beauties until you file your return because that is when they leave us and head north for the summer.
• Towhees arrive - these giant sparrows are beautifully colored with black, white and rufous.  You may not see them in your yard but you know they are there when you here them tell you to "drink your teeeeaaaaa".
• Flickers return - these woodpeckers act like Robins hopping around on your lawn looking for bugs but when they take off, you can see the beautiful yellow under their wings.  Flickers will be looking for nest holes now.
• Goldfinches are actually turning gold after being dull dudes all winter. They will start returning in force to the thistle (niger) feeders for awhile.
• Pine and Palm Warblers -- look and listen for these early migrants in your yards even though they don't actually go to the bird feeder.  Pine warblers sound like slower, louder Chipping Sparrow.  They are really yellow breasted with 2 wing bars.  Palm warblers are also really yellow right now and they pump their tails constantly.
• Eastern Phoebes - speaking of tail pumpers, the Phoebe is a black, gray and white bird that also pumps its tail constantly.  They are named for their song which is a harsh sounding "Fe Bee!" emphasis on the Bee.  They will nest around buildings so don't be surprised to see one in your neighborhood.

If you like to look at ducks, now is the time to get to a lake, river, bay or ocean to see all of our wintering ducks with their new beautiful breeding plumage before they head north too. 

I normally hang my hummingbird feeder until after tax deadline day - April 15th (17th this year because the 15th is a Saturday) but not this year.  I have mine hung at home and at the shore already this year.  Ruby-throated Hummingbirds - the only type of hummer that is normal for our area - have been arriving all across the east coast since early March.  Here is a link to the migration map http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html showing dates of first arrivals.  Get your hummingbird feeder hung.  Remember the formula is 1 cup of boiling water with 1/4 cup of sugar mixed in. No dyes or food coloring.  Also remember to clean the feeder and use new food every week until it gets warmer, then clean and change every 3-4 days.  Failure to clean and change may result in giving your hummer fungal disease.
Oh, and file your taxes on time.  That's it for now.  I will be posting from the left coast next week.  I will be at a conference in San Francisco, then heading down the coast with Di to Los Angeles.  I hope we have good weather.

Circle of Life in Florida

Warning - these photos are not for the faint of heart. They are probably not suited for vegetarians.  They made my stomach turn a little bit and I was the photographer.

23 years ago, Connie and I had our first apartment together.  We were not allowed to have any pets, so we got a lizard from a carnival.  Then we got another one to keep the first guy company.  We kept those 2 in a 10 gallon fish tank and expected them to last maybe a year.  Well, 4 years later, they were still going strong.  We named them Herby and Skippy and fed them live crickets (not fun).  One of them developed a tumor on the side of his head and still didn't die.  We started calling him Lumpy.  After 5 years, they finally died and we got rid of the tank and got a dog (Daisy, the best dog ever) and a cat (Mimi, who as you know is still alive and travels to the shore with us).

Why am I chronicling our pet history for you?  First, to take up room on your computer screen so that you don't see the photos if you don't want to.  And second, because here in Florida, those lizards are wild.  They are called Anoles and they run around everywhere.  And, they become the food for Herons and other birds.

I happened to be photographing a Little Blue Heron from the boat dock the other day when he snapped this little guy up from the grass.  It is heartbreaking to see the lizard struggle, but I guess the heron has to eat too.

 Here is the heron just after he plucked the lizard from the grass.

 Here is a cropped photo.

 This poor lizard looks like he is yelling for his life.

Now he is biting the heron's beak trying to escape.  Aaagghhh.

With one quick gulp, the lizard was no more.  Wah!  There was nothing I could do but witness the circle of life in action - and get a little queasy while doing it. 

Loony

March is an interesting time for watching birds molt their feathers from winter to "breeding" plumage.  The best example that I can show you today is with Common Loons.  Here are photos of a few different Loons taken on our trip this week. It is like one of them just doesn't want to go north while another is trying hard and yet another is almost ready. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

 Still dressed in winter feathers. Dull as dull can be.

 This bird is really in the middle between winter and summer.  He is getting that "checkerboard" back but still doesn't have the black head or "necklace".

 Almost ready to head north for summer with the necklace and checkerboard.  He is just waiting for a few more feathers to turn black on his head.

The famous "snorkeling" posture where the loon looks underwater before diving. 

It was really amazing how tame this last loon was.  He just floated around while Di positioned the boat between him and sun so that I could get decent photos.  This bird was truly content even though we were only 20 - 30 yards away from him.  It makes me wonder if he summers on a pond that has lots of people and boats like his winter home in Charlotte Harbor FL.

I wonder where these birds go for the summer home.  Maine? Canada? Minnesota? Upstate NY?  Where ever they go, they will be a real treat for anyone who is lucky enough to see them in their summer finest.

Another Lifer, or Two

We went to Babcock Webb WMA twice this week searching for some birds that we needed for "lifers".  3 of us got lifers -- Barbara got Brown-headed Nuthatch, Di got Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and we all got Short-tailed Hawk.  We all want to believe that we heard the Bachman's Sparrow, but we didn't actually see the bird so we are not counting that one as life bird. 

 Here is the female Red-cockaded Woodpecker digging out a nest hole.

Here is the best photo that we could get of the Short-tailed Hawk.  We didn't even positively ID the bird until we blew up the photo.  We determined Short-tailed Hawk based on the - well, short tail - and the overall color of the bird.

You didn't think we could leave Punta Gorda without checking in on those owl babies again did you?  Of course not.  What kind of bird nerds would we be if we didn't see how they were doing?  Well, in only one short week of being here, the babies are now big enough that they are out of the nest and hanging out on a nearby branch.  Mom and Dad are still very close by keeping an eye on their brood.

Connie, Barbara and I also got another life bird on this trip - the Monk Parakeet.  These noisy, social birds colonize city parks including Punta Gorda, Miami and NY City.  These birds were building nests in the palm trees down by the wharf.

 Here is a parakeet eating the fruit from the palm tree.

 Here is another one picking up sticks for the nest.

 Here is one of the happy couples in their new palm condo nest.  There were many nests in each palm tree.

Better Kite Photos

I showed you some really horrible photos of Snail Kites from last month when Connie and I went to explore Harnes Marsh.  We decided to take the girls over to see if we could get lucky again. We got pretty darned lucky!  Barbara spotted a hawk on a telephone pole before we even got to the marsh.  We turned the van around and "Viola!" a Snail Kite - with a snail.  It took off before we could get close but we all got to see it.

Still lousy, but you can see the snail in the Kites talons as it flies off to feast.

We headed off to the marsh and didn't see another Snail Kite.  We saw a lot of other birds.  Then, on our way back out, we saw the Kite back at the same location.  This time the Kite was hunting along the canal. 

 I think this is a pretty good shot of the Snail Kite hover-hunting along the canal. 

Here it is perched on the wire over the road.  Check out the hook on his bill.

 Here is the Kite flying up the canal.  

I guess this bird isn't afraid of people either.  That is a good thing since they are endangered due to loss of habitat. 

Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel

You know how I wanted to see more owls this year?  Well, the girls and I certainly got our fill of owls yesterday at Corkscrew Swamp.  Barred Owls are resident birds at Corkscrew.  Connie and I have seen them a few times before.  They seem not to be bothered by the hundreds of visitors that walk the boardwalk every day.  Yesterday, they seemed even less concerned than normal.  Here are some photos to show you what I mean.  These are 3 separate individuals - each seen a few yards from the boardwalk.  Enjoy!

 Barred Owl Pair - Preening each other and nuzzling

Forming the shape of a heart.  Cute.

 One of the owls flew down to another perch and played peek-a-boo with my camera.

The other stayed up higher and preened her (or his) talons.

 This is Peek-A-Boo up close and personal.

 This is the owl that we saw sitting by himself on another part of the boardwalk. Also preening.

Here is a close up of Sweetheart.

It really was like shooting fish in a barrel.  Finding owls doesn't get easier than this.

TimberDoodle

I just found out what a TimberDoodle is - its another (cuter) name for the American Woodcock - a small shorebird that lives in the woods rather than by the shore.  TimberDoodles were all over the electronic airwaves last week.  I received emails, other blog posts, text messages, and photos about them.  Why?  Because its that time of year again - TimberDoodle Dance time. 

Woodcock dancing time starts and peaks during the first 2 weeks of March.  This is when you will hear them in the fields near your house or local woods "peent"ing.  It really sounds like that.  Go ahead, make that sound - "PEEENT" and you have just done a spectacular imitation of a TimberDoodle! 

Now, drive to a field nearby that has some woods close to it at dusk and listen.  "PEEENT!" means that you should get out of the car and stand in the field to witness the "dance".  Listen for whistling sounds above your head.  This is the TimberDoodle actually doing the "dance".  The male TimberDoodle will PEENT a few times, then fly into the air circling the field going higher and higher until he is completely out of sight.  Then he plummets back to earth.  All of this to impress his lady friend who generally sits hidden in the weeds acting uninterested. 

You can hear him doing this more than you can see him since it occurs at dusk.  His feathers whistle during the flight.  You can follow the whistling sound going around and around.  If you are lucky, like Di, Barbara and I were last night at Jake's Landing - you will see the TimberDoodle's silhouette against the dusk sky as he ascends.  If you are really lucky like my friend Patty was at Rancoacas Nature Center - the TimberDoodle will plop right down next to you and have his photo taken!

Male American Woodcock (TimberDoodle) - Photo by Patty

Learn more about the American Woodcock at Cornell University's website - All About Birds

In other news, we worked on the Green House this weekend (link to the photo album) but still managed to see the Bald Eagles sitting on our beach again and got this decent photo of Savannah Sparrow. 

 Savannah Sparrow - Ipswich race

Heading back down to Florida for a quick trip later this week.  Stay tuned. 

No Snow But Still Snowy

I was holding on to this post in order to have something new for you to read during the doldrums of February and March.  However, I can't hold onto it any longer because there are no doldrums.  The weather is warmer than I can remember for Feb or March and the birds are headed north already from their winter homes.  We are seeing shorebirds on our beach in the Villas such as Dunlin, Red Knots, Piping Plover and Black-bellied Plovers - all of which I just saw a bunch of on Bunche Beach (get it? a bunch on bunche).  We are also getting reports of other birds arriving.

Anyway, all of that to say that Lori, Tara and I got to see a Snowy Owl a few weeks ago at a reservoir in north Jersey.  As usual, the weather was not very cooperative with high winds that numbed our hands.  Here are a few photos. 

 Snowy Owl tucked away in the rocks.  This is the back side of the damn that holds the water into the reservoir at Merrill Creek.

 Cropped to show the owl trying to doze off

Scratching her head.  We are pretty sure that this is a "she" due to the amount of black barring on her feathers.  Males tend to be whiter.

In case you couldn't tell from the recent posts, I am on a bit of an owl prowl lately.  I am hoping to see seven species.  I will post updates as they occur.

Di and I are off to see a vagrant Broad-tailed Hummingbird that apparently spent the winter in someone's yard in Cape May.  This species is rarely seen east of the Rockies and is the first documented record in New Jersey.  It would be a shame if we didn't spend 15 minutes to witness this historic event and wish the little guy well before he takes off for Colorado.

The Eagles Have Landed

Before making a complete fool of myself with the cat at Jake's Landing on Sunday (see below), Barbara and I were treated to a fantastic sight on our beach at Ohio Ave:

 Barbara posing with the distant eagles

A closer view of the eagles sitting on the sandbar at low tide

Cropped to see that they are picking at a fish or something

Flying off together

These eagles are often seen sitting on the sandbar that forms at low tide, but only when low tide occurs in the morning before the hustle and bustle of beach walkers and dogs.  They take flight at first sight of people as they did on Sunday. 

The Owl and The Pussycat

So, what could make me look like even more of a nerd?  Hmmmm.  Let's see. . . What? What? What, could I do?

Oh, I know!  I could take my cat to Jake's Landing to look for Short-eared Owls, that's what.  Yup.  You read that right. Mimi, Roxy and I went to Jake's Landing this evening to look for Short-eared Owls.  My Fiat was the only car in the parking lot when we arrived so I let Mimi out.  Jake's Landing Road winds through woods, then a marsh and ends at a boat ramp.  The gravel road and parking lot are surrounded by wet marsh so I let Mimi out of the car while I searched for the owls.

She circled the car.  Then she circled it again.  Then she started making wider circles to the edge of the grass.  I wasn't worried since I knew she couldn't go far so I focused my attention on finding an owl and hopefully getting a photo or two.  Every so often I would look around for her. Then, I looked around and couldn't find her.  OH CRAP.  Connie will never speak to me again if I lose this cat . . . But really, how far could she go?  She is 20 years old for God's sake. 

It didn't seem that weird - until the other cars came down the road and sent me scrambling to find the cat.  I found her all the way at the far edge of the parking lot and only because I heard the jangling of her tags. Imagine what the other drivers thought when they saw this lone woman with binoculars, a camera and a CAT slung over her shoulders. I looked like the crazy cat lady, that's what.  Needless to say, the other cars left quickly and I put the cat in the car.

The good news is that I managed to find 3 owls sitting in the marsh and also got to hear 2 calling.  The bad news is that none of them ever got closer than this:

And, they only became active after this which rendered my camera useless:

Sunday Walk and Answer to the Mystery

I'll start by saying that the DVOC gang all agree that they mystery shorebird from the last post is a Long-billed Curlew.  Thanks to all who posted a comment with your thoughts.  The conclusion was based on the thickness of the bill rather than the length and the overall plumage pattern.

Now on to this morning's walk. It is February in Pennsylvania but you wouldn't know it by listening to the singing birds this morning.  It sounded more like spring.  Roxy and I went to Pennypack Trust and had some nice interactions with Bluebirds, Song Sparrows, a flock of Turkeys and a surprise encounter with this Cooper's Hawk.

It is not unusual for a Cooper's Hawk to sit low in the woods watching for his next meal. But it is unusual for it to sit there and let me take a few photos.  I had to use manual focus in order to cut through the obstructions but it is still a pretty good photo that shows the white tip of its rounded tail which is why I am calling this a Cooper rather than Sharp-shinned Hawk.

I am still trying to get a good shot of a Bluebird that shows the stunning blue.

 Here is the male Bluebird singing

Here he is singing again.

Here is a video of the singing birds:

ID Mystery

So, let's talk about the rest of our day on Friday.  After a quick lunch we headed over the ($6) bridge to Sanibel Island so that Connie could do some shelling and shopping.  We went to the beach after buying souvenirs to thank our amazing friends who were watching our ancient, disoriented, finicky cat.  The beach was packed with people who were all leaving due to the increasing clouds. 

It was pretty amazing to see all of the birds mingling with the sunbathers.  Royal, Sandwich and Forster's terns; Willets, Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlins, Short-billed Dowitchers and a Red Knot; Pelicans and Cormorants - all basically going about their own business and unimpressed by the hundred or so people stepping around them to collect shells or depart the beach.  I mean it, stepping around and over the birds.  Here are some shots but please keep reading because I need your help with the next section.

See what I mean about the birds and people being so close?  Here is a Red Knot and a guy with a beach chair about 6 feet away.

 Royal Tern - one of about 100 preening on this part of the beach.

 Sandwich Tern - lots of these southern birds on the beach too.  Check out the yellow tip on the bill.  This particular bird hacked something up right in front of me - gross.

After Sanibel, we stopped by Bunche Beach for a quick shorebird scan.  Connie got her dream by letting me out of the car and burning rubber to the outlet stores out on the main drag.  I passed 2 women with binoculars who asked me if I "was here to see the curlew".  I casually said "Of coouurse" as if I knew there was a Long-billed Curlew on the beach. The women pointed me toward another couple with a spotting scope who graciously let me look at the bird.  They said that it must be 5:15 because they were told that the bird lands on the beach every day at 5:15.  It was certainly 5:15. 

The couple left and I noticed a guy with a metal detector walking really close to the bird and the bird wasn't leaving, so I moved in for a closer look and photographs.  Wow, a curlew on the east coast.  I have only seen them in California.  I took a dozen photos that came out pretty good considering the terrible lighting. The trouble is that I don't think this is a Long-billed Curlew.  The name implies that it has a really long bill.  While this bird has a long bill, it isn't REALLY long. It's more of a Whimbrel kind of long.  I think this is a Whimbrel.  Still a good bird, but not as rare as a curlew.

 Whimbrel or Long-billed Curlew?

This is a cropped photo which shows a nice warm brown color with marbled pattern on the wing and back.  The Sibley guide states this marbled pattern "like Marbled Godwits" as a field mark for the Long-billed Curlew.  But still that short bill. . . and although I did not get any shots of the bird's head, it appears to have some pattern and possibly a central stripe which is the field mark of the Whimbrel.  Marbled Godwits in the distant background, Short-billed Dowitcher in the near background (I think) and Least Sandpipers in the foreground all indicate the relative size of this bird.  Long-billed Curlew size states 23". Whimbrel size states 17.5".  Godwits state 18".  While the bird never got that close to the Godwits, it did appear a bit larger than them. 

So, you see the conundrum? What do you think?  Write a comment and give us your opinion. 

Great Day, Lousy Light

Connie and I had a great day of birding on Friday around Ft Myers Florida.  We spent Thursday evening with her aunt and uncle who live in Ft Myers Beach. It was lovely.  We watched the sunset, ate great home cooked meal, talked and saw a slide show of their recent trip to Morocco.  Aunt Gloria reminded us that Ding Darling NWR is closed on Fridays - a lesson that we have learned the hard way in the past - so we decided to spend Friday scoping out new birding locations.  We started the day at 6 Mile Cypress Slough which was about 5 minutes from our hotel and had a great boardwalk through cypress swamps very much like Corkscrew Swamp. This place was interesting due to the Barred Owl report on Birdseye.  One of the volunteers told us that the bird was seen most often "in the old cypress tree" near Wood Duck Pond.  Dude, look around. The place is a cypress swamp.  "You know, the cypress tree near Wood Duck Pond" does not help when the place has about a zillion cypress trees!  Anyway, I got these shots of Ibis and a pig.  We also saw tons of Palm Warblers.

 White Ibis

Feral Pig

I had 2 target birds on this Florida trip:  Snail Kite and Short-tailed Hawk.  We got Snail Kite(s) at our next stop - Harnes Marsh which is just east of Ft Myers.  Snail Kites was reported for at least a week there.  The marsh is located smack in the middle of a suburban neighborhood.  You actually access the marsh from 38th street, but once you are there, it is a pretty big space.  You have to walk the dirt road which surrounds the marsh. Birds were everywhere.  We immediately saw a Bald Eagle, lots of Egrets, Herons and Coots and an Osprey.  We ran into a group of senior citizens who were obviously on a bird walk.  We asked about the Kites and were told to ask the tall guy in the baseball hat.  He knows this place like the back of his hand.  Great! He'll give us the lay of the land and hopefully guide us to the Snail Kites. 

We caught up with the leader and informed him that he was recommended as the expert.  "You see that dead tree there?" he asked.  Yes, the tree was about 200 yards down the path. We could clearly see the tree.  Then he said "We have never made it past that tree, ever. You see these people?  They are hot and tired and returning to their cars."  He wasn't kidding.  He really had never been past the tree.  He did tell us that they saw 2 Snail Kites through the scope. Both immature or females. He also gave great description of what to look for and we did see the kites.

Of course, passing the tree became a goal that we had to meet and we did indeed go past the tree.  We didn't have to go far past the tree before seeing the kites. At first, I thought it might be a Harrier due to the size and white rump patch, but it was indeed a female Snail Kite.  She was quickly joined by the male who put on a show for us hunting, well, snails.  These are really bad photos due to sun glare and heat shimmer but you can clearly see the kite's markings.  Look hard to see the orange hooked bill that it uses to pull the snails from their shells.

 Male and female Snail Kites. Male is the dark gray bird on the right.

Male Snail Kite soaring

Male Snail Kite soaring - you can see the profile of his hooked bill here.

The object of the Snail Kite's desire.  

As if that wasn't enough, Connie yelled "Lin, look at that big hawk that just took off next to us".  It wasn't a hawk at all - it was a Crested Caracara!  Right next to us.  Lousy photo since I was surprised and the light was still really bad.

Crested Caracara

 Here is a better photo of one from our trip to Belize a few years ago.

All of this, and it wasn't even lunch time yet.  I'll post the rest of the day next.