Yesterday I posted a couple of screen shots from National Weather Service radar showing what appeared to be migratory movement in both Florida and Texas. I love how the kind folks who read this blog are willing to send along their observations which help us understand what is going on in far away places.
Steve Hawkins from San Antonio, Texas wrote to say that migrating geese had been observed on the 26th of Feb. in two locations around San Antonio. He knows they are migratory because geese are only reported from his county during migration.
Jeff Bouton in Port Charlotte, Florida sent a summary of some of the signs of spring in his region. Purple Martins have returned to colonies as of late January. Great Crested Flycatchers have become more vocal as they move onto territories. Chuck-Wills-Widow have started to sing just this week and Jeff also heard singing Northern Parula and Pine Warblers for the first time this spring.
Even locally there has been a noticeable change in the backyard. Northern Cardinals are becoming very vocal in spite of the cold weather and the Downy Woodpeckers are drumming away as they stake out territories for the spring. In the countryside there is an increase in the occurrence of species like Horned Larks and the American Goldfinches are just beginning to show the yellow of their Alternate (breeding) plumage.
The bird activity will only get better as time goes on. It is what keeps some of us going when it's snowing and cold in the backyard.
Keep looking up!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Beginnings of Migration in Fla. and Texas
The days get longer and spring progresses in spite of the weather in some locations. A quick peek at the radar for Sunday night shows the telltale signs of migrants moving north.
The composition of these flocks is unknown but the obvious candidates are waterfowl, blackbirds and some of the early songbird migrants. Is anyone down in Florida or Texas seeing any indication of birds moving?
With time, these radar signatures will become stronger (larger and different in color) and they will appear further north. What you should look for if you are checking the radar are what look like colored rings around every Doppler radar station where birds are moving. For those of us in the north this is just a tease for what we'll be seeing locally in a month or six weeks.
Keep looking up!
The composition of these flocks is unknown but the obvious candidates are waterfowl, blackbirds and some of the early songbird migrants. Is anyone down in Florida or Texas seeing any indication of birds moving?
With time, these radar signatures will become stronger (larger and different in color) and they will appear further north. What you should look for if you are checking the radar are what look like colored rings around every Doppler radar station where birds are moving. For those of us in the north this is just a tease for what we'll be seeing locally in a month or six weeks.
Keep looking up!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Northern Birds
The snow storm last week reminds us that it's long way to spring in these parts some years. There's talk of another "event" this weekend but we'll see. What the snow always reminds me of is being up north in the pines. A couple of birds that are real indicators that you are in a different habitat are the Boreal Chickadee and the Pine Grosbeak.
Last time I was up in Sax-Zim Bog I was lucky enough to see these species up close. Using our van as a rolling blind I got to watch these birds at a feeding station. Their colors just popped against the dull background of snow and gray sky.
The most common species for the day was the Pine Grosbeak. Every feeder we looked at and every flock sitting in the tops of the spruces turned out to be grosbeaks. We did see an Evening Grosbeak here and there but they are not nearly as common as they used to be.
Soon we'll be talking about Red-winged Blackbirds and Sandhill Cranes but for now I'll enjoy the winter residents.
Last time I was up in Sax-Zim Bog I was lucky enough to see these species up close. Using our van as a rolling blind I got to watch these birds at a feeding station. Their colors just popped against the dull background of snow and gray sky.
The most common species for the day was the Pine Grosbeak. Every feeder we looked at and every flock sitting in the tops of the spruces turned out to be grosbeaks. We did see an Evening Grosbeak here and there but they are not nearly as common as they used to be.
Soon we'll be talking about Red-winged Blackbirds and Sandhill Cranes but for now I'll enjoy the winter residents.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Burrowing Owl Video
Well we're surviving the recent snow storm as well as can be expected. The kids are upset because we have the day off for President's Day instead of getting a snow day. Best numbers I can find say that we got around 15" of snow between 9:30 am on the 20th and 10:30 this morning and it's still snowing! To take our minds off of the weather I found a nice little piece to post.
This is a video from Science Friday and is just wonderful. Not the stodgy "science" film you might expect. Just some fun with a beautiful bird on a beautiful summer day.
This is a video from Science Friday and is just wonderful. Not the stodgy "science" film you might expect. Just some fun with a beautiful bird on a beautiful summer day.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Today was our monthly bird banding program at the Lowry Nature Center located in Carver Park Reserve near Victoria, Minnesota which is just west of the Twin Cities. The morning was cold and we just used Potter traps on the feeder stations but had a good session.
The totals were 20 birds of 3 species - Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch and Red-bellied Woodpecker. However the big surprise of the day was a very cooperative Northern Saw-whet Owl just down a trail from the nature center. A couple of the volunteers got to take some very nice photos without disturbing the little fellow. One volunteer also collected 6 pellets to see if she could figure out what the bird was feeding on.
From the number of pellets present and the amount of whitewash on the perching tree it is obvious the bird has been around for a while. It was in a classic location, sitting about 6 feet up in an Eastern Red Cedar along the edge of a hiking trail. I watched several people walk past the bird without having a clue it was there.
The last week around here was quite pleasant with temps in the 40s and lots of melting. We lost about 40% of our snow cover but it caused the surface of the snow to crust over. The owl must still be able to hunt even though I could walk on the surface of the snow and not break through (and I'm not the smallest person around, trust me).
We're going to remember this spot so that if we try to band migrating Saw-whets we will probably set up in this location. There is a winter storm warning out for tomorrow and Monday with a prediction of 8-14" of snow before it's over. Hopefully the little owl will hunker down and be just fine.
The totals were 20 birds of 3 species - Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch and Red-bellied Woodpecker. However the big surprise of the day was a very cooperative Northern Saw-whet Owl just down a trail from the nature center. A couple of the volunteers got to take some very nice photos without disturbing the little fellow. One volunteer also collected 6 pellets to see if she could figure out what the bird was feeding on.
From the number of pellets present and the amount of whitewash on the perching tree it is obvious the bird has been around for a while. It was in a classic location, sitting about 6 feet up in an Eastern Red Cedar along the edge of a hiking trail. I watched several people walk past the bird without having a clue it was there.
The last week around here was quite pleasant with temps in the 40s and lots of melting. We lost about 40% of our snow cover but it caused the surface of the snow to crust over. The owl must still be able to hunt even though I could walk on the surface of the snow and not break through (and I'm not the smallest person around, trust me).
We're going to remember this spot so that if we try to band migrating Saw-whets we will probably set up in this location. There is a winter storm warning out for tomorrow and Monday with a prediction of 8-14" of snow before it's over. Hopefully the little owl will hunker down and be just fine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)