Highlight this PFW Count: White-Breasted Nuthatch

The little fellow hasn't shown up much at all for the past few weeks, PFW count or regular days. So I was thrilled to see him/her today coming back time and time again to the BOSS and Suet feeders. Must be stashing for potentially harsh weather conditions to come.

No pictures this weekend, but I did have a fairly decent count with 15 species and 80 individuals. Still no House Sparrows taking over (unbelievable that they aren't here) but a flock of the Darling Snarling Starlings has been hanging around and eating up the Suet. There were about 6 Starlings in the feeder area throughtout the day, but then I looked out at the front yard and there must have been a hundred grazing in the yard. At one point there were about 40 in the feeder area. Thank goodness they didn't stick around!

Mourning Dove	1
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Northern Flicker	1
Carolina Chickadee	2
Tufted Titmouse	3
White-breasted Nuthatch	1
Carolina Wren	2
European Starling	40
Song Sparrow	1
White-throated Sparrow	6
Dark-eyed Junco	6
Northern Cardinal	1
House Finch	5 (0 with eye disease)
American Goldfinch	9 (0 with eye disease)
Eurasian Tree Sparrow	1
Total Species / Individuals	15 / 80

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Project FeederWatch - First Count of 2010

I wasn't able to count last weekend as I had a houseful of visitors in to celebrate the New Year. Wishing everyone the best for 2010!

A little bit of snow fell on St Louis Thursday and temperatures were frigid through the weekend. Guess that brought the birds to the feeders as I had 17 species and 61 individuals. The most active were the White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncoes and American Goldfinches. The chickadees and titmice only came around sporadically, but at least they showed up to be counted and, more importantly, filled up on the seed and suet to help them get through the cold nights.

White-throated Sparrow checking out the patio furniture

Getting a little nervous. A couple of times throughout the weekend a small flock of Starlings ascended upon the yard and feeders. Hopefully they won't become regulars. They are so annoying and terrible pigs!

Starlings invading the platform feeder

Count for the weekend:

Mourning Dove	1
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	1
Northern Flicker	1
Blue Jay	1
Carolina Chickadee	2
Tufted Titmouse	3
Carolina Wren	2
Northern Mockingbird	1
European Starling	10
Song Sparrow	2
White-throated Sparrow	10
Dark-eyed Junco	8
Northern Cardinal	2
House Finch	4 (0 with eye disease)
American Goldfinch	10 (0 with eye disease)
Eurasian Tree Sparrow	2
Total Species / Individuals	17 / 61

Blue Jay

American Goldfinches fighting for position on the thistle sock

The Red-bellied Woodpecker and Northern Flicker were my favorite birds this weekend. Since I moved here, I know that they are around, but it wasn't until this weekend that they spent any time at all at the feeders.

Northern Flicker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

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Another Low Count

Bird visits were still off this weekend for PFW. I was only in town a short while the first day of the count and absolutely no birds were at the feeders. It snowed early Sunday morning, yet the number of birds was still off. Conspicuously missing were the Chickadees, Titmice, Downy WP, and House Finches.

A very quick visit from the Mockingbird was a pleasant surprise.

Checklist for FeederWatch Missouri Birds

Mourning Dove	1
Carolina Wren	1
Northern Mockingbird	1
Song Sparrow	1
White-throated Sparrow	4
Dark-eyed Junco	6
Northern Cardinal	3
American Goldfinch	7 (0 with eye disease)
Total Species/Individuals	8 / 24

I was off work today and of course just about all of them returned, including a Northern Flicker and the Eurasian Tree Sparrows. Ah, the fickleness of birds.

Dark Eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

Frosty Napping (Christmas Inflatable on the neighbor's porch blew over.)

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Cat Mischief

Lucy & Topaz are sweet, but sometimes you can't turn your back on them for a moment.



This was after I had already cleaned up after them once tonight. Then they try to look all innocent. Notice how Lucy (on the left) is looking upward? She's just itching to keep digging in the plant.



I have too much to do tonight to monitor them! Guess that's what doors are for. At least they haven't knocked the Christmas tree over, yet.

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Rule of 3's Ignored

Every count this season has been a multiple of 3 until this weekend. There were 11 species and a relatively low number of individuals. The temperatures hovered just under freezing and there was light snow cover after it snowed Friday night. I can't complain, though, considering the storms in the Northeast of the US this weekend.

No unusual birds showed up. With the exception of the juncoes and finches off and on, the feeders were very quiet.

Checklist for FeederWatch Missouri Birds

Mourning Dove	1
Downy Woodpecker	1
Carolina Chickadee	1
Tufted Titmouse	3
Carolina Wren	2
Song Sparrow	1
White-throated Sparrow	3
Dark-eyed Junco	14
Northern Cardinal	1
House Finch	7 (0 with eye disease)
American Goldfinch	8 (0 with eye disease)
Total Species / Individuals	11 / 42

Happy Holidays to All


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Return to Normal

I still don't know what "normal" is here, so maybe I should say the Bird Counts met my expectations this weekend with a total of 15 species and 66 individuals. A far cry from 3 species last weekend! The only bird missing that I would have expected is the White-breasted Nuthatch which seems to always come around with the Chickadees and Titmice. Perhaps it showed up while I was out.

Checklist for FeederWatch Missouri Birds

Mourning Dove	7
Downy Woodpecker	1
Northern Flicker	1
Blue Jay	3
Carolina Chickadee	3
Tufted Titmouse	4
Carolina Wren	2
Song Sparrow	1
White-throated Sparrow	4
Dark-eyed Junco	16
Northern Cardinal	3
House Finch	7 (0 with eye disease)
American Goldfinch	9 (0 with eye disease)
House Sparrow	2
Eurasian Tree Sparrow	3
Total Species/Individuals	15 / 66

The juncoes were here in full force with a total of 16 at one point. I've noticed that the birds tend to come in spurts of about an hour at a time. They'll be here, then disappear for a while. Guess they are visiting other feeders on the circuit, or a predator came into the area.

With heavily overcast skies, it wasn't the best weekend for photographing birds, but here are a few:

White-throated Sparrow

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren

American Goldfinch

Downy Woodpecker

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The Birds Return!

So the birds have practically vacated the neighborhood these past two weeks. I have a strong suspicion that a predator is prowling the area. This morning as I was drinking my coffee before going to work, I saw a large hawk fly across the sky and land in a tree a couple doors down. It wasn't long after that a Blue Jay or two started buzzing and dive-bombing the hawk perched in the tree. I saw the hawk fly off to the west, then another hawk flew off higher in the sky.

After the hawks departed, the Blue Jays flew into the neighbor's magnolia tree and started screaming again. Was there another hawk, or perhaps an owl, roosting there? Evidently not. The screeches must have been an "All Clear" signal because all of a sudden, dozens of birds started flying to the magnolia and the surrounding yards. It was a constant flow of birds as if the flood gates had been opened.

And yes, even though I was 10 to 15 feet away sipping my coffee, they started coming to the feeders! For 15 minutes in the morning, and a short time when I was home at noon, I saw Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a pair of Carolina Wrens, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, Cardinals, House Finches, a lone Mourning Dove, a single Am Goldfinch, and of course the Blue Jays on the perimeter.

And to top it off, there was a fall-out of Juncoes and White-throated Sparrows! There were at least a dozen Juncoes and half a dozen WT Sparrows in the morning. Winter is definitely upon us.

It's great to know that the birds haven't completely abandoned the neighborhood. I'm sure the hawks will be back from time to time, and my counts will fluctuate because of it, but that's just how nature works. The hawks have to eat too and if they see a good source of food, they will be around.

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