Veteran's Day 2020 and probably one of the last warm days of this season and year. I have lots of birds in the yard including 13 turkeys and a hummingbird.

WAIT, WHAT, A HUMMINGBIRD??!!!

He looks like a juvenile male.

This is the latest I've ever seen a hummingbird here. The last late one was in October, last seen on October 28, 2016.

It's been really warm lately so I've kept the feeder up, just checking every once in a while that it didn't seem to be getting cloudy.

About 3 PM today I glanced out and saw the hummer. I couldn't get to the camera in time before he left, but I quickly prepared new solution (I still had 50% sucrose solution in the refrigerator) and put it out. The hummer was waiting for me. He seems comfortable with the feeder and with me, and didn't seem to mind my sitting on the porch steps with a cat in my lap.

It's supposed to start turning colder on Friday and then stay more seasonal, with winds coming from the north for a few days.

I wonder if the hummer will stay here and fuel up before heading south.

Claire

Hummer, Wow! Glad you had food for him. This seems quite late, indeed. Hope he gets the vibes to carry on southward. Cat on lap? Cat food on deck? uh-huh...Just visiting? uh-huh. That’s a great setup for both of you.🐱

The hummer was still here this morning, which I expected since he appeared in the afternoon yesterday and would probably overnight here.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Don't know if he'll stay today.

Claire

Late staying visitors this year, for sure. I just put the full glass panels into the storm doors and the decisions on which geraniums get to live or die rests heavily on me today - just like every other year, lol. Every year I say fewer come into the kitchen for the winter, so we'll see how well disciplined I am today. Some recent shots - Mockingbird had another bath after some consideration.

Then he got out and shook.

Into the lilac and had another thought.

Thinking it over.

Followed his heart and literally flew back into the bath.

Happy little guy.

Much better now.

And, young Cardinal caught me outside the window. Berry testing the red chokeberries.

Jane

That is indeed a happy mockingbird, Jane - and clean too! Nothing like a good bath to soothe the soul.

The hummer may have moved on. He was around for a while midday but the wind shifted to the north/northeast which would mean a good tail wind for a flight south, and the temperatures are dropping.

He has time to make it to warmer wintering grounds.

Claire

edit note: I saw a hummer midday today, Friday the 13th. I don't know if it's the same hummer and it was just one quick glimpse.

Still got a hummingbird here today, November 14. I only saw him in the late afternoon so I'm not sure it's the same bird. He may easily have been here all day, just not spending much time at the feeder (and I haven't been spending much time watching the feeder).

November 14, 2020:

You can see a bit of the tongue protruding from his bill:

My first count day of this Project FeederWatch season is Monday. I hope he stays around for the count but he'd be better off heading south.

I'm ambivalent because nighttime temperatures are forecast to be below freezing Tuesday night and Wednesday night. I just put out the heated birdbath today (around 32 degrees tonight).

Claire

Perhaps you should have a chat with the little tyke. Getting too cold for her. Looks female.

I still think it's a juvenile male - the second pic enlarged shows spots where the gorget will develop, sort of like the beginning of a beard.

I'm hoping the nectar solution won't freeze in the coming days. The sucrose should depress the freezing point just enough - I don't want to bring the feeder inside when the hummer will need fuel early in the morning.

Claire

Claire, did the hummer appear today?

Tried to load pictures, alas. . .

Not yet. He didn't appear yesterday either so he's probably gone south. Best for him but it would be lovely to add a hummer to my PFW count.

There's still time today and tomorrow.

I spent some time raking leaves this morning - maybe he came then.

I removed the leaves from the lawn but dumped them into the garden areas.

Leave the Leaves to Benefit Wildlife

Claire

Good on the leaves, Claire. I still mow with a mulching blade, but the nice chap who weed whacks, trims, prunes, throughout the season for me, comes this time of year with his big 42" machine and mulches the leaves on the lawn. The machine-bagged mulched leaves are then spread out in the gardens. It's very finely cut matter. There are plenty of areas including the whole back border that are kept natural with whole leaves and composting stuffs. Oh, god...two minutes ago I saw the animal control truck pull into a neighbor's driveway and my inner voice said they're here to shoot somebody. Just heard one gunshot. Usually, it is a rabid situation that forces the kill. The bear would be relocated. As somebody who catches and releases housebound ladybugs, I'm not good at this. Anyway, I was watching a large crowd gather in the naked birch moments ago, mostly doves, finches and cardinals, when they all suddenly swooped at once in a hurry because of this guy:

If I say it's a Sharp-shinned, sure as shootin' it'll be a Cooper's. So, l'll leave it at hawk.

Jane

Sounds like an excellent leaf-mulching process, Jane. My so-called "lawn" keeps getting smaller and smaller and is now approaching a grassy path - fine with me, grass is useful but boring.

Nice hawk pic, there.

Claire

Nature certainly has her moments...new to me.Lantern fly...ugh

Oh, great.... I hope they find a good parasitic deterrent.

Claire

In preparation for the hummers return early next May, I have planted about 70% of one pound of multi-colored wild dwarf columbine seed directly onto soil and, as an experiment, in fine leaf litter. The remaining 30% of seed I will plant in early Spring. It's an experiment in planting more, self-seeding food for the hummers. As long as the seed stays cool and dark in the crisper, 40°, the seed is viable for up to 2 years. This year I also planted pentas (a tropical) and two new salvias, which they really liked.

Pentas and mandevilla

Salvia in a deck container

I am hopeful that the dwarf wild columbine will grow well in any of the 6 gardens in which I planted it, and the hummers, along with more salvia, which did well, will provide more hummer food next year. I also took every wild flower seed from every packet in the house and dumped them all into a jar and sprinkled them into a street-side garden...we'll see.

The seed in leaf litter is directly under my office window, so I can check from inside. Violet-the-bunny will be the first to let me know how good the columbine tastes, I'm sure. I'll be interested to see if the leaf litter planting works. It's pretty finely chopped.

Jane

If they all germinate you're going to have a hummer paradise out there, Jane! And if they then self-seed, all the better.

Either that or Violet-the-bunny and her relatives will be very happy.

Good job!

Claire

I saw the trio of doves dancing around the feeder and immediately heard 'Three Little Maids Are We'. Could be the 2020 isolation, dunno.

Three Little Maids

I am flabbergasted at the image of three doves flouncing around and singing a Gilbert and Sullivan song!

Thanks,

Claire

It's either misery loves company, or together is better than apart. With luck, the strongest winds will not happen today, and the branch will stay in place and the power will stay on. The strong winds of late have severed quite a few birch branches.

Since the cardinal perched in the chokeberry this morning, about 3.5" have fallen. Plenty of food and water available for when they fly again.

Nothing like hunger to bring peaceful coexistence to the neighborhood.

Jane

Pretty pictures of a Peaceable Kingdom in the snow, Jane! I hope the worst is over for you, and the winds and snow are dying down.

No snow here, just rain and wind in my face when I was out feeding the birds. A whole bunch of turkeys were happy to see me (or at least my bucket of birdseed).

Now I just need the rain to stop before the temperatures get close to freezing and produce snow.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, although a bit chilly, so the world will look better.

Claire

The heated birdbath is popular nowadays and the barn cat likes it too.

He used to chase the turkeys but has stopped. I don't know if it's because I yelled at him or, more likely, he tried to chase an adult turkey and the turkey fought back. They're well-armed.

Anyway, the turkeys saw him there and decided it was safe to join him, although not too close:

He saw them but left them alone.

The cat has also stopped bringing me little rodent bodies - I appreciate that.

Claire

Claire, please...at least with his pictures posted here, will you give him a proper name? Barn cat lacks love. What comes to mind? (be polite). Cedric? The neighbor's name for him (which I forgot) didn't seem right.

Jane: The owner calls him Midget, the neighbor calls him Wooly Bear. To me he's just Sweetie, which is a generic cat name for me, but not really dignified enough to be posted on the internet.

I suppose if you must have a formal name I could call him Barney, at least online. But when I see him like this, Sweetie is the first thing that comes to mind:

Claire

Sweetie is purrfect. Dignified on the net? Ha, cracked me up. Sweetie it is! Good name. I miss Ivy terribly, but just can't do it again. Hug Sweetie for me. 😊

Robins have started eating the winterberries. Just three of them this morning and not a whole lot of enthusiasm yet.

Checking the berries:

Trying one out:

There wasn't a huge crop this year - maybe because of the drought and fewer insect pollinators.

Claire

Still snowing.

Starling in chokeberry

Mourning Dove waiting it out

My guess is roughly 10-12" so far (9:48am) supposed to go through 1PM. Grateful it is not wet and heavy, power stayed on.

Jane

That's a lot of snow, Jane! The window view is really pretty.

I'm almost embarrassed to say that we got only a smattering of snow. The ground isn't even completely covered. There was snow overnight but the temperatures rose and it mostly turned to rain which melted the stuff. Lots of wind though.

The Bay saved us again. The forecasts talked about a warm nose coming off the ocean and interfering with the upper levels of snow in the atmosphere. I like to think of it as a Big Nose rising out of the Bay and inhaling all of the snow and sleet. So long as it doesn't sneeze it all back on us.

Turning colder this afternoon with snow showers but not much accumulation expected. Any leftover slush will turn to ice.

Claire (very relieved)

I forgot the Christmas card guy.

I just saw my first junco! Not a great picture but it only gave me one chance.

Claire

Good for you - plenty of juncos here if you want more. And, you're more than welcome to some snow. The spa is going gangbusters this morning.

Take as much as you want - free. :) Bet NHBabs will give you some, too.

Jane

Well, we got some snow last night - about 2 inches of wet glop.

A big flock of red-winged blackbirds is out there now feeding on the seed I put out after some rudimentary shoveling.

I'll go out again after breakfast to shovel out the car.

Claire

Ah, glop. It's okay if melts, otherwise, a rocky, frozen path. May the sun shine brightly! Lots of RWBs you have, Claire!

Well, it is an avian style Heathrow airport out there today! Too many to count, but there were 13 Mourning Doves in a birch tree, and frankly, that doesn't rhyme with anything worthwhile and we have no maids a-milking or leaping lords, so let's just get to the bluebirds. She kept an eagle eye on her mate...which wasn't easy.

Young RWBs with cardinal sentinel.

Four male cardinals in one frame. Would help if they'd just line up on a branch, but. . .

Finches are cute, IMO.

I prefer spring, but winter does make bird photography easier. Haven't ever found an ugly bird. 😊

Jane

The evening dove gathering.

For too long it has seemed that civility died and no funeral was held, BUT...the optimist in me immediately assumed this was a polite woodpecker happening this morning. My first thought was the flicker saying, "Sorry, this seat is taken", which directly counters Darwin's theory. However, Disney thinking or not, I'm going with civility as I see a passive kindness in the flicker's expression.

I suppose hunting for seeds upside down is probably not much different than walking up OR down a street. You see the same trees and houses, just from a different perspective. I wonder if the nuthatch gets more seed this way that was buried by the chickadee?

I purposely reduced the contrast in this picture to show the amount of green in the starling. Amazing how much we normally don't see.

Jane

Woodpeckers don't seem to be very aggressive but they are adamant in standing up for their rights.

Back in 2008 I watched a red-bellied woodpecker standing its ground in a birdbath as five starlings joined it in a staring match.

When the count got to eight starlings the woodpecker quietly left.

Starlings are really pretty birds in the right light.

Claire

I like to put red bows on the trees in the winter to cheer up the view. A squirrel had a great time exploring this new feature.

Now I know why some of the bows are always crooked.

Claire

Good of you to give him some Christmas joy. He/she certainly explored every inch of velvet!

Well, Claire, I think it's just you and me in here. Boxing day morning with two RB woodpeckers became pugilistic instead of giving little gifts. Don't think it's mating season, but this is definitely a domestic disturbance that lasted for several rounds over several hours. Wish the pics were clearer, but it was so fast. Appears that she won - if either truly 'won'.

I have no idea, just hope it is over.

Jane

Maybe defending a territory? According to the Cornell Birds of the World site birdsoftheworld.org:

"Pair Formation

Males hold territories year-round, but some females may defend territories early in the year (35). It is rare to find mated pairs from September through January (156). Breeding activity seems to commence with pair formation during January and February in southern Illinois (152), Texas (20, RNC), and Florida (KEM, DLL)."

It's a little early but this is a weird season.

Claire

I have been MIA for more than a week. 10 days ago we got more than 2’ of snow, and it took me 5 or 6 days to clear it off walkways, the patio, and then rake roofs and add driveway drainage channels through the snow banks in prep for the 2+” of rain we got on Christmas Eve and Day. Snow is a good sponge, and I didn’t want roofs caving in on me. We are scheduled for more rain New Year’s Eve and Day which will not require much if any work since the roofs and all drives and walks are totally clear now. I have someone to plow, but I might have to have some backup after heavy snow for shoveling and roof clearing.

I have noticed a lot of wildlife while I have been out. There are flocks of chickadees and juncos searching for grit on the drives on most of our walks. I have spotted red tails three times and bald eagles three times as well. I was surprised to see one of the accipiters flying over the field since I almost never see them here, but I couldn’t tell if it was a sharp-shinned or Cooper’s hawk. And we have seen several cardinals (rare when I moved here but becoming more common) and titmice. One afternoon we flushed a grouse as we walked through the woods, but we haven’t seen much of the turkeys. Crows, ravens, and jays are common, and we have seen several species of woodpeckers, including some piliated. I am grateful for Flax’s companionship on these walks and for motivating me to get out more in winter.

There are quite a number of deer in my woods since we see tracks and places they have pawed into the snow for food, but we have only seen one since Flax joined my household in early September. I think they hear us coming, not a bad thing since I am working on training him to walk off leash. And I have an active family of beavers in the stream, though I wish they weren’t there since if they back up the water too much, it is an issue for the road. I would rather they stayed in the river.

We see a lot of coyote tracks, and one morning on our predawn constitutional, we saw a coyote sitting in the yard. It think he was deciding if Flax would make a tasty morsel (he only weights 20 lbs.) and Flax was tugging toward him, perhaps looking for a playmate. We headed back inside sooner than usual since the coyote seemed unphased by my presence.

The Merrimack River is still unfrozen, so we have seen mergansers on the water. They are common at this time of year if the water is open, but disappear to somewhere unfrozen in really cold weather. We just haven’t had really extended cold weather yet this winter.

NHBabs: Good that you have Flax to accompany you in your walks in the woods - much better than being joined by a coyote or a bear. Flax being on leash is probably sensible since he might consider running free like being in a dog park - not all of the woods denizens are suitable playmates.

You have a wonderful variety of wildlife in your vicinity!

Claire

NHBabs - nice find. I wondered how big your fella might be based on paw size and found this: Bear paw size to weight

Might consider carrying an air horn. . .

Jane

No hairy bears here, but today I saw a hairy woodpecker. I usually see downies every day with an occasional red-belly or flicker, but the hairies don't often come to the feeders.

Hairy Woodpecker, like a downy on steroids:

Chilly last night and something emptied the heated birdbath so I had to rush out this morning to get water to the birds. But we're headed for another stretch of warm, rainy weather to end this lousy 2020.

Claire

Funny, I was talking to my dad the other day about the woodpeckers I see here on the N Shore, vs what my parents get in seacoast NH. They see hairy woodpeckers a lot, and I almost never do — downies all day long though. I glimpsed a red bellied at the suet feeder from my office widow yesterday, but they’re very suspicious, so it’s challenging to get a good photo.

nekobus: Do you see pileated woodpeckers? I've never seen these woodpeckers here in southeast MA. They're missing from the range map.

Claire

Odd you should ask, Claire. I don’t recall seeing a pileated at home in the last several years, but my dad and I saw one from his front porch in NH over Christmas Just over a week ago.

I wonder whether the lack of pileated woodpeckers in the Cape Cod area through the North Shore has something to do with fewer big dead trees and large stretches of relatively mature woodlands. The pileated woodpeckers here spend a lot of time shredding dead trees for the bugs inside, and I know that they need good sized trees for nesting.

I originally posted a link to an article on the Bird Watcher's General Store site that said something similar about the trees on the Cape. The store is in Orleans. I then deleted that post because my computer told me the site was "not secure" and I didn't want to spread any computer nastiness.

It's annoying because that site has funny articles and interesting information.

Claire.

This thread is getting long and slow to load for some so I'll set up a new thread soon.

As always, you're welcome to continue to comment to posts on this thread, but please post new material on the new thread. Birds and other mobile features in the garden 2021 #1

Thanks,

Claire