Project FeederWatch - Week 3 (12/05/2010)

This weekend of observing the feeders and environs surrounding them around our house featured 2 new species making an appearance and the return of a species of bird (American Goldfinch) that had been absent last weekend. A lone Brown Creeper (I love them "boids" to pieces!) as well as a lone male House Finch showed up during the course of my observance (from 11 am to 1:15 pm) before heading off to join all the nutjobs in purchasing Christmas gifts.


I just love watching Brown Creepers and their mannerisms! This amazing, bark-colored bird with curved-bill has the habit of walking (climbing) directly up a tree from the base-upwards in a spiral, gleaning insects from the crevices in the bark of the tree....then, when its had its fun, it will either fly back down to base of the very same tree to make sure it didn't miss anything or make its way over to the base of another tree, always spiraling upwards in search of deliciousness! Their habit of walking along the trunks and branches of a tree are similar to woodpeckers and nuthatches, but as noted early, are different for their upwards spiraling climb. Creepers will use their stiffened tail much like a woodpecker for balance and grip. But nuthatches can climb upwards AND downwards in any direction compared the aforementioned. All 3 families of bird species just enthrall me to no end!


Below is my full list for yesterday's observance! Happy birding to everyone out their!

Downy Woodpecker	1
Blue Jay	2
Black-capped Chickadee	7
Tufted Titmouse	4
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Brown Creeper	1
Dark-eyed Junco	5
Northern Cardinal	2
House Finch	1
American Goldfinch	4

Project FeederWatch - Week 1

Just a fairly quick post here, something of which I will be attempting to do every weekend to give weekly updates on how my time participating in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch is going. This is the 24th year running for this program instituted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada, and this year it will run from November 13th, 2010 up until April 8th, 2011. This is my very first time participating with this annual program (I have participated with Mass Audubon's Focus on Feeders program in the past, and I'll do the same this year when it comes time; this season it is the weekend of February 5th and 6th, 2011).


Below you will find a complete list of the birds I observed off and on from Noon-time today until dusk. Highlights were a female Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Red-breasted Nuthatch both visiting our suet feeder out in the front yard. Sadly, of the 3 American Goldfinches that visited the nyjer and black sunflower seed feeders today, one of them had contracted House Finch eye disease, otherwise known as conjuctivitis. Will definitely have to clean the feeders to be sure there is a lessened chance of spreading the disease, and if there happen to be several birds infected, I will have to take our feeders down for at least a full week. Anyhow, here are my sightings for the day (normally, during Project FeederWatch, an observer would try to watch the feeders for 2 consecutive days for any period of time, though if only one day can be done, then that day must have a longer protracted time of observance):

Mourning Dove	4
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	2
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Blue Jay	3
American Crow	2
Black-capped Chickadee	8
Tufted Titmouse	5
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Dark-eyed Junco	3
Northern Cardinal	2
American Goldfinch	3    (1 with eye disease)

Some thoughts about birding....

I have only been seriously bird watching for a few years now, many many thanks to my good friend Kirk Marshall for turning me into a monster (or bird nerd). I have absolutely loved every moment of it, but I guess what irks me a little bit, at least from my own perceptions, is that some people just do it to get a target bird and thats it.

Believe me, I want to see every bird in the world if I had the means and time to do so (sadly I do not), but for me, when I am out birding, I'm not only out there to see the target bird that Kirk and/or I have identified pursuing via Massbird or through some other avenue of communication. I am out there to become enveloped by Nature's grandeur, taking in all the sights and sounds, the whole atmosphere, soaking up the entire experience. (Hence my love for such places as Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson, NH and Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard, MA)

Yeah, I do get disappointed if I miss a target bird (and I admittedly sometimes do not let myself be calmed by my environs)....failed on getting to see the Tufted Duck in Wayland on the Sudbury River and also the Eurasian Green-winged Teal at Nine-Acre Corner that were both seen in late winter of this year, but most of the time, I am just happy to be outside. Even if I see one or many common birds, I soak it up, try to watch their antics, their behaviours (the soaring flight of a Red-tailed Hawk, the acrobatics of a Black-capped Chickadee) and I am always amazed by some of my favorite common birds (the bright gold and cute chatterings of an American Goldfinch, the laughing call and mannerisms of a White-breasted Nuthatch).

I know many people share and feel and love the same way that I do about birds, wildlife and nature in general, but I wish everybody could. Take stock in what a wonderful planet we live on, with all the landscapes and gorgeous wildlife that call it home. That is why it is so important that we take the time to enjoy every moment of it and do what we can to help preserve, maintain and help thrive what hasn't been developed by the destructive tendencies of mankind. For I know we have been falling down a deep trench for a while now and its going to be a while before most everyone truly appreciates what we have and what needs to be done to ensure the health of our planet.

So, when next you find yourself in the mesmerizing gaze of Nature's sweet beauty, please, take a moment, inhale deeply, sense acutely and just take it all in, because it is these moments in time when life is at its sweetest, its very best!!!