Happy 4th of July Weekend, Red, White & Blue Birds

Northern Cardinal

Great Egret

Indigo Bunting

Flowers from our garden

Happy Fourth of July weekend. Hope you see some red, white and blue birds!

Tree Swallow fledging

We have 15 pairs of Tree Swallows nesting here, in NH, and now some have young fledgling young from their boxes. When Tree Swallow young leave their box they can fly and feed themselves. However, for the first few days they may land on the nest boxes of other Tree Swallows and try and beg on last meal from any adult they see, including their parents, basically creating a lot of chaos.

That is what is happening here. A newly fledged Tree Swallow has landed at the entry to the nest box of a pair that have their own young still in the nest. The fledged Tree Swallow is at the entrance hole, blocking the way. It is browner than the adults, has a lighter bill and they have a vague wash of darker color on their upper breasts. Its mouth is open, hoping for a tasty morsel.

The adults who have the box want no part of this youngster and it soon left and flew to another box and tried the same trick with no luck.

After fledging the Tree Swallows join with adults into large flocks and make their way to coastal and other water habitats and feed. They make their way down the coast, eating Bayberries and, in the South, Wax Myrtle berries in winter. They also eat insects.

In Florida, in winter, we have seen flocks of thousands of Tree Swallows, moving around, staying there until their spring migration north. We always wonder as we look at one of the birds in the flock, if it was born here, at Bobolink Farm, our NH home. We like to think so.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak again!

Can one get enough of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks? I think not. They are strikingly gorgeous. We're lucky because we have this male, and also a female, visiting the feeders regularly. They must be nesting nearby, although we do not know where. Maybe they will bring the fledglings to the feeder.

One of the things we look at is the bib of red on the male. It is a slightly different shape for each bird, making it possible to often recognize individuals.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks breed in the upper quadrant of the eastern half of the U.S. and much of Canada and winter south of the U.S., so people can see them in migration.

Happy Father's Day

Hairy Woodpecker, Dad, feeding his fledgling offspring at our feeder.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU DADS!!

Tree Swallow, Wordless Wednesday

@ Lillian Stokes, 2011

Kingbirds plus ID tips

Eastern Kingbird breeds across much of the eastern 2/3 of the U.S. and Canada

Western Kingbird breeds in the western half of the country

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, juv.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, female. They breed mainly in the south-central area of the U.S. but can wander far.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher is rare and breeds in Cent. and S. America and is a vagrant to anywhere in North America, mostly to eastern North America.

They have really long tails!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher in flight

Eastern Kingbirds breed on our pond here in NH, building their nest in the Buttonwood shrubs at the edge of the water. These big flycatchers sit on perches and fly out to catch insects in the air. We love to bring our binos in our canoe or kayaks and watch the kingbirds flying out over the water. Known for their fierce personality, they were given the scientific name, Tyrannus tyrannus, hence the joke that they are too (two) tyrannical.

If you live in the West, you will see their relative the Western Kingbird, which has a gray head and back and yellow on the belly. Amazingly, we once had a Western Kingbird show up on our property here in southwest, NH, way out of it's range, but they are know to wander far and wide.

Here are our Identification Tips to Kingbird Species ID, from page 477 of our new, best-selling, "The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America"

"Kingbirds are fairly large flycatchers that belong to the genus Tyrannus. Most have rather large thick bills and medium-length tails, and they tend to perch conspicuously as they look for insects. Two species, the Fork-tailed and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, have extremely long tails; four species, Tropical, Couch's, Cassin's, and Western Kingbirds, are similarly colored, with grayish heads and bright yellow bellies; the remaining three species, Thick-billed, Gray, and Eastern Kingbirds are mostly dark gray above and white below. In this group, look closely at the length and thickness of the bill and the patterns of colors on the breast and belly.

Loons!

NH has lots of Common Loons and we just can't get enough of them. They breed on many of the lakes in the NH region. Tonight we are speaking at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, NH where loons are a favorite bird. We are doing a talk and book signing for our new filed guide, The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. I will be showing many of my images from the guide, including many of NH's birds, including loons! We will see some of you there.

Smile for Today :)

This is our Corgi Abby. She is making us smile today, and everyday. Does your dog make you smile?

What's Up at Bobolink Farm

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, female, comes frequently to feeder, she may be breeding nearby.

Hairy Woodpecker, male (right) taking hulled sunflower back to his nest to feed young. Mr. Cardinal comes for a seed and feeds Mrs. Cardinal as part of courtship and breeding.

Cosy pair of Gray Catbirds, who love the oranges! We have 3 pairs of nesting Catbirds

Lots going on here at Bobolink Farm, our NH home of 48 acres. Breeding birds are everywhere, with many taking advantage of our bird feeders. It's a great time of year to sit on our deck and watch the show around us. So many baby birds in the works.

Poor Mrs. Robin

American Robin incubating on her nest over our front door.

A robin built a nest over our front door. She sat on the eggs for over a week. Today we did not see robins around at all, so we looked in the nest with a mirror. There are no eggs in the nest. A predator got them. Poor Mrs. Robin.

Ouch. We feed bad for the robins because they lost their eggs. The eggs were just about to hatch. We had gotten used to looking at the robin incubating over our door and we would quietly enter so as to disturb her as little as possible. Sometimes we would just use the back door. We looked forward to seeing the babies raised. We have seen much predation on birds' nests in all our years of watching and writing books about birds. The experience doesn't get any easier and we still feel angst when we see it.

It's hard to know what got the eggs, as we did not see the thief. Best guess is that it was a Blue Jay for we have seen them hanging around the yard and robins chasing them. But many things raid birds nests including, Chipmunks, Red Squirrels, Raccoons, snakes, crows and more.

There is about a 50% mortality on nests for birds who build open cups and a slightly less percentage for birds who nest in bird houses.

The one consolation is that we know the robins will build a new nest right away (in a new spot) and try again, and again, and again. Chances are they will be successful. The urge to reproduce is strong and that's what keeps bird populations going.

"Big Sit" birding results, 72 species

There was a beautiful rainbow at the end of the day.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird, male, entertained us. He came regularly to the feeder. Here he is sitting on the perch we attached above the feeder, zipping in and out his tongue. Did you know rubythroats have long tongues and they lick up (not suck) the nectar at up to 13 licks per second.

Part of our team; Don in middle, Henry beyond with scope, Carl in chair, and Corgis, Abby (sitting) and Phoebe (typically, lying down).

The Gray Catbird loves the oranges in the Stokes Select Snacks'N'Treats feeder.

A Northern Mockingbird showed up at 7 pm, fed on suet, and left. We very rarely see mockingbirds here, nice of it to show up and be counted!

We participated in the NH Audubon's Birdathon fundraiser over the weekend. We did the Big Sit category where you stay in a 17 foot diameter circle all day and count all the birds you see or hear from the circle. There are other categories of participation as well, such as surveying the whole state. The circle was on our deck. People pledge a certain amount of money per species of bird you locate and the funds are donated to a cause, in this case, NH Audubon. So a fun birding time for a worthy cause.

We lucked out because, unlike all the completely rainy days we have had forever (so it seems), there was some clearing in the middle of the day and a few hawks rose up on thermals.

We had a few friends drop by to help with the count, and were even rewarded with a rainbow at the end of the day. We saw 72 species, not bad for an inland location in one spot:

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
American Black Duck
Hooded Merganser
Common Loon
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Merlin
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pine Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch

NH Audubon Birdathon is this weekend, Sat. May 21st

The Chestnut-sided Warbler's song sounds like "pleased-pleased-pleased-to-meet-you"

It's not too late to join the NH Audubon Birdathon, a competition for fun to see how many birds you can find in a day in a certain area, it's also a fundraiser. There are categories for how many birds you can find in the whole state or in your local region or by human-powered locomotion or in one area.

Click HERE for details.

We will be participating in the "big sit" category. Hoping for good weather, it has been nothing but rain, rain, rain, here for weeks.

Warbler Mania from Magee Marsh

Black-throated Green Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Here are a few of my warbler photos from our recent, awesome trip to Magee Marsh, OH. These were taken last Wednesday. The boardwalk was loaded with warblers.

Stokes Schedule going to Midwest, OH, IL, MI

Magnolia Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Magee Marsh, OH, boardwalk entrance, that's where all the warblers are!

Lots of birders from all over come to Magee Marsh to see the warblers. See you there Wed.

Hi there,

Come see us in the Midwest this week. We will be at Magee Marsh, OH, warbler capital of the East in spring, this Wednesday, May 11th. See you on the boardwalk. The warblers gather there in early to mid-May, on the shore of Lake Erie, before they cross the lake. The Biggest Week in American Birding bird festival is going on there at the same time.

Then we speak and do a book-signing at DuPage Birding Club (near Chicago) on Thursday, May 12, 7:30 pm.

Then we are speakers at Tawas Point Birding Festival (Michigan Audubon) on Friday, May 13th pm. This is sold out but you can see us the next day, Sat. at 12:30 pm at our book signing. For info. call, (517) 886-9144.

See some of you soon!

Rose-breasted Grosbeak today!

This just made our day, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak FOY (first of the year) at our feeder this morning. I took this photo in dim light with my Canon 1D Mark IV at 1250 ISO. The Mark IV is an amazing camera, with it's ability to allow high ISO shooting with less grain. I love it!!!

Breeding Birds, relax, they know how

Nestling Robin

Robin about to fledge from the nest. Once it leaves the nest it's called a fledgling.

To help you better understand bird behavior, here is some basic information on the breeding cycle of birds. This is generalized information for most songbirds, certain species may vary from this. Watch your breeding birds from a distance and do not disturb them. Birds are very resourceful and adaptive. If something goes wrong during breeding, they will know what to do to fix it and will continue trying to breed. Rarely is human intervention needed.

Breeding begins by a male singing, forming a territory and trying to attract a female. If he is lucky, a female bird will choose him and join him on the territory. He then usually diminishes or stops singing.

The pair will mate, then the female lays 1 egg per day until the clutch is complete. Most songbirds lay 3-6 eggs. She usually lays the egg in the morning and does not stay near the nest the rest of the time. So if you see 2, or 3, or 4 eggs in a nest and no birds around, it does not mean it is abandoned, chances are the female will come back the next day and lay another egg until she has a complete clutch.

Then and only then, incubation begins. She will sit on the nest full time, taking brief breaks to feed, until the eggs hatch. Incubation is done mostly by the female and usually lasts about 12 to 14 days. During this time the female is quiet and the male stays somewhat near and does not sing.

When the eggs hatch both parents become very active bringing food to the nest. They carry away from the nest fecal sacs, little white packages that are the droppings of the young. This keeps the nest clean. The young, called nestlings, stay in the nest for about 12-14 days (longer for birds thart nest in birdhouses). The young at first have very few feathers. Then they have "pin feathers", feathers enclosed in sheathes. By the time they are ready to leave, the feathers have broken out of the sheathes, the young are fully feathered, and they call loudly.

If during the breeding cycle, one of the parents dies, the other parent will continue to try and raise the young by themselves and often they are successful. If it is during incubation and the female dies, the male cannot incubate and raise the young. In any case, the remaining parent will try and get a new mate as soon as possible.

When the young "fledge", or leave the nest they are called "fledglings". At first they may not be able to fly that well and for the first few days stay in the vicinicy of the nest. They are still fed by the parents for another several weeks. The fledglings often stay scattered in trees and call constantly. So if you hear constant chirping and see adult birds carrying food to different bushes or trees, chances are they are feeding fledglings. During the fledgling phase the adults may start a new brood. The male may sing again, mate with the female, and she will start a new clutch of eggs. even while he is still feeding fledglings from the first brood. The fledglings will eventually learn to feed themselves and the parents stop feeding them, and so the whole thing starts over. Many birds can have 2 or even more broods a season, especially in warmer climates.

Record Hawk MIgration in NH, we had 601 raptors

This "kettle" of rising Broad-winged Hawks was right over our house yesterday morning.

Record Hawk migration happened in NH yesterday and from our property in southwest NH we had a total of 601 hawks:

586 Broad-winged Hawks (it started with a kettle of 33 low over our house!)
3 Sharp-shinned Hawks
2 Cooper's Hawks
1 Northern Harrier
2 American Kestrels
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
3 Ospreys
3 Red-tailed Hawks

other NH sites also reported big raptor numbers, (for spring). Low cloud ceiling with clearing in the morning, produced low thermals and the Broadwings moved.

This was our best ever spring hawk watching day here in NH!!! Awesome!

Stokes Talk and Book Signing Tonight

Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, Friends' Annual General Meeting with talk by Don and Lilian Stokes Bird Identification For Everyone

Whether you are a beginning, intermediate or advanced bird watcher learn how to better identify birds from the experts, Don and Lillian Stokes, authors of the new, national best-selling bird guide The Stokes Field Guide to The Birds of North America. Learn to Identify those spring migrant birds like a pro with "quantitative shape" the new tool for bird identification pioneered in their new guide. Join this lively presentation where the Stokes will share with you what was involved in producing their 6-years-in -the-making new field guide, help you fast forward your birding skills, and show you beautiful photos, taken by Lillian, of Massachusetts' birds. There will be a book signing before and after their talk. Bring your Stokes guide along for a signature or become the proud owner of one. The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America is the most comprehensive national field guide ever produced and features over 3,400 stunning photos. It also includes a promotional CD of 600 sounds of 150 common birds, recorded by Lang Elliott and Kevin Colver, which will help you identify by ear the spring birds.

Don and Lillian Stokes have been prominent bird authors and educators for over 30 years. They created, hosted and produced the first national PBS television bird watching shows and more than 40 million viewers tuned in to their “Stokes Birds at Home” TV series. They have written over 32 bird and nature books, which have sold over 4.5 million copies. Their books have included such bestsellers as Stokes Field Guide to Birds Eastern and Western Regions, Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds Eastern and Western regions, Stokes Field Guide To Warblers, Stokes Beginner’s Guide To Shorebirds. Don and Lillian received the Partners in Flight National Conservation Award in 2005. They have been writers and columnists in all the most popular birding magazines. Residents of Massachusetts for over 20 years, they now live at Bobolink Farm, their 48 acre southern NH property, to which they have attracted over 190 bird species.

Advance Praise for the field guide,

"Birders worldwide will eagerly welcome this comprehensive and all-inclusive new field guide from Donald and Lillian Stokes. Brimming with 3400 stunning photographs illustrating 854 species, this is unequivocally the most spectacular compendium of North American bird identification photographs ever assembled between two covers. With high-quality depictions of the essential plumages of virtually every species and subspecies currently on the American Birding Association (ABA) Checklist, this monumental volume offers birders the most up-to-date information on field identification of North American birds currently available. The guide also contains many innovative text and layout features, and an accompanying CD with more than 600 sounds and songs of 150 common birds. Handsome, comfortably sized at 5.5 x 8.5 inches, and affordable at less than $25 this volume significantly resets the bar for North America field guides." — Wayne Petersen, Director Important Bird Areas Program, Massachusetts Audubon Society

The meeting will start at 7:00 PM. The authors will be available for book signing starting at 6:30 PM and at the end of the meeting. The talk will be preceded by our our annual meeting including election of officers. Our meetings are held at the Visitor Center at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, 680 Hudson Road in Sudbury, MA 978-443-4661 (Google Map).

Osprey and other raptor mIgration happening here

We are seeing a steady flow of Ospreys over our "pond" (actually a dammed up section of river) as they make their way north on migration. We have also seen other raptors moving through here on the strong winds that have been occurring. It's hard to get any work done! We just want to go out an sit all day watching the sky. Ospreys are just awesome raptors with their bold underwing pattern of black primary coverts and black secondary feathers. Makes them easier to identify.

Over the 2 days of the past weekend, after watching for a few hours each day, we have seen:

37 Broad-winged Hawks

11 Osprey

4 Sharp-shinned Hawks

4 Bald Eagles

1 Cooper's Hawk

1 Red-tailed Hawk

1 Northern Harrier

1 Merlin

9 Turkey Vultures

Not the big raptor numbers we see here in SW NH in fall, but what a great diversity of raptor species!

Look up, spring raptor migration is going on in many parts of the country right now. Let us know if you see any raptors.

Yellow-rumped Warblers are coming through

Yellow-rumped Warbler, male in spring (subspecies Myrtle Warbler

This morning we saw several Yellow-rumped Warblers coming through on migration, the first of the year (FOY) we have seen. Our excitement begins to mount because this is just the start of the warbler bonanza to come.

If you're going to learn warblers, start by learning Yellow-rumped Warbler, one of the most ubiquitious and abundant warblers. Learning warblers in spring is easier because they are in their colorful breeding plumage. The males in particular are easy to ID because they have bold colors and patterns, females have the same patterns in more subtle colors .

The male yellow-rump has bold yellow side patches, a yellow rump and crown patch, white throat and heavy black streaking on breast. There are now 2 subspecies of yellow rumps, which were formerly considered one species. Above is the subspecies ("Myrtle Warbler", Dendroica coronata coronata) which we see here in NH. If you live in much of the west you will see the subspecies, "Audubon's Warbler," Dendroica coronata auduboni, which has a yellow throat.

Our yellow rumps were singing their weak trill song. If you really want to get ready to ID spring warblers see our new The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America, which has the most complete warbler section of any field guide, which is getting rave reviews. AND it comes with a free downloadable CD of common bird songs (over 600 sounds by Lang Elliott and Kevin Colver). Listen to the sound of the Yellow-rumped Warbler on track 108 and tune-up for spring.

Migration madness

Common Merganser, male

Distant Common Mergansers and Tree Swallows flying above

Newly arrived Tree Swallow, we saw 130 + Tree Swallows here today. Put up bird houses with a 1 1/2 inch diameter opening, Tree Swallows will nest there and housing is in short supply for them.

Things are popping at Bobolink Farm, our NH home. We have had over 120 ducks at once in our cove with clouds of migrant Tree Swallows flying above. We have had,

Common Mergansers (70+)

Hooded Mergansers

Ring-necked Ducks (50+)

Common Goldeneyes

Green-winged Teal

Buffleheads

Wood Ducks

Black Ducks

Mallards

Today we saw 130 + Tree Swallows all flying over the pond and our fields. Many were competing for our bird houses. We stood in the middle of a swarm of swallows, they were swooping and feeding all around us, some flying so low we have a view of their backs. It was pure magic.

We put up some new nesting boxes for Hooded and Common Mergansers and Wood Ducks, hoping to lure some to stay and breed. They need large nest boxes

Other new arrivals are

Chipping Sparrow

2 Wilson's Snipe

Palm Warbler

4 Yellow-rumped Warblers today

Hummingbirds are coming!!!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Salvia "Lady in Red" flower

The hummingbirds are coming, will you be ready? Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been flooding into the Gulf Coast on their return migration since Feb. They have already been spotted as far north as CT, southern MA, PA, OH, IL and even southern MI. Here's a Ruby-throated Hummingbird migration map 2011 where you can report your sightings and see what others have reported.

Get your hummingbird feeders up if you live in those areas and south, and consider putting up feeders soon if you live north of there.

Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red. That's because the flowers they favor in nature are mainly red tubular flowers. These flowers have their own adaptations to be attractive to hummingbirds, such as they have just the right nectar concentrations and long tubes so bees cannot access the nectar. Thus they give the hummers nectar and in turn the hummingbirds carry pollen on their foreheads from one flower to another, thus pollinating the flowers.

We roll out the red welcome mat by,

- Putting up lots of hummingbird feeders with red

- Putting up hanging baskets of early red flowers such as hanging fuschia, etc. as most annuals and perennials are not blooming yet. Later we plant those flowers

- Tying red bows to the posts the hummingbird feeders hang from

Get the early hummingbirds and you may have some remain and breed. You will also attract lots of migrants that are passing through on their way to their previous breeding grounds. Even though these do not breed near you, they will remember you as a good stopping place on their next migrations.

If you live in the West, you may have had hummingbirds all year and/or lots of hummingbirds that have returned already, lucky you.

Bald Eagle with nesting material

This morning we had 2 adult Bald Eagles collecting grassy nesting material in our field at the edge of our pond. One of them was on the ground at the edge of the pond and grabbed a bunch of grasses and weeds and flew off. The other sat in a tree above for half an hour, then went down into the field grabbed some grass and flew off. They were not building a nest on the pond, instead they flew away to the northwest. We saw an adult eagle also collect nesting material on 4/2, and I got a this photo of that bird then. I has a clump of grasses in its talon and there might be a band on the left talon.

Bald Eagles build nests of sticks and line them with sod, grasses, seaweed and other materials. Eagles continue to bring material to their nest throughout the incubation and nestling phases. Both male and female build the nest. There is a pair of Bald Eagles nesting on a lake about 6 1/2 miles northwest from here. We wonder if these are the same eagles, or mystery eagles who have a nest somewhere else. More detective work is needed.

Pine Warbler at Suet

Wow, this morning a newly arrived beautiful, male Pine Warbler was eating suet at our bird feeder. It made our day. Smart bird, as there are fewer insects and other food available to him right now. Later in the morning he was singing his trilled song from, you guessed it, our pine tree. Yup, Pine Warblers nest in pine trees here in southwest NH.

Also goes to show how suet attracts many species of birds beyond the usual feeder crowd. We have seen Pine Warblers eat suet, hulled sunflower seed and hom made suet meal.

This is the first warbler to appear here so far, can't wait to see more.

Ahh, Spring! ha-ha-ha

It's snowing here in southwest NH! Here's a photo I just took of Don snow blowing the deck, while the Corgis, Abby and Phoebe (lying down) watch. It's wet, heavy snow and we have about 5 plus inches with more predicted. We will spend lots of time cleaning off the bird feeders today and making sure they are full. Is this an April Fool's Day joke from mother nature?