Rarest Wading Bird in N.A. - Reddish Egret!

Reddish Egret, J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL recently, doing it's typical "drunken sailor" hunting behavior to catch fish. This is the rarest wading bird in the country according to authorities, with populations dropping. Research (by the Avian Research and Conservation Institute) on these birds is going on at J. N. Ding Darling NWR, with some (not this one) being fitted with satellite transmitters so more can be learned about its movements, habitat and feeding needs. Reddish Egrets need a relatively rare foraging habitat: just the right depth of water, a clear, firm sea bottom, the right tidal movement, and the right kind of small fish. They also need undisturbed nesting areas. Of the ones studied at Ding Darling so far, they have learned that these birds are very local in their movements, not moving very far. We have seen 6 at a time foraging in Ding, so that is prime habitat for them, good thing it's protected!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, fast little bird!

Blue-gray Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Faster than a warbler on caffeine. Sanibel, FL has lots of them wintering right now. They breed across much of the U.S. Look for them in spring.

Rare White-crowned Pigeon is at Ding Darling NWR, FL

Saw the rare White-crowned Pigeon yesterday at J. N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel ,FL. This is a very unusual bird for here, although there have been a very few sightings previously on Sanibel. Their status is listed as Threatened in FL. They live in the very southern tip of FL. Research has indicated that the total distribution of this bird occurs in the Caribbean Basin, the Bahamas and extreme southern Florida, but they make long over-water flights between breeding and wintering areas within this region. They are threatened due to loss of habitat and hunting and poaching in their range. White-crowned Pigeons feed mainly on fruits of hardwood trees and they are an important dispersal agent for these trees. It was nice to see this bird on the Shell Mound trail, which had a lot of fruiting hardwood trees, thus providing the type of habitat crucial for this bird species. What a special bird for us to see!!

Roseate Spoonbill Valentine!

Roseate Spoonbill Valentine (one is preening with head hidden). 

HappyValentine's Day!!

Yellow-throated Warbler beauty, J. N. Ding Darling NWR

This Yellow-throated Warbler was at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL yesterday, gleaning tidbits off the Sea Grape leaves. Such a beautiful warbler!

Canon SX 50 Sports Mode

Tri-colored Heron

White Pelican

Tri-colored Heron and Pied-billed Grebes

White Pelicans 

Anhinga male

Brown Pelican

Don and I did a Birding and Photography fundraiser tour yesterday through Ding Darling Wildlife Society for the J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL. We had a lot of great participants. We took two trams through the refuge on Friday, a day the refuge is closed. Many people on my tram were using the Canon SX 50 super zoom point-and-shoot camera and I was teaching them how to use it. There was bright sunlight and wind, making photography challenging in some cases. These photos of mine were taken with my Canon SX 50 mostly in Sports Mode, which is a great way to photograph moving birds with this camera.  I give tips on how to use this camera here. Thanks to all of you for coming on my tour!

Mega Rare Great White Pelican More Photos

Here are some more photos of the Great White Pelican which showed up 2/1/17 at J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, FL. She (we know by her plumage) only stayed at the refuge for about two hours, but what was thrilling was this may be the same bird that showed up here last Feb. and stayed at the refuge for three days. This is a bird usually found in Africa, Asia and Europe, so it is amazing to think she may have made it here across the Atlantic Ocean. She hung out with the large group of American White Pelicans which are common in the refuge, then flew. We do not know where she is now, but we are still looking. You should too!! 

Great White Pelican Rare Bird Returns to Ding Darling NWR!

Amazingly a Great White Pelican, a very rare bird found in Africa, Asia and Europe, has returned again to J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL. This potential mega rarity show up last year in the same place at the end of Feb. and stayed three days. It is an adult female bird. If the record is accepted by the FL Ornithological Society Records Committee it would be a first N.A. record. They are still deliberating whether it could be a captive bird. Investigations last year had shown no birds were missing from captivity in U.S. See my post and photos of this species from last year here.

Why Do Ospreys Carry the Fish Head First??

Ospreys are great at fishing and that is their prime diet. Look at how they carry a fish after they catch it. They carry the fish head first, which is more aerodynamic. Pretty cool!!

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 1st yr. in flight

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 1st yr., J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL recently. They acquire adult plumage by their third year. Taking photos of birds in flight is my fav.

Short-tailed Hawk, J.N. Ding Darling NWR today!

Short-tailed Hawk, light morph

Short-tailed Hawk seen today at J.N. Ding Darling NWR, Sanibel, FL.  It is unusual to see this hawk perched. Mostly seen soaring above as it hunts. This is a hawk seen mainly in FL and a little in southern TX and southern AZ. It also comes as a dark morph with very dark body and underwings. Always special, and somewhat rare to see here on Sanibel. Lucky day!

Common Redpolls are Coming Your Way!

Common Redpoll, male

Common Redpoll, female, who is about to

dive off the perch to go to our feeder.

Common Redpolls are seen in flocks and move or "irrupt" down into the U.S. when their winter food supply is scarce. 

Attract them with feeders that allow for multiple birds to feed at once. They like hulled sunflower, which we are feeding here, and Nyjer (thistle) seed and finch mixes.

Common Redpolls have recently been sighted in NH, MA and northern New England and the upper Midwest and West. Most are still in Canada now. What a treat to see these little "irruptive" red-capped finches from far northern areas (they breed in Canada and AK) who move from their usual winter range when their food supply of seeds and cones is sparse.

There is another, less commonly seen, species of redpoll, called Hoary Redpoll, which also can move down into the northern parts of the U.S. in winter. Hoary vs. Common Redpoll is a very tricky ID. Here's the page on Hoary Redpoll with 8 photos, in our The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America, which gives you all the most complete clues you need on Hoary Redpolls. There are 10 photos and 2 pages on the ID of Common Redpoll in our new guide. What, you didn't get The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America for Christmas? You can always use those gift cards for it. Congratulations, and enjoy, to those of you who did get our new guide from Santa, you're all set to nail those redpoll IDs.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and May You Have a 

Wonderful Bird-Filled New Year!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Happy Winter Solstice. Enjoy the birds!

Christmas Bird CountsAare About to Happen, Here's How You Can Help

What birds will show up to be counted for the annual Christmas Bird Counts about to happen? This Hairy Woodpecker and American Goldfinch are sharing the Stokes Select Jumbo Seed Bird Feeder.

Busy, busy time for everyone right now, but don't forget the Christmas Bird Counts are about to happen. This year marks the 117th year they have been held. Birders from an area (the country is divided into count circles, each with its own count date, usually in Dec.)  go out and count all the birds in that area during a 24 hr. period. Some birders just participate by watching their bird feeders and counting the birds, others take trips out to count birds in the wild. We shall see what turns up, that's part of the fun of counting every bird you see on that day. For more information on how you can join a Christmas Bird Count in your area go here.

Winter Bird Feeding Tips: Keep Birds Happy All Winter!

American Goldfinches and Pine Siskin on lower right 

Dark-eyed Junco in snow

To help your birds get through winter in areas of the country where there is severe winter weather, start with an excellent bird feeder set up. Make sure you include multiple Stokes Select®  tubular, hopper, screen, and suet feeders filled with a variety of quality bird seeds and suet. Focus on providing black oil sunflower (which has a high oil, thus calorie count), seed mixes that contain a good amount of black oil sunflower and, for finches, Nyjer (thistle) seed. Also include suet which is a calorie-rich food that provides much needed energy for birds in cold weather.

Place feeders near cover so the birds can escape wind and cold. Near pines or other evergreens is ideal, especially if they face south. Place feeders on poles with squirrel baffles and locate them 12 or more feet from any place from which a squirrel can jump.

Clean off snow from feeders whenever it accumulates from a storm. This includes shoveling snow from under the feeders so ground feeding species like Mourning Doves, White-throated Sparrows and juncos can access seeds that birds drop from the above feeders. Consider using the snow blower to clear under the feeders if it is feasible. Some people make a big brush pile with a hollow middle inside and sprinkle seed on the ground in the middle of it so ground feeding species can get the seed. The more feeders you have, the more kinds of birds you will attract. 

Winter target birds. In addition to regular winter birds like chickadees, titmice, goldfinches, nuthatches, cardinals, jays, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, juncos, and White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, you may attract rarer species like Common Redpolls, Pine Siskins, and Evening Grosbeaks.

Once you finish shoveling the snow go inside, pour a cup of hot chocolate, get out your binoculars and field guide and, though the window, watch a lot of happy birds flock to your feeders.

And if you're looking for Chirstmas gifts for the bird lover, get our new Stokes Essential Pocket Guide to the Birds of North America. With 250 species and over 580 stunning photos,  it contains all the birds you will see at your feeders and the essential ones beyond. For the more advanced birders on your list get our best-selling, 

Buy Now! The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America

It was recently divided into Eastern and Western editions,

Buy Now! The New Stokes Field Guide to Birds, Eastern and Western Regions

Buy Now! The Stokes Essential Pocket Guide to Birds of North America

Enjoy!

Birding For Kids, Tips!

We always try to let kids look through our scope at birds.

We just got a nice letter from Jerry Medina, a teacher in Tucson, AZ who is encouraging his first grade class to become interested in birding and blogged about one of his budding birder students. That's so cool.

We love to encourage kids to get involved in birding activities. Kids who are interested and informed about birds become the conservation leaders of tomorrow. Here are a few tips and resources about birding for kids. Even small children can be introduced to birding. Make sure and lower spotting scopes to the proper height for kids so they can see the birds.

Stokes Beginner's Guide To Birds, east

Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds, west

Our Stokes Beginner's Guide To Birds covers the 100 most common birds in the east or west and is organized by color of the bird so even children who cannot yet read, can look up a bird they see. Older kids who are already into birding should have one of the many full size birding field guides. Kids should have appropriate sized binoculars, with smaller more compact binoculars given to smaller kids, and

full-sized binoculars for older kids, 8x10 are good

The Young Birders part of the American Birding Association website is an excellent resource for kids age 10-18. They have a Young Birder of the Year Contest with prizes in categories for keeping a field notebook, bird illustration, bird writing and bird photography. They also have kid's birding camps and kid's scholarships to those camps and other birding activities. A Bird's-Eye View bimonthly newsletter is edited and written by young birders.

This holiday season give the gift of birding to a kid by giving binoculars and a field guide, or even start them with a bird feeder. Most importantly, you can help spark an interest by taking a kid birding, whether it's your own kid, a grandchild, neice, nephew or just a friend.

Here's a link to the Young Birder's part of the American Birding Association website.

Turkey Time Humor

Today's Wild Turkey photo by Lillian, is on page 68 of our national best-seller The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America

Yup, Gryff - I think those are Turkeys outside!"

and when our field guide came out, we were sent this funny photo of 2 Vermont Corgis, Gryf and Rugby, who are ID-ing turkeys with their Stokes Field Guide.