Summertime Bird Baths!

Summer is bath time. Birds need to drink and keep their one set of clothes (until they molt again) clean, so a good bird bath can help them and entertain you. Choose a shallow bath with a NON-SLIP surface, birds need firm footing and a gradual water level. So bypass all those pretty ceramic ones sold in every garden and gift store. A bird bath need not be expensive, I have often used just a plastic saucer that goes under a garden pot. Yes, dripping water is a magnet too. This stone bath is my favorite, I received it as a gift for helping design the Massachusetts Audubon Butterfly Garden many years ago.
 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

 Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there (whether you are the Dad of a two-legged, four-legged, winged, or whoever being!) Enjoy your special day!

(Male Hairy Woodpecker feeding his fledgling).

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks - the male's red patch varies, notice it!!

Notice that the red breast patch of the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak varies from one male to the next, making them individually identifiable. Look at these photos and you can see. The female is also beautiful in her camouflaged brown streaks, making her camouflaged from predators while she incubates on the nest. Watching and looking closely at birds in a mindful, attentive way brings health benefits. It draws you deeper into their world and out of yours. So notice the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks you see, and even draw a little sketch of their red patch. I had three different males visit my feeders this spring, I could tell by their different patches. Very cool!
 

Puffin Love!!

Puffin Love. These adorable Atlantic Puffins breed on rocky islands in Maine and one of the best ways to get to them is on one of the chartered tours, which fill up fast. I photographed these on Machias Seal Island a spectacular spot to see puffins. You land on the island and are in a blind and puffins are feet away. Boldcoast.com charter company goes there but is filled for the season. However, there are numerous coastal boat tours in Maine that offer puffin and other watching from the boats, just google it if you go to Maine this summer.

 

Red-eyed Vireos Never Stop Singing, (well almost).

I opened the door this morning and heard a familiar sound, a Red-eyed Vireo singing in the woods behind my deck. This is one of the most common sounds you hear all summer long in woods and as you hike. There's reason –

Red-eyed Vireos are abundant in about the eastern two-thirds of the country and much of Canada. Unlike many male birds who stop singing after they pair up, the male Red-eyed Vireo sings almost constantly, even after getting a mate.

From Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior, Vol. 1,

"At some point, he will stop singing and you will notice an immediate change in the female's behavior. She begins to look in all directions, move about on the nest, and may even give one of her calls. In a minute or two, she flies off to meet the male and is either fed by him or feeds on her own. After about five minutes the male will be singing from the treetops again and, possibly without your even noticing, the female will have come back to the nest and resumed incubating. From this will be clear to you that the male's song is being closely listened to by the female and is a continual aural contact that helps the pair coordinate this phase of their lives." This is an intimate look into the secret life of Red-eyed Vireos. We wrote our behavior guides to create holistic birding, in which you go beyond mere identification and get a deeper appreciation and respect for the amazing lives of birds. (Always observe nests from a safe distance so as not to disturb birds.) Listen to the song of a Red-eyed Vireo here, I guarantee you will hear it if you are in their range.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-eyed_Vireo/sounds

 

Going Cuckoo!!

Going cuckoo. Both Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos are being reported from multiple places in New England. I have had both from my condo deck here in MA in past years and had a Yellow-billed recently. Not easy to tell apart, learn the calls first you will hear them more than see them. Aptly named for their bill colors, Yellow-billed has a long tail with bold white tips, Black-billed has small whitish tips on the tail and also a red orbital ring around the eye. These are secretive, woodland birds who love to eat caterpillars. They winter in South America. Cool birds!!
 

Warbler Fallout, Now!

                                          Golden-winged Warbler

                                         Black-throated Green Warbler

                                                    Magnolia Warbler

                                                Bay-breasted Warbler

                                                Blackburnian Warbler
 

There's fallout on the NH coast now, get out if you can!! Someone just had 12 species from Church St. parking lot in 1/2 hour. Fallout is when migrating birds encounter weather conditions such as fog, high winds, storms, etc. which ground them. Photos are from another time.

Yellow Warblers Arrived! Such Beauty!

Yellow Warbler male

                                            Yellow Warbler, female

The first bird I heard this morning as stepped out on the deck to put out the sunflower feeder was a beautiful Yellow Warbler. Birdsong is good for the soul.
 

STOKES GUIDE TO FINCHES OF NORTH AMERICA in progress!

Evening Grosbeak

Purple Finch

Just finished a looong working weekend with my coauthor to Stokes Guide to Finches of North America, Matthew A. Young, doing our best to bring you an awesome guide to all things finch!! Coming in 2023.

https://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/search...

 

Pine Warblers Are Arriving!!

Yes, they eat suet. Pine Warbler on my suet feeder a few years ago. When some of the early migrants, like Pine Warbler, arrive there may not be a lot of insects around, especially if it is cold or bad weather. So they can take advantage of a high-calorie food source like suet. Welcome all the migrants with feeders well-feeders with suet and a variety of seeds, as well as hummingbird nectar and orange halves for the catbirds and orioles. The great migration push is beginning, embrace the wonder.

 

The Common Birds Still Excite!

 I get asked whether the common birds excite me anymore. The assumption is that only the rare is valued and thrilling and I am jaded to the ordinary. My answer is hell yes, I get as excited by the common and known birds as much as I did the day I first saw them. Rare birds are exotic, fun, and pulse-quickening. But I look at all birds as mini-miracle bundles of wonder, there to be focused on and cherished.

Greater Prairie-Chickens Booming!

We left at 3:30 a.m. to arrive predawn and stealthily crept through the chill darkness to wait at our blind. The faintest light appeared...slowly the males came...the dancing and the booming, reverberating-through-your-body, other-worldly sounds began. We were watching the lek mating rituals of Greater Prairie-Chickens.

Males gather and display at their mating grounds each spring. They rapidly stamp their feet and produce the booming sounds by inflating the orange air sacs on the sides of their neck, the sound comes from air passing through the syrinx and is amplified by the sacs, an extension of the esophagus. Males also make cackling and whooping noises. Females then arrive and decide which male to mate with, while the males compete for females. Females usually choose older, more experienced males with longer legs, larger eye combs, and the best territories within the lek. After mating the females nest and raise the young themselves.

This took place a number of years ago (when we were with our friends Gary and Diane Cole) at the Prairie Ridge Natural Area, Illinois, the only remaining place east of the Mississippi where Greater Prairie-Chickens, a declining species, can be found on their historical grounds.

You can listen to the sound of the Greater Prairie-chicken here https://www.allaboutbirds.org/.../Greater.../overview

 

American Woodcock Astounding Behavior!!

 "Peent!!" Go listen for the nasal call of American Woodcocks, who are returning to their breeding grounds across much of the eastern U.S. and very southern Canada. Wow, what a great bird!! Those shoe button eyes on top of its head allow it to look for predators while it feeds on earthworms with its bill stuck in the ground.

One of the most astounding things about woodcocks is the males' courtship display. After giving multiple "peents" he rises in the air in a spiral, hundreds of feet high and you could hear his wings making a twittering sound. At the very top of his flight, he makes a canary-like chirping for several seconds, as he begins his descent. After landing, he begins his "peent" calls again.

Male woodcocks do courtship displays, at dusk and dawn, in open fields, hoping to attract as many females as they can. Females go to the fields, choose and mate with a male, then go into the woods and nest and raise the young by themselves. The young are born fully feathered and can walk and soon feed themselves.

If you live near open fields you can go and listen for woodcock displays and witness this amazing woodcock behavior for yourself. Getting more deeply into the lives and behavior of the birds around you takes you out of your world and connects you to something larger. Enjoy!

Red-winged Blackbirds have returned!!

 Here's how I was greeted this morning, "okaleeee." A Red-winged Blackbird made my day. Birds have a way of doing that, embrace it!

Purple Finches are On the Move!!

 

                                     Purple Finch eBird map March 2022

                                                  House Finch males

Purple Finches and goldfinch at top.

Beautiful Purple Finches seem to be on the move. Purple Finches breed across Canada, the upper Midwest, the northeastern quadrant of the U.S., and down West Coast areas. However, they winter down through the Gulf Coast states. Here's an eBird map of where they are now. Don't be fooled into thinking you have Purple Finches when you are seeing House Finches. House Finch males have more heavily streaked flanks and red color more limited to head and breast, females have plain brown faces, not the whitish eyebrow line of female Purple Finches.

Happy Bluebirds!

 

Come along with me my love,

And we will roam the sky;

We'll fly across the meadows,

And soar o'er mountains high.

We'll drink of streams' pure waters;

Chase butterflies and bees;

And when we tire of this, my love,

We'll rest in shady trees.

Then we will search in earnest,

Each nook and cranny wide;

Where we can raise our family,

Together, side by side.

There it is, my dearest love,

Well, goodness! Bless my soul!

Just waiting there for us, dear one,

Our house upon a pole.

A kind and careful craftsman

Has built it strong and true;

DO enter into it, my love,

And I will follow you.

Katherine M. Braun

"Bluebird Honeymoon"

And from Henry David Thoreau, Journals–March 2, 1859

"Princes and magistrates are often styled serene, but what is their turbid serenity to that ethereal serenity which the bluebird embodies? His Most Serene Birdship! His soft warble melts in the ear, as the snow is melting in the valleys around. The bluebird comes and with his warble drills the ice and sets free the rivers and ponds and frozen ground. As the sand flows down the slopes a little way, assuming the forms of foliage where the frost comes out of the ground, so this little rill of melody flows a short way down the concave of the sky."

When I wrote Stokes Bluebird Book: The Complete Guide to Attracting Bluebirds in 1991, I included some poetry and special quotes on bluebirds in an early chapter because bluebirds are one of the most beloved songbirds who inspire and enchant millions. Birds are so much more than just their colors, wing measurements, sounds, life history information; they're winged spirits who touch our souls.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

                                   Roseate Spoonbill preening heart shape

Bluebird pair

                                  

                     Happy Valentine's Day. 

This is also my blogger anniversary. I have been doing Stokes Birding Blog for 16 years. Hope you have enjoyed it. Have a great day!

Christmas Bird Count Jan. 3rd 2022 Great Fun!!

Hooded Merganser

Red-bellied Woodpecker and Carolina Wren

Song Sparrow

Hooded Merganser

Horned Lark

Canada Geese in field where lark was

Spoiler Alert: these will be the suckiest Christmas Bird Count (now in its 122nd year) photos you will see, so look no further if you're used to viewing the gorgeous eye-candy photos from other photographers. But the purpose of the Christmas Bird Count is to count every bird and have fun, and fun I had, even if the weather was rainy, gray and cold. I participated on Sunday in the Greater Concord, MA Christmas Bird Count (which includes sections of a number of towns) and had a territory with diverse habitat, including wetlands and fields. I brought my Nikon P950 point-and-shoot superzoom camera which is no DSLR, but the superzoom of 2000mm allows record shots. What I loved best is that every bird counts, whether rare or common, something to be celebrated when often birding's emphasis is on rarities (which I do love seeing!). During 24 hours, by car and on foot, every species, with numbers seen, is recorded. In the early, dark morning I managed to get a photo of the special Horned Larks in the big field with geese. It was raining, I was soaked, standing in the mud with my fingers numb, and loved every second of it. Isn't that what life is about, feeling alive and loving every second of it? Later, during mid-day, it stopped raining and I worked hard in an area where diverse habitats come together and I saw the most birds, scanning, trying for photos, recording, and just feeling a sense of exhilaration to be immersed with birds in the experience. Nothing else mattered and I truly was "in the moment." I miraculously managed to get both Red-bellied Woodpecker and Carolina Wren in the same photo. In a water area later, the beautiful male Hooded Merganser swam away from me, his white flag erect like the head of an arrow piercing a pattern in the still, deep, dark water. At the end of the day, participants turn in their numbers to compilers. Last night was the countdown zoom, where you hear about all that was seen. I am always so impressed by the skill and effort put in by so many participants, plus a sense of birding community on this special day. Over 31,000 individual birds were counted, of about 90 give or take species (some numbers are still being confirmed). Life is about the gift of every moment and birds are a big present.