Mid-December update

Immature Cooper's Hawk, Accipiter cooperi, perched just a few meters above our feeders one morning last week. photo: Lynn Jones

December is just not a normal month. There's the transition from late fall to winter, when those warmish days are just fewer and farther between, and we resign ourselves to the fact of cold weather.
We have ways to deal with this.

If you're connected to students and the academic world in any way, there are end-of-semester issues. Grades and evaluations are due, plans are sketched out for second semester, last-minute challenges are par for the course.
We have ways to deal with this too.

And then there's the craziness of the "holiday season". THIS is self-inflicted, I mean the craziness part. The holidays, well they've all been around longer than we have, but what have we done to make them so crazy?
We have ways to deal with this too - GO BIRDING!!!!

It's time for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, so tomorrow instead of joining the shopping craziness we birders will be out driving and walking our "territories" in search of every last chickadee, gull and wandering warbler we can find.


New squirrel baffle for one of our feeders - provided by Tony - the other two feeders are there in the background - one for sunflower seeds and the other for thistle seeds, which the finches are supposed to prefer.

West Campus bird list for the past two weeks, December 5-9 and 12-16, 2011:

Wild Turkey
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Red-tailed Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
10. Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
American Robin
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
Black-capped Chickadee
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
20. Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Twenty two species for the middle of December - probably just about what you'd expect.

Next week, Lynn and I will report on our West Campus Christmas Bird Count.

Sue and Lynn - West Campus birders - with camera trap.

The segue from November to December this week brought a few cold nights, but warm daytime temperatures linger still. Our sparrow population is down, but a good variety of thicket-haunting birds was around this week.

Ruby-crowned and
Golden-crowned Kinglets

Carolina and
House Wrens

Northern Mockingbirds and
Gray Catbirds

Dark-eyed Juncos and a
White-throated Sparrow

Blue Jays and
American Crows

House Finches and
American Goldfinches

Mourning Doves and
Rock Pigeons

Downy Woodpeckers and
Red-bellied Woodpeckers


Lynn keeps the courtyard feeders full.

Black-capped Chickadees and a
Northern Cardinal

American Robins and
European Starlings

Ring-billed and
Herring Gulls


Wild Turkey flock browsing? grazing? one morning this week.

Wild Turkey flocks
Canada Goose flocks, and a
Red-tailed Hawk
and always a few
House Sparrows

Twenty six species for the week - again, a week in which we didn't get outside much during the workday, but saw our good skulkers before work in the mornings.

Nocturnal visitors

Okay, here's something fun we've been trying for a few weeks - off and on...
We noticed some unusually large scat out in the courtyard and set up our camera trap to see who the nocturnal visitors might be. The possibilities are limited, since the area is only accessible via the trees - or via flight.


Virginia Opossum, Didelphis virginianus - North America's only native marsupial.

We were thinking it could have been a Gray Fox, since they're arboreal - and the scat was fairly large - so we'll keep trying! - fun stuff.

Bird list for the last few weeks (November 14-18 and 21-23, 2011):

Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Red-tailed Hawk
6. Cooper's Hawk

Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
11. Northern Flicker

Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
18. Cedar Waxwing


Celastrus scandens, Oriental Bittersweet - bad weed, but good food supply for the birds.

Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
House Wren
23. Carolina Wren

Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
28. American Goldfinch
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole - two!!
31. House Sparrow


Diverse habitat near the Leaf Pile - some bittersweet, some Phragmites, some open woodland.

This is often a good place for morning bird activity - in fact on a warm, humid morning earlier this week, this spot was alive with birdsong. Robins were singing, the Baltimore Oriole sang a few notes, White-throated and Song Sparrows joined in. Felt like spring!

An unseasonably warm week - such a pleasure, after a string of frosty mornings, well, and not to forget the big snowstorm 2 weeks back.

Bird list for the week of November 7-11, 2011.

Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Red-tailed Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow - 89 birds counted
Fish Crow - 12 birds counted
(the West Haven crow roost is gathering again!)


American and Fish Crows gather on a West Campus rooftop.

American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Carolina Wren
Black-capped Chickadee
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow

Catching up

fall colors afloat on the Oyster River

Among other excuses, I have had a cold for the past two weeks and opted to stay indoors knitting, rather than go out birding - so, the list this week is 100% attributable to Ms. Lynn Jones - her photos too.

Bird list for the week of October 31 through Nov 4th.

Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Great Blue Heron


Ardea herodias, G B H, passing through West Campus

Ring-billed Gull
5. Herring Gull
Killdeer
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
American Kestrel
11. Mourning Dove

Rock Pigeon
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
American Crow
16. Fish Crow
Common Raven
Blue Jay


A small amount of birding involves unsolved mysteries. Here's half a hawk Lynn saw this week. An immature Buteo? - I was going for young Red-tail, based on the rufous head, pale belly, dark back, vertical streaking. Who knows?...

American Robin
Hermit Thrush
21. Tree Swallow

European Starling
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Black-capped Chickadee
Song Sparrow
26. White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Brown-headed Cowbird
31. House Sparrow


Here's a beauty - the Blue-headed Vireo, Vireo solitarius, Lynn saw last week.

New Haven Bird Club's Feederwatch (link, or see below) started this week, and Lynn has begun keeping a tally of our feeder birds, as she has for the past two winters. So far, the usual visitors are a pair of Blue Jays, a few chickadees and sparrows, Mourning Doves, woodpeckers and a gray squirrel. This week a huge flock of juncos descended - sixty at the highest count!

NHBC 19th Annual Winter Feeder Survey November 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012 This is a yearly census to help determine the number and frequency of birds visiting feeders in the Greater New Haven area. You are invited to observe and record the activity at your feeder at least once a week for the entire time period. Contact-Peter Vitali: 203.288.0621,vitali_peter_e@sbcglobal.net

So, in last week's post I mentioned a taste of winter, with more to come. Saturday, October 29th the northeastern US was hit with a snowstorm - a nor'easter on a scale usually only seen in mid-winter. [hmm, interestingly, I took no photos] Parts of the state were without power for 7, 8, nine days, as heavy snow brought down trees which still had a full complement of leaves.

Read Scott Kruitbosch's well-written account of the storm - from the perspective of a birder. Local news media provided plenty of coverage of the storm's aftermath - from the perspective of disgruntled customers of the state's electric utilites. Now, close to two weeks after the storm, here's a link to a blog in which the writer posted power outage maps for October 31st.

Still an occasional migrant.

Merlin, Falco columbarius, digiscoped photo by Tom Parlapiano. The Merlin put in a few appearances at the other end of campus this week - most dramatically when Tom was out with a group of schoolchildren studying trees and identifying leaves.

In late October we still see the occasional migrant - a raptor here, a swallow there, and a few songbirds lingering. Lynn's special find of the week was a Blue-headed Vireo (photo in next week's post!). We've seen this bird on campus during both spring and fall migrations, and it's always a treat to see again.

This week saw cooler temperatures with mostly sunny skies, and one rainy day that changed to snow overnight. I should amend that - it snowed in my corner of the state, but along the coast, no.


My car early this morning - pretty sure I'm not ready for winter yet - but I hear this was just a test run. More arriving soon, as in, tomorrow - Saturday.

Bird list for the week of October 24-28, 2011.

Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
5. Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
10. American Kestrel

Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
15. Eastern Phoebe
American Crow
Fish Crow
Blue Jay
Blue-headed Vireo
20. American Robin

Hermit Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Tree Swallow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
25. European Starling
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
30. Savannah Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
American Goldfinch
House Finch
35. Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
House Sparrow


yes, MORE images of the famous albino squirrel of West Campus

Late-day birds.

Canada Geese, Branta canadensis, take over the parking lots after 5pm.


Hundreds of American Robins, Turdus migratorius, gather in the treetops to roost after 5pm.
Bird list for the week of October 17-21, 2011:

Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Killdeer
Herring Gull
5. Ring-billed Gull


Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus, feeding in grassy strips in the parking lots - after 5pm.

Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
10. Broad-winged Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Falco sp.

Mourning Dove
15. Rock Pigeon
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker

Eastern Phoebe
Common Raven
20. American Crow
Blue Jay
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird
25. European Starling


The third Killdeer - we often see three together.

Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown Creeper
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
30. Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler

Northern Cardinal
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
35. Swamp Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco

House Finch
40. American Goldfinch
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
House Sparrow

Forty four bird species, and for mammals - sightings of Red Fox, Eastern Striped Chipmunk, Eastern Gray Squirrel and White-tailed Deer. Early Friday morning, Lynn and I stood quietly and watched two bucks engage each other in some head-butting and antler-wrestling. One was an eight-point and the other looked to be a six-point buck.


The resident curiosity, an albino squirrel.

Does anybody have a decent photo of the albino Gray Squirrel who has been haunting the western end of West Campus? It was pretty high up in a nut tree when I got this too-distant photo.

Young Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, in the Sycamore tree in our courtyard, photo: Lynn Jones
Bird list for the week of October 10 through 14, 2011:

Wild Turkey
Mute Swan
Canada Goose
Killdeer
5. Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull

Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
10. Cooper's Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
American Kestrel
Osprey
15. Northern Harrier

Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
20. Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon


Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata, in a spruce in our parking lot. The jays are so visible this time of year, as they search for food to cache for the winter. You'll see them fly in one direction, then return with an acorn or beech nut, then over again, and back with something more.

Eastern Phoebe
American Crow
Fish Crow
25. Blue Jay
European Starling
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
30. Brown Creeper

American Robin
Swainson's Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Palm Warbler
35. Common Yellowthroat

Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
40. Savannah Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco


Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis, in spruce forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. photo: Jorge de Leon.

House Finch
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
45. House Sparrow

I keep meaning to explain my groupings. Sometimes I group by fives to make it easier to count, sometimes I group by species, according to accepted avian systematics. We'll get into avian systematics another time, perhaps - but not on a Friday afternoon...

Have a good weekend!
Sue

October migrants

This is the approach path to "the leaf pile". Sparrows forage for grass seeds along the edge here, and many skulky bird species haunt the thickets down below the pile. We tend to name all of our birding hotspots on campus to simplify describing to each other where we saw something.

October migrants are definitely the sparrows!
Tuesday night October 4th, another storm system was pushed through by strong NW winds, bringing more migrants. This wave of birds was predominantly sparrows.

This week's birds, oh let's just start with the sparrows - all in the family Emberizidae which include juncos, towhees, new world sparrows and old world buntings.

Purple-colored species are those that just arrived this week:
White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis
White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys
Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia
Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana
5. Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii
Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla
Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis
Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis
Sharptailed sparrow, Ammodramus sp.
10. Eastern Towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus


Monarch Butterflies are still in migration too - on their way to Mexico.

Okay, now back to my usual systematic listing:
Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Great Blue Heron
Ring-billed Gull
15. Herring Gull
Turkey Vulture

raptors:
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
20. Sharp-shinned Hawk
Osprey
Merlin
American Kestrel

and continuing along the non-passerine birds:
Rock Pigeon
25. Mourning Dove
Monk Parakeet
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern flicker
[NO hummingbirds this week]


Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, Lynn's photo - beautiful - thanks!

and now to the passerines:
30. Common Raven
American Crow
Blue Jay
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
35. Black-capped Chickadee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
House Wren
Red-eyed Vireo
American Robin
40. Swainson's Thrush
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird


Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler, Dendroica coronata coronata , a male, one of the photos showed a sliver of yellow on the crown, which only the male has. Another great photo Lynn - thanks!

Yellow-rumped Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
45. American Goldfinch
House Finch
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
50. House Sparrow

Looks like our species count has stayed pretty high this week, with a grand total of 50.


This week's casualties, picked up from various glass hazards around campus: Northern Parula (top), Red-eyed Vireo (left), Gray Catbird (right).

We write the collecting info for each bird on a scrap of paper and save it together with the little body in the freezer until we can prepare study skins to contribute to the Peabody Museum's research collection.


Study specimens that I prepared a few weeks ago from window-strike casualties. In front is an Ovenbird, in back a Red-eyed Vireo with a spread wing preparation for the same bird. The pins help keep the skin in position as it dries, and can be removed after a week or so. And now the specimens each have a Peabody Museum data tag which will be tied to the legs.


And I throw this photo in at the end as a little bonus for all of you rodent-lovers! Every day this week, in the mid-afternoon, Tom Parlapiano has seen this albino Gray Squirrel hanging out at the west end of campus.

September wrap-up, oh, and another new bird

Common Raven in flight. Lynn's photo. We watched two of them during one lunch-hour, hanging out in their favorite spot - on top of C-32 at West Campus. At one point, one of the pair returned with a prey item, and we soon saw feathers floating from the rooftop. Bet there's all kinds of vertebrate remains up there!

For the final week of September our birding efforts were hampered by a few rainy days, but we managed to keep the species count high. Or rather, the birds kept on coming, and we were lucky to have lunchtimes available to get out for some birding.

Bird list for the week of September 26 - 30th, 2011.

Wild Turkey
Canada Goose
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
5. Killdeer


Lynn's photo, at some distance, and through glass, of this week's new bird:

Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius name links to Cornell University's All About Birds page on this species - scroll down to images at the bottom of page and look for the bird in non-breeding plumage - that's who dropped by early Monday morning last week to pay us a visit!
This is the first member of family Scolopacidae for our West Campus birding list. Our resident Killdeer, although we group it with sandpipers in a general way, is a plover, family Charadriidae.

And a good push of migrating raptors came through on the post-rain windiness. Few in numbers but high in diversity:
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
10. Broad-winged Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Merlin
Kestrel
15. Turkey Vulture

Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
20. Northern Flicker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird


Yeah, here's one of our very own ravens!! such a nice ravenesque profile! Lynn's photo

Common Raven
American Crow
Fish Crow
25. Blue Jay

Eastern Phoebe
Cedar Waxwing
European Starling
Red-eyed Vireo
30. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Black-capped Chickadee
House Wren

Palm Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
35. Blackpoll Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Waterthrush


Asters, goldenrod, mugwort, ragweed - fall greenery in every unmowed corner of campus.

American Robin
Gray Catbird
40. Northern Mockingbird

American Goldfinch
House Finch
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting

45. Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow

Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
50. Red-winged Blackbird

House Sparrow

Fifty-one species. Yeah, another fantastic week of migration activity over our hilltop here at West Campus. After the first few weeks of October, most of the raptors and warblers will no longer make our list but the diversity of sparrow species will hopefully continue to climb. And then.... the winter finches!!

Where's our Purple Finch, and our Pine Siskin? our Red-breasted Nuthatch and our White-winged Crossbill. Okay - which of those four species have we NOT seen yet at West Campus?

ha! - we birders ALways have something good to look forward to!!


As the leaves thin out in September, we notice more and more nests around campus. This one has a pretty high percentage of plastic in the construction - we'll do some research and see if we can match to the species, but I know that Kingbirds and some other flycatchers will use plastic, as a substitute for a more traditional building material: snakeskin! [Lynn's photo]