Quiet rambling bird walk today

Another fairly quiet, warm-in-the-sun, cool-in-the-shade sort of day. We walked the west side of A21 and circumnavigated the B's, following the brushy plantings and pausing on the bridge awhile. The autumn olives and other fruiting trees are a real bird-magnet these days.

birders: Lynn and Sue

birds:

Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura

Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

Canada Goose, Branta canadensis

Herring Gull, Larus argentatus

Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe
Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum

American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos

Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata

Brown Creeper, Certhia americana

http://www.saaudubon.org/Photos/BrownCreeper_SSchaezler.jpg

Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapilla
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula

American Robin, Turdus migratorius

Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos

Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis

Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis

White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis

Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis

Brown-headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater

Thursday birding

Thursday lunchtime was freakishly quiet, but maybe we've reached that time of year - when the migrants are gone, the sparrows have plentiful natural food, and all that we see are the more common hangers-on.
today's birders: Lynn, Scott, Nick
today's birds:
Blue Jay
White-throated Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
House Finch
Canada Goose
Dark-eyed Junco
American Crow

Ring-billed Gull http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/RBGU_Ring-billed_Gull_47_rsz_ct.jpg
and another sad window-strike saga
Song Sparrow - dead
Thrush - stunned and recovered (maybe)

Wednesday Birdwalk

We're staying inside today - no organized Wednesday birdwalk. Just too wet to be slogging around out there in sneakers. Maybe instead I'll work on a plan to protect the birds from our window hazards. This is what Lynn picked up in the A-21 courtyard yesterday morning - probably a few days' accumulation.

left to right:
Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco
Melospiza melodia, Zonotrichia albicollis, Junco hyemalis

Field Triiip!!!

A windy, rainy lunch hour today - didn't think there would be many birds around, so we abandoned our plan to walk in the woods and escaped to the beach. Less than a ten-minute drive away, we stopped first at South Beach in West Haven, then made our way north-eastward, stopping along the way for coastal birds.

These birds don't count as West Campus birds, and indeed some of them would NEVER be seen in our landscaped and forested habitats.
Today's birders: Sue and Lynn


Today's birds:
Peregrine Falcon, cruising over the beach, stirred up a flock of:
Semipalmated Sandpipers and a
Black-bellied Plover
American Oystercatcher, three
Brant, a flock feeding in shallow water
Black Duck
Double-crested Cormorant
Great black-backed Gull
Herring Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Laughing Gull
Gray Catbird
House Sparrow
European Starling
Rock Pigeon

Additional Campus birds:
Wild Turkey (Nate's sighting)

American Crow (huge flock in the courtyard-Barbara's sighting)

Blue Jay

Brown Creeper (Tom's sighting)

Monk Parakeet, more on this one another day (Tom's sighting)

15 species for our little field trip:
Falco peregrinus
Calidris pusilla
Pluvialis squatarola
Haematopus palliatus
Branta bernicla

Anas rubripes
Phalacrocorax auritus

Larus marinus

Larus argentatus

Larus delawarensis

Larus atricilla

Dumetella carolinensis

Passer domesticus

Sturnus vulgaris

Columba livia

plus the campus birds:

Meleagris gallopavo

Corvus brachyrhynchos

Cyanocitta cristata

Certhia americana

Myopsitta monachus

No birding today.

What a sad title!
Hopefully we all got in a little birding yesterday - a beautiful warm Sunday which followed Saturday's south winds and pouring rain.
So, yes, I wasn't able to get out birding at lunchtime today, but thought I'd share a photo Lynn took last week. She was checking the ground below a huge expanse of glass, a multi-level building connector here on West Campus, and found a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Regulus calendula, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, photo-Lynn Jones

This little guy had been stunned by a window-strike, and was sitting below the window, eyes closed. As it sat for photos, it must have regained strength, and eventually flew up into a nearby pine. Today, as she approached the same place, Lynn noticed a lot of small-bird activity in the shrubbery, and sure enough there was another vicitim. This time a Golden-crowned Kinglet, which also seemed to recover, and fly away.

Research on window-strikes has shown that 50% of the birds that are able to fly away, eventually die from their injuries. Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology has a lot of information collected in one place, if you're interested in reading more:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/Birdscope/Summer2008/window_screening.html

Friday October 23rd

Gray and blustery today, so we decided to head into the woods for our birds. We walked the perimeter fence at the south end of campus as far as the Oyster River. This swampy area was full of small birds, and one White-tailed Deer - likely the same buck we saw on Wednesday.

Todays birders: Lynn and Sue
Today's birds:
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk (being pestered by crows and bluejays)
Canada Goose
Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Northern Flicker (heard only)
Eastern Phoebe
American Crow
Blue Jay
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Black-capped Chickadee (quite a little flock)
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Cardinal
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
and
Swamp Sparrow

http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/birds/sparrows/images/spar12.jpg

What we didn't see today.

Ever notice how sometimes you notice something because it's NOT there rather than because it IS there? We have seen Eastern Phoebes every day we've been out birding, for four weeks now. And today we didn't see them. We were in a somewhat different habitat than our usual daily walks, but we have seen them throughout campus. So keep your eyes open for our Phoebes. They are usually among the last migrants to leave in the fall (and the first to arrive in the spring) so they could easily be around into November. Eastern Phoebes usually spend the winter in the southern U.S. and Mexico.

Eastern Phoebe in fall plumage.
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/wild-birds/d-h/eastern-phoebe.html

Wednesday bird walk.

A good group went exploring at lunchtime today, checking for birds in the brushy edges around the south end of West Campus. Overcast with no wind, temp. in the low 60's.

Today's birders: Sue, Lynn, Tom, Kristof, Brian and Becky.

thanks for taking the photo Becky

Today's birds:

Wild Turkey (seen earlier in the morning)

Canada Goose

Merlin (fly-over, good eye Becky!)

Herring Gull

Rock Pigeon (seen earlier in the morning)

Mourning Dove (seen earlier in the morning)

Northern Flicker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (late afternoon, near Tom's bldg.)

Red-bellied Woodpecker (late afternoon, near Tom's bldg.)

American Crow

Blue Jay

American Robin

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

House Finch

http://www.chickendancetrail.com/images/birdpics/HouseFinch.jpg

American Goldfinch

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Eastern Towhee (heard only)

House Sparrow

Common Grackle

Red-winged Blackbird

And, while we watched for finches, sparrows and warblers amongst the brambles of bittersweet, autumn olive and goldenrod, a white-tailed deer strolled through the scene, his head and antlers just visible above the vegetation!

Tuesday's birds

The brushy hillside down from the A21 parking lot - fine habitat for sparrows etc.

A rather quiet day, calm and sunny. The birds were quiet too.

Birders: Lynn and Sue

Birds:

Wild Turkey

Red-tailed Hawk

Ring-billed Gull

Killdeer - three

http://www.hse.k12.in.us/staff/cvanalstine/images/Killdeer.jpg

Mourning Dove

Downy Woodpecker

Eastern Phoebe

American Robin

Hermit Thrush

European Starling

House Sparrow

American Crow

Blue Jay

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Black-capped Chickadee

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Palm Warbler

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow - huge flock

Dark-eyed Junco

Eastern Towhee

Common Grackle

http://www.birdzilla.com/images/stories/450images/common-grackle-450.jpg

Grackles are often seen in huge mixed flocks with other blackbirds at this time of year. Lynn saw a few individuals on campus this morning.

BIRD WALK TOMORROW, 12:30, MEET IN PARKING LOT BEHIND EDUCATION CENTER/ DAYCARE CENTER - access is from within West Campus

Windowkills in the A21 courtyard

So, this is where we pick up 90% of our windowkills. Scattering birds get not only a view to the sky and trees beyond, but also reflections of the trees within the courtyard.

This morning, after the weekend, there were two victims, a junco and a sparrow. Research shows that the best deterrent is to completely cover the window area with a screen. The commonly used raptor decals work only if placed very close together - this window would need about 100, just on this side. More on this topic when I have more time.
As I approached the window to take that photo, a stunned Eastern Phoebe flew up right in front of me, to perch in the tree above.

photo by me! Susan Hochgraf

And this is one of the curious Yellow-rumped Warblers who actually came close enough to be photographed by my little Nikon Coolpix 7600.