#2- MID ATLANTIC BIRDS IN OUR GARDENS- NO CHAT

Had a real treat today out on my paper route. Saw more Cedar Waxwings today (20+) than my lifetime total! They were very excitedly feeding on a ten foot line of holly berry bushes

And another treat last night to watch PBS Nature program "Birds of the Gods". I was transfixed

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/birds-of-the-gods/full-episode/6322/

I am lost for an explanation----

You ALL know, by now, about my "Bird Condo: in all the holes in my Cherry tree?

Well! I do not know what has happened???? I have NOT seen either bird --male or female--
now in over a week????? It seems totally abandoned....

I can see the "Condo" from my kitchen window---and there is NOTHING!!!!
No birds (Starlings) any more. NO nest building! NOTHING!!!!

Where did they go? I have not seen any squirrels there either----
The hole in the tree just seems abandoned! The only thing I can imagine is that one,
or the other, may have gotten killed off....either hit by a car--or snatched up by a Hawk--
or something else.....and the other just moved on.....Do they do that????

To me--this is a serious mystery!!!! Gita

Gita..........It is not a mystery. You have just identified all the possible facts you can think of. There is no question that can be answered unless you see more and then there would be only more known facts. Animals do not file flight plans.

I have not seen a Cedar Waxwing in eons. Need to plant some berries. Mountain Ash and Pyracantha were always a good attractors when we he them. We have lots of apples but they do not seem attracted to them. They never did stay here. In Corning NY some years ago they were a dime a dozen.....likewise in Ithaca. Both of these locations are a days flight North of my backyard. I do not know if this is still true.

Cedar waxwing sitting yesterday has me asking some questions. I've been seeing some small flocks of robins either 'returns' or stayed here foragers so as I was driving up the hill and noticed multi bird activity, I thought robins, Since most activity was up in the bushes and not on the ground(don't those robins love worms!) and I had my window open (for delivery) I heard calls that made me think cardinals...but so many? The most cardinals I've seen at one time is 5 and those were in quick succession, three males, two females. Most of the birds I saw yesterday flew off when I stopped to take a look, circled overhead and then returned, flying off in small goups of four or five off and on as I watched. Still thought cardinals as they all looked "brownish" against the dark grey sky but definitely crested. Finally got a good view of one with the red on the wing tips and the facial markings. Then a few others.

Came home and listened to waxwing calls and still feel there were some cardinal call that I also heard yesterday. I'm so unfamiliar with waxwings and have never seen them here in Maryland. I know they love berries, are nomads and move in flocks...my question is could I also have seen or heard cardinals along with those holly berry feeding waxwings? Would cardinals 'defend' their territory from crowds of waxwings? Do cardinals eat holly berries?

Wonder if I'll see the waxwings again today? I'll be a much more keen observe this time if I do. There were a lot of berries left on those bushes about 4pm yesterday....Humm So, like you Gita, I'll be doing my Bird Waiting thing again today

Any one watch the Nature program I linked to above on Birds of Paradise? Really worth it.

Wild Rose, any waxwing pics to share?

Oh, and one more thing, do any of you put out "nesting materials" for your backyard birds?

My suburban location has ample nesting materials from many sources. One exception....Purple Martins appreciate a little help being put in the nesting box. Cardinals are mostly seed eaters. Never saw a cardinal or cardinals defending anything but their position on a seed feeder. Until the arrival of spring and the mating season they may be in the area in pairs but they don't really buddy up until nearer the matting season. Most female birds mate with more than one male. Some female birds leave the sitting nest and go out to meet other males while the mate keeps an eye on the homestead. Nice arrangement. This helps prevent in breeding and breeding to the same genetic faults.

I love cedar waxwings, Hardly ever see them here. A couple of times we had big flocks that came in and helped them selves to the juniper berries and left just as quickly.

I have only seen live waxwings once- on bird walk near here. THere was a flock in some tree, I can't remember what kind of tree darn it.

If the birds like dog fur they can have plenty. As some guy at the dog park said "'I used the shedding tool on my German Shepard, out in the yard, and my neighbor asked me if I had killed a deer, there was so much brown fur laying around it looked like a deer pelt"

We have Waxwings that pass through every year, I usually see them in the ash tree in the front of the property. I was thinking that when the ash's leaf buds open there are tiny insects that are drawn there and that is what the waxwings are after. just my thought.
We would brush our Alaskan Malamute in the back yard, she would blow coat every spring, the yard was covered in soft white undercoat. We told the neighbor that the dog exploded
Gita, maybe momma squirrel had her babies.

Lady--

BUT! Momma Squirrel never owned this hole--the Starlings did.

The white bits of some kind of insulation are all still laying all over the ground under the tree....
I tell you! Those Starlings were bi=oth working hard on this "Condo" property.
Now--NOTHING!!!! Not one in sight!
Maybe they gave up as there was too much unsuitable "filler" in this hole.
They sure were working hard, in shifts, to remove whatever it was they had to remove...

Maybe they just gave up and found a better hole????

Will keep you all informed, IF they come back......

Gita

Maybe they got West Nile Virus.

It will be interesting to see if anything has taken possession of the hole. I have a locus tree in the back yard, the hole in the tree has housed birds an family of squirrels and the last 2 years a honey bee nest. There were years where nothing lived there. Maybe bats.
You starlings may have just given up, but I bet they will return another year.

I spotted a Kingfisher, sitting on some utilities lines on our drive to get my drivers license picture done this morning. There is no mistaking that profile.

Honeybee hole.

lady!

I don't see anything in the above photo--just a tree trunk with somethi9ng darker in the front....
Are they babies? What is that mass of dark?

Re my Starlings--The only thing I can imagine is that they gave up on ridding the insides
of that hole of all that "fluff"....It is still laying all over the lawn at the base of the tree....
See above photos.....

Haven't seen any squirrels around there either....As last year--the starlings banished them!
It is sheer ABANDONMENT of an unfinished "project...."

This brings me to a complicated question.....

I saw those 2 Starlings mating...for 5 minutes or more....I thought he was killing her!
IF that initiates the "nesting behavior" (or--which comes first???) and the birds have both
been actively cleaning/constructing the nest (in that hole)--and then abandon it---
can the Female delay, at will, the development of her eggs?????

Obviously--if she/they have chosen to build a nest at some different site--the egg-laying
would have to be delayed....How does this work?
We will see....we will see....and, I will keep you posted....

Any thoughts on this??? Gita

Gita, I've read several places that starlings will fight to the death over nesting sites,,, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/robinson-cowbirds.html

Dear Scott,
I have been a birder for aprox. 30 years or so. I have only seen this once and it was shocking and cool at the same time. Starlings battling to the death on a sidewalk on a busy street, completely oblivious to the fact that they were rolling around at two women's feet, traffic, noise. They were really going at it. I read up on it. It seems to be a territorial thing/nesting. Can you give your take? Theresa, Toronto, Ontario

Robinson: Dear Theresa,
Good to hear from a fellow birder. I have several times seen birds fight to the death, although in all cases it was something else (an alligator or a car) that actually killed one of the birds fighting. Most likely, this was a fight over nest sites, which are limited in birds such as starlings that nest in cavities (tree holes drilled by woodpeckers, eaves in buildings), but cannot make their own. When they find a good, safe cavity, it is so valuable that it is actually worth fighting over and taking incredible risks. Males will also fight to the death over especially desirable mates. Usually, fights over something like food would not be so extreme because the consequences of losing a few food items are not so great that it is worth taking such extreme risks.

Gita, the picture is the honey bees that took over the hole in my locust tree. The dark spot at the bottom of the picture is all the bees clustered in the hole, I had to use the highest zoom on the camera I could get. The hole is very far up the tree. This was taken 2 years ago.
Here is more info on starlings.... http://www.birdhouses101.com/European-Starling.asp

This message was edited Apr 2, 2011 6:23 PM

World Migratory Bird Day May 14 and 15

http://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/2011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=34

I saw a red winged black bird today.

Removed this thread as it was off-topic. Thanks, Judy.

Will re-post in the Chat Thread....

This message was edited Apr 4, 2011 2:08 PM

Gita, you're excused this time LOL I hate it when sleep excapes me. I have returned to reading again and find it does wonders for me, I guess it clears my brain of anything that is bothering me that day.
Crit, I really look forward to seeing my red wing blackbird. he is one of my regulars that say spring is really here.

While walking around Williamsburg (VA) yesterday, DH & I were sort of surprised to see a Slate-colored Junco hopping around in the grass. I think of them as winter birds (aren't they sometimes called "snowbirds"?) and was not expecting to see one of them in April in southeastern Virginia! Hoping it doesn't mean anything, and this guy was just a straggler... ;-)

Here is a link to a Migratory Bird game I found while looking for migration maps and expected eta for our travelors. Any one have it as I can't find...

Here's the game

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/education/kids_stuff/woth_game/default.cfm

Okay, found one

http://www.enature.com/birding/region_migration.asp?bregionID=5

I will be putting out my Hummer feeder any day now.

Gita, thanks! We want everyone to have some threads to enjoy.

I watched a junco on the railing today. I didn't know he was one of the ones entertaining me with busy twittering yesterday but he was twittering away nicely. They visit my thistle feeder a lot. Maybe he was complimenting me on my ''cuisine.''

I saw a bird dip down into the top of my topsy turvy tomato planter yesterday. I'm afraid she is building a nest in there. Won't be planting anything in there for a while!

HEYYYY!!!

Saw a starling again near the "hole".....
Then both of them--up in the branches of the tree.....Where have they been???

Is it possible that mama was roosting in her nest sitting on her eggs and never
came out for 2 weeks??? If so--Where was papa all this time????
Messing around with all the other "hussies"????

Will keep an eye out for them.....

Here is a pic taken yesterday.

Lot's of activity at the river these days!

A Great Blue Heron with a nice catch skewered on the beak...

A lovely female Osprey finshing her meal.

A Boat-tailed Grackle with gorgeous colors!

Nice pictures. I will be putting up the hummer feeder this weekend.

Karen, fantastic. Superb! You even make a Grackle shine!

Karen, Are the osprey,heron and grackle year round for you there? Could you do a shot or two of "the river" ? Deep,shallow,wide, swift, rocky, sandy? And what sort of vegetation/ trees and how close to shoreline. Thanks, I've much to learn about water and shore birds even though I live by the Bay.

That new lens and you are getting along very well. Nice work.

Coleup... thanks for your interest. The herons are pretty much year-round residents, though you won't see as many in the winter months. Osprey are very strict migratory birds. They head out of our area in mid to late August, and return in March. They are devoted mates and parents. It is so fun to watch them build their nest every year, then raise the chicks. I can't find the nests here along the river, but I am watching about five nests in the nearby NWR. The grackles must head out for winter, cause I don't see them during winter months.

The river is so busy right now due to the annual Atlantic Shad spawning run. In early March, the Atlantic Shad and one of the Herring species swim many miles up the Rappahannock River to spawn. The area of the river near Fredericksburg is shallow and rocky, and it makes it very easy for the birds to spot the fish. It can get so busy in the evenings, you don't know where to point your camera! I love it! There are also a couple of pair of eagles here too. In another couple of weeks it will be all over. The birds will all stay, but the fishing will be less frenzied.

Doc... me and the new lens are getting along famously! ;o)

Take a look at this photo below... open it up and view big to get a good look. This is the area of the river we sit and watch. It is probably about 80 yards across here. It is shallow enough that you could walk all the way across and never be more than thigh deep... some places only ankle deep. This photo was take with a wide angle lens at near dusk.

How many herons do you see??? (I'll let you guess a bit, then I'll tell you!)

19. Grackles here are making nests and destroying other nests in the greenbelt and park area.. Last year we had fewer Grackles. They used to chase our cat. I mock them with an attempt at their screaming warning sound. Sharon.

20 .... well, one I only see his feet. lol

I was thinking about 20.

I thought I did well at 12--- tee hee. Very cool.

Good mornin' everyone!

There are 15!

I'm only three off whats my prize tee hee