March "Firsts"! Birdsters please post your Sightings!

Boojum, great pix. I just love your cardinals. They don't get up this far north. I do get those cute little chickadees though.

Tabasco, birds won't be heading my way til the end of April when the tree swallows arrive. Last year at this time I had a flock of Cedar Waxwings show up for a short time. Probably took one look around & decided to head south again. No new birds here. Just the redpolls, pine grosbeaks & hairy woodpeckers & of course the starlings & ravens.

broots, if you can get a pic of a redpole, I've never seen them. Also love to see pics of pine grosbeaks-saw them before, but long ago.

Can't remember now who said couldn't bear to pick up a meal worm, but i don't like to either. What i did is buy a hinged lid clear container ( don't think color matters) that snaps shut, to put the meal worms in, with a little oatmeat scattered on top. I keep it in the extra fridge out in the garage. To get the worms out of the larger container i use those little individual pudding containers, anything would work. i gather up maybe 20 -25 meal worms then empty them into the worm feeder. The two side holes into the feeder are I believe 1 5/16 " diameter, same size as a bluebird nest hole. DonnaS

Well, I didn't get very close, but I was afraid of scaring these guys away. I discovered this morning "who" has been eating all the black oil sunflower seeds. These Parus major are becoming real regulars in the garden and this particular one in the pic (with a seed in his beak) stayed at the feeder and cracked and ate several seeds while 2 others kept hopping over and getting seeds only to hurry back to the safety of the nearby Lemon tree to enjoy them. And to think, I haven't even gotten round to taping on big yellow sunflower shapes on this feeder.

I wanted something that would stay dry but be far enough away from our patio that the birds wouldn't be afraid to come and eat. So I got a green plant container left over from the garden center and want to tape on yellow sunflowers to the sides. I filled the container most of the way with river rocks to weigh it down. Then I put in a plastic bowl 3 inches deep with drainage holes cut out of the bottom to keep the seeds dry enough even if it rains. Then more rocks around the bowl to hold it in place. The birds stand on teh rocks or in the bowl to get their seeds. I've checked the seeds a few times 24 hours after a rain and they are always dry with no sign of rotting. The bowl has emptied twice in the past 5 days :-) The few strawberries we've gotten from our plants I also put out next to the feeder and those always disappear too. So "someone" has been coming for lunch when I'm not around :-). I was really happy to finally witness it today and to have my camera handy....even if it was from across the entire garden! LOL

-Julie

boojum, I have a couple of pix of redpolls but they are nowhere near as good as the ones on this site.

http://www.roysephotos.com/CommonRedpoll.html

These little guys just come in flocks. Like flocks of 200. I bought a 50lb bag of niger at the end of Feb & I just finished it off this morning. They should be heading north in the next couple of weeks. I will try & get some pix of the pine grosbeaks when I go out to fill the feeders tomorrow. My camera is ok on closeups but the zoom is no good at all.

rutholive, that was me. I am a real wimp when it comes to mealworms. Don't mind the spiders, bugs, caterpillars & worms, but no mealworms. I will have to try your way of doing it, if I get the bluebirds. Do you notice any other birds eating them?

Looks like you have a nice setup salvia_lover & that a great shot.

Ahh Juls!! ... I know ya've gotta be mitey delighted to have your functioning camera back in hand!!

Your lil 'sneaky-pete' Parus .. seems to be something akin to the ChickAdee. Oh, and 'your' birds are privy to dine on succulent strawberries too! .. Geez, whars the after dinner cocktail, pray tell .. (*luvinly teasin' you* .. about your wonderful fine feathered friends there*) .. hee hee .. Sounds like an ideal 'set up' you've got there for your birdees Juls!

Some spectacular 'firsts' and pics for March! I've enjoyed seeing and sharing in all of them ..

Boojum, those new 'toy' shots of your birds are lookin' great! I know you're some proud! The pic, 'friends coming in for a landing' .. the 'friends' look to be a couple of White-Crowned Sparrows-?- Have you ID'd them yet? .. Those 'caught in action' shots .. always reveal some fascinating enlightenment in the 'maneuvering' of our feathered vermin and other critters. I envy your beautiful snow tho' .. (dang it!)

tabasco .. I'm afraid the only lil tidbit that may could remotely qualify for a 'first' - isn't birder associated tho'. But sure seems to be indicative of Spring comin' on purtee soon tho'. Yesterday, while tinkerin' about out in the yard, cleaning a few beds and raking some leaves - my eyes were bestowed the witnessing of my first butterfly for this year! Seems a mite bit early tho' - but I did manage to document my sighting!
I posted the pic of the lil tiny feller, on one of my 'entertainment' threads also.

I'm holdin' hopes mitey high .. of being able to lay eyes on the Red Headed Woodpecker again this year. Now, that would be an ultimate repeat thrill, I tell ya! And I can only assume that the Pilelateds are now nesting: for we've not seen nor heard, hide nor 'hair' of 'em .. in the last couple of weeks!

- Magpye

This message was edited Mar 13, 2005 11:09 AM

Broots, I never actually "touch" the mealworms, but use an old tablespoon. Mine come in wood shavings and I just scoop out some and drop in the feeder...

Thanks darius. Do you get any other birds besides the bluebirds that go after the mealworms? Actually that's probably why you have that great mealworm feeder, so the other birds can't get at them.

Hey everyone. We've been so successful with this thread so far this month....and I expect it only to get better as things continue to warm up and Spring into Spring. And that means the thread will just take longer to load. So I'd like to suggest that on the 15th we start a new thread

"March 1sts - Part 2: Birdsters please post your Sightings"

This is only a suggestion. No one throw birdseed at me if you're content to stay put here til the end of the month. LOL

-Julie

Sounds good to me, Julie. Will you start it? I think tabasco's away.

Magpye, yes I'm proud that I'm producing the shots I wanted. Couldn't have done it without you! (Hugs!) BTW the cardinal's friends were tree sparrows. We don't have white crowned. I think they come here but no sign yet.

;aBroots, yes sometimes, house finches get in and eat the mealworms and occasinally a house finch will manage to squeese into the feeder. good luck. DonnaS

This was not only a March first, it was a Life first for me ... catching a Screech Owl napping in a Wood Duck nesting box this past Saturday within Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, near Cambridge, MD.

How sweet! What a great gift from Nature to you Linth! And thanks for sharing it with us! :-)

-Julie

GOSH, that was a wonderful sighting and photo!

Linth .. you've witnessed the rare 'sun soaking' Screech owl !
.. And, the sweetest lil pic of 'im too!!

I'll bet .. that you are still grinnin' from ear to ear .. on such a life '1st' !!

Mitey proud fer ya!

- Magpye

Way to go Linthicum. A lifer at that & such a cute little fellow. Great photo.

Lucky person! Very nice picture. Boy that would really be a thrill. Thanks for showing us.

Gotta love those little screech owls. The red morphs are so pretty!

Beautiful pictures Boojum. The cardinals sure stand out against all that SNOW! Brrrrr...

Hugahosta, what is this beautiful little bird? A house finch? I know I've seen them here on the WL forum before. The pictures are great! What camera did your DH get?

Sweet little Bluebird Darius....I wish they came this far south. Maybe they do and like so many others I haven't seen them in my area. I've seen them about 50 miles north of here. Are you still in Florida?? Are you fixin' to come any further south? It's gonna get hot soon but first we'll have our big spring bloom!

Stacey, I'm still in Kissimmee, hope to leave this weekend if enough work is done... then stopping at my brother's in Jax for a day or so, then home.

Oh Darius...You're so close!! Come on over...you're only a couple of hours east. I'll send you a DG e/m a little later

Ok .. tabasco ... I've finally got a March 1st to post !!

Finally able to fetch a few pics of the both .. of a pair of Downy Woodpeckers - in the same shots !!

- Magpye

.. Pic #1 of 3 ..

.. Pic #2 of 3 ..

.. Pic #3 of 3 ..

John, you were correct! I saw some Cedar Waxwings again yesterday! :) They were in my neighbor's Sweet Gum trees about 6pm last night. I was able to get right up under them and look at them through the binoculars for quite a long time. I was surprised to see that they have yellow on the tips of their tail feathers, because I forgotten about it. They were beautiful birds. I got two pictures but my zoom is not that great and the light was terrible so they did not turn out well. I was so happy to see them though.

Ahh but, the brain records the best pictures, Staci. The camera photos will remind you of what is stored there. Were they chattering? The ones I recall from Alaska seem to have a lot to say.

They weren't much yesterday. They flew a little from one tree to another and would chatter a bit. When I saw them last week, they were chattering more and the chattering was what told me they were not just the usual grackles or sparrows stopping through. It was completely different from what I had heard before.

Magpye, what beautiful shots! How lucky can you be to get the two of them together?

Magpye, those are terrific shots!! So cute! That first one needs a caption of "How the heck do we get the food out of that thing?"....then "Ohhhhh, that's how you do it!" and finally "Move over and stop hogging it!" ;-)

-Julie

Magpye, those are excellent pix of your downeys & to have them both show up together is a bonus.

Magpye that second pic took my breath away! Superb! Thank you:)

Cedar waxwings say tssss, tssss, tssss. At least that's what they've always said to me. I usually hear them before I see them. (My boyfriend affectionately calls me a birdbrain).

I had an experience with cedar waxwings years ago in Alaska. While walking under a White Spruce tree I heard some birds. Looking up not more than 2-3 feet above my head I saw a row of beautiful little birds just chattering away. They reminded me of parakeets chabbering to each other. They were quite animated in their conversation and paid no attention to me. I was mesmorized by these little guys. Not having my camera with me, I was able to sear that memory into my brain. I have told this story before and I hope it wasn't in this thread! LOL

John

linthicum what a wonderful moment finding and photographing that Screech Owl. Every encounter with owls is something extra special.

Magpye, your pair of Downy Woodpeckers are superb, especially the second picture. All woodpeckers are favourites of mine.

My latest first for March, is the first sighting for this year of a Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax flying past our garden No chance of photographing it but I took this picture of a Wedge-tail at the Healesville Sanctuary http://www.zoo.org.au/visiting.cfm?zoo_id=2 where they give daily displays of flying birds of prey and the day we were there, the Wedge-tail was one of the birds being flown free in front of us.
Ken

WOW! Cool shot Ken! Must've been a bit awe-inspiring to be so close to such a gorgeous bird.

-Julie

Thats a lot of beak, too.!

Hi everyone, Sorry I haven't been around much, Just now trying to catch up on these postings, I see I've been missing a lot of great pics and info!

...Darius, I've tried searching through the old posts from last spring a while back and did not find the bluebird feeder measurements, Maybe sometime in the near future you will have time to measure yours for me?

...Broots, Thanks for posting the photo of the swallows, I really enjoyed the picture! I think that is such a treat to see them on the windows like that in the morning!

....Tabasco, Bluebird Trail reports sounds good to me, It would be interesting, I just hope I can keep up with the posting!

...Vizz8, Welcome to DG!

...Linthicum, When I first saw your owl pic, I was amazed at how much the owl and box looked just like the one I have at my place! They are so neat to see and watch, I've added a pic at the bottom of this post of a night pic I took last night of the screech owl thats been here for a while now, It's in a box thats about 180 ft from my front window so I get to watch it almost everyday which is a real treat for me.

....Kenedyh, What a Great Shot of that Wedge Tail!! Geez, I'd love to be able to get a nice shot like that of a Bird of Prey!

.....I haven't really been noticing much different besides the usual birds I've been getting, But I did see some Cedar Waxwings the other day, I tried to get a pic of them but I was in a rush to get it and it didn't come out good, A hawk had flew in after them and they flew out into the field so I couldn't get another shot, Very dissapointing as I rarey get to see them, Im happy to know that someone got to enjoy seeing them for a while!

....I took a few pics last night of the Screech Owl at his/her box, They didn't come out as good as I would have liked ( I waited too late to go out there and take them) But, I figured I'd post them anyway

Look what is happening to our winter goldfinches. They started looking so gray, now they are turning colors.

A closer view...

Iris, that close up is teriffic. Looks like he didn't appreciate getting his picture taken. Love the looks of his eyes.

Thanks Seeds, He/she probably wasn't too happy about having the picture taken but when I think about it, they always have that same angry looking expression about them.