The Birders Report

Pine Siskins and Lesser Goldfinches at the Thistle Feeder photo by Larry Jordan

The last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count was a great day for me.  Not because of the Pine Siskins and Lesser Goldfinches, but for the new birds I had on this days count.

I watched the birds in the backyard for about an hour in the morning, from 8:30 until around 9:30.  Most of the usual suspects were present, including my new visitor, the Nuttall’s Woodpecker.  The exciting part came later in the afternoon.

I was out doing chores most of the day when I heard them, around 0ne o’clock.  That distinctive primordial sound flying overhead.  The Sandhill Cranes were heading north.  In and of itself, this is not unusual for sightings from my yard.  I happen (luckily) to be directly in their migration flight path and they fly over every year.

I ran to the house to get my binoculars to get a better look but the small group flying over had already passed by.  I went to the back of the house, hoping to see another group trailing the first but nothing.  This is where the story gets exciting for me, as if Sandhill Cranes flying directly over my house is not exciting enough.  A brownish-gray bird flew right in front of me, seemingly from out of nowhere.

As it caught my eye, I thought it was a Mourning Dove, but this bird was not only flying fast, it was flying in a straight line.  I followed it with my naked eye to a small oak tree at the edge of the yard.  I got my bins on it.  It was a Sharp-shinned Hawk!  The squared-off striped tail differentiated it from a Cooper’s Hawk.  I soaked it all in as it sat perched on the branch, flipping its tail back and forth.

The light colored head with an almost white eyebrow, the rusty brown streaks running down its breast and the yellow eye gave away its age.  It was a juvenile.  It flew behind a manzanita, out of my view, but I kept my eye on that manzanita.  Less than a minute later this gorgeous accipiter flew back in front of the bush and turned upwards showing me its underside as  it flew high into the sky.

I watched with anticipation, hoping that it would head back in my direction.  It looked like it might briefly, but after a few shallow wing beats and a quick turn, it took a straight line of flight down and away and it was gone.  Reminiscent of the flight of a Merlin.  That was sweet!

Unfortunately, my camera was in the house.  Oh well, next time.  I am just happy to add a Sharpie to my yard list!

In the meantime, I don’t have to wonder why I’m going through so much sunflower seed.

This very clever squirrel seems to be able to eat out of almost any one of my feeders it chooses, so when I filled up the tray feeder, it didn’t surprise me to see him think it was his personal lunch counter.

I shot the video of this Western Gray Squirrel this morning as I was counting the birds at all the other feeders.

You must admit, he’s pretty cute!

Here’s my list for the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count:

1. American Robin 32
2. Western Scrub-jay 5
3. Lesser Goldfinch 68
4. Golden-crowned Sparrow 3
5. Dark-eyed Junco 62
6. Northern Flicker 1
7. White-breasted Nuthatch 2
8. Acorn Woodpecker 1
9. Pine Siskin 9
10. Mourning Dove 3
11. Nuttall’s Woodpecker 1
12. House Finch 10
13. Oak Titmouse 2
14. Sandhill Crane 11
15. Sharp-shinned Hawk 1

Acorn Woodpecker and Western Scrub-jay photos by Larry Jordan

This is day two of the Great Backyard Bird Count. It is actually day one for me because I had to work on Friday so I wasn’t able to do a count. I thought I would start in my backyard, early in the morning. It was 35 degrees and snowing. The birds were hungry.

I had four Acorn Woodpeckers on my count.  These two males were sharing the woodpecker feeder, visiting the nut feeder (above) and, of course, the suet feeders.

The Spotted Towhees spent most of their time doing their two-legged scratch under the photinias but every once in a while they would fly up into the trees for a photo op.

The Mourning Doves spent their time on the ground, cleaning up after the songbirds above.

They were joined by Golden-crowned Sparrows and a plethora of Dark-eyed Juncos.  The Lesser Goldfinches that couldn’t find room at the finch feeders were cleaning up too.

I counted a dozen Pine Siskins at the thistle feeders too.  They are pretty aggressive when it comes to keeping their perches at the feeders but, surprisingly, this photo has no Pine Siskins in it.  Probably because they were hogging the other thistle feeder.

At one point all the birds took to the air as a Red-tailed Hawk strafed the yard.

It was a good day for a backyard count, even though, for some reason, my hummingbirds have left me (probably having to do with this cold snap).  I counted 19 species in a little over an hour.  Besides the hawk flying over, my best bird (I thought) was the Hermit Thrush that was flicking its tail nearby.

My first count of the 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count:

1. Pine Siskin 12
2. Lesser Goldfinch 23
3. Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 45
4. Golden-crowned Sparrow 6
5. Oak Titmouse 2
6. Spotted Towhee 2
7. House Finch 9
8. Purple Finch 4
9. Nuttall’s Woodpecker 1
10. Western Scrub-jay 7
11. Northern Flicker 1
12. American Robin 7
13. Acorn Woodpecker 4
14. Red-tailed Hawk 1
15. Mourning Dove 7
16. White-breasted Nuthatch 1
17. Hermit Thrush 1
18. Western Bluebird 11
19. Turkey Vulture 1

Tomorrow I will be counting from the photo blind at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge!  I’m thinking I will have a few more species to report from that outing, and some good photos too!

To see more great bird photos, check out Bird Photography Weekly!

The 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count is upon us! It begins tomorrow, Friday, February 18th and runs through Monday, February 21st.  I look forward to this activity every year.  It is a fun time for bird watchers of all ages and experience to get out there and count birds to help the birds themselves.

Scientists use the counts, along with observations from other citizen-science projects, such as the Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch, and eBird, to give us an immense picture of our winter birds.  With your help, we can get a much better idea of what’s happening with our North American birds than scientists could get on their own.

Here is a video giving you all the information you need to have a successful Great Backyard Bird Count in 2011.  You can also go to their website to get all the pertinent information at The Great Backyard Bird Count.