Updates

The Cooper's Hawk is still around. I saw it soar through the yard, just over my head on Wednesday. On Thursday, it was perched in the backyard tree for quite awhile. We made the ID based on size, the black/brown barring on the tail and the white on the very tip of the tail.


House finches are still around, busy at the feeders.


A Goldfinch was busy working away at the seeds in the dead coneflower. I try to leave everything and not deadhead the plants to provide even more food for the birds.

Gladys and Stan

It would be nice if the school could use this as a teaching moment rather than seeming so put out. A better lesson would be that sometimes we need to make accommodations for nature instead of moving something we might deem an "inconvenience". I wonder how this is going to turn out. Hopefully some student doesn't decide to "handle" it themselves. If that happens, I don't want to know about it.

http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI134991/

Owls take over high school football field

SUNRISE, Fla. (WSVN) -- One South Florida football team is unable to play or practice after two owls took over their field.

Gladys and Stan, a pair of burrowing owls, seem determined to take on Piper High School's football team, the Bengals. "If I was a football player, I would probably call the little endangered species people, and tell them that we need these owls to get out like ASAP," said Taleca Stone.

Students at Piper High are not too keen on these northern visitors. On Monday, the birds settled in on the 25 and 35 yard lines, and now the football team cannot play on the school's field. "In fact, they changed their home fields to make games away, soccer schedule has changed for both the boys and the girls," said Athletic Director Thomas Marante.

Most of the students said they were actually surprised when they first heard about what was happening on their own football field. "I think they should just put them somewhere else," said Martron.

Until the school figures out what to do with them, Gladys and Stan do have the upper hand under Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules, which classify them as a species of special concern. "I think it would be better if they just take the owls safely, put them somewhere else, so we could play," said Alain Martron.

UPDATE

Gladys and Stan have been evicted from the field. I don't like the message this sends, although at the very least, it was done with permission of the wildlife officials. I wonder if the owls have taken to the new site offered to them. Sad. Fare thee well Stan and Gladys. Fare thee well.

http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/1321653.html

Burrowing owls booted from Fla. football field

The Associated Press

SUNRISE, Fla. -- A pair of owls that invaded a South Florida high school football team's home turf have flown the coop.

Piper High School's football team was forced to stop practicing and playing games on their home field after a two burrowing owls began to nest in the ground. The owls are considered a species of special concern.

School employees collapsed the nests this week, with the permission of wildlife officials. But workers at the school also dug a new burrow for the owls, which are named Stan and Gladys. Piper High science students also plan to work on a burrow project for the owls later this month.

New sighting and long time no see sighting.

We saw a new bird out here for the first time in quite awhile. Dave saw it first, then I saw it again later. It's the Fox Sparrow. It looks a bit different from other sparrows just because it's the biggest sparrow and it has distinct brown barring on it's chest. No picture, since we both saw it fleetingly, but here's a link to the description and picture on whatbird.com
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/145/_/Fox_Sparrow.aspx

Some interesting facts from whatbird.com about the Fox Sparrow:

Interesting Facts:

• The Fox Sparrow is much larger than other sparrows.
• They scratch in leaves for insects and seeds and often make so much noise that they sound like a much larger animal.
• Adults are known to perform a broken-wing display to lure potential threats away from the nest.
• A group of Fox Sparrows are collectively known as a "den", "flock", and "slyness" of sparrows.

We also saw a Northern Mockingbird in the dead tree in the backyard yesterday too. We haven't seen this bird in a long time either. We usually see it once or twice in the late fall and then maybe in the spring (I'd have to check the records on that). It doesn't visit the feeders, but has been close to the front window in the past. Hopefully we'll get another look at it up close.

A sad story

Here's a link to a sad story (sick birds) but with some hope too. I'm thankful for the people who are volunteering and donating to help these birds. We need to help those who can't help themselves.

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_102209_animal_long_beach_algae_birds.240db632c.html

Foreign algae sickening hundreds of sea birds
10:26 AM PDT on Friday, October 23, 2009
By KGW.com Staff

LONG BEACH, Wash. – Wildlife rescuers were treating hundreds of seabirds on the Southwest Washington coast after they came in contact with a foreign sea foam algae that’s toxic to their feathers.

Dr. Virginia Huang of Oregon’s Wildlife Center of the North Coast said as the algae die and decay, they produce a slimy foam that strips the natural waterproofing from the birds’ feathers, leaving the birds starving, dehydrated and hypothermic.

The birds affected include the Common Murres, Loons, and Surf Scoters.
Churning currents and waves from a recent Alaska storm have only increased the problem, officials said.

The agency has taken in at least nearly 300 hundred birds in the last two days with more sick birds continuing to be brought in.

Wildlife officials say they need donations to cover the costs to feed and care for the birds, used towels, large dog kennels, and bleach, along with experienced volunteers.

Anyone that rescues the birds was asked to place the bird in a box and keep it in a warm and dry area. Do not give it food or water or try to wash the bird -- and call the Wildlife Center of the North Coast at (503) 338-0331.

Blackbird mania!

This morning we saw literally thousands of grackles in the front and back yards, the trees and the corn fields. The are so noisy! I love the tinkling sound they make. When they all fly, it sounds like thunder. Pretty amazing.

Sad Jays.

On Saturday, Dave was watching the birds at the feeders and saw a blue jay flying down to pick up a peanut. On the jay's way to the food, a Cooper's hawk came out of seemingly nowhere and grabbed the jay. The hawk took off with his catch. The rest of the jays were screaming and calling. Some even chased after the hawk. A blue jay must be a good catch for a Cooper since they are not much bigger than a jay. We felt pretty sad about it just because we like the jays so much. I know it's part of the cycle of life etc, etc. I just wish the hawks could stick to house sparrows and starlings. Hearing the reaction of the rest of the flock was pretty heart-wrenching. No doubt they were upset about this. Dave said it all happened very quickly. I was just able to hear the crying. Sad times.

More hawks!

Yesterday afternoon, a Cooper's Hawk flew across the front yard, grabbed something out of a shrub and flew off.

This morning, I was outside and saw a red-tailed hawk flying overhead, then it came back towards the house being closed followed by another smaller hawk. They were silent in their flight. I'm not sure if the smaller hawk was a Cooper's or if it was another red-tailed hawk (Dave pointed out that the females are much larger than the males). I called Dave down to see them and at that point we saw another red-tailed in the back tree, while the other two were still flying around. Very exciting to see so much action. Our feeder birds will have to be careful today with so many predators hanging around.

Finally!!

Finally some more action in our yards over this last weekend!!

A Northern Flicker was up close and personal. Probably some of our best pics of this bird ever. She spent quite a bit of time working her way through the front gardens on Saturday afternoon.



At the same time, we saw the junco again and a chipping sparrow.



There were also at least eight blue jays at the feeders at the same time.


Later that same day, we saw a Sharp-Shinned Hawk in the tree in the front yard. The hawk went after a chickadee that was at the sunflower seed feeder.



Fortunately for the chickadee, the lid was off the feeder and it was empty enough that the chickadee was able to hide inside the feeder, away from the hawk. It stayed in there for quite some time while the hawk was waiting it out.


At the same time, a white-breasted nuthatch had been eating at the suet feeder. The nuthatch was clinging to the feeder, not moving at all while the Sharpie was on the hunt.


Eventually the Sharpie left and activity resumed at the feeders. We heard him being chased off by the blue jays. The Sharpie is one of the smaller hawks and isn't much bigger than a jay, but they have no tolerance for them and will mob the hawks until they leave.


On Sunday, we saw an adult male Red-Bellied Woodpecker at a feeder. This is the first adult we have seen in months and months, so it was exciting to see him back after so long.


Sunday morning also brought a large flock of grackles to the front yard. They were likely migrating in a large group. They didn't stay around for too long.


Monday was the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, so we were around and able to do some more bird-watching. I noticed all the birds take off and then looked up to see another hawk in the yard.

At first we thought it was the juvenile red-tailed hawk (affectionately dubbed Horatio), but after watching for a bit, we realized it was much smaller than a red-tailed. Unfortunately he had his back to us, so making an ID took a little longer. Based on size, the tail and the eventual front view we got, we are fairly confident it was a Cooper's Hawk.


He stayed in the trees for quite awhile and again a white-breasted nuthatch was caught off guard and had to stay frozen on a tree trunk for quite awhile, rather than having safety up in the trees. The Cooper's stayed put and then quickly took off and caught something in the neighbour's field. He returned a bit later to the front yard, then we saw him again in the dead tree in the backyard.
This time it was the hairy woodpeckers who were upset with the hawk and they were all peeping loudly and repeatedly until it finally left.

Juncos!!

The first junco of the season made it's appearance today! Welcome back guys!! Pics to be added.

Also, exciting news in the bird world. Thanks to Joey Jo Jo for the link:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/god_introduces_new_bird