October 25, 2014 GRAND VUE

A long time between posts but today was a beautiful day to walk at Grand Vue.  I had hopes of seeing my first  "winter birds" and after seeing the usuals including bluebirds, carolina wrens, robins, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, titmouse, song sparrows, nuthatches, gold finch, and a variety of woodpeckers; I did hear the familiar song of the whitethroated sparrow.  Eventually, there were 5 different birds in one location by the outdoor learning center.  So, its official, the winter birds are beginning the move into the area.  At Grand Vue that means the feeders will become busy places to see birds.  My next bird hike will be Saturday, November 15.  I think we will walk for about 45 minutes and then spend some time by the feeders.  I took a bag of black oil sunflower seeds to Grand Vue to kick things off.  See you on the 15th at 9:30.

May 17 and 18 2014 - Grand Vue and Ohio River

Saturday, May 17 was overcast.  Sam O. joined me for a walk at Grand Vue.  The bird of the day was a Hooded Warbler.  We had a devil of a time getting a visual on the board but his voice gave him away.  It was near the same location where I had a singing male for 20 minutes 2 years ago.  Eventually I did get a perfect view.  I will check this some more to see if I have a breeding pair.   Bluebirds in abundance, orioles, wrens, redstarts, yellow throats, chestnut sided, and many more were seen.
Sunday, May 18 is bright and sunny.  I walked down by the river trail.  The birds of the day were  prairie Warbler (close up!), white eyed vireos (even closer), warbling vireo, yellow breasted chat, yellow warbler, orioles, broad-winged hawk, phoebe.  Last time I was there I also had willow flycatcher and bank swallows.  It is a great spot to see birds using the river as a route.

May 11, 2014 Grantsville and High Point PA

The birding was good on our usual route as Gary and I made our way, windows down, from Grantsville and into PA.  We didn't necessarily have the biggest numbers but we limited our habitat on this drive, moving slowly.  Most notable birds:  Red-headed Woodpecker, Blue Headed Verios, Ruffed Grouse (close), Hermit Thrush, Red-breasted nuthatch, Canada Warbler (close-up) Magnolia Warblers, Chestnut Sided Warbler, Oven bird, black throated blues and greens, yellow throats, redstarts, and possibly a nashville warbler.  Also Meadowlark, Bobolinks, and a host of others.

May 3-4, 2014 GRAND VUE

    May starts with good birding.  Our first Grand Vue birding day began with John and myself noting the birds at the feeding stations.  In particular, the rose-breasted grosbeak was a good bird to see.  It appears they have had a good year.  I have heard from many people stating they have grosbeaks.  I think they all arrived at the same time in big numbers.
    The bird of the day however, was the SUMMER TANAGER.  This was a first for me.  It was a first year, spring male so it had a red head, patches of orange, olive green, and yellow over the rest of the body.  I observed on three seperate occassions and within 20 feet, from trees to mulch under the feeding stations, to the grass, this bird moved slowly foraging for insects.  I asked Bill if he has seen one in the Ohio Valley.  He replied that over the years he has seen three including a nesting pair but for the most part it was years ago and years apart.
   The walk continued with many other birds observed.  A kingbird, nesting bluebirds and tree swallow, red start, also a close encounter with a red tailed hawk, and an aggressive house wren all made for a good day.  Also noted a coopers hawk and white throated sparrow.
   May 4 was also good.  Today I saw a willow flycatcher and yellow throated verio on my walk through the east ravine.  I did not see any waterthrush which was my goal.  But the walk was great with many many birds.  Wood thrush, woodpeckers, redstart, and many more.  I also observed a phoebe on nest near the location where waterthrush nested last year.

Competition for nest box

The nest box by my lawn was quickly taken by english sparrows.  My neighbor and I removed several early nests.  Then we saw a pair of bluebird take over and in fact fight off the english sparrows.  I was excited then disappointed to see the sparrows return and bluebirds disappear.  I disposed of a male sparrow but the box has remained empty.  It just goes to show how competitive the birds are for next location and the negative impact the sparrow has had on the bluebird.

April 21, 2014 Grand Vue Nest Box Walk

I walked Grand Vue to check on nest boxes.  I have 20 boxes up of which 15 are bluebird sized.  Currently there are 9 active nests.  One of the boxes has a tree swallow nest.  It needs repaired as I noted that the wood hinge has broken.  I placed some boxes close to each other in hopes of getting other species as well. Two boxes had blue bird nests with 5 eggs.  Several had 1-3 eggs.  A few had no eggs.  Nine out of 15 isn't bad but I hope to have a dozen active nests.

April 20 2014 Florida

My trip to Florida gave opportunity for some birding.  Englewood is home to a small sanctuary called Lemon Bay.  There I saw a nest of Bald Eagles.  Florida eagles are bigger than any I have seen before.  First time birds for me included Least Terns and a Worm Eating Warbler!  Also I noted yellow throats, red starts, black throated greens, and chestnut sided warblers.  Great crested flycatchers and a host herons including little green, black crowned night herons, little blues, and others.  Egrets were abundant.  Gulls and anhingas were also noted.

March 22 2014 Grand Vue Birding

No takers for the first hike of the spring.  I enjoyed a long hike on my own.  Went off trail hiking from the northern back ridge down through the ravine eastward to the power lines and outdoor classroom.  No activity observed in any of the nest boxes so it appears it will not be an early nesting season.  Of course the english sparrows have found the nest box in our yard  Anyway the birds I saw included: tree swallows, cooper's hawk, field sparrows, blue birds, cowbirds, towhees, Carolina wrens, cardinals, blue jays, song sparrows, crows, chickadees, titmice, juncos, downy, hairy, red-bellied woodpeckers, and probably some I don't remember. 55 degrees and sunny was fantastic.

March 10 2014 Grand Vue Nest Box Additions

I have completed 11 new nestboxes.  I took 9 to Grand Vue and distributed them to new sites including three by the old cabins, an additional box by the new cabins, and other selected locations.  So, now there are a total of 20 boxes ready for use this spring.  My count includes three small boxes, two large screech owl boxes, and 15 bluebird boxes.  I put one box on the golf course and am interested in seeing if there is any difference in nest success.  The golf course is subjected to heavy pesticide and fertilizer.  It hope to see if this has any significance. I still have one box and am considering taking it to Nauvoo.   In addition I placed a box in the open yard between my house and a neighbor, Mike Wade.  Mike and his grand kids, Grace and Dawson will enjoy the birds if we get some tennants.  I look forward to blue birds in the yard so I keep my fingers crossed.

Nestboxes in the works

I spent some time last weekend cutting some wood for nest boxes.  I have pieces cut for 12 new bluebird boxes.  Hopefully this weekend I can drill holes, put in hing pegs, and assemble some of these boxes.  I do remember that in 2012 I had a nest in mid March and eggs on March 28, 2012.   So, I'm on a bit of a time frame.  More to follow about box production and placement.

FEBRUARY 22 2014 GRAND VUE SPRING?

It was great to get a Grand Vue day with spring like temperatures.  I have officially switched gears and am now in nest box mode.  I cleaned out 7 bluebird boxes, 2 small boxes, and checked two screech owl boxes.  I saw at least 20 bluebirds today along with turkey vultures, towhees, song sparrows, and all the woodpeckers except the piliated. Also a Cooper's hawk and red tailed hawk. Robins were active..... ah spring is just around the corner.
Mark your calendars for Grand Vue Birding Days:  March 8 is the last bird count beginning at 11:00.
March 22, April 5 and 19.  Meet at the banquet hall at 9:30 and we go from there.

February 16, 2014 BIRD BEHAVIOR at feeding station

I changed things up on my bird feeding this weekend and post an activity about bird behavior.  To begin you must visualize my feeding situation and layout.  I live in Moundsville but on the outskirts.  My house is surrounded by other homes but is 200 yards from the edge of the woods.  I have maintained feeding birds for years and is on the dining list of birds who no doubt know there will be food available: Sunflower, Niger, and Suet.
I live on a hillside so my back door and deck are up high.  In fact my basement door exits directly onto my back yard patio.  I feed from a feeder and suet on my deck.  I also, throw food out under my feeder which is 15 feet below... I cannot see the ground below my feeder leaving those ground dwellers on my basement level mostly unobserved.  Well, this weekend I did not feed on the ground level and only put out seeds on my deck level scattering a great deal across a larger part of the deck.  So if ground dwellers wanted fresh seeds, they would have to come up to the deck.

"Bird count" birds today:  6 cardinals, three nuthatches, 15 house finches, 5 song sparrows, two downy woodpeckers, two red bellied woodpeckers, 8 chickadees, 7 titmice, 5 gold finch, 3 blue jays, 8 starlings, 3 english sparrows, 5 juncos,  two carolina wrens ....... all within ten feet of my window.  It snowed and I had active feeders during this 2 hour observation.

The activity:  Match the birds above to the observation below.

______- one female appeared to have some symptoms of conjunctivitis.  She seemed overly aggressive toward other birds.

______- this species pretty much declined my invitation to the deck and preferred to find seed left over from the week, even though the snow cover made doing so more difficult.  When it did come to the deck, it "hopped" from place to place, never going to the feeder.

______- these two species were first to find my small bucket of sunflower seeds that I kept under my swing, two feet from my widow.  They were the only birds eating from that food source, taking one seed at a time flying elsewhere to eat.

_____ - this species stayed together in a nearby tree, then swarmed the feeders together eating primarily from the suet cakes.

_____- this loud species owned the feeder when it came to feed on sunflower.  Others vacated.

_____- this species "ran" back and forth more than did the others, picking up small leftovers all around the feeding area.

_____- this species was most sedentary, eating from one seated position for the longest time.

_____- observed three species feeding from a small hole on the side of the feeder when the busy feeder did not provide space

_____- this species used its tail more than any other to maintain its position on the suet cakes, primarily.

_____-this species seemed to enjoy the crumbs of suet that landed on the deck as its main course.

Point being, you can identify the bird quite often just by its behavior.

February 8,2014 GRAND VUE Project Feeder Watch

I enjoyed a few hours at Grand Vue for feeder watch.  Nine or ten people just counting birds at the feeders was a great time.  I arrived 45 minutes early to hike in search of birds we probably would not see at a feeder.  Anyway, a difficult 90 minutes of walking yielded no kinglets, no winter wren, and no sapsucker as I had hoped.  As we watched and counted birds at the feeders Scott and I were just talking about not seeing brown creepers in Marshall County when right on que we had one at the base of a tree.  Other than that, a tree sparrow, some white throated sparrows, and other common birds.  The biggest count was 45 juncos.  Anyway, this crisp, cold day was successful.  We do it again in March!  By then it will be time to set up some more walks and get ready for spring.
There has been much talk about other birds this week.  Grebes, mergansers, gulls, peregrine, buffleheads, and other birds along the frozen river are all being talked about.  Also, rumors of a snowy owl in town have my attention.