April 16, 2017 Grand VUE

We had a record number of participants for birding this Saturday morning.  With twelve in the group, we took the typical route, which usually takes about 90 minutes.  We probably only go about a mile and a half, so the nature of the walk is all about birding, stopping, listening, and looking.  We began by examining a pile of flicker feathers.  I now have encountered 3 such mounds, so it is safe to say, the Cooper's hawk seems to have a preference.  It was a perfect day, bright, sunny, and 75 degrees, with no leaves yet to obstruct our views.  Towhees, Phoebe, sparrows (chipping, song, field), as well as pileated, red bellied, and downy all were observed.  A pileated did a fly by, and several were heard as these birds are in territorial mode.  Bluebird nests have 5 eggs, and one female stayed briefly in a nestbox when I opened it.  Three in the group had cameras (nice cameras at that) and pictures were taken.  We took the full 90 minutes, and enjoyed every step.  Hope to see some warblers, Orioles, cuckoos, and other migrants by next hike.

May 7, 2016 Another Big Day at Grand Vue

After the best day on May 1, we followed that up with another very good day and some people returning for more birding.  In fact, I had two groups, 9:00 and 11:00.  Today held more tanagers, rose breasted grosbeaks, and bluebirds. Also, Indigo Buntings, Carolina and House Wrens, Orioles, Wood Thrush, Towhees, White-Crowned, Field, Chipping, and Song Sparrows all were popular.  I enjoyed some warblers: common yellow throat, yellow throated, red starts, and I await the return of a hooded warbler.  It is interesting to be able to predict birds at certain locations on our short walks.  When you know what to expect and you hear them before you see them, identification is simplified.  My first group had 5 and my second group had 2 individuals.  Both were enjoyable groups and all were captivated by the birds.  I return on May 21 at 9:00 for yet another eventful walk.  Note the picture and the caption, "When the Orioles have our attention".
GOOD BIRDING.

May 1, 2016 Great Birding at Grand Vue

One of the best birding days happened on May first.  It began with four individuals meeting me at Grand Vue on this nice Saturday morning.  We began at the feeding stations with quick introductions and a statement about the red headed woodpecker that had been seen during the week.  Within a minute the bird paid us a visit, multiple times.  Next we were greeted by a rose breasted grosbeak and a scarlet tanager, almost side by side, in a tree. So we stayed by the feeding station and observed the grosbeak and downy, red bellied, hairy, and I saw a pileated at the park entrance.  So we had pretty much all of the woodpeckers on this day.  It just seemed like the birds were most accommodating as we set out for what turned out to be a slow walk.  Slow walks are a sign of good birding as we continually stopped to observe.  Bluebird nest boxes and hatched chicks were noted.  Then Northern Oriole, yellow-billed cuckoos, yellow throats, and a yellow throated verios were observed.  A group of 4 redstarts made them selves available right in front of us.   House wrens, brown thrasher, and other more commons were everywhere.  The place was full of great birds and we got good looks at all of them.  And these are all newly arrived resident birds that will remain here for the summer.  But on this day, with bright skies, and NO LEAVES it was an opportunity for which I was most thankful. Hopefully this Saturday will be equally rewarding.  Hope to see some warblers too.  Everyone enjoyed and I anticipate the return of these four, and probably some new guests as well. See you at 9:00 on Saturday.

April 16, 2016 Grand View

Well, it's been a long time since I posted to this blog.  Today marks the first official birding morning at Grand Vue.  It was a beautiful day at the busy park.  At about 9:30 I walked to several nest boxes and found most to have nest material inside.  One nestbox had 5 bluebird eggs, so I expect a very active week or two.  I walked with Sam down the eastern point.  I call it Pileated Point as I always have those woodpeckers in that area.  We continued all the way down to the "cliffs" which is a nice area with a pretty significant rock face.  I noted that someone made some steps from rocks and also, cut some steps with a shovel.  Once we arrived we found a nice Phoebe nest inside a big overhang.  I will try to post the picture, which looked great.  Moss, mud, sticks, and other vegetation sort of glued to the liken and moss covered rocks.  There was about a 2 inch space between nest and ceiling, which allowed me room for a very close up picture of 5 white eggs.  On the way out, I saw and heard a Louisiana Waterthrush in the adjacent ravine.  I will be back to check on this bird, hopefully nesting.  He did not really respond to my bird app vocals, must be a little early for that.  Between waterthrush, phoebe nest, and multiple nest boxes with bluebird eggs, I don't know which was best.

In addition, on recent walks, I have seen several Cooper's hawks, red-tailed Hawks, and a sharp shinned hawk.  I hope to find a nest location for all of these birds.  In March I also had a brown creeper, which was good to see.  Maybe I will get my first warbler in the up and coming week, or an oriole.

The day was a near perfect day, with sunshine, temperatures at around 80 degrees, and low humidity.  High adventure ropes course, swing, bungee drop, trampoline, and zip lining opened and made for a very active park.  And we ate at the trail head grill where I enjoyed mason Dixon barbecue with Ann, Sarabeth, Logan, and Emily.  It just doesn't get much better than that!

May 2 and 3 2015 Grand Vue and Ohio River

Ah May, the best month of the year.  Two birding days did not disappoint.  On Saturday morning I hiked Grand Vue.  Three hooded warblers were the birds of the day.  In addition, many restarts, a yellow throated vireo, wood thrush, scarlet tanager, brown thrasher, and baltimore orioles all made it a great 2 hours.  All were first made known and identified by their song.

May 3 was also a great birding day.  I walked the trail by the river hoping for warblers, especially the prairie warble from last year.  Well, many yellow warblers were very territorial, but that was the only warbler.  Vireos were the best birds.  Within 200 yards I had red eyed, white eyed, yellow throated, AND warbling vireos were active.  Again, songs were the first indicator that made for easy identification.  The visuals would be tough, but the songs.... the best.  An osprey, orioles, thrasher, and many sparrows all made for a good walk.

My nest box in my yard, put up for bluebirds, is occupied by a titmouse.  I will post a picture.  I first thought chickadees were taking ownership as I observed them in and out.  But later openned the box to see the titmouse.  May 7 there are six speckled eggs.  More to follow.

Feb 7, 2015 Grand Vue

Nice day for a walk at Grand Vue.  55 degrees felt like spring today.  Checked owl boxes but there was no sign of anything using them.  Yesterday I attended the feeder watch.  The bird of the day was a red tailed hawk that landed in a nearby tree and stayed there for ten minutes or so.  We also had a pileated visit the suet feeder briefly.

January 16, 2015 Birding Plans

I'm looking forward to a few planned events at Grand Vue.  On February 7 we will once again be holding a feeder watch.  Hopefully we have enough snow to bring in a lot of birds and mild temperatures to attract humans.  On March 7 Scott Shalaway will be doing a special on optics and on March 14 a special on cavity nesters.  I need to make a few boxes and also, move my owl boxes to lower locations.  Maybe that is how I will spend my day today.... well, better get moving.

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.