Spring has finally come to the upper Midwest. Bulbs are blooming and trees finally have leaves.
I am a bird watcher and we have several different types of feeders out. Two days ago, we had our first Ruby Throated Hummingbird at the feeder. We also saw our first Baltimore Oriole and have them in bunches to the Jelly Feeder and Orange wedges. We even had one at the Hummingbird feeder. They will be here two weeks or so to get rested and fed from their long migration.
It is great fun to watch the birds come back. Besides the feeders, we have Wren houses scattered about the yard and the Wrens are back and inspecting the available housing and making a lot of noise. We also have had the Rose Breasted Grosbecks show up. They are eating jelly and seeds. Most of the birds tolerate each other but now and then a fight.
Nice to see the mating colors at full vibrance. We get about 4-5 variety of orioles and a few different grossbeaks. The ones I miss are the Inca doves, haven't seen any in a number of years ever since the eurasian collared doves invaded.
We too are seeing all of our normal residents back, we Winter over a lot of wrens, and finches, but we now have back all of the showy ones. We keep our Downy and Redbellied woodpeckers all year, but our occasional Pileated Woody has made some appearances lately. A lot of Cardinals, Doves, and Robins stay around most of the year. For about 2 weeks we were getting hit with a pair of Mallards, sometimes with heavy rains they think our drainage ditch out back is a creek, and we have to chase them off from trying to nest there, but this is the first they are actually at the feeders, or at least on the ground under them, eating scatter that gets knocked out of them. Of course our resident Coopers Hawk, keeps a close eye on the action. I think it feeds primarily off of the many birds we attract. We have a lot of Redtails, and some Kestrels too, but they like the mouse action. A friend a few miles away has 2 Bald Eagles that poach off their feeders though. I figure easy pickings, they don't need to look, just fly by, and pick which one do I want now. Not far away we have a site with several nesting pairs of Baldies, the locals keep the position hush hush to keep the lookie loos away.
We also have a Rookery close by where about 80 Great Blue Herons roost, and nest, it can get pretty wild around dark there. They won't put in a cam, again to keep the idgits who think they have some right to stomp all over private property to go look. I personally like the No Trespassing, survivors will be prosecuted signs. :-)
Never have had the Pileated Woodpecker but the Hairy, Downy and Red Bellied. They are constants on the back porch. We have a pair of Cooper's Hawks that come each spring and nest somewhere close. We love watching them. The next major thing will be the return of Monarch Butterflies but need the Milkweed and flowers to grow. We normally capture and raise the caterpillars and have a high success rate.
I think the key to seeing a wide variety of butterfly's is how you do your yard. We embrace every weed and dandelion in the yard, so many of the neighbors act like they live in the burbs, and spray their yards with a ton of chemical, and by extension kill off all of the plants that all of the pollinators need to have, to do their thing. I know from years of experience of not spraying, that if you have a few acres, you can also have a huge safe zone for all the pollinators, which I would much rather see in my yard, than green grass, and no weeds.
That Pileated comes in, he makes himself known, Monster bully bird, he takes what he wants, and even the Blue Jays who are usually the bullies back off when he's around. I've never seen her, but my Wife has a few times, his Female other, but unlike him, shes pretty blandish. While both have the red shock top, his is alive, and being Male he also has the red cheek patch, and hers is dark, plus he is pretty big, and she is smaller, at least compared to him. I imagine I will see them both some day. For some reason they have been around more than normal this year. My Wife always has a cake out for the peckers, both the Pileated, and the Red Bellies love that, while the Downies like a suet cake a lot more. I hate to think of what our bird food bill is. :-)
Our pair of Mallards are visiting the ground under the feeder every day now. I'm not sure where they are coming from, but I would bet they are a nesting pair and Momma needs heavy protein, and some fats to feed the chilluns. He stands like a statue, keeping guard, and neither of us have seen him feeding, but she is like a threshing machine, and seldom takes her head out of the grass, where she is gobbling down as much as she can. If we are outside, they will tolerate us a very short time, and fly off, but the entire time her head is down, there is also a low throaty feeding call coming from her as she acts like a harvester.
Not sure if we will, we don't know for sure where they are located, and if the young take flight, they will probably move on the a larger wet spot, safety, and security is in a larger body of water. The biggest risk they take is when they nest, often on, or near dry ground, usually along a creek, which we have an abundance of around us. Fox, Coyotes, and any other killers of young birds, or even grown waterfowl are easily snatched off a waterway bank, in the middle of a lake, or even a large pond, not so much. But then again, after almost 50 years of feeding birds, I've never had ducks come up, and feed on the ground scatter, so maybe Momma is a lazy food grabber, and will bring them all around to eat? She is here every day right now.
Haven't seen them for a week, probably any nestees have flown the coop, so for this year Momma would have a lot more options for protein, and fats in her diet.
Snow Goose, is what you have. About 2/3 of their numbers are actually Bluish, called Blue Goose. Most of them come out of the Eastern parts of uppper upper Canada. As they migrate they spread across the entirety of the US, so they can be seen everywhere down here. Possible if it was ealier, it was headed North, because most of the time they don't stay here in the warm months like Canadian Geese do.
we are very lucky here in socal that we have the hummers year round. but many of you guys get what we dont. we do get small numbers of canada geese that fly over now and then. love their honking sounds.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Also failed to mention above, Snows and Blues are just about 1/2 the overall size of most Canadian Geese. Maybe 1/3 bigger than a mature Mallard duck. A wild one that is, those freakish "park" Mallards are some kind of abomination, look absolutely huge next to a wild Mallard.
I'm hoping to see more Hawks around us, the squirrels are getting into my pears trees and the rabbit has torn the heck out of my wife's garden, specifically targeting the peas.
Wish I could send you some Yeti, we have an abundance of species, and just a ton of Red Tails, also have Peregrine Falcons, and Bald Eagles in the area, We have a "family' of Red Tails. Every year close to Easter we will look out back, and about 8 houses down the road, to the woods in the back, and just a wee bit to the right of us, we have counted up to 34 Hawks flying around back there. So a shit-ton of birds in a smallish area. Our mostly seen resident we call Arthur, he likes to sit on the back peak of my shop, we have a wildflower garden sometimes weedbed back there, and the mice are thick, so are the snakes hunting them in warm weather, he is a very good hunter, and doesn't take but a minute of roosting, and off he goes for lunch. The old guy 2 houses down believes he is the head bird, and started all the young, that seem to come back home every year for a day or 3. Also have several Kestrel's, and a few Coopers. We haven't figured it out for certain, but a, or a few Coopers, feed off of our bird feeders.
Downtown Dayton, (about 25 to 30 miles North) about 30 years ago, Peregrines showed up, and roosted on the tops of the higher buildings, After so many years, and cycles of new birds they filled up Dayton, and have moved in all directions. We have been here around 17 years now, and for the last 4 we have started seeing them down here with regularity. They like to hunt along the ditches of I-75, you will see them sitting on posts, phone poles, whatever can lift them up enough to get a view. Same story with the Bald Eagles. They introduced them at Grand Lake St Marys over 45 years ago, and they too have populated very well, and spread out from there, close to 65 miles North of us now. Where we used to live was 30 miles South of the lake, and up there we saw them almost the entire 22 years we owned it.
When we see a lot of blackbirds flying with purpose it's usually on the tail of a Red Tail, they hate them because they get fresh eggs, and feathery treats from them. If we see a murder of crows, they are likely hounding an Owl, same diet. I've yet to see anything chasing a Falcon, or an Eagle. I have seen them both turn themselves almost inside out, to change course and gulp down a blackbird, Crow, or even a Canada Goose that was flying too close.
All of the raptors are impressive birds. Of all of them I like the little Kestrels, men as a snake to prey, but around humans they almost seem tame. like they wanna fit in.
I wish we had that many Hawks, Eagles and Falcon as they are beautiful to watch. We have a pair of Cooper's Hawk that nest close by and a lot of Red-tailed Hawks. There are a number of owls around as I hear them talking late at night.
You are fortunate George to have so many birds of prey.
On really clear, windless nights I can hear Owls, but it's very rare to see one, they roost in the woods, and evidently are very nocturnal. Lately I have been seeing an increase in local crows, so if they see an Owl, they will sometimes pester them into daytime flight, but I haven't seen it, seems like the crows stay away from the woods, and just fly around the same open areas I see the buzzards using.
The large group of Red Tails we see annually, only hang out for 2 to 3 days, mostly we have 3 we see a lot, so it's not like we have a flock all the time. Everyone here figures it's some form of homecoming. My best man was a State of Ohio game warden, then wildlife superintendent for this region. When I first asked him if he had ever encountered this flocking before, he had not, but he talked to some guys who did more research, and they hung out and observed it. I guess it happens in some areas, but not all. My thought is the young are just returning to their birthplaces, even though they are now older, so a multi generational family picnic. The one researcher calls almost every year to check to see if I have seen the flock. He wonders if the original breeders die, if this will continue? Mike the guy 2 doors down, has lived here for over 50 years now, and he swears Arthur has been here most of that time. The folks who know that kind of stuff say 25 to 30 years is a long life for a red tail, so I doubt Mike is correct, but he has been here our time here for sure. Arthur has a very distinctive patch of white on his left wing, both top and bottom, so when he flies it's like a light flashing every time he flaps his wings. Plus he is huge. The researchers think Arthur is actually Annie, and the one we call Annie is Arthur. Probably they are correct. The third one we see is much smaller than either, but has also been here as long as we have, Mike calls him Bozo. In flight he looks supersonic, next to other 2. really quick.
Farm country, plenty of woodlots, water, and mostly, plenty of food for all. They give each other space, but with as many woodlots as we have, everyone can have their own domain. As long as they can feed, they are seemingly content not to "have" to fly forever to get to food. The folks directly across the road from us have a 3 acre lake/pond, and it attracts a lot of wildlife. Probably just a balance of habitat, water, and prey, and we have that nice weedbed out back, as do a lot of the folks along our frontage, and a woods right behind that.
Pay attention when on highways, and you will see all sorts of raptors along the sides of the road, perched on any type of upright structure. Since retirement we are doing a lot more driving on vacations instead of flying. I see raptors along most of the highways in all of the states we drive through.
I read a piece about this not long ago, it was written after the author had talked to a lot of different states wildlife folks. There was a consensus among them that this behavior could lead to earlier deaths among them from the polluted air they are breathing, from exhaust emissions.
