PS

Tonight, at 8 pm, snow falling lightly and we looked out, there was our saw-whet sitting on a branch near the bird feeder. Yippee. The mice and voles have met their match. We hope to see it more than one brief moment.

Christmas Bird Count, Part Deux

We ended the day yesterday, with a small count of birds, but a very nice surprise at the end. Around 2:30 PM we saw a brown creeper going up and down a couple of the spruces. I thought, wonder if we'll see a golden-crowned kinglet. The two birds have been together in our yard, not truly "together" but - several times, we've seen a brown creeper and then a few minutes later, we'll see a golden-crowned kinglet. And of course, I did see a gck about three weeks ago or so. Totally surprising to me, as it was bitterly cold and had been for several weeks. So I kept a close watch out the window. About 45 minutes later, a golden-crowned kinglet hopped thru the branches of the spruce tree near one of our feeders. He disappeared and reappeared several times. I held my breath for some unknown reason, not that my movements or breathing would have disturbed him. Tom came into the room and I said, quick quick grab some binoculars. The kinglet reappeared and sat on the end of a spruce branch, his golden crown displaying so clearly and vividly. We just exclaimed, ohmygod, at the same time. He was so beautiful. Then he was gone. I wonder if he and the brown creeper come thru our yard every day, and we just happened to be watching yesterday for the bird count. So we will try to be a little more watchful these next days during the holiday vacation.

Our final count for the day: 7 Black-capped Chickadees, 5 Boreal Chickadees, 6 Red-breasted Nuthatches, 1 Raven, 1 Magpie, 1 Stellar Jay, 1 Hairy Woodpecker (female), 1 Brown Creeper, 1 Golden-Crowned Kinglet.  We heard that someone had seen and photographed a Townsends' Solitaire somewhere in the Kenai area. Very cool.

Christmas Bird Count

Today is Christmas Bird Count day. We have always done the backyard bird count, and are doing that today. This morning the temperature here was minus 1, and I'm sure further inland, much colder. Not my favorite temperature to be out hiking around counting anything. Being inside, counting from our kitchen viewing window, seems much more pleasant. So we began with two nuthatches, and nothing else. By 11 AM, only four nuthatches, a magpie and a squirrel (don't believe that counts). Then we heard the welcome drumming of a woodpecker. We walked out to the deck and peered around the edge of our spruce tree property line, and saw, on the former aspen staging tree which is now a tall dead stump, one female woodpecker, drumming away vigorously. At 11:30, still no chickadees.  About two miles as the crow flies, there is a large area that has been completely clearcut and the slash piles are presently burning. It's a heartsick moment, when you drive by an area that has been full of thick spruce trees and mixed deciduous and suddenly see flat ground. Habitat is gone. Probably to be replaced by metal industrial strength buildings housing bulldozers. There is so little regard around here for trees, for natural habitat, for natural beauty and aesthetics. It's part of the reason we have become birders, appreciating and respecting the natural world around us. I assumed when we moved to Alaska that everyone here must be an environmentalist. What a joke.

Will post again later after we finish our bird count. It may be that we'll have to do some creative reporting, as in, "4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtledoves, and a .........."  But, hopefully we'll have more visitors before sunset.

All Quiet in the Backyard

This morning, a few voles, some late night-early morning feeders. The chickadees, nuthatches, magpies, gray jays, and stellar jays are about all we've seen lately. We have seen two brown creepers in the past two weeks. No owl nor other unusual bird. Of course, the one sighting of the golden-crowned kinglet was a big surprise. I found out that sometimes they do linger on into the early winter, as long as they can find frozen bugs, and sometimes they even feed on suet. That was a new one for us.

Awaiting a midnight marauder in the form of an owl. With all our voles showing up nightly, we think some predator will pick up on that.

Cold temperatures and some fresh snow, blowing about in this morning's brisk breeze.

Surprising Sighting for November

This morning around 11 AM we saw a golden-crowned kinglet out in our spruce copse near the house. I'd seen a brown creeper yesterday, so at first when I saw the kinglet, because of its small size and quick movements, I thought it was the creeper, but of course it did not go up and down the trunk, but was instead flitting around in the spruce branches. Then it suddenly came out towards the end of the branch where I could clearly see its head with the black and white lines around the eyes and the golden crown. What a surprise!

The other beauty we saw earlier was a handsome male spruce grouse, black throat and distinctive feather patterns very clear.

The front page of the Clarion had a great photo of a raven silhouetted against the full moon.

Photo feature: And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting ... | Peninsula Clarion

Photo feature: And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting ... Peninsula Clarion

A Welcome, but Infrequent Visitor

This afternoon we saw a brown creeper creeping around the trunk of our nearest biggest spruce tree, low to the ground. He disappeared and then briefly reappeared behind and around the next spruce trunk over to the right. Then moved further right to the next trunk and on up to the 6-7' level. Then into the branches and gone. Just the right moment to be looking out.

A few moments later, we saw a red-backed vole munching on whatever they like to munch, right below the feeder and then about an hour later, we saw 4 voles running up and down the trunk to the feeder. We are so happy to see all these voles, a good sign that their population did not crash as we had feared. Maybe our saw-whet owl will be back around Thanksgiving as he was last year and the previous year.

Our chickadee population is very healthy looking, we are thankful for that. A lot of black-caps as well as boreals, and of course the nuthatches are regulars.

Snowy Yard

This morning we had a male hairy woodpecker visiting our backyard feeders. We've had about 7 inches of snow and the weather's gotten colder, so we finally can put out suet and the magpies and jays have been visiting the feeder, and today we saw our lovely woodpecker. The brilliant red stands out so clearly against the white and black, and of course, the background of snow and dark trees, makes the red even more stunning.

Healthy Chickadees

Today, as the wind and rain/snow blustered around, black-capped chickadees came into the feeder. There were about 6 of them. We've had chickadees with deformed beaks in the past so we are always looking closely but they all looked very healthy and lively. Their color contrast is so sharp and elegant. They are always our most faithful visitors.

Beginning of November

October ended with a few more sightings of spruce grouse, they always take us by surprise. We have been seeing them quite often, but the other day we stepped out into our courtyard and three of them flew up from right by our feet into the spruce trees. We still occasionally see a hairy woodpecker, sometimes the male and sometimes the female. Chickadees regularly and nuthatches. Gray jays and Steller jays. Magpies. We keep listening for and watching for owls. We have seen more vole activity on the feeders, so that is encouraging, an owl may show up one night on the feeder, and we keep checking late at night as we wake up and look around. Even though it's been cold at times, overall there is not that much ice on the rivers yet, so there is still a lot of bird activity. On a drive from Homer, I saw a lot of eagles, ravens, crows, and gulls. In some ways, it seems like early October. We are anticipating snow and colder weather at any point.

Male of the Species

Yesterday and today, one beautiful male hairy woodpecker. We put out some suet to entice him and his mate. Have also seen magpies and gray jays coming to the suet, but that's ok, we are just glad to have customers and an occasional more exotic sighting.

Night Sounds

Last night, around 10 PM, cold temperatures and clear skies, moon shining, we heard two great horned owls hooting back and forth. The owls were probably two blocks away, and when we first heard them, we thought we might be imagining their hooting. But when I went to the window, I could hear them clearly. It was magical, stars, moon and owls.

Backyard and Elsewhere

This afternoon/evening, we saw a female hairy woodpecker, maybe she's the one we've been hearing drumming on the trees. I don't know if females and males both drum.

We traveled to Anchorage and saw probably 2 dozen swans here and there, Potter's Marsh, the various smaller ponds between Portage and Girdwood, and also on the water south of Portage. Also a lot of mergansers and probably other waterfowl on the Kenai River directly downstream of the lake.

The Moose River has a few small open water areas where the swans and other waterfowl have gathered again during the day, our Sterling friend reports. He also reported a boreal owl encounter, as he was sitting outside on their deck with their new pet, a very small kitten. Both the owl and the pussycat were interested in each other, and the owl apparently did not worry too much about the human holding the kitten. As of this writing, both the owl and the kitten have retired to their corners. We hope the kitten continues to grow up interested in mice, as our friends have a lot of mice in their woodshop, and leaves the boreal owl and other avian creatures for the beings with binoculars.

Something New

We had an authentic sighting of a brown creeper today, amidst a little flurry of chickadees and nuthatches to the feeder system. Also saw a group of about 5 gray jays that were quite contentious and drove each other away from the food or water.

Our Sterling friend told us that during the night the thousands of ducks, geese, and swans disappeared. This morning the Moose River had ice on it. It was 15 degrees there, 18 here.

Neighbor's Bird

This afternoon, a neighbor from across the road, told us about a long-billed dowitcher that had been in their neighbor's backyard. This neighbor with the backyard, has a grassy, open lawn, and the edge of it is the bluff extending down to Cook Inlet. The dowitcher was in the backyard poking its bill up and down "sewing machine" style, as if it were walking around in a wetlands. This happened about a week ago, so this dowitcher might be a late-stayer, as I would imagine most shorebirds have gone south, at least as far as Homer.

We have seen some waterfowl out on the Kenai River Flats this past week, as there were some extremely high tides and the flats have been flooded several times. We did not take the time to look at them with binoculars.

In our yard today, we were once again visited by a spruce grouse, who made his/her way down our boardwalk and then flew to a spruce tree and sat there long enough for me to see him/her, after I returned home.

Freezing almost every night, and possible snow in the forecast. We heard that there are "millions" of swans on the upper Moose River.

Knock Knock

This morning, we heard very distinct woodpecker knocking-pecking in the trees near us. We walked around looking with binoculars but did not see anything. It was very rhythmical and long-drawn-out. And hollow sounding as well. I saw two likely candidates, two dead spruce a ways away, but from where we stood, no sign of a bird. We did see a female hairy woodpecker a little while back, so we know there are some woodpeckers around. We just haven't seen many in our backyard lately.

Other than the woodpecker, other birds lately have been our fall-early winter birds, boreal and black-capped chickadees, nuthatches, gray jays and steller jays. An occasional magpie, a few pine siskins. One redpoll. Our Sterling friend reports pine grosbeaks and swans. Seems exotic compared to our meager sightings lately. Always thankful, though, for the chickadee and nuthatch calls. They are faithful customers.

Fall Sighting

Today, very fallish feeling outside, the windy days of the past week have brought most of the leaves down. We had three spruce grouse in our trees outside my studio window. We would never have seen them if it hadn't been for the one that I saw on the ground, right by our fire ring. It walked into the grass, and by the time I called my husband to come look, there were three in the spruce tree overhanging the fire ring. They are so camouflaged, very difficult to see. And beautiful.

Late Summer and Early Fall

This evening a friend of ours told us about a trip north to Fairbanks, and how he saw flocks and flocks of sandhill cranes wending their way southward, he estimated about 2000-3000 cranes.

Late this afternoon we were visited by a female hairy woodpecker. It rained most of the day, and the bird activity was minimal. We did see a red-backed vole on top of one of the feeder stations, and that is encouraging because a healthy vole population often results in owls in the early winter.

End of Summer

Yesterday we saw an enormous V of geese, and the day before, about 125 Sandhill Cranes. The birds are leaving us for warmer climes. Snow fell in Anchorage two days ago. Our nuthatches, pine siskins, redpolls, chickadees, Steller jays, and gray jays will have the feeders to themselves.

End of Season -- Almost

This morning I planned to write a little end of season elegy. But then, I sat by my kitchen window and saw a lot of activity out there in the backyard. One very quick sighting of a brown creeper, which surprised me, since we have not seen one for weeks. And then -- the two little golden-crowned kinglets appeared. Once again. I had not seen them for about a week, and we figured they had left. But there's been only one night of below freezing temperatures, so they probably still have insects and other food.

No elegy today.

Mystery Bird

Yesterday, fortuitously, I glanced out to the backyard just as a large-ish bird swooped across and over the tops of the trees. My very momentary glimpse was that of a brown bird, not dark brown, more medium brown, and somewhat large. Bigger than a robin. Not as big as a large hawk. Definitely brown. No defining white rump patch, as in a Northern Harrier. We studied our Sibley's and decided it might have been an immature sharp-shinned hawk. Since we saw one of those earlier this summer, it would make sense. Speaking of sense, though, my sense was that it was bigger than a sharp-shinned hawk. But what else could it be? One of those questions that may never be answered.

Clearly it was a hawk/predator of some kind. Not one bird in the yard to be seen or heard.

Spruce Grouse

This morning, fog swirled around, cool and damp. We walked down our road and saw gathered near the intersection of our street and a lesser-traveled side street, several spruce grouse. The fog seems to suit them, providing some cover. They were in the ditches, which were hollowed out this summer by the borough road maintenance crews. So there is quite a bit of fresh dirt, and the grouse were probably enjoying a dust bath. Last year about this time, we had about 10 spruce grouse in our backyard, flying from one spruce to another.

Faux Peanuts

Yesterday afternoon, I sat outside processing highbush cranberries and noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. Then a Steller jay hopped across the porch railing very near me. I ignored his begging, since we'd already given them their daily ration of peanuts earlier in the day. I continued my work. Again, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him hopping around on the deck to my left. Then I heard a little clunk, and looked up. He'd dropped a small rock on the floor of the deck and was sitting next to it, eying it inquisitively. The rock was shaped exactly like a peanut in the shell, same color and size. The jay had picked it up, thinking he'd found another peanut. Obviously, it was not what he wanted. But, he HAD figured out a way to get my attention and my pity. I threw out a handful of peanuts for him.

Another Sighting of our Golden-Crowned Kinglets

Early this afternoon, as the rain and clouds began to clear, we noticed an increase of bird activity in the backyard and then we saw our two golden-crowned kinglets. (I wish I had a photo of them to post on my blog, but since I don't, google "golden crowned kinglets" and look at David Norman's photos. He refers to them as fire-crests. Their crest is truly fiery. I don't want to post the URL without getting permission.) We are so fortunate to have been looking out the window at the right moment. They flitted around the spruce trees, enjoying insects, drops of moisture, and the elusive sunshine, for about 10 minutes.

Last Fling

This morning, feeling somewhat "fallish", I sat outside on the back porch enjoying a few moments of birds and sunshine. Suddenly I saw a ruby-crowned kinglet doing a flyby of our birdbath. I came inside, hoping he or she would return once I was gone. In a little while, I saw the kinglet again but then suddenly there were two golden-crowned kinglets, a mature and immature, visiting the bath. Their little fire-crowns were brilliant as they groomed and bathed. I was thrilled, thinking that this may be the last time of seeing these little warblers this fall. A very special gift from the Universe this morning.

Wildlife here and there

Our brother-in-law sent us photos of a screech owl that visited their porchside hanging baskets in Nebraska. Very cute. We saw several sandhill cranes out on the Kenai River flats today, so good to see them still here. We heard that swans are upriver on the Moose. Our backyard today yielded pine siskins, nuthatches, chickadees, gray jays, Steller's jays, and a moose cow and calf. Also one snowshoe hare sitting in the wildflower patch, almost hidden by greenery.

Cooler Mornings

The last two mornings it's been in the 30's, not freezing yet but getting close. The nights are clear, lots of moonlight and stars. I'm imagining that birds are starting to migrate, knowing that the moon and stars will help guide their internal navigation. I know they can migrate in any conditions, although stormy conditions do tend  to veer them off course. So these sunny days and cool mornings, clear nights and stars, are part of our last fling of summer, but for the birds, it's probably a signal to leave. We still see a number of juncos, immature white-crowned sparrows and an occasional mature white-crowned, and they will eventually disappear. We are grateful for our steady faithful customers, chickadees of both kinds, gray jays, and Steller jays. Magpies are coming around a bit more this time of year than earlier in the summer. Of course, the cute little nuthatches. And an occasional Myrtle warbler, more likely immature than mature. A redpoll or two. On the Kenai River flats the other day, we spotted a long-tailed jaeger. Also some shorebirds, not sure what they were, now that their breeding plumage is gone, plus probably we're seeing immatures as well. We think they were Hudsonian godwits. The season is changing.

Return Home

We've been away for a few days. While we were away, we saw hummingbirds, black phoebes, sharp-shinned hawks, bushtits, and various other species. Back home, this morning, immediately were greeted by magpies, gray jays, nuthatches, chickadees, a flock of pine siskins, and possibly some crossbills, a flock of somethings that I didn't get a good look at. Our familiar birds are great to see again. The amount of visitors in our backyard is definitely smaller than before we left. End of summer. Sigh.

Another Hawk Sighting

Yesterday afternoon, mid-to-late afternoon, we saw a Sharp-shinned hawk sitting on the dead willow in the middle of the backyard. He was much larger, the chest feathers were more cream and orangey, and when he flew away, his back was more slate-blue/gray, than the hawk we saw two days ago. We decided, especially because of the size difference, that the earlier hawk we saw must have been an immature Sharpie.

Heard a report of black brants and long-tailed jaegers seen on friends' trip to the Brooks Range. We occasionally see long-tailed jaegers on the Kenai River Flats but have not seen any this summer. They are incredibly swift hunters. Black brants are not on my life list yet, I would love to be in the right place to see one of those.

A Tidy Diner

This afternoon, I watched as a chickadee flew up to our window, teetered on one string of the netting, and poked his head up against the glass and picked off a miniscule bit of peanut butter that was stuck to the glass.

Immediately under the eaves over that window, we've rigged a little peanut butter feeding station. It's set up to be high and inaccessible to squirrels, and a little too close to the eaves to allow the bigger birds such as magpies, to eat the peanut butter. The Steller's Jays and gray jays are able to get to it, of course, as well as all the smaller birds. Some of the jays are messy eaters and the peanut butter occasionally flies off and lands on the window glass.

Our windows around the house, the ones with no screens, are "screened" with gillnetting, which we stretch tight over the glass and attach on tiny nails along the window frames. The netting breaks up the reflection and we have fewer bird-glass collisions as a result.

Earlier this afternoon, we saw two golden-crowned kinglets do their quick visit, check the birdbath, take off to parts unknown. We would love to get a better look at them, but they are extremely "flighty." So to speak.

Watching like a Hawk

This afternoon, I happened to walk to the kitchen window and glanced out. The sharp-shinned hawk who visited our yard earlier today, had taken up residence on the birdbath and was sitting there, about 10 feet from our window. He stayed there for about 25 minutes, turning his head 180+degrees to look at birds flying behind him. His breast faced the window, and I stared at him with binoculars for most of the 25 minutes. The sun was out and it was slightly breezy, so he was somewhat less easily seen because of the wind-rippled grasses. And of course, his coloration made him practically disappear into the log legs of the tripod. However, the birds in the backyard were giving their peeping warning call. They did eventually forget about him, and flew in to the feeders, and a couple of times, would venture out to the birdbath but then would see him and veer back. After he stretched his legs, and his wings a couple of times, and waited patiently, he finally took off.

Two Against One

This morning two Steller's Jays took on a sharp-shinned hawk. All of them flying around the trees, landing, watching, starting over again. As the jays seemed to taunt the hawk, they also came in for peanuts. They seem fearless. Other birds in the backyard did their warning calls, which have a different pitch and intensity than the warning or scolding calls for a cat prowling. The hawk is browner and breast is more mottled than when we saw a sharpie about 3-4 months ago.

Nuthatches

I wrote several days ago that I rarely saw a nuthatch take a bath. Then later that same day, my husband told me that he had seen one bathing. This morning I saw one bathe. Once in a year is rare, I suppose. Or maybe it was the same one, bathing twice. Personally, I'm glad to know they are not hydrophobic.

The Druids

Our Steller's Jays came in early, calling for peanuts. They're so loud, particularly the young ones. Their method of choosing peanuts and carrying them is fascinating to watch. One goes down the gullet, the other is held in the beak and then the jay takes off for a branch somewhere to either eat or to stash them. Their cobalt blue flash is incredibly exotic in and among the dark green of the spruce branches.

Another sighting of a Wilson's warbler this morning, in front in our arbor vitae. Just a very brief flash of yellow.

A Gleam of Yellow

No it wasn't the sun shining! But this morning we had a very beautiful yellow visitor, a Wilson's Warbler, brief and restless, but incredibly vibrant. The times of bird activity vary depending on factors only birds know. Time of day, temperature, wind, sun or rain, for us amateur birders, it's a little hard to know what determines their visits. But suddenly we will have a mass of activity, birds at every feeder, sitting in line on the tree branches or at the birdbath, waiting to bathe, drink, and feed. This is when I often see kinglets or warblers, these brief moments of hectic activity.

Sighting a beautiful and infrequent visitor to our yard absolutely makes our day.

Beach Walk

This morning we walked on our beach for about a mile. No rain, no wind, very calm. The tide was out as far as I can ever remember seeing it. There were sandbars exposed a long ways out, and literally hundreds of gulls out there, calling, eating, squabbling. We walked along and their constant distant calling was an accompaniment to our walk. We saw ravens and an eagle or two as we went along.

Back home, there have been two yellow warblers in the birdbath, along with our usual assortment of pine siskins, a few redpolls, and chickadees. Two or three immature Myrtle warblers. And an occasional robin joining the crowd. Nuthatches come to the feeders, but I rarely see them bathing, although they delicately sip water.

The Day After

This morning we were awakened by loud raucous calls. We had neglected to feed our Steller's Jays when they showed up. Which was at the crack of 6 AM. Yesterday, late afternoon, another scouting mission by a Northern Harrier over the yard, around 4:30 PM. Other than that, our yard is pretty quiet today. It's another coolish, breezy day, and we may have more interesting visitors later. No rain so far, so the bath may be more popular again.

A Moist Morning

Our avian friends are visiting the birdbath this morning while it's raining. They don't seem to mind the water coming in from all directions. Visitors so far today are mostly the pine siskins, and a few immature white-crowned sparrows. Our visit to friends a few nights ago, to a home on a lake, gave us the opportunity to see some swans, three cygnets and two adults. The cygnets are big enough now that they can somewhat hold their own, but earlier in the summer, three other cygnets were killed by a bald eagle that patrols the lake perimeter. We also heard that the resident osprey has been around the lake this summer.

A New Bird

Yesterday on Aug. 4, we saw a flycatcher in our backyard. We've seen enough flycatchers over the years to recognize them. It just took us a moment to realize what we were looking at, since we have never seen one in our yard. We're not sure what kind of flycatcher it was. Hopefully we'll get help identifying it and post it later. The yard was very busy yesterday as it rained all day, and at times there were dozens of birds flying back and forth between the trees and the birdbath, almost like insects. It seems to be a peak time.

Morning Bird Report, Aug. 3

This morning we awoke to quiet chit-chat in the backyard, as a lot of pine siskins and white-crowned sparrows, mostly immatures, were visiting our birdbath and sitting on the feeders. I saw a half dozen siskins, two robins, one adult and one immature, and three white-crowned sparrows when I looked out. Early morning and late afternoon are busy times. Regular visitors include Steller's Jays, and in the last several days we have seen seven at one time in our yard. It looked like two nesting pairs and immatures. The late afternoon rush of customers yesterday, as the sun finally seemed to come out for a brief visit, brought in another visitor, a northern harrier, who circled the tops of the trees and swooped through, clearing the area.

Our yard is on the Kenai Peninsula, we are surrounded by spruce trees with an occasional birch or aspen tree. The perimeter of our yard is an area we keep open, a former runway when, years ago, this was a homestead. The meadow area is home to sparrows and juncos. The sparrows we regularly see in the summer are white-crowned sparrows and Fox sparrows. We have an occasional visit from Savannah sparrows. Very early in the summer we usually see a Golden-crowned sparrow for a day or two before they take up their nesting, which tends to be nearer the beach.

The last week provided us with a sighting of Golden-crowned kinglets, always a special treat. The birdbath brings in Ruby-crowned kinglets and three kinds of warblers, an obvious benefit of having water for the birds. The warblers are Myrtle's, yellow warbler, and Wilson's, with the Myrtle's being the most frequent visitor. We must have at least one pair nesting in our yard.