End of the Year

Since the 10th of December, when I last wrote, we have had our backyard bird count. Nothing new to report there. After the bird count day, we had a very brief owl sighting one night. Saw a sharp-shinned hawk pick a redpoll off a feeder midday. Have had a Northern Shrike in here about 3-4 times. Brown creeper now and then. At times approximately 100 redpolls and a large number of siskins from time to time. One black-capped chickadee with a somewhat deformed beak. The year is almost over. Happy New Year 2012!

Peanut Butter Patrol

Saw a couple of ravens cruising our backyard this AM. With binocs, I could see one of them fly off with a big chunk of peanut butter. He had not been down to our peanut butter post, so we surmised that the magpies had taken the peanut butter up to the top of a spruce and stashed it.

Our feeders have been visited by redpolls and siskins today. Stellars jays have been in for peanuts, and of course our ever-faithful chickadees and nuthatches. No owls yet, hopeful though, since we have a lot of voles.

Bird Report Dec 2

All of a sudden we are seeing quite a few pine siskins and redpolls. It is encouraging because some winters lately, we've seen very few redpolls and then siskins only quite a lot later.

Also this morning, a brown creeper. And down the street, a nice flock of Bohemian Waxwings.

Another Frosty Morning

This morning early, Stellars Jays reminding us that they needed peanuts. I thought for sure someone was at the door knocking. After about an hour later, we saw our Shrike. He always sits in the same place in the spruce tree to the right of our kitchen window. About three hours later, he was there again. Creatures of habit. The brown creeper has been around this morning as well. We saw one black-capped chickadee last week with a distorted beak. First one in ages. Other usual visitors to the feeders are our two kinds of chickadees, nuthatches, magpies, gray jays and Stellars, and an occasional fly-over by ravens. No siskins or redpolls since the one pine siskin last week. One block away, our neighboring business has several mountain ash trees, visited by Bohemian waxwings. Nothing to bring them to our house though.

NIMBY

Great sighting of 6-7 Pine Grosbeaks this morning, in someone else's backyard. My friend has two-three smallish Mountain Ash trees with red clumps of berries. All of a sudden we noticed bird activity. I assumed it would be Bohemian Waxwings. Grabbed a pair of binoculars and WOW! It was beautiful red Pine Grosbeaks, 5-6 males and 1 female. They stayed around for about 1-2 minutes, then a raven came cruising by and they left.

This morning fog on the river, temps in the minus degrees. Frost everywhere - beautiful.

Wind and Cold

Had a northern shrike here yesterday, albeit so windy. We saw him twice. Also have caught three mice in our house, total count so far. This morning the wind has died down considerably.

An interesting note related to last summer's sighting of the Blackpoll warbler, back in June:

According to the Alaska Audubon News, the Blackpoll warbler's numbers are decreasing by about 2.5 percent a year, unknown causes. They migrate the farthest of any warbler, some Alaskan birds winter in Brazil. They fly approximately 1800 miles over the Atlantic Ocean. They breed in the boreal forest. We were so lucky to see one here - the water is what attracted the one we saw. Who knows, maybe there was a family of them around here somewhere, but we only saw it one time.

Winter is Here

The first snow was followed about a week later by another big snow, about 8 inches to shovel last Saturday morning. One lone pine siskin showed up.  Also our brown creeper has been visiting us almost daily. I should say, we have seen him almost daily. He's probably been here even when we didn't see him! Also saw a small flock of ducks flying over earlier today, headed our way from the Kenai River. They were too high to identify.

Otherwise, nothing new to report. Colder temps and more snow, it definitely feels like winter now.

Snowfall

Our first big snow came yesterday. Along with it, many boreal and black-capped chickadees visited our peanut butter stanchion and the seeds on the feeders. One of the trees near our backporch feeder blew over, uprooted, after Tuesday night's windstorm. We will have to build a little protective wall around the feeder because it is now more exposed to rain and snow.

In addition to our usual feeders that come in daily, Tom went out to add seed to a feeder and had a fly-by, near his scalp, of a sharp-shinned hawk. We decided that Tom's hair must have looked like a snowshoe hare.

Our friend Scott Moon photographed this lovely winter visitor. We never have them in our yard but love seeing them around town.

First Snow Halloween

In keeping with the horror of the season, our shrike showed up today and cleared the yard. After a few moments, he left and after a bit, the birds returned, including 3 stellars jays, and our brown creeper. It's snowing presently, not a lot but - first snow of the season. Cold enough, just barely.

Late Fall

This past week we have seen our downy and Hairy woodpeckers almost daily, plus three sightings of our brown creeper. Nothing else unusual in our yard. A sighting of 5 swans at the golf course lake. No snow here yet.

If You Happen to Look --

Yesterday afternoon, I just happened to walk into the kitchen and look out the window in time to see our sharp-shinned hawk swoop around and land in our backyard on the pathway, sit there for a moment, later I realized he was "mantling" - and then lift off with a tiny varmint in his claws, it all happened so fast I did not have time to grab binoculars and look. It might have been a vole or mouse in his claws. Took place in a matter of seconds.

Earlier yesterday we saw our spruce grouse resident flying from one spruce to another, and eventually into the spruces right above our backdoor feeder. I saw the hairy woodpecker as well as the downy. Also saw a couple of juncos, and our old faithful chickadee troop as well as nuthatches, stellars' jays and gray jays.

Early this morning, we heard a big flock of geese flying over.

Woodpecker Duo

Have been seeing our Downy and Hairy Woodpecker males around. This morning, the Hairy male sat at our water drinking station, sipping away, and while he sat there, the Downy approached and flew away, as did two Gray Jays. The Hairy was dominant in his size and being there first, I guess. We have been seeing several magpies, as well as one injured, crippled one a few days ago, who looked to be on his last legs and since that one day, we have not seen him again. Lots of black-capped chickadees, boreal chickadees, nuthatches, a few siskins altho not too many, Stellars Jays and Gray Jays. It's much less busy out there in the last week. Lately have not seen any juncos, maybe for about 3-4 days. It's possible they have left our area. We had a big storm come through here this past weekend, lots of rain and some wind, snow in the higher elevations. Probably was a good weather indicator for the birds to leave.

Our friend on the Moose River reported 37 swans this morning. The rivers have been high but apparently the swans are enjoying their stopover.

Dawn Visitors

Early this morning, the rising sun lit up the underside of a northern harrier that flew up and over our yard, it was completely rosy-pinkish underneath, swooping over our dark spruces. We also had an early morning visit from a hairy woodpecker. Gray jays came in for a snack, as did nuthatches and boreal and black-capped chickadees.

Change of Seasons

This morning, a flurry of fast wings back in the trees, and then in a few minutes, a confirmed sighting of our Sharp-shinned hawk. Yesterday afternoon, a male spruce grouse in one of the spruces right behind our backdoor. And Monday, another sighting of our male Downy Woodpecker. Since frost two nights ago, a few less birds, but we're still seeing Juncos. White-crowned sparrows seem to be all gone, as of about a week ago.

A Collection of Sightings

Three or four days ago, Northern Harrier - sitting on a utility line along K-Beach road, and swooping down, talons extended, obviously narrowing into a little varmint in the grasses below.

Yesterday afternoon, a beautiful male Hairy Woodpecker, backyard, on a feeder.

Two days ago, two teenaged spruce grouses in the ditch in front of our house.

And now, at 7 AM, the ratcheting call of the stellar's jay, reminding us that they need peanuts.

Another Visitor Traveling Through

Yesterday afternoon, a brief sighting, but today a confirmed sighting of a Fox Sparrow on our nearest feeder. They are around our area all summer but we rarely have them in our yard. Seems as though we often see them in late summer - early fall for a day or two. They do have an incredibly beautiful song, which some people might find odd. A lot of people tend to think that sparrows only "chip chip chip" like the house sparrows many of us saw as we were growing up in the lower 48. But here in Alaska, some of the most beautiful songs we hear in the summer come from sparrows, Golden-crowned sparrow (whose song should be the State Birdsong), White-crowned sparrow, the song sparrow, the ubiquitous call of the savannah sparrow when you're out on the Kenai River Flats, and Lincoln sparrow. Fox Sparrow too, not heard so much by me personally, but it's out there - and beautiful.

Morning Visit

Early this morning, we saw our brown creeper, creeping up and down the spruce tree trunks near our feeder. Later yesterday afternoon, another sighting of the Downy Woodpecker at the water trough.

Still about 40-50 pine siskins, our friendly chickadees and nuthatches, Stellar Jays and gray jays. An occasional magpie.

Air Show

This morning, while eating breakfast, we watched as a sharp-shinned hawk chased or was chased by a magpie, tearing through the trees and around the yard. Hard to believe that the magpie was being so cheeky, but the hawk is almost the same size. As they flew over the eaves and on north away from our yard, a stellar's jay cruised up, totally nonchalant, begging for peanuts.

Yesterday my husband saw a red-winged blackbird in one of the ponds at the golf course. We went back this morning for another look, but no blackbird, only 3 muskrats, also a wonderful sighting.

Small Packages

Yesterday afternoon we glanced out in the back, and on one of the lower branches of our nearby spruce tree sat a Sharp-shinned Hawk. So beautiful. But up close, pretty darn small. When I think of how they veer through the branches and pick off an unsuspecting bird on the feeder, and in the same smooth movement, continue on out the opposite direction, it's amazing how powerful, how dangerous and yet small they are. After watching him sitting there for just a few seconds, one of our brash squirrels ran down the tree trunk towards him and the hawk left. The squirrel must not have felt any threat. It would seem as tho the hawk could kill a squirrel, but they must be just a little too big.

Sunday the 11th

This morning, a beautiful Hairy Woodpecker visited our "annex" bird feeder. Other than him, it's been a very busy morning with dozens of pine siskins. We're keeping our eyes open for migrating or visiting newbies.

Swans on the Lake

This morning our backyard feeders and birdbath were filled with hordes of pine siskins. Probably 60 -70. And on a trip to Kenai, we saw two beautiful elegant swans on one of the little lakes formed out on the flats following all our rains. Along with a handsome caribou. Beautiful fall morning.

The Flicker is Still Coming In

Have been seeing the flicker every day for quite a long time each day, ever since Sunday. And this morning we also had a male hairy woodpecker in the yard. Love seeing the woodpeckers.

Sunday Sightings

This morning we saw a yellow-shafted flicker at one of our feeders - he has stayed around pretty much all day. We have only had a couple of flicker sightings ever in our backyard, and in fact, only about three ever in the Kenai area. And then later this afternoon, I spotted an immature crossbill. Along with our usual 40 or so pine siskins, boreal and black-capped chickadees, nuthatches, gray and Stellar's jays, and magpies.

Then later on, near evening, a brown creeper! Our last one here was sometime in early spring or later winter. We are certainly enjoying all the different birds visiting our yard this past week.

Several Surprises

This morning watching the 50 or so pine siskins at our feeder and watering system, we suddenly saw a darting yellow flash, and realized we had a male Wilson's Warbler visiting our backyard. He flitted around for about two or three minutes and then left, too much competition, I suppose. In late summer, early fall, we often see Wilson's and other warblers as they are moving around, I am presuming, preparing to migrate.

This afternoon a male Downy Woodpecker was at the birdbath and the feeders. So nice to see him too.

And later on, two spruce grouse, one displaying his beautiful tail, under the trees far back in our yard.

Voyeurs

We were watching the two Stellars Jays this morning, who were watching us. We sat at our kitchen table looking out the window, and they sat out on the deck, on the backs of our lawn chairs, looking in at us. Every move we made they followed with extreme rapt attention. If we made a move towards the door, they flew to the tree branches awaiting our possible step outside to provide them with peanuts. We went back to the bedroom and there outside the bedroom window, on a ladder propped against the eaves were the two jays, sitting on two rungs, about a foot between them, one facing west and the other east, both looking in the window intently. They are so intense about it and so persistent that we finally give in and hand out some more goodies. A reward for their watchfulness. Don't know which of us is exhibiting learned behaviour.

Our Shorebird, the Yellowlegs

Our favorite photographer posted an artistic view of one of the great shorebirds we have here in the summers.


http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/2011-08-30/yellowlegs-takes-a-break

Early Morning Surprise

We were up around 5:30, reading the paper at 6 AM. It was still pretty dim outdoors. I heard a sort of squeaky sound outside, and thought it sounded vaguely like a Varied Thrush's call. I looked out the back door, and there sat a Varied Thrush on a spruce branch only about 6 feet away, he flew towards the birdbath and hid there for a moment. Then we saw another VT hopping down the trail. I kept hearing the little whistley sound they make, it was not quite the classic "telephone" ring sound you hear, but related. Absolutely gorgeous birds! They are so elusive.

Other Backyards

Had a recent trip to California, observing interesting backyards and lagoons. A daily sighting was a black phoebe and immature phoebe feeding on insects, including a large walking stick. Also, hummingbirds - Anna's - and a brown towhee, also called California towhee. Once in the past, we viewed an oriole here. There is a grapefruit and an orange tree in the yard, makes for great feeding and habitat.

In a side trip to a lagoon area, we viewed dozens of brown pelicans, ruddy ducks, avocets, phalaropes, cormorants, some least terns (whose protected nesting area was near our hiking route), and - a somewhat challenging ID problem which turned out to be a horned lark and family. The lark was acting somewhat sparrow-ish, and the beak fooled us, but we finally figured it out.

As we drove back home from the airport in Kenai, we saw a Northern harrier in the KR flats. Many backyard pine siskins, chickadees, and nuthatches. Our yard is still full of birds this late in August.

Woodpecker

Just now, about 11 AM, studying my bird blog, I heard a familiar, "Tseek!" outside. There on our peanut butter post, was a hairy woodpecker, male. Beautiful. First one in a few weeks.

A Bright Morning

This morning, after a rain, everything is refreshed. The immature robin we've seen, injured but hopping around and eating, has disappeared. We are hoping that means it was able to fly away. In addition, I saw a small bunny in the front yard, two days ago, hopping around and out of my way. I believe it is the same bunny that seemed lethargic earlier this week. I hope both little animals survived whatever was wrong with them.

A lot of voles in the front, and our mousetrap in the garage trapped a vole, unfortunately. We still occasionally trap a mouse in the crawl space.

Bird wise, though, many many immature pine siskins, chickadees, juncos, nuthatches. Have not seen many warblers or kinglets lately. White-crowned sparrows, adult and immature. Almost every day, at least one redpoll. One immature crossbill last week.

Later the same day: we once again saw our crippled robin, hopping to beat the band but not flying. We also found two dead bunnies in the yard, however still see one small one hopping around. Attrition in nature is a tough thing to observe.

Injury

This morning we have seen our immature robin, who was injured several days ago, crashing into one of the windows, although this window had a screen on it but it was a hard enough crash to injure it in some way. Ever since that collision, we've seen it hopping and walking around. We have plenty of feed and water on the ground so it does not have to fly to get fed. But it does not fly, it only walks or hops. The right wing looks slightly askew. We wonder if it will heal and eventually to be able to fly. It's sad to think of it not surviving, since it seems healthy otherwise.

On another note, this morning I noticed a very small bunny in the grasses near one of the feeders. We'd seen it several days ago, very active. But today it is just sitting there, not moving, even when I came fairly close to it. I think it is a goner.

A couple of hours later: Sharp-shinned hawk flew in and swooped to the feeder, grabbed something, don't know what. I have not seen the bunny, but he's not on the feeder, so it was probably a bird. A redpoll and two pine siskins were there a few moments later, totally innocent!

A Violent Collision

A peaceful sunny morning, many birds coming in to drink, bathe, eat. Suddenly a sharp-shinned hawk swooped in and several birds collided violently with our kitchen window, but the hawk pulled up short and turned around. There were no birds lying around recovering their senses, but I am sure they are sitting off a ways, befuddled or worse. The chickadees, nuthatches, all the birds, sit drinking, eating, but constantly watching. The younger ones are not so cautious. If they survive to maturity, I'm sure they learn the technique of looking over their shoulders while dining.

Synchronicity

This afternoon, while sipping tea on the back deck, my friend and I saw a Northern Harrier - fly through our backyard, over the deck, and off to the trees east of our house. He was about 30' up in the air, not that far above us, so we got a really good jaw-dropping look at him. Later on, we heard woodpeckers drumming, low and high both. I imagined a big dead tree and a small branch on the same tree. Or maybe two different drummers.

One of our stellar jays has an unusual cockscomb, very ruffled, uneven, missing some feathers. Otherwise, he seems healthy and vital.

Many white-crowned immatures are coming in to the front yard, under our picture window. Seems like dozens.

Old Friends

This afternoon, we spotted two male Pine Grosbeaks in our back yard, just stopping by for a very short visit. We have not had pine grosbeaks in our yard for a lot of years. It was so great to see them, and too brief.

This morning while we were working out in front, we suddenly saw a baby spruce grouse walking across the driveway, followed very quickly by an adult grouse. The baby was walking rather slowly, it was almost like it was trying to sneak across the drive and into the woods. We wondered if maybe 6-7 or more other babies had preceded it and we just happened to look up in time to see the one.

Later, during a short time of sunshine, a ruby-crowned kinglet was in bathing.

Owl Sighting

A friend in Sterling reported hearing and seeing a western screech owl. How lucky. Last screech owl I heard about was in NE at my sister's home, last summer.

A lot of birds visited our birdbath yesterday. Ruby-crowned kinglet, myrtle warblers, robins, everything that we see this time of year. Oh yes, a golden-crowned kinglet too.

High summer holds the earth (James Agee)

Our Friend the GCK

This morning, a shaft of sunlight shone on our birdbath through the spruces and I glanced out, and saw our golden-crowned kinglet flit into the sunshine, look about, move down towards the water, flash his fiery crest, and take off, all in about 2-3 seconds. We should have a webcam. Most of the time there is too much going on, to sit there watching constantly.

A bit later - checking our birdbath, saw 4 robins in the two trays of water, three very speckled breasts, one more mature looking. And then suddenly a little flurry away from feeders, and I looked around, there was a mama moose and calf, taking advantage of our water as well.

What was that?

For two days now, I've seen some sort of small fast UFO in the backyard. Could it be a hummingbird? Kinda doubt it. Maybe a large dragonfly.

We have seen a ruby-crowned kinglet coming into the birdbath lately. Also one sighting of a golden-crowned kinglet. The sightings are so dependent on how long a person is willing to sit at the kitchen window and watch. As much as we like being outdoors on the back deck or back porch, we just don't see as many birds when we're sitting out there, the birds are just too intimidated by the large objects near their bathing area.

This morning, a sizable population in front, a more moderate gathering in back.

Enjoyed the photo and sighting of a Chinese Pond Heron seen out in western Alaska. Amazing what shows up out there.

Birds in Homer

We made a trip down East End road out of Homer today. Heard many hermit thrushes, golden-crowned sparrows, and fox sparrows. The songs of hermit thrushes were ubiquitous enough, as well as loud enough, that we could hear them even as we drove down the road. We were not driving fast, and we did have our windows open. An occasional golden-crowned sparrow sang into our window as well. Fox sparrows are so melodious and, to my ears, unusual sounding. We have not heard that song in our own backyard much if at all. I do hear it occasionally other places, particularly in the sort of habitat we were in today.

After arriving back, we were greeted by dozens of birds in our frontyard flying to safety as we walked up the boardwalk. They are very active.

Yesterday, Tom saw a kingfisher near Slikok Creek. Earlier this summer, I had two sightings of kingfishers. They are always a special treat to see.

Our yard is busy with birds, but hardly any singing now. I so miss their songs. Now and then, I'll hear a white-crowned sparrow. Of course, chickadee calls and nuthatch calls. Not much else.

Caution: Bird Crossing

Our front boardwalk has become hazardous for pedestrians, there are so many immature birds out there as well as anxious adults. Every time we open the front door, there is a flurry of birds, squirrels and hares, taking off for safety. White-crowned sparrows, juncos, robins, siskins, nuthatches. An occasional crossbill. They're all feeding, bathing, hanging out in front in numbers like we haven't seen before. When I walk down the boardwalk between the trees, I do keep my hands up around my head just a bit, as the immatures are a little less sure-winged and occasionally fly right into a solid object, like a person or a window. We added more gillnetting around one window, as there have been several loud collisions in the last couple of days, no fatalities that we could see, though.

The backyard is quite busy too. The hawk visited us two-three days in a row and then has not been back - at least that we've seen. It's been very entertaining.

Almost Patriotic

Had a beautiful sighting of female Hairy (Harriet) woodpecker today. And watched a short drama of a sharp-shinned hawk sitting in the trees waiting for an unsuspecting bird.

                             

We have seen and heard a song sparrow regularly now, calling from the southeast corner of our yard on a regular rotation. A lot of immature white crowned sparrows in our front yard. Not so many in the backyard. What is the attraction out there? Maybe not so much competition.

Happy 4th of July.

Stellar Jay

A rich time of year, many birds, adult and immatures, coming in to feed, bathe, drink. This morning, the sun caught a beautiful stellar jay sitting in the spruce tree right outside our window. His feathers were gleaming iridescently, and I tried to capture it with a camera, no luck.

Last evening, twice, a golden-crowned kinglet showed up to bathe, both times, the golden crown was slightly raised and exposed the little bit of red that they have in there somewhere.

Juncos, nuthatches, boreal and black-capped chickadees, one male/female redpoll pair, myrtle warblers, white-crowned sparrows, robins, gray jays, stellar jays, immature crossbills. The highest number of one species is pine siskins. Golden-crowned kinglets. Swallows way overhead. A very occasional sharp-shinned hawk. This is our summertime backyard fare presently, a nice variety.

Robin Alert

I recalled that when I had the hawk-nuthatch standoff the other day, the reason I became aware of the hawk's presence, was that the robins were calling. Their warning for a bird predator is different than when it's a cat in the yard. It's a fast "chee-chee-chee-chee"....fairly high-pitched. I heard that call and looked out and saw the hawk landing in the spruces.

Robins' cat warning is a persistent paced, "chip, chip, chip, chip." Not to sound too formulaic, but - it's almost a "chirp, chirp, chirp!" very sharp and short.

Checking out the Backyard

Yesterday morning, a backyard drama - a sharp-shinned hawk flew into the copse of trees around our one feeder. Sitting on a pole on our backporch, about 10 feet away, was a nuthatch eating peanut butter. The nuthatch froze into position, not one blink, not one feather moved. This lasted about 5 minutes or so. The hawk walked out on the branch and sat there looking around. I watched from inside, hating the thought of the hawk catching that nuthatch in front of my eyes. I know they need to eat too! Some line from a book ran through my mind, no one dies today. So I went to the back door and moved my hand around in the window to make the hawk more cautious. He walked backwards back into the tree. I cautiously opened the backdoor, thinking too sudden of a move might spook the nuthatch as well. The hawk went around behind the trunk of the middle tree and disappeared from view. Then I saw him fly out of the tree to the east, while the nuthatch continued to sit frozen, in a westerly direction. Within about 5 seconds, birds began flocking into the feeder and water system. The nuthatch took off. Crisis averted. The hawk will find a meal somewhere else.

Solstice and Beyond

The days leading up to Solstice were sunny, beautiful, warm-ish. We have had more birds coming in every day, lined up to take baths, and flitting around in the trees, shrubbery and on our porch. Many immatures. We finally saw our first immature white-crowned sparrow yesterday. Many immature siskins, there must be 2 dozen siskins in our backyard presently. And almost that many nuthatches. This morning we saw two golden-crowned kinglets bathing together, we are assuming one is a young one. So far only one at a time, till today. Still seeing immature crossbills. Myrtle's warblers. Robins. Both kinds of jays. Heard a song sparrow yesterday. A very quick sighting of possibly a Savannah Sparrow at the bath.

Today, the day after Solstice, a bit windy, still sunny-ish. Fog floating around, so it's not warm. It's so exciting to see all the immatures coming in, and possibly other new visitors who see the activity and come check it out.

White-winged Crossbills

This morning, about 6:30AM, a family of crossbills came to our birdbath for a drink..a male, female and about 3 immatures. They flitted about the trees, stayed for a total of about 1 minute. The intense red of the male is breath-taking.

Birding Elsewhere

Yesterday we visited friends in Sterling, enjoyed hearing the very raucous call of the ruby-crowned kinglet the instant we opened the car door. Also heard varied thrushes, robins, and snipes.

This morning, I took an early morning birding walk with a friend out north. We saw and/or heard song sparrows, robins, white-crowned sparrows, various warblers (I'm not confident about the three-four different warbler songs), mallards and chicks, red-necked grebes, common loons, and a belted kingfisher. Really fun - different habitat.

Many New Baby Birds

Today we saw a huge influx of immature birds, out of their nests for the first day, maybe. There were 4 nuthatches, along with their parent bird, sitting on branches around one of the feeders. They sat perfectly still, two of them even sat crowded close together and moved their heads and beaks around in sychronized movement. They seemed like Siamese nuthatches. Not much moving around, just sitting and waiting for food and further instructions. Also saw more pine siskins than ever, and chickadees that looked quite fuzzy and almost grubby. Several times this evening we saw the golden-crowned kinglet. Around 3 pm we had a flyover by a Northern harrier. Also had a visit from a female crossbill to our birdbath. It's been a busy day.

A family member from CA sent this picture today. Exotic and amazing looking bird - white-tailed kite, our book calls it the black-shouldered kite. Very beautiful.

Neighboring Bird Life

Our neighbors who live on the bluff, and have somewhat different habitat, particularly with the bluff and beach immediately adjacent, have been seeing crossbills regularly, and this morning I saw a group of about 6 immature crossbills eating cones on their driveway. Also observed a fox sparrow, myrtle's warbler and heard a savannah sparrow. Earlier on a bike ride along the beach frontage road, we saw a Yellow Warbler. Back here at home, a golden-crowned kinglet flew in just as I looked out the window. Great time of year!

A Visit from Somebunny

Baby bunnies yesterday (snowshoe hares). A sharp-shinned hawk continues to check our backyard. Almost daily sightings of our golden-crowned kinglet. One glance outside to the birdbath at around 4:30 pm, myrtle warblers, juncos, white-crowned sparrows and pine siskins waiting to bathe.

Hawk Visitor

Yesterday early evening, sitting at our window, I happened to glance up in time to see a fanned tail with horizontal bars of light brown and white and a spruce branch waving up and down as a bird landed on it. Our sharp-shinned hawk is back. We have seen him about half a dozen times in the past two weeks. We also have had a couple flyovers of Northern Harriers.

We watched our golden-crowned kinglet bathe in the early morning. Later two Myrtle Warblers were there, along with about 6-7 pine siskins. And another batch of gray jay immatures are coming in to drink and bathe.

Our guests include a two-and-a-half year old. She is identifying gray jays, puffins, nuthatches and chickadees. She claims to have seen a humming bird out the window. I was impressed that she even knew about them. A new birder in the family!

Golden Crowned Kinglet

He/she is becoming a daily visitor to our birdbath. We are hearing the song sparrow, savannah sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, robin, ruby-crowned kinglets, all regularly. Of course the usual group of backyard birds in addition. Very cool.

Two New Returnees

This morning while we were watching our birdbath, a little bird flew in to bathe, and I thought it was an immature Nuthatch, with the stripes around the eyes, so we grabbed binoculars and watched as he bathed, but then his little topknot parted as he was splashing, and we saw the firey crest of a golden-crowned kinglet! Because of his/her markings, we think it was an immature golden-crowned.

And then about an hour later, I stepped outside and heard the call of a Savannah Sparrow, calling from somewhere in our "savannah" section, the more open part of our property, where we've been keeping trees out and maintaining it as a sort of meadow. Along with that lovely familiar call, I heard white-crowned sparrows and other beautiful morning bird calls. After two days of intermittent rain, the sun today makes everything look shiny.

Predator Alert

This afternoon while outside gardening, I heard robins scolding loudly and looked up, flying in circles were two robins and another bird about their size, who then flew away and and in my direction, it was a sharp-shinned hawk.

More immatures today, boreal chickadees, a Stellar's Jay, who acted so different than his parents, and siskins. Also we saw a red-backed vole in the last two-three days. Good owl lunches.

Baby Gray Jays

Yesterday late afternoon the first baby gray jays came into the backyard with one of the adults. They flew around checking things out, finally one brave jay landed on the birdbath and started bathing. Soon it was joined by a sibling. We observed that the adult gray jays rarely bathe in that birdbath, but the immatures certainly love the water. When they left, a single song sparrow came back and bathed. Very nice to see him/her coming in. Also have seen several white-crowned sparrows, myrtle warblers, chickadees (both kinds), nuthatches, pine siskins, juncos, an occasional redpoll, two-three robins, stellar jays, and hearing kinglets, have not seen any kinglets yet. Have not seen our spruce grouse lately either. But we expect one day to see her with babies.

One of our black-capped chickadees showed up about 10 days ago, with a sort of scalped look. The black cap feathers were missing, from where they usually begin on his forehead above his beak to about the mid-part of his head. At first we wondered if it was afflicted with an avian pox or some other type of illness. He or she has a partner who looks normal and healthy. The scalped chickadee keeps coming back, and it looks as though the feathers are starting to grow back. We wonder what happened to him/her.

We are finally beginning to recognize the myrtle warbler's song. Typical warbler -- nothing too elaborate but a sort of twe-twe-twe-twe-twe, getting a little louder in the middle.

Bird in the "Bush"

This morning we drove out to the Kenai Boat Dock Rd. and stopped along the way to look at and listen to birds. In the thickest part of the mixed forest right before the habitat changes to wetlands, a bird was singing. At first we thought it was one long bird song, then we realized the first half was a warbler, and the second half was a mystery bird. We walked slowly towards the area from where we heard it emanating, but had no luck seeing it.  After we got home, I googled different sparrow songs, trying to recall what I'd heard. Nothing was quite right. It was a full-bodied, rich song, not long, and made us think of either sparrow or finch songs.

Robert Frost's poem, "Come In," always comes to mind when I hear birdsongs in the midst of a forest. Although we were not out for stars, we were out for birds. And of course, this poem is about much more than a bird call in the forest.

Song Sparrow

This late afternoon, we saw a song sparrow sitting on our brush pile, he has a little spot in the middle of his streaked chest. I looked up his song on google and it's the song I've heard across the street. Finally id'd this song after all these years. Very pretty! To hear click on this link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ddavalos/2409730304/

Bird Song

This morning I heard a familiar song, across the street where formerly there was a large wild meadow. I would hear him but was never able to track it down in time. I grabbed binocs and stalked it a bit, studying every tree from across the street in our yard. I finally saw it, a sparrow with a large black spot on its chest, so we're saying it's a Fox Sparrow. I hope he visits us too, and in the past we have occasionally seen one at the feeder system.

Also, later this morning, my husband saw a Pine Grosbeak, which is great since we have not seen many of those in our yard in the last years as our yard vegetation changes to almost all spruce, the climax forest, and very little deciduous.

Have not seen our Blackpoll visitor again, but we're keeping a watch.

As many spruce trees as we have in our yard, and as ubiquitous as they are all over the peninsula, they still seem very beautiful to me. I found a sprout coming up in my garden, and then another one, I could not bear to pull them up and throw them away. So I planted them in my house, in a pot of dirt with a coleus. I see trouble ahead when they start getting big.

Blackpoll Warbler

Today saw a Blackpoll Warbler, first one we've ever seen, and of course, a first for our backyard. Only a very fleeting glimpse. Totally easy to ID.

Last night, a lively hilarious lecture on birds and other weird phenomenon by the famous Mr. Whitekeys. One of his 5 rules for birding, is to go birding every day. We do!! Without even having to leave our kitchen.

New Songs

This morning around 5:30, going out to get the paper, I heard a new song in the neighborhood, I am not sure but I think this is the mystery bird I used to hear across the street when we had a meadow turning into a small forest, and which is now a 3-story log house and graveled parking lot for 5 vehicles, including two RVs. The mystery bird sings a varied melodic tune, and its incisive like the white-crowned sparrow's song, I think it is probably a sparrow of some kind but I'm never able to see it clearly.

Yesterday we were in Anchor Point near the bluff and a swampy area, heard a number of golden-crowned sparrow calls. One of my favorites.

Also, I found out that one of our dear friends' daughters, age 9, is becoming a fascinated birder. I have been taking her and her sister out birding, as well as showing them pictures in the birdbook and talking about our backyard birds. She now has a new bird book and has been marking the birds she's seen. She is very excited about it. As am I!

Birding Festival

Homer's Bird Festival was two weeks ago and ours in Kenai is this weekend. I hope we can attend part of it. We've been down to the K River Flats almost every day to see what is new and also to enjoy the birds who are hanging out for more than 2-3 days. The late afternoon-evening is a great time to go, as many of the birds on the flats are on the east side of the highway, and the setting sun lights them up so perfectly. Since it's been cloudy the last few days, who knows how the light will be? So almost any time is ok. Our backyard seems a bit too quiet for my taste. I have heard robins, kinglets, white-crowned sparrows, juncos, and other calls, but not to the degree and intensity that I recall from other years. My heart soars when we have a backyard full of birdsong. We have been hearing and seeing a couple of robins regularly, so that is encouraging. Our spruce grouse keeps coming back, we see her on the feeder, the ground below the feeder, and just around. We are hoping she has a nest and baby grouses nearby. I don't know what they're called, but I do know they are precocial, so they may show up themselves with her one day. Yesterday I thought I saw a golden-crowned kinglet in the spruce near our bird watering station. And we continue to see the Myrtle Warbler too. All good. Just keep 'em coming.

Large Visitor to our Feeder

Two days ago, we saw a spruce grouse under our feeder. We've been seeing grouse around our yard off and on for a couple of years, but more lately in the past winter. Then yesterday and today, we've seen her on top of the bird feeder. It's a bit of a double-take, when you look out expecting to see the tiny delicate pine siskins or something approximately that size, and there sits that enormous bird. The squirrel even avoids the top of the feeder when she's up there, as mild-mannered and shy as grouse are, still a big bird.

We've had a robin, myrtle warblers, white-crowned sparrows, and our usual suspects to the watering stationg. Still chilly out, so hopefully soon more sunshine will bring out more birds. Hearing kinglets, sparrows, robins, juncos singing all around in the early morning, even during the day. Nothing new to report on the Kenai River Flats.

Myrtle Warbler, Yellow-Rumped

Today, both of us spent the whole day outside working, hearing robins, white-crowned sparrows, juncos, and kinglets singing all around. Then around 1 PM, we saw a Myrtle Warbler show up at the water in our backyard. So exciting to see a Myrtle Warbler today,our first sighting of the summer, and one of those birds whose call we're not familiar with. And then a bit later, finally, we saw a white-crowned sparrow! Wonderful spring day.

White-crowned Sparrow

This morning, heard the unmistakable song of the W-C Sparrow in our back "40" somewhere. Absolutely springy and fresh sounding. Have still not seen one, but would expect we will sometime soon.

Black-Bellied Plovers!

One of our favorite spring migratory birds! We saw several of them last night on the Kenai Boat Dock road. Along with dowitchers (we're assuming long-billed), green-winged teal, Hudsonian Godwits, some sort of sandpiper, just could not get a good enough look to ID, dunlins, and then a bit later, on the KR Flats, parked in the pullout, we saw a flock of red knots! Also - a long ways away to the east, there was an enormous flock of something UFO, white bellies, black and white when they turned. They flew up and back and forth and landed several times. With the setting sun shining against them, it was very flashy, even without binoculars, you could see them across the flats. Large flocks of Canada geese and white-fronted geese. Also about 20 sandhill cranes. A great evening for birds.

Robins Yes

Yesterday we saw and heard robins in our yard. One fed at our bird feeder. Also heard and saw juncos, varied thrush, and ruby-crowned kinglets, all singing away joyously this morning. Yesterday a trip down the Kenai Boat Dock road, yielded a sighting of two dowitchers mating, and many other dowitchers in the vicinity. Also a small sandpiper, could not get a clear view or ID. Sandhill cranes, shovelers, pintails, mallards, widgeons, green-winged teal, and godwits. Three swans. Anxious to visit later today, maybe we'll see a black-bellied plover. Every day things are changing.

Not So Silent Spring

A lot of spring birds are officially here. Snow geese, sandhill cranes, widgeons, the usual pintails and mallards, teal (blue-winged), ruby-crowned kinglets. We checked our book from last year, by this date we had seen a white-crowned sparrow. Have not seen nor heard one yet. Yes to the varied thrush. Thought I heard a robin tonight. Swallows. Our neighborhood trees have changed so much, I'm concerned about habitat loss. The thought of a silent spring is in the back of all of our minds some way or another. Some places are alive with birdsong. We are hopeful for more spring birds in our neighborhood soon.

Hallelujah

More snow geese have arrived in Kenai, and yesterday 5-6 Sandhill cranes flew over our house while my husband was outside working. To see a GREAT photo of snow geese, I will endeavor to post a link to my facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=2006743370110&set=a.1336449253176.2049788.1289430124&type=1&theater

No sooner said than......

Two days I wrote about not seeing snow geese. So glad I said that because yesterday, no doubt as a result of my statement, nature proved me wrong, there were about 15-20 snow geese on the Kenai River flats, feeding along with a lot of other migratory ducks and Canada as well as white-fronted geese. I did not have time to study them, just long enough to confirm that they were indeed snow geese and not a huge flock of swans. People who traveled the flats later in the day did not see the snows, either weren't looking or they had moved elsewhere. At least for me, it made my day to see them!

New Arrivals

A visit today to the Moose River yielded our first ruby-crowned kinglet sighting, and a little avian concert. We also saw mallards, eagles, golden-eyes, mergansers and juncos. Our hosts told us they had heard sandhill cranes earlier today. We still have not seen any in the Kenai River flats. The weather's been a bit less hospitable with cloudy skies and a chilly breeze, but the overnight temp was 40 so things are a little less frosty each day. Several of us are pondering the disappearance of snow geese from the K River flats. In the past 30 years we've seen huge migrations of snow geese, but for about the last 4-5 years, fewer and fewer geese. Their numbers are not in decline, but their migratory pattern here has changed. Who knows why. We still see Canada geese, white-fronted geese, and a number of other usual duck species. The road through the River flats are not the only reason, maybe more eagles, or -- who knows.

April 20 spring report

Sometimes it seems as though we live in an area that ignores or eschews environmentally sound viewpoints. At least our dear photographer friend who works for the Clarion knows it's spring when the mallards arrive. In the last few days, we've seen pintails, mallards, northern shovelers, a yellow-legs, and probably some teal, not sure since the sun was at the wrong angle, arriving on the Kenai River flats. Very cool.

New Spring Sightings

This morning, feeding on spruce cones and seeds in the eaves and on the ground below, we saw a female crossbill and several pine siskins. We've heard the crossbills around for several days, we know they've had a lot of food with the huge spruce cone crop that was hanging on the trees all winter. So it was nice to finally see one of them. Friends from the Sterling-Moose River area reported seeing robins feeding in their yard yesterday. Also, they'd been hearing varied thrushes for about a week, as well as crossbills. And, 4 swans in the Moose River. We're headed out to see what's on the Kenai River Flats this morning.

Night Mystery

We were lying in bed, almost asleep, about 10:30 PM. We both heard it, "oo-oo-oo-oo-oo" -- then silence. Owl!! It seemed to take a few seconds to penetrate our consciousness. We both jumped up and looked out, of course, it was too dark to see anything, although not as dark as a couple of weeks ago. So we turned on the porchlight, saw nothing. This morning in the paper were two articles about owls. This is their usual mating, territorial time. A lot of people around the state are hearing them call. Pretty cool. We think it was a boreal owl.

Birds in Far Away Places

Having dreamt about seeing a snow bunting, I realized I was craving a look at something beautiful, since we are still a ways off from seeing our summer birds, and although snow buntings are winter birds here, I haven't seen one all winter. So I'm posting a fabulous photo from the San Francisco area, taken by my niece, a lovely red-shouldered hawk. Hawks are so hard for me to identify, but this photo made it easy.

No Fooling

Our friends who have a cabin in Cooper Landing reported hearing a Varied Thrush this morning!

Warmish Night

This morning's low temperature was 33 (at our house). Good sign. In the last few days, we've seen our junco as well as spruce grouse, and of course, the chickadees, nuthatches and jays. Stellar jays, 3 of them, still occasionally coming in for peanuts. We have heard a woodpecker in the near woods, but have not seen him/her. Snowshoe hares are starting to turn tan. Our one black-capped chickadee with the deformed beak, is still surviving, but his poor beak is becoming more and more deformed. It's long, curved in opposite directions, almost like a crossbill, and he works very hard to scoop up seeds or peanut butter.

We hope to report some more spring birds soon.

Spring Visitor

Yesterday, late morning, a sharp-shinned hawk flew into the yard and sat on our back porch railing for a few moments. We were so surprised and pleased to see him up close. Needless to say, the backyard cleared out of all other birds. For about 10 minutes after he visited our porch, we saw no birds in the backyard. Last summer we had two different hawks come to perch in the backyard, and so we wondered if one of them had returned, or if they all know that there is prey to be had back there.

Spring has Sprung

Five below here this morning, but the days are getting longer. We saw our friend, the brown creeper, this morning. Also had our pine siskins, nuthatches, stellar jays, and chickadees in for feeding. The other day we watched as a redpoll sat in a spruce and ate spruce cone seeds, seeds fluttering away in the breeze, and reflected on why we haven't had redpolls to our feeders this winter. A spruce grouse walked over our deck the other day, on its way to some exposed gravel in the front yard under the spruces there.

Sunny days, cold nights. Looking forward to breakup.

The Kinglet

This morning, our little golden-crowned kinglet was flitting thru the spruces trees for about 30 seconds. And our junco sighting has turned into an almost-daily one. We're glad to see the temps rise a bit today. Windy too. Of course, we have still seen all the usual winter birds. One chickadee with a deformed beak, getting worse by the day. Snowshoe hares are still coming in, pure white. And an occasional moose tromping thru and getting the birdseed that is available to their snout and tongue.

We've heard and seen big flocks of redpolls, as well as small groups of crossbills, no visits to the feeders though. So many spruce cones and seeds for them.

Our kinglet has been here all winter, apparently. We've seen him about 5 or 6 times since November. That's a first for us.

Hell Freezing Over

Slightly melodramatic - but, after a bit of a warming trend in early February, suddenly the night-time temperature has dropped to minus 15 or more (depending on location) and daytime is not much warmer, as today, at 11 AM it's still only 9. We have seen a number of large flocks of redpolls and siskins flying over various times during the day. Siskins still visit our feeders pretty regularly. One of our black-capped chickadees has a seriously deformed bill which keeps getting worse and worse, looking like a crossbill beak. He is on the feeder constantly, trying to survive. It's so sad. Hope we don't see any more of those.

So a little later in the day, I am editing my earlier post because since I wrote at about 11 AM, I suddenly saw a junco at our feeder, the first one we've seen all winter. I had heard reports of them elsewhere in the area, but not here. So that was great, one new bird. Then a few moments later, my husband looked out and saw a Golden-crowned Kinglet! This little bird has been showing up at our feeders on these very cold days, this is the 4th or 5th time we have seen him this winter. What a special treat. Worth adding to the blog.

Redpolls

This morning, with temp of 11 degrees, clear skies, and lots of new fresh snow, I finally saw a decent-sized group of redpolls clustered around the top of one of our tallest spruces, awaiting the first sunlight. Approximately 10 redpolls (plus or minus) sat there, chirping away. I went out to fatten up the feeders, and their birdsong was actually more melodious than I had remembered. It makes me so happy to hear and see them, probably because these little visitors that usually throng in huge numbers to our feeders, have been conspicuously absent this winter. The normal cycle of redpolls coming in for feed is reassuring.

Later on: We saw our brown creeper around 12:30 PM. Approx. 12-15 pine siskins kept visiting our feeders off and on all day. No redpolls at the feeders. Our snowshoe hare showed up and stayed in close to our house. Totally white, with dark-ish ears and black eyes, very soft padded feet.

Storm Birds

A foot of new snow, and now we have a flock 12 or more pine siskins! It is great to see a few more of our usual winter visitors. Yesterday two spruce grouse burst out of the snow-laden spruce branches while Tom put seeds on the feeder, they were close enough to him that their wings brushed the top of his cap. Magpies fly in and scatter the siskins. Chickadees and nuthatches keep us entertained. Beautiful snowy day.

Ravens

Who will survive after we have all left the planet.....tough birds, withstanding cold temperatures, frozen everything, still finding food and still flying above us making those vocalizations that are almost understandable by human ears. Check yesterday's Peninsula Clarion for a great photo:

http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/

Scott Moon has had other great photos of ravens, as well as other birds. The photo of the NW crow is one of my faves. His website:

http://moon.photoshelter.com/

We have to appreciate our ravens, part of the Native Alaskan lore and heritage, and one of the most ubiquitous birds in Alaska, winter or summer.

Christmas Bird Count, Final Version

Today the long-awaited count was in the paper, from all around the Kenai-Soldotna area. We were glad to see that our three special birds, the saw-whet owl, along with our 1 brown creeper and 2 golden-crowned kinglets, were in a fairly exclusive group, that is, only 1 saw-whet, 4 kinglets, and 2 brown creepers total were seen that day. Our backyard provided an important contribution to the total count. As it happens, a saw-whet has only been recorded twice during the history of the Christmas bird count. Additionally, our sightings of Stellars Jays seem to be a big part of the total count. A lot of great birds were seen that day, and I wish I'd seen some of them. The Townsend's solitaire must be one of the most unusual birds sighted that day, and of course, it is always fun to see the beautiful Bohemian Waxwings.

Last year a northern shrike was here the day of the bird count, but that was partly because we had a pretty good number of redpolls at our feeders, and this year we have, so far, seen one redpoll at a feeder. Seems odd, but we have figured out possible reasons.

Times like this, though, a person would love to see something really exotic show up, even as exotic as a summer bird. Would be fun to go birding in a warm climate and see what migrating birds might be there. But for now, we'll keep our eyes on our little backyard habitat.

Wildlife Inside and Out

We saw two spruce grouse today, out in the backyard, as it snowed, blew snow around, and generally was miserably cold out. The temps have gone up to mid-teens, so it's a bit warmer, but with the wind, doesn't feel it at all.

Earlier I wrote about seeing the saw-whet owl out on our spruce tree in the backyard. With all the voles and mice around, he had plenty of food for a few days. We also ended up with 15 mice in our house! We only know that because we had spotted one running around inside the bathtub, thus knowing they were in the house. So we set up mousetraps all over and caught a total of 11 right by the stove. Three in the crawl space. And one bather. I would have loved to have our owl enjoy those mice, but they chose a warmer place to die. And so - now it seems the vole and mouse population has tanked, and we are seeing no owl. However, there are still a lot of white snowshoe hares out there, plus our beautiful chickadees, one pine siskin, nuthatches, three stellars jays, a couple of magpies and gray jays and then today, the spruce grouse. Things could be worse.

The New Year

Have nothing much to report. It's been pretty frigid for the most part, since mid-December. We have seen only a few birds the entire month. This past week we had one redpoll and one pine siskin. Scouts. Have had a couple of flyovers of a small flock of redpolls, but they haven't stopped at the feeders. The local Forestry person says it might be because of the abundant crop of spruce cones last fall, and even now there are many spruce cone seeds on top of the snow and glazed icy surfaces. Yesterday we saw a couple of spruce grouses, and attributed that to our sprinkling of gravel on the icy paths. Although, we do have spruce grouses in here year-round, even if we don't see them all the time.

Yesterday, driving across the Kenai River flats, even though the river is mostly frozen over solidly, there was a flock of about 8 brilliant white gulls flying overhead.

We are looking forward to more birds, hopefully soon.