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.