Seasonal surprises are arriving in the back yard

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 01 April 2010 12:56

On Saturday, when the temperature hit 20 degrees at 6 a.m., our small yard was a hotbed of avian activity.

Maybe it was the cold, but more likely it was just the arrival of early waves of birds from the South seeking spring nesting grounds.

We had perhaps two-dozen species at one time or another, including Eastern Bluebirds at the feeder (which includes hulled sunflower seeds that they like). But our most exciting sighting was everyday fare for many people.

Sitting in our apple tree was a Red-winged Blackbird, offering its signature spring call that says, “I’m setting up home. Keep away.” Actually, it sounds more like “Conk-a-reeeee” or “o-ka-leeee” — at least, that’s how bird books describe it.

A few branches away was his partner. It was the first time in nearly 40 years of living here that we had seen a Red-wing in our little four-tenths-of-an-acre yard.

Drive by any swamp in March and you’ll hear plenty of Red-wings, conkareeing away. But our yard is surrounded by lawns and woods — there is nothing even close to a reed-filled swamp nearby.

A little snooping through the literature on Red-wings indicates that they sometimes nest in “uplands,” not necessarily all that wet. We are “upland” (literally nearly 800 feet above sea level, though upland does not rely on that kind of “up” to qualify). The woods out back, while not swamp, would definitely qualify as wetlands under Connecticut law and maybe that was enough for this pair.

But it makes me wonder whether there was just so much competition at the real wetlands in the area this year that some Red-wings are accepting less desirable nesting sites.  It definitely has been a lush season for spring life so far this year — lots of bluebirds (and they probably won’t even nest on our woodsy homestead), dozens of Grackles, and a good flock of goldfinches. And in the amphibian world, a bunch of Wood Frogs was quacking around a pond down the road from us — another first in 38 years we’ve lived here. (Wood Frogs sounds like ducks chattering in the trees!)

The economy may not be great, but nature seems to be doing well this spring.

NestWatch

Speaking of nesting, Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology has a program called NestWatch that “welcomes data for all North American birds,” says Laura Burkholder, who leads the project. “Participants submit data about which kinds of birds are nesting, the number of eggs laid, dates eggs were laid, and the numbers of chicks hatched and fledged. Collecting this information across the continent over long periods of time is one of the best ways we have to detect widespread changes in breeding bird biology.”

For instance, Ms. Burkholder says, “Based on NestWatch data from 1997 to 2009... for the Eastern Bluebird suggests that the first eggs are being laid sooner. More long-term data are needed to clarify the impacts of environmental change and human land use on breeding birds.”

Everything you need to take part in NestWatch is available online at www.nestwatch.org, including directions on how you find nests, how to build and put up nest boxes, and how you monitor nests without disturbing the birds.

Sightings

Male American Goldfinches have just about completed their changeover to yellow-and-black.

If you live near woods, listen early in the morning for Wild Turkeys. The males have started gobbling.

Ron Tetelman spotted a Bald Eagle at a reservoir in North Salem last week.

Jack and Judy Kace of Ridgefield have a pair of phoebes building a nest over their bedroom window.

Coming up

Basic Birding for Adults, with naturalist Tait Johansson, Fridays, April 2, 23 and 30 from 9 to 11 a.m., field trips on April 9, May 7 and May 28, $175,  Bedfordaudubon.org

Field Trip to Jones Beach, with Joan and Richard Becker, Saturday, April 3, carpool from Bylane Farm, 35 Todd Road, Goldens Bridge at 7:30 a.m.  Bedford Audubon, jebecker @ bedfordaudubon.org, 914-232-4806.

Bird Watching Basics, introduction to the science of ornithology, Saturday, April 10, 9:30 to noon, $12 adults, kids free, Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, RSVP 203-869-5272 x239, Greenwich.audubon.org

Edwin B. Forsythe (Brigantine) National Wildlife Refuge, in Oceanville, N.J., trip with Bedford Audubon Naturalist Tait Johansson, Sunday, April 11, carpool from Bylane Farm, 35 Todd Road, Goldens Bridge at 6 a.m., return at 7:30 p.m., This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 914-232-4806.

“A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All” with Luke Dempsey, illustrated lecture, Wednesday, April 14, 7:30 p.m., free, Bedford Audubon, at Katonah Memorial House, 71 Bedford Road, Katonah, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 914-232-4806.

Migration & Early Spring Migrants, workshop, Saturday, April 17, 9:30 to noon, $12 adults, kids free, Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, RSVP 203-869-5272 x239, Greenwich.audubon.org

Spring migration bird walks, rain or shine, at 7 a.m., about 90 minutes, Wednesdays April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12, 19, 26, at Fairchild Garden, meet in parking area on North Porchuck Road; Saturdays, April 3, 10, 17, 24, May 1, 15, 22, at Audubon Greenwich, meet in main parking area; Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, 203- 869-5272 x230, Greenwich.audubon.org.

Saturday Morning Bird Walks with Luke Tiller; to register, sunrisebirding.com/walks.htm; 203-453-6724, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, 203-637-9822.

Copyright 2010 by Jack Sanders. Send sightings or comments to: jackfsanders [at sign] yahoo.com, or to Bird Notes, Box 1019, Ridgefield, CT 06877; or call 203-438-1183, extension BIRD (2473), and leave a message with your report, spelling your first and last names and telling us your town. If you need help identifying a bird, try your local nature center. If you find an injured bird, call wildlife rehabilitator Darlene Wimbrow of Redding, 203-438-0618, Wildlife in Crisis of Weston, 203-544-9913, or Wild Wings of Greenwich, 203-637-9822. The columnist’s website is www. sandersbooks. com.