Birds as art and annoyances

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 24 July 2008 15:43

Glorious birds

The Weir Farm Art Center offers Art Explorer classes for kids every summer for six weeks at Weir Farm National Historic Site on the Wilton-Ridgefield border. Recently, noted Redding artist James Grashow worked with 11 students aged 9 to 14 to create larger-than-life birds from ordinary corrugated cardboard, a couple of which are shown here from a brief exhibit called “Glorious Birds.”

“His exuberant personality inspired fantastic results,” said Amy Allen, program manager at Weir Farm Art Center. “Each sculpture was painted and displayed in the terraced gardens at Weir Farm National Historic Site at the end of the week. “It was a true happening!”

Anyone who has seen Mr. Grashow’s work — his flowers and his cityscapes that have been exhibited at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, for instance — cannot help being amazed at his ability to turn cardboard into works of exquisite detail and beauty. His many subjects include birds, and you can see samples of his remarkable “Cardbirds” on his Web site, www. jamesgrashow. com.

Ho-hum

“It’s been a ho-hum season so far,” writes Anne Carnahan of Darien. “We did have a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches off and on during the winter. In the migrating period we had virtually no warblers, and coincidentally no inchworms, probably the reason.

“However on May 2 we were surprised by two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, happily selecting safflower seeds from the mix on the pole/tray feeder. House Wrens appeared on April 28, Baltimore Orioles on May 4, and hummingbirds on May 12.

“The hummingbirds have been challenged at the nectar feeder by Downy Woodpeckers — in fact there have been adults taking the nectar and flying to their young in a nearby tree and feeding it to them! The hummers are definitely discouraged. Even though I’ve had bee balm blooming, plus other tubular flowers like hostas, they are making themselves scarce.

“What I consider an ominous sign, though, is the almost complete lack of butterflies. Usually by this time I’ve seen Tiger and Spicebush Swallowtails, and often fritillaries. I enjoy them as much as I do the birds. So far there’s been one Tiger Swallowtail, back in early June, and nothing else but the ubiquitous white cabbage butterflies. I’m wondering if anyone else is having the same experience. I hope it is not due to overuse of pesticides!”

The Ridgefield Press recently ran an article on a butterfly survey that found declines in a number of species, including fritillaries and Monarchs. In some cases, loss of habitat is causing problems; in others, it’s invasive plants and pesticides. Migrating north Monarchs are thought to be suffering from bioengineered nectar on crops, said local expert Victor DiMasi. “Plants that have been bug proofed to poison pests are not discriminating against desirable butterflies.”

Bug proofing must be affecting birds, too, which rely on insects for food.

Tap-tap

“We have a pair of cardinals nesting in a large bush near the front of our house,” Eric Einstein of Redding. “The female insists on fighting her reflection in our windows. This starts at dawn and goes on intermittently until dusk and can be rather annoying. Tick, tick, tick, as she attacks her opponent. We have tried putting pictures of predators in the windows (on the inside), but she simply switches to another pane. I am not that interested in covering the windows in the front of our house with pictures or other things.

“Have you heard of this kind of behavior? Also, short of disrupting the nest, do you have any ideas on how to change this behavior?”

The column gets several reports like this each year. Bill Thompson III, editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest, offers some suggestions. “Covering the windows with screens will help, but when we had the same problem a few years ago, the bird just moved to another window,” he said. “You may try screening, or plastic wrap on the outside surfaces of the window. Remove any perches from which the bird can see itself in the windows. And continue to harass the bird to try to shock it out of its pattern of territoriality. (Spraying the bird with the garden hose may work, and rubber snakes hung by the windows sometimes do the trick.)”

Some people have tried hanging plastic hawk or owl decoys nearby or putting plastuc appliqués on the outside of the window, and even coated the window with Glass Wax to temporarily eliminate the reflection. There is a kind of window decal that is highly visible from the outside, but virtually transparent from the inside — see www. windowalert.com.

Fortunately, this behavior usually is only temporary, occurring during nesting season.

Coming Up

Sharon Audubon Festival, walks, raptors, demonstrations, music, food, activities, and displays, Aug. 9 and 10, 9 to 5, Sharon Audubon Center, 325 Cornwall Bridge Road, Sharon, Conn., 860-364-0520.

HawkWatch Weekend Festival, bird-themed workshops, walks, games, shows, raptor counting, ‘green’ vendors, and much more, Sept. 13 and 14, Audubon Greenwich and Quaker Ridge Bird Club, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, 203-869-5272 x239.

Bird Watching Cruises on Long Island Sound and Norwalk Harbor, with Larry Flynn, wildlife conservationist, Saturdays from 7:30 to 10:30, aboard 40 passenger ferry, $20, Norwalk Seaport Association, from Seaport dock, Water Street, 203-838-9444, www.seaport.org.

Bird walks with Luke Tiller, mostly Saturdays at 8 a.m., $10 each; to register, www. sunrisebirding. com/ walks.htm; 203-981-9924, luke.tiller @ gmail.com.

Copyright (c) 2008 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.