BIRD NOTES ~ January 11, 2009

 

Bird Notes

 

Red-bellied Woodpecker & Tree Sparrows

Well it is exciting to report that I have a red -bellied woodpecker at my suet feeder - son Andrew had seen it down the road a few days ago but could not positively ID it - thought it was a woodpecker!!

 

I have two tree sparrows at my feeder along with a junco, a pine siskin, male and female purple finch, female goldfinch, a dozen blue jays, 2 white-breasted nuthatches, a red-breasted nuthatch, dark-eyed junco, hairy and downy woodpeckers, 2 tufted titmice, a few mourning doves, and a large group of chickadees.  The ravens are in the air and a dozen turkeys are in the yard.                          ---Barbara Cole, Wilmington, VT

 

Bluebirds

There was a flock of about a half dozen beautiful bluebirds along the River behind downtown, both last week and today.  And on Tuesday, 2(!) pileated woodpeckers.

---Jeff Nugent, Brattleboro, VT

 

 

Cardinals

For the first time in 22 years, there are a pair of Cardinals eating seed in my driveway.  The male has been a steady visitor for several weeks, but this morning he was joined by a female.  This may not be exciting news for those living in town, but for me up here in the woods, it's a special treat.  

 

This week brought a number of species to the feeders.  The regulars were joined by 4 Evening Grosbeaks, 1 female Red-bellied Woodpecker, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch and 20+ Pine Siskins.  The number of Chickadees and Blue Jays are larger than in past years and the number of Juncos and White-breasted Nuthatches smaller.  One large flock of Goldfinches flew in for a day of feeding, but have not returned. Anxious to see what shows up when the next deep freeze hits.

---Molly Martin, Marlboro, VT

 

 

Barrows Goldeneye & more

Here's what we saw at Lake Wantastiquet last night during our Monadnock Chapter Field Trip. 

17 American Black Ducks, 12 Mallards, 349 American Black Duck/Mallards, 1 Ring-necked Duck, 187 Common Goldeneyes, 1 BARROWS GOLDENEYE, 85 Hooded Mergansers, 59 Common Mergansers, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Herring Gull, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, and 1 American Tree Sparrow. Also had a pair of adult Bald Eagles at Bellows Falls. 

---Lance Tanino, Keene, NH

 

 

Avian Conjunctivitus

This morning(1/8) I took some photos of the activity around my feeder and when looking through them found one of a house finch with mycoplasmal conjunctivitis. See photo: http://www.onejackdaw.com (scroll down on page).

 

I am following the advice on the Cornell site

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/hofi/abtdisease.html to take down the feeder and clean it with bleach. Once the snow has gone I'll have to rake up old seeds and droppings underneath the feeder. So far all the other finches and the many pine siskins around my feeder look healthy, although apparently early stages are easy to miss. I guess I'll have to stop feeding for a couple of months :-(

---Hilke Breder, Black Mountain Rd., Brattleboro

 

 

Please keep us abreast of what birds you are seeing, whether at home or on a trip in or out of the Windham County area.

 

Al Merritt

W. Brattleboro, VT

chpmnkx@sover.net

 

http://sevtaudubonbirdnotes.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

A friend is someone who reaches for your hand

 and touches your heart.