Birdnotes: [BIRD NOTES] ~ February 12, 2010

Watching Hummingbirds © Nancy Waterhouse

Bird Notes

RE: Torpid Downy

Responding to the post about the Downy that seemed asleep. I had a similar experience with a Downy in NJ about 14 years ago. I was able to touch it before it woke up and flew.

---Mitch Harrison, Wardsboro, VT

RE: Hummingbird program

This is sort of funny. My cat watching the humming bird show. We both enjoyed the show! (See photo attachment)

---Nancy Waterhouse

Birding in Florida

My trip to SW Florida this past week with main focus on birding was incredibly productive – see the photos & comments on my blog: http://onejackdawbirding.blogspot.com

The weather was beautiful, mid 70's with a light breeze, until the last day when we had some rain. It was brutal to come back to the NE deep freeze!

---Hilke Breder, Brattleboro, VT

The Barred Owl Returns

When we looked out this morning (2/5) to check the feeders, there sat a Barred Owl on the low limb of the red maple tree. It had its back to us and was facing the wooded area about 50 feet away. It seemed to be intrigued with something that had caught its fancy. It turned and looked our way a couple of times. Amazing how they can turn their head that far around. It stayed clutching that limb for about 20 minutes or so before we noticed it had flown off. We thought that it must have been the same one that landed in our backyard on Feb. 1.

Cedar Waxwings Galore

This afternoon in the trees bordering Putney Road at C&S Wholesale, was a flock of 100+ Cedar Waxwings. Try as we might, we couldn’t make any of them Bohemians. Down the road farther at Chickering Drive was another flock probably half that size gorging themselves on the fruit from the many ornamentals that line the parking area across the street from the south end of the old Home Depot building. High overhead we watched as a huge flock of Crows flew over. They were apparently heading for a roost somewhere in the vicinity of W. Chesterfield, NH.

New Bird Species Discovered in Borneo Biologists at the University of Leeds in England announced that they have discovered a new bird species in a Borneo rainforest. The new bird, named the Spectacled Flowerpecker, is a small gray bird about the size of a wren. There are white markings around its eyes, belly, and breast. The new birds were seen several times over the course of a few days at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge.---Birders United, Feb 9th, 2010