BirdingGirl

I usually don't share a press release verbatim, but in this case it is worth reading the whole thing. I also put a button on my sidebar to help promote awareness about the State of the Birds report. Interestingly enough, I first read about the State of the Birds report on my cell phone since it was featured on the Verizon Wireless "VZW Today" home page on my phone's Web browser. For Release: March 19, 2009 Secretary Salazar Releases Study Showing Widespread Declines in Bird Populations, Highlights Role of Partnerships in Conservation Washington, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today released the first ever comprehensive report on bird populations in the United States, showing that nearly a third of the nation’s 800 bird species are endangered, threatened or in significant decline due to habitat loss, invasive species, and other threats. At the same time, the report highlights examples, including many species of waterfowl, where habitat restoration and con...

I was inspired by Andy, of Andy's Lens , and finally got around to entering my Birds of the Equinox count to Birdstack. I've had a login for a while actually, but this was my first time creating a list . Here's my list from the day: Bufflehead Common Merganser Red-tailed Hawk Song Sparrow Hairy Woodpecker Pine Siskin American Goldfinch Mourning Dove Dark-eyed Junco Tufted Titmouse Black-capped Chickadee I didn't get to go out during my lunch break since I had meetings the whole day (it was such a busy day) but at least I watched my feeders in the morning and watched for birds during my drive to work. I drive along Charles River Road during the last leg of my commute so I always check out the river as I drive along it. It helps that the speed limit of 30mph is strictly enforced so I have an excuse to go slow and look for ducks!

I read an interesting article in the Cape Cod Times a few weeks ago. I found it especially interesting now that I have a thistle feeder since it was all about the rising price of thistle seed, or more accurately, nyjer seed. The article explains how black-oil sunflower seed costs have remained relatively stable, while nyjer seed has spiked. It's expected to stay high throughout the remainder of peak bird feeding season, lasting until the middle of spring. Here are some interesting facts about nyjer seed: - It's called "black gold" because of its higher price - There are two main factors contributing to the high price: importing and sterilization costs - Imported Nijer comes mainly from India and Ethiopia - The seed must be heated to prevent germination and spreading a non-native species - It's possible for fertile seeds to sneak through causing a nijer plant (yellow flowering) to sprout- although it's unlikely to survive because of the climate differences - A...

I decided to participate in the Birds of the Equinox BirdStack count . Is anyone else doing it? It's a beautiful day here in the East and I'm curious to see what I run into later on. I've done some feeder-watching already at home, and during lunch I plan to go for a walk on the Charles River to see what birds are hanging out down there. I've had some really good luck at the Charles River- it's fun to reminisce and look at old posts from those trips: http://birdinggirl.blogspot.com/search/label/charles%20river Happy Birding!

I went birding in West Bridgewater State Forest last Sunday. Steve suggested it since he had noticed on a map of the Bridgewater area. We're always looking for new places to go hiking and birding, plus we're also slightly obsessed with Hockomock Swamp ... I was a little disappointed not to see anyone else out enjoying the beautiful weather this past weekend. There was plenty of evidence of people partying in the area, and ATV tracks, but that was it. Lucky for me I hit it up in off-peak hours! I got to enjoy the sounds of the woodpeckers, chickadees and robins. I also encountered some red squirrels, which scared the heck out me. I saw Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers (a lifer!). Red-bellied Woodpecker: The red squirrels I encountered while I was walking by a historic stone wall. Steve and I encounter these a lot while hiking in New England. I remember learning as a child about early settlers who cleared the land for farming and used the rocks to...

Here are some pictures from the backyard on Sunday. We've been getting a lot more woodpeckers coming to the tube feeder. That's the one with black oil sunflower seed in it, and I'm honestly surprised at how much they like it. I usually think of woodpeckers as eating suet or hard-packed seed cakes. The Hairy Woodpecker really likes the terrarium wood Steve put out there for the birds "on deck" to sit on. He originally bought it for our Gold Dust Day Gecko Pololu, but we only had her for about a month- she died last May :-( At least now our backyard "pets" get to enjoy it! I can't imagine that there's anything to eat in there- the wood has been in dry storage in our house- but if the woodpeckers want to peck at it for fun that's ok with me! I like this picture that captures two of them: Here's an American Goldfinch really stretching its neck to get in there:

Wow- where does time go? We're nearly done with Project FeederWatch and I've been terrible about keeping up with my tallies here on my blog. Here's what I got last week: Black-capped Chickadee- 2 Tufted Titmouse- 1 Blue Jay- 1 Song Sparrow- 3 Mourning Dove- 2 Northern Cardinal- 1 Dark-eyed Junco- 3 Here are some pictures of the Song Sparrow. I'm 99% positive...sparrows always throw me for a loop but I'm pretty sure. We actually got about a foot of snow on Monday, and these was still a lot of snow on the ground Tuesday for Day 1 of my count.

Uh-oh...I was just doing some additional research on shade-grown coffee and I found out that Trader Joe's Shade-Grown Coffee (and other coffee for that matter) does not have any third-party certifications for being shade-grown. That's actually one thing I noticed when I was looking at the label in the store, and when I was reading it again just now. They have the certified organic seal but that's it. To be labeled "Shade-Grown" I expected them to have something else. After posting I visited Christopher's Picus Blog since I noticed in my Blogger Dashboard feed he had just posted about shade-grown coffee yesterday. I've been trying to find time to post about it since I bought the coffee on Tuesday, so I'm not copying you! I promise! Anyway, Christopher was inspired to write about shade-grown coffee after attending a talk by Kenn Kaufman. I've heard a lot of buzz about him and remember wanting to go to the lecture (on migratory birds) but obviously it...

Anyone participating in ProjectFeederWatch can attest to the fact that they send you a lot of stuff in the mail. Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a lot of other projects going on that they want you to know about. I got an entire newsletter (Birdscope) devoted to neotropical birds, and of course it promoted buying shade-grown coffee. My favorite part of the newsletter was Dave Barry's quote, which appeared in the From the Editor section: Several years ago, in an interview with humor writer Dave Barry, I mentioned “Neotropical migrants.” He was unfamiliar with the term, and said, “What?! Not any old tropics are good enough for them—those birds have to have Neotropics?” I loved reading his syndicated column in the Sunday paper, and I think it's very cool that Dave Barry is an avid birder. I see him pop up now and again in birding news sources/blogs. If you don't get Birdscope you can read the full article here: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/Birdscope/from_editor_wint...