BirdingGirl

I thought this was a pretty cool story when I read it earlier this afternoon. I thought it was even cooler after watching Wall-E just now and getting a visual of what a "concrete jungle" looks like. For those of you who haven't seen it, the premise is that earth became so cluttered with rubbish it uninhabitable so humans had to wait out on a spaceship for 5 years while all of the Wall-E robots clean it up for them. The ship can return as soon as there's a sign of plant life on earth, which happens and sets the whole plot in motion. The idea of a city with no plant life at all is pretty crazy, but not that far-fetched as natural resources become depleted. This story out of Hong Kong about magpies using building scraps from a nearby construction zone is very intriguing. It's common for birds to use man-made materials in their nests (some people even go so far as to set out pretty colored ribbon to entice birds to use it as a sort of science experiment), but for bi...

Richard, one of my readers located in Colorado, shared this picture of a duck he's trying to identify. I made a very feeble attempt to ID it just using online resources (All About Birds, Ducks Unlimited, etc.) but ran out of time on my lunch break. I forgot to check my guide books at home last night, and thought I'd open it up to the rest of my readers to get him an answer sooner than later. First of all, it's a great picture. I find capturing ducks on water can be extremely difficult, so Richard already has that in his favor. Any thoughts? ---------------------------- UPDATE: 2/19/09 11:30am Thanks to Jeff and Gabrielle for solving this mystery ID in record time! I should really study up on my waterfowl...

Steve and I went for a hike at Blue Hills on Saturday and although I didn't see any birds, I did see these bird tracks in the snow: My first thought was a hawk, but there were far too many of them. I wouldn't expect a hawk to walk on the ground for that long. My next best guess is a wild turkey . The size is right (3.5-4.5 inches long)- they were very large prints. What large birds are out and about in the winter? Oh and the terrain was rocky- near a pipeline and at the top of a hill.

I haven't been doing much birding lately, but I've certainly been doing a lot of bird watching now that I have this great yard and all these feeders. I took these pictures of chickadees at our feeder hanging on the dead pine tree. In my experience chickadees are by far the least afraid of humans. Maybe because they're so fast- they know they'd have plenty of time to get away!

This picture was taken from my Juvenile Wood Ducks post (July 2008). I thought I would follow up my post about wood duck boxes by providing links to additional resources. The MassWildlife website provides a wealth of wood duck box information, but here are a few snippets. Under normal conditions wood ducks nest in rotted out trees. But they have many conditions: The holes must be large enough to start with- they cannot enlarge them. There must be soft material inside already- they won't carry in materials to make the nest. It must be close to water to increase the ducklings' chances of survival. Many wood duck nest cavities were originally made by Pileated Woodpeckers. Unfortunately, they have honey bees, squirrels and other wildlife for competition. Not only does our backyard (technically the conservation land behind our house) have wood duck boxes, it also has some very active woodpeckers. I just noticed these holes during our walk back there last weekend. I wonder what ...

Pine Siskins have been frequenting my new Droll Yankee Thistle Feeder, coming in third place behind Dark-Eyed Juncos and American Goldfinches. You've already seen pictures of the fat junco feasting at the thistle feeder (sitting there for hours!), and I'll be posting pictures of the goldfinches next. I took these ones today when I went over to the feeder to put some treats on the ground. I was surprised this one didn't move so I took advantage of its good-naturedness and took some pictures from below. This one's from my Tuesday/Wednesday morning Project FeederWatch counting. It's pretty cold in the mornings, so this was taken from the warmth of the enclosed porch.

Here is a press release Steve shared with me about the need for people in Massachusetts to build and post wood duck boxes. Image Source: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/ FROM THE DIVISION OF FISHERIES & WILDLIFE You Can Help: Urgent Housing Need for Wood Ducks in Massachusetts There is an immediate housing need in Massachusetts that conservationists can all support! Wood ducks are one of the few kinds of waterfowl that nest in cavities or holes in trees. There are not enough natural cavities available in the state for nesting, but constructed boxes have filled the gap. While wood ducks are still wintering in warm, southern climes, Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) biologists and technicians are braving chilly winter temperatures on icy ponds, marshes, and other wetlands evaluating the condition of wood duck boxes and replacing boxes that are missing or in disrepair. However, materials for wood duck boxes are currently in short supply at the agency and the window of opportun...

I was very lucky this Christmas--I got 2 bird-related presents: 1. A cedar birdhouse from Steve's parents 2. A Droll Yankee Thistle Feeder from my friend Abbie The birdhouse we'll put up soon, but the thistle feeder is up and it's a hit! I shouldn't put off hanging the birdhouse though because after doing some reading-- this article from My Backyard recommends putting them up in the fall or winter to let them get conditioned and give the birds ample time to check it out. The article also recommends mounting it on a pole rather than a tree to help reduce the risk of predators getting into it. We happen to already have a pole with an old birdhouse on it that we found out next to the barn. That birdhouse is falling apart so I don't feel too bad about taking it off and putting the new on on. But back to the Thistle Feeder- the birds love it! Here's the list of birds that have visited so far: Dark-eyed Junco American Goldfinch (males and females) Pine Siskin Common...