the modest birder (20) winter 13-14

This is a miserable winter. The long term forecast has frost and snow showers through March 10.


Until the week of Thanksgiving everything was pretty normal, then on Monday11/25 the temp. was 14-29. This was followed by more normal temps but 0n 12/8 it was in the 20s with snow and from then on it remained winter. All the likely winter residents were present, including three white crowned sparrows (1 juv.) which turned out to be the only rare visitors.  In Dec. my jobber removed snow three times (once for 6"). In January he came four times as he did this month (8" once) so far. There were few days of 40 degrees and most days the thermometer remained stuck in the 20s with some lows of -3!!. One morning, after icy rain overnight, even the branches seemed to be weeping as some of them broke under the weight of their tears.
We went birding in Delaware or New Jersey only three times when the weather was bearable for a few days. It was surprising how many fields were bare while we had still 6" of hard snow everywhere. But even there winter affected the birds as see ducks flocked together in large rafts along the coast and others appeared in the warmer waters of the bays.




Since the December snows the resident sapsuckers, flickers and Carolina wrens have been absent. There are only two, perhaps three red-belly woodpeckers; only one regular hairy (some days there are two), the regular compliment of small and large downies, but only one white-breasted nuthatch and brown creeper. Last year there were two regular hairies, three or four nuthatches and three creepers. The numbers of other species are also down. In stead of up to thirty mourning doves there are 4 to 6 and some days none at all (one ended up, frozen stiff, in the garage) and there are at most 10 juncos rather than the occasional 50 or so that would forage among the weeds down the slope. On the other hand there have been more goldfinches, up to eight which last year was the number in March. Most surprising is the number of white-throated sparrows that varies between 12 and 16 (only 5 of them adults). There are only  two pairs of house finches which normally outnumber the gold finches in January and February and this year we have at least two pairs of Carolina chickadees in stead of three odd birds.


A surprise was the fact that when a sapsucker appeared, it was only for a day to forage in the trees near the creek without coming to the suet which, every other year, was a steady source of food on warm days as well as cold. One Carolina wren hang around for 3 days in February and no flicker put in an appearance at all.


On the other hand we have had a flock of perhaps 20 cowbirds (2 females) on several separate days, a flock of 40+ grackles( 6 females) 3 times at week intervals and one rusty black bird two different times. Each of these flocks stayed until the feeders were empty and the larger stuff in the snow was gone. Where they went each time remains a puzzle as I haven't met with them on my travels around.


A bit bizarre was the frequent appearance of one or two robins that sat in the trees. All our berries have long since been eaten, even those of the holly although they do not seem very attractive to robins, for near the post office there is one glorious tree laden with bright red berries every winter while there is also a small flock of robins hanging around.


The raptors were probably the least affected by the weather, though an adult male and a juvenile sharpshin occasional raid the feeders whereas the last few winters no shapshins were around after December. Each winter we have a female cooper's, but this time there's also an adult male. Each of the shapshins and the cooper's a come around on different days and each would make several appearances during the day. They were, as usual, not very successful: the male sharpshin caught a small bird twice, each time flying away with its back toward me; the female cooper's caught s starling one time and soon thereafter fewer starlings haunted the feeders, i.e. 3 or four instead of up to 11.
There were no redtails until 2 weeks ago when the resident pair from the adjacent farm returned to their wind damaged nest. The first days they patrolled along the tree tops and began circling higher and higher, but now they have become scarce as they must roam farther afield for prey. Last week I shot three squirrels off the feeders in on hour. One was lame in a hind leg, it came back the next day, but appears gone. One died below the suet tree. Within the hour one of the redtails tore much of it apart before flying to a nearby tree. Not long after the other came and finished the job. The 3d squirrel died below the spruce and lay there for 2 nights, the local raccoon has likely made off with it, though the surface of the snow is so hard that no clear tracks were visible. No other squirrels have crossed the creek so far.




Yesterday I ordered the seeds for spring planting, always a gesture of hope, but I have difficulty being optimistic.


Perhaps because the storm predicted for March 2-3 passed to the south of us, a male cardinal was "feeding" a female on the feeder pole. At the beginning of this winter we had a low of 2 males and one female, but suddenly in Febr, there were one morning 5 males and 4 females all at once on the feeders and on nearby branches. Now there are mostly 4 males and three females.