Backyard bird feeders routinely attract hawks. In most instances they're Accipiters, either sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawks, bent on catching birds drawn to the homeowner's offerings of seeds and suet.

Some people would gladly forgo these visits, but others actively court appearances by hawks. I'm not talking about bird-eaters. The simple act of attracting songbirds will catch the Accipiters' attention.

I'm talking about putting out hawk-friendly food. The main target in our area for this kind of largesse is the red-shouldered hawk, a large and very attractive Buteo that will eat suet, carrion and meat scraps.

The accompanying photo, taken by a friend in Old Lyme, shows an adult red-shouldered hawk attracted to a deer carcass he placed on a stone wall near his property.

Coincidentally a reader of my nature blog on the Republican-American Web site posted a detailed and interesting comment about a red-shouldered hawk that's been coming to her yard in Torrington for several years.

The hawk ignores the numerous gray squirrels in favor of an easy meal of meat scraps.

While red-shoulders are especially interested in this kind of offering, other species may also show up. Carol and Gary Lemmon of Branford posted an item on the CTBirds e-mail listserve this week noting that suet placed on tree stumps and a rose arbor at their property has pulled in three black vultures, five turkey vultures, two red-tailed hawks and two common ravens in the wake of Wednesday's snowstorm.

That's quite a diverse collection of meat-eaters. I doubt any owls would show a similar interest, but that doesn't mean they don't patronize feeding stations. All that seed that entices birds by day offers a bounty for small rodents at night.

Owls love small rodents.

http://www.ilbirds.com/index.php?topic=32809.msg41222#msg41222   

I know I saw a hedgehog baby and I want one!

Ok...what's it gonna be Janet- Snowy or Baby Hedgehog? 

  Pan Cam has two banners...1 blue and 1 black

http://www.wildearth.tv/web/nav-per-gulf?streamId=nav-per-gulf  Gulf Tower also, new stream

http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/short-tailed-hawk-youth-birding-ding.html

They are in Fla and took some pics of a Short-tailed-hawk...very pretty raptor!

  here, in Rochester too, I see

   http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&handle=quickeye&number=923

Numerous sightings of sea eagles have been made so far this year in southern parts of Helsinki. Three weeks ago, a sea eagle was seen soaring over the capital's busy market square.

The wild population of these formerly rare birds has expanded to the point that these large birds of prey are becoming a more common sight along Finnish shores.

According to ornithologist Lasse J. Laine, more sea eagles are nesting in Finland than ever before, over 300 pairs.

"Sea eagles migrating to Finland are not only in the waters of the Ã…land islands. They are also to be found along the Gulf of Finland where fisherman set aside some of their catches for the birds," Laine explains.

"If someone would have mentioned sea eagles in Helsinki 20-30 years ago, I would not have believed them. The return of the sea eagle is a fantastic thing," says Laine.

KETCHIKAN, Alaska - An Anna's hummingbird has been wintering at a Potter Road area home, zipping between a nearby tree and a specially warmed feeder.

Alaska Fish and Game biologist and avid birder Steve Heinl said Thursday that the birds are rare in southeast Alaska, but they do show up in the region in very small numbers. In an unusual move, Anna's hummingbirds move north, instead of south, when fall comes.

By contrast, the rufous hummingbirds normally seen in Southeast depart for warmer climes in August, he said.

Anna's hummingbirds are most common along the West Coast, but they began expanding northward in the 1960s and are now common in British Columbia, said Heinl. The first sighting around Ketchikan occurred in December 1974, he said.

Birders have counted about one Anna's hummingbird in the Ketchikan area in each of the past five years, said Heinl. Last year, he said, a dozen were counted in all of Southeast, with five of them spotted in Juneau. One was even seen in the Aleutian Islands, he said.

"If you see a hummingbird in winter, it's almost certainly going to be an Anna's," he said.

The male Anna's, with their iridescent red head and neck feathers, are easier to spot than the greenish and grayish females, said Heinl.

Lawrence "Snapper" Carson, playing host to the bird near Potter Road, has made his guest comfortable by attaching a hummingbird feeder below a red lamp to protect the sugar-water from freezing. It's not a heat-lamp, said Carson, but a red light bulb in a heat-lamp fixture.

He saw the bird for the first time, and recognized it as an Anna's hummingbird, on Oct. 1, he said. There was a frost in late October but Carson noticed that the bird was still around. He put the feeder up and the bird came to it right away. In November, the weather turned much colder and Carson then attached the feeder below the light bulb.

"It got down to 15 or 13 degrees one night, and he didn't mind a bit," Carson said.

Carson's house overlooks a portion of Knudson Cove, northwest of the marina. He also has another avian guest this winter, a pied-billed grebe. Heinl said that bird also is a rare visitor to Southeast in fall and winter months. One or two are spotted in the fall at Ward Lake, but only one was reported in the past two years, he said.

Hummingbirds are the smallest birds encountered in the Coachella Valley.

In addition to their size, they are characterized by long, slender bills used for reaching deep into tubular flowers, incredibly rapid wing beats that produce a humming sound, and the ability to fly backward — a feat no other bird group can duplicate.

During the day, hummingbirds maintain a high metabolic rate requiring that they feed frequently. At night, however, they enter a state of torpor as their body temperature drops to that of their surroundings.

Though a number of hummingbird species are known to migrate through the North American deserts, only three — black-chinned, Anna's and Costa's — are known to breed here. Costa's hummingbird is the only species that reaches its greatest abundance in desert environments.

The male Costa's is often first noticed when performing spectacular nuptial flights beginning in February. The aerial maneuvers consist of 100-foot, U-shaped configurations accompanied by high-pitched sustained whistles. These displays are in view of a female perched nearby. Such impressive courtship behavior stands in marked contrast to the abandonment of the female after mating.

Unlike many male birds that participate in nest construction, incubation duties and feeding of young, a Costa male plays no role after fertilization. A male may mate with several females and vice versa, a breeding system appropriately termed promiscuous.

Contrary to popular belief, young hummingbirds are not reared exclusively on a diet of nectar. Insects and spiders are the most important dietary mainstay and are essential for growing young. Hummingbirds thus visit flowers not only for nectar but also for the tiny arthropods that have entered the blossom. Hummingbirds also capture insects in midair.

The most important behavioral adaptation of Costa's hummingbirds is their exodus from the desert in late May and early June. There are almost no records of this species from June through September in Joshua Tree National Park and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Observations elsewhere in the desert are uncommon.

It appears many Costa's hummingbirds migrate to the chaparral of the coast ranges of California at this time as their arrival there coincides with their disappearance in the desert. Additional evidence for this hypothesis can be found in several museum collections that contain individuals with characteristics of Arizona populations but which have been collected in California during summer.

It is not surprising most individuals vacate the desert during the hot months. The small size of hummingbirds makes them especially vulnerable to overheating. They must evaporate comparatively large amounts of water, through a kind of panting, to keep cool.

It has been estimated that a 150-pound man would have to drink more than five gallons of water a day to maintain water balance if he lost water at the rate of a Costa's hummingbird.

Jim Cornett is a desert ecologist living in Palm Springs.

With more crows roosting in Bethlehem's trees during the night hours, Lehigh staff members continue to use harassment techniques to scare them away on campus.

The staff is using pyrotechnic equipment called "bird bangers" or "screamers and bangers," which are essentially fire crackers sent 100 feet into the air to frighten the crows out of the trees. At last count, there were up to 15,000 crows in the area.

"It doesn't hurt them," said Brian Szabo, who is licensed to use the equipment. "It just bangs and scares them. We've used this for four or five years. It has been a problem longer than that, but we didn't know what to do then."

While Bethlehem has been home to these migratory birds for close to 30 years, there are different theories as to why they seem to be more visible on campus recently.

"Normally, they stay off campus, but officials are doing the same thing now on the North Side and scaring them back over here," said Richard Benner, assistant director of ground maintenance.

Ralph Carp, Bethlehem's director of parks and public property, believes the cause is simply an increase in numbers.

"The roost is on an increase," Carp said. "We're not trying to scare them from Sand Island to South Mountain. They are on both sides; they're everywhere."

Whatever the reason, the crows create multiple problems for the campus and city in general. They pose a safety threat to airplanes at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, cause health hazards, including respiratory distress from their fecal droppings, and damage property.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has partnered with the airport to try to combat the crow situation, Carp said.

The problems the birds create on campus are less extreme but still require attention.

"Once one roosts on a branch, 20 do, and they snap the branches," Szabo said. "They also go to the bathroom everywhere. It's very unsightly."

These birds find strength in numbers, and a large roost can defend itself against predators and often times against the bird bangers.

"If you have ever been on the [Hill-to-Hill] bridge from about 4-5 p.m., sometimes the sky is completely black from them," Benner said. "It's like a Hitchcock movie."   

The harassment of the crows needs to take place for many days in a row to have an effect, and it is not guaranteed even then.

The crows migrate south during the winter, mostly from northern Pennsylvania and southern New York. They settle in Bethlehem because the city lights help them find food, and there is a surplus of greenery to call home.

"They are getting all they need here," Szabo said.

[NJ: Hey, Jersey bums! ... IP needsmore GBBC photos for its rag! ...get on it today! ... (Independent Press)]

NJ: Hey, Jersey bums! ... IP needs
more GBBC photos for its rag! ...
get on it today! ... (Independent Press) 

Even thought it's over, I thought this was funny.


Birders, where are you? The 2010 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) began Feb. 12, and finishes on Monday, Feb. 15. The GBBC even includes a photo contest and the Independent Press has asked birders who took photos while counting to send us one. Hey, even if you weren't counting (and how would the paper know if you were or weren't?), send in a bird photo taken over the weekend to ipeditors@njnpublishing.com

The GBBC is an annual, national, four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. There's still time to take part, whatever your skill level.

It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event.

It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.

Living this close to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the Watchung Reservation, finding birds is hardly ever a problem – they’re all over the place. So, take a few minutes out of your day today, and count some birds.

Boy, they make big holes. I wouldn't want one interested in my house!

Your not kiddin...beautiful birds though.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltgangi/sets/72157623432899666/

No article, just pics. I never heard of a Woodcock....only the movie! 

[Captions: There are stretches of roadside bordering Tobyhanna, Buck Hill Falls, South Sterling and Gouldsboro where one dead or dying beech tree after another has been excavated by pileated woodpeckers.Pileated woodpeckers pile up wood chips underneath the holes they make, searching for insects inside trees. Pileated woodpeckers are 19 inches long and have 3-inch beaks.]

February 14, 2010

We were slowly driving along the Lackawaxen River, scanning the sycamore and pines for bald eagles when suddenly another bird materialized just a few feet from my face.

It was a pileated woodpecker, in a pose I'd never been lucky enough to witness before: flying right along with the car, 4 feet off the ground, at an arm's length from my driver's window.

I could clearly see its flaming-red crest; its 3-inch, chisel-like beak; its black body; white-striped face and neck; white wing patches; and red "mustache" that marked it as a male. Then it veered off the road and landed on a fallen log, giving me yet another unusual glimpse of this startlingly large woodpecker that generally hitches its way up the far sides of tree trunks, hidden from the eyes of humans.

This experience was one of many encounters I've been having with the great pileated woodpecker this winter — literally, on an almost daily basis.

I watched one fly repeatedly back and forth from an oak into a tall hemlock in late January and wondered what the bird was doing as it dangled upside down, 80 feet above the ground. The mystery was solved when I stood beneath the tree and was hit by wild grapes from a big vine that climbed to the top of the hemlock.

I've recently seen pileateds carving big holes in trees in Tobyhanna State Park, Skytop, Bushkill and even on my own property, and observed their piles of fresh wood chips on top of the snow beneath cavity-ridden trees throughout the Poconos. On several nature walks that I've conducted this winter, I teased apart their cylindrical droppings among the wood chips to show people their amazing contents — dozens of solid, undigested heads of carpenter ants.

The highlight, however, came at Skytop at the end of a mid-January nature walk. I heard the distinctive, wild "laugh" of a pileated woodpecker as we emerged into a clearing at the edge of a densely wooded wetland, and whispered to the crowd of 30 people that we might be lucky enough to see one of our region's most sought-after, impressive birds. As we crept toward the source of the sound, one person excitedly announced, "There it is!"

Once again, the woodpecker was doing something rather uncharacteristic. Instead of hammering into a tree, it was perched clumsily in the crown of a small 7-foot crab apple tree, gobbling down fruits as it wobbled from branch to branch with its wings flailing for balance. It was one of those rare occasions that naturalists dream about — giving dozens of people the opportunity (a first for most of them) to watch one of these normally elusive, shy birds at eye-level, only 20 feet away.

Why does this 19-inch woodpecker (the largest in North America unless the ivory-billed is proven to still survive in Florida or Arkansas) seem to be getting so common in recent years? After all, there was a time in the mid-20th century when ornithologists feared it would ultimately join its slightly larger southern cousin in extinction. But it surprised many people by gradually adapting to the maturing forests that were reclaiming the northern states, and even taking residence in the smaller suburban woodlands of residential areas.

While the ivory-billed woodpecker required the vanishing virgin bottomland forests of the Southeast to satisfy its specialized diet of big, wood-boring beetle grubs, the pileated's more flexible, varied fare of carpenter ants, grubs, beetles and fruits of poison ivy, sumac, wild grape and other woody plants enabled it to survive and increase its numbers as the forests returned to the eastern United States following the peak of the clear-cutting era in the late 1800s and early 1900s. At the same time, increased contact with people and legal protection caused the pileated to gradually lose its shyness.

However, there may be another, less welcome reason for the pileated woodpecker's more recent success and population increase in our area: dying, insect-infested trees.

There are stretches of roadside bordering Tobyhanna, Buck Hill Falls, South Sterling and Gouldsboro where one dead or dying beech tree after another has been excavated by pileated woodpeckers. The same goes for hemlocks throughout the lower elevations of the Poconos, as well as many large oaks and sugar maples in certain locations.

These trees, the victims of insect outbreaks such as beech bark disease, hemlock woolly adelgid, gypsy moth and forest tent caterpillar, respectively, have been transformed into easy sources of food for pileated woodpeckers that hammer into rotting, insect-infested wood.

I saw my first pileated woodpecker more than 35 years ago when I was a student at Cornell University. Our field natural history professor, Richard Fisher, told us there was a pair of these legendary, elusive birds nesting in a forest a few miles from campus. We drove there one Saturday and managed to just catch a glimpse of one flying through the dark forest, but it was enough to make an unforgettable first impression on this budding naturalist.

Little did I know that someday I'd be privileged to see this bird in my own yard, and — better yet — to show it to dozens of appreciative people.

May we never take for granted this magnificent woodpecker that somehow escaped the fate of its near-mythical southern relative, no matter how often we're fortunate enough to see one.

Captions: There are stretches of roadside bordering Tobyhanna, Buck Hill Falls, South Sterling and Gouldsboro where one dead or dying beech tree after another has been excavated by pileated woodpeckers.

Pileated woodpeckers pile up wood chips underneath the holes they make, searching for insects inside trees.

Pileated woodpeckers are 19 inches long and have 3-inch beaks.