[Birdtalk] Feeder trends and Cackler photo

[Ryan O'Donnell]

Hi birders. I just wanted to share some patterns in feeder birds I've
noticed this year from my own feeders and in conversations with others,
and to see if these observations match what you're seeing at your
feeders.  The main thing I've noticed is that Pine Siskins seem to be
way up this year.  Last year I had a maximum of 6 Pine Siskins in my
yard at one time in December and three in January.  This year I had up
to 50 at one time in December and up to 25 at a time so far in January.

 
Waxwings appear to be way down locally.  Last year I was regularly
having flocks of several hundred Bohemian Waxwings, usually containing a
couple dozen Cedar Waxwings.  This year I have seen one large flock of
Cedar Waxwings on campus but no waxwings at all at home and no Bohemians
anywhere.  This fits with the irruptive nature of the Bohemians, but I
don't know what it means for the Cedars.
 
Our CBC showed that Black-capped Chickadees are down this year, and this
seems to match my observations.  I still see them regularly, but rarely
more than one or two birds at a time.  My high count so far in January
for my yard is three birds, and three times I've had counts of only one.
December of this winter roughly paralleled this but with a high count at
one point of five birds.  In comparison, my high count of December 2007
was 10 birds and my average was about four.  In January of last winter
the high count was four birds, but I still saw them more frequently than
this year.
 
Mountain birds (other than Pine Siskins) seem to be either lower in
numbers or are still happy up in the mountains.  Last year I had
Mountain Chickadees, Cassin's Finches, and Red-breasted Nuthatches in my
yard once in a while all winter.  So far this winter none of these three
have shown up in the yard.
 
Do these match or conflict with what you're seeing?  
 
By the way, just for fun, here's a photo of the Taverner's Cackling
Goose I saw at the Logan River Golf Course yesterday.  It's the second
bird from the left.  You can see in the photo that it is darker than the
Canadas it is with, but this was even more obvious in the field.
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n105/Tsirtalis/CACG1.jpg
 
Good birding,
Ryan
 
Ryan P. O'Donnell
Department of Biology and the Ecology Center
Utah State University
5305 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-5305
 
http://200birds.blogspot.com