[TopOfUtah] Feeder trends and Cackler photo

[Connie]

Interesting observations, Ryan. Here are mine:

PINE SISKINS-  currently, I have approx 10, but that is an increase  
from only 2 or 3  since Christmas.

WAXWINGS- Bohem. or Cedars:  I have not see either spp since last  
summer when I saw a single Cedar in some willows by the Bear River  
along. 6th South in Young Ward.

BC CHICKADEES-  2 came to my yard last fall, but O haven't seen nor  
heard them all winter. I have never seen MT CHICKADEES in my yard.

CASSIN'S FINCHES-  3 to 5 males. I'm not familiar with female Cassins  
to ID them.

AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES-  >30 which is am increase from last year. I'm at  
work at this time & don't have my journal to reference, but I think  
there were approx. 15-20 last year.

I'm feeding the birds suet feeders with black oil sunflower seeds &  
wild bird seed (seeds purchased at PetSmart). I also broadcast seeds  
on am old table and fill bird feeders. Last summer I put out some  
jelly feeders for the Orioles. They never ate it all, but the Kelly  
became an insect trap. The Northern Flickers & Downy Woodpeckers feed  
from these jelly feeders - after the insects, I presume. The House &  
Cassins Finches also enjoy the jelly feeders.

Ryan - you're having too much fun with that new lens!  Thanks for the  
photos!

ConnieM
The cake is a lie!


On Jan 12, 2009, at 9:18 PM, "Ryan O'Donnell" <ryan at biology.usu.edu>  
wrote:

> 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
>
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