You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2007.
Most bird watchers keep a Life List of the birds they observe and identify. A Life List is a diary or journal that lists the bird species you observe and the first date that you observe them. You can also tell the location and any comments about the siting. The picture above is a page from a bird watchers journal.
Thursday and Friday (February 15 and 16) were count days for Project FeederWatch. I filled the feeders with birdseed, suet, and peanuts in the shell. The Western Scrub Jays and Stellar’s Jays swooped down to grab the peanuts. Today, however, as the jays were swarmming to scoop up a peanut, a hawk swooped through and scared most of the birds away. My bird count was lower than usual. The weather was unusually warm for this time of year.
Weather and Effort: February 15, 2007
When did you watch your feeders?
Day 1: morning afternoon
Day 2: morning afternoon
Estimated cumulative time: 1 to 4 hours
Daylight temperature: 1 to 10° C (33 to 50° F) low
Over 20° C (over 68° F) high
Daylight precipitation: None – -
Total depth of ice/snow cover: None
Checklist for FeederWatch California Region Birds
Wild Turkey 2
Mourning Dove 10
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Steller’s Jay 3
Western Scrub-Jay 8
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2
Oak Titmouse 1
Spotted Towhee 1
California Towhee 1
Fox Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Golden-crowned Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 10
House Finch 8 (0 with eye disease)
Up until a few years ago I never paid much attention to what kind of bird made what kind of chirp. Of course, I could recognize robins, sparrows, and owls like most people but I didn’t have much interest in birds.
Then I started noticing many different looking birds in my backyard. I hung up a bird feeder and started feeding my backyard birds. I heard about Project FeederWatch through Cornell Lab of Ornithology and started counting birds for one of their citizen science projects. November through April each year they ask people all over the United States and Canada to identify and count their backyard birds and then submit their counts to the project.
Thus, I began my foray into ornithology. I bought a bird identification guide and a pair of binoculars to help me identify the birds I was unfamiliar with and I started counting. I’ve found that the Peterson guides with color photos have helped me the most. Sibly also publishes excellent bird guides. Project FeederWatch furnishes a detailed color poster of birds common to parts of the country.
The header for this blog is a picture from my backyard here in northern California. I now provide food for my backyard birds using several types of feeders, tube, platform, hopper, suet, and hummingbird. From observation I’ve learned the kinds of seeds that are favored by various species of birds. The wider the variety of seeds and foods you provide the wider the variety of birds that will flock to your yard. You can also encourage some species and discourage other species by the types of bird seed you provide.
My feeders have also drawn other animals to my backyard like squirrels and racoons.
This blog will talk about what I’ve learned about birdwatching and the kinds of birds that feed at my backyard feeders.
