The Whimbrel Project

 The Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge serves as one of the country's most valuable stop-overs for migratory birds. Located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, this 1,127-acre refuge was established in 1984 for migratory birds and endangered species management. I'm fortunate to live not that far from this prime birding refuge. Sites like these are very important to birds like whimbrels who stop over in the spring to rest and refuel before heading north to their summer grounds.

Whimbrel's (click link to see a photo of the bird) are one of the most wide-ranging shorebirds in the world. One particular whimpel named 'Hope' is helping scientist understand why this particular shore bird is on the decline. I first heard about Hope from an article in my local newspaper and was amazed at how far whimbrels travel in one year - over 14,000 miles...WOW!

Hope was captured last spring on VA Eastern Shore and fitted with a transmitter. This study is designed to identify stop-over sites that are important to whimbrels and make a case for preserving these sites. This is a very important project because whimbrels have been declining in recent years - mostly due to land development.

Hope recently returned to Virginia's Eastern shore where she'll spend a few weeks resting up and eating fiddler crabs. Her next stop will be to her nesting site in western Canada, near Alaska.

What's amazing is the fact that Hope came back to the exact same mudflat where she was caught last year. It's a wonder how they do this. Here's a map that shows Hope's path over the last year:

 

Map Source: Center for Conservation Biology, ESRI, USGS

Reference: http://snipurl.com/vp65j

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Technorati Tags: Whimbrel,Shore Bird,Local,Eastern Shore,Conservation

Easter Eggs

 Look at what's arrived just in time for Easter. The warm spring weather has the birds extra active in my area and the nesting season is well underway. Above is a Eastern Bluebird nest in one of my pvc nest boxes. Eastern  Bluebirds normally lay between 3 - 6 eggs.

Another early season nester is the Carolina Chickadee. Those who have followed this blog may remember the chickadee nest tube I built last spring. I'm please to report that the pair of chickadees I posted about a couple months back have decided to make it their home. Carolina Chickadees normally lay between 3 - 8 eggs. That's their eggs below.

These may not be traditional Easter eggs, but their still fun to find. Have a great Easter everyone!!

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said... (Matthew 28:6)

 

Technorati Tags: Easter,Eggs,Eastern Bluebird,Carolina Chickadee,Nest

Bob’s Big Year

    I first heard about Bob Ake in the local newspaper earlier this year. I was drawn to his story not just because he enjoys birds, but also because Bob is a local guy from the Hampton Roads area of VA (my hometown). The former ODU professor retired early to follow his passion – BIRDS!

Bob volunteers and counts shorebirds for the for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and can be found almost anywhere along the Chesapeake Bay looking for birds. He received his first field guide in the mid 60s and has been chasing birds ever since. In fact, he was one of the few birders chosen in 2006 by Cornell University to help comb the woods of Arkansas and Florida for the ivory-billed woodpecker. He has helped band birds, works with the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory on hawk watches, and does Christmas bird surveys for the Audubon Society. But Nov. 30 was his last survey for a while. He will devote all of 2010 to counting birds for himself, something he has been planning for a long time.

He is on a mission this year is to see 650 different U.S. birds, more than he’s ever seen in a single year. When birders set out to see as many birds as possible within 12 months, it’s called a Big Year.

Bob sat down with the American Birding Association lists of 957 bird species endemic to North America and began figuring out his itinerary. He will travel all across the United States this year with a goal of spotting two-thirds of the birds from that list.

Bob didn't waste any time – he started his quest on January one and was up to 116 species in just the first few days. The total to this point stands at 386. He’s well on his way!

If interested, check out Bob Ake’s blog to track his progress: http://bobsbirds.blogspot.com/. He post regular updates with photos of his Big Year adventure. I hope you find his story and blog as interesting as I have. To read this complete article follow this link: http://snipurl.com/umgxe

STEVE EARLEY PHOTOS | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

Reference Info: Virginian Pilot; Jan 10, 2010; Magazine; page E1; “Day 1: 82 down. 568 to go”; by Diane Tennant

 

Technorati Tags: Bob Ake,Local,Big Year,ABA

Spring Cleaning the Chickadee Way

As most can attest, it’s very satisfying when you get something accomplished, and even more satisfying when it works the way it’s intended to. However, when it deals with nature there's no guarantee things will go as planned, but when it does, it makes it all the more worth while.

That’s what happened recently with the chickadee nest tube project I built last spring. If you are a follower you may remember the post titled “DIY Chickadee Nest Tube”. Unfortunately there were no takers last year – probably because I got it up a little to late in the spring. Or, maybe the declining housing market had something to do with it (just kidding about that last part).

It’s still early, but there’s reason to believe that this spring (if it ever gets here) is going to be different. The short warm spell that teased us last weekend got everyone in the spring cleaning mode. Including these little Carolina Chickadees.

To my surprise, a pair of Carolina Chickadees spent all weekend cleaning out the PVC nest tube. Each were taking turns removing the wood shavings from the nest cavity. Studies indicate that chickadees prefer to nest in cavities they excavate themselves; so I filled the cavity with loose wood shavings prior to putting up.

The shavings kept them occupied most of the weekend, flying in and out with beak full of wood, landing in a nearby tree and dropping them to the ground.

Chickadees are a fun to watch. They're one of the most bravest and curious of the backyard birds. They often seem tame at times.

They've slowed up a bit on their nesting activities now that the weather has cooled off again, but hopefully they'll resume their spring cleaning activities soon.

If interested in building your own chickadee nest tube follow the link below to learn how:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/Birdscope/Winter2009/chickadee_tube.html

Be sure to visit Birdfreak's BPW #79 to see more bird photos!

Technorati Tags: Carolina Chickadee,DIY Chickadee Nest Tube,Spring,PVC

Snowed In

  Snow is not all that common here in my part of VA; however, every few years a storm comes through that seems to make up for its absence. Such a storm passed through this past weekend that dumped several inches of the white stuff. I'm not complaining, I enjoy the snow and my daughter, like most other children, couldn't hardly wait to get out in it. She woke up and immediately headed to the window to look out - she wasn't disappointed. It was like Christmas morning to her! We enjoyed our time out playing in it.

With ample warning a few days prior, I was ready. The house was stocked with plenty of food, I managed to unburied my snow shovel from the shed and placed it by the front door, and most importantly, filled the bird feeders.

This little bird below wasn't that interested in the feeders as much as he was in the potted plant on my front porch. This little song sparrow spent quite a bit of time scratching in the potting soil eating what looked like little cone seeds that had falling off the miniature cedar shrub planted in the pot.

I took these photos through the front storm door while he hopped and scratched through the soil, paying very little attention to me.

Song sparrows like open habitat, including marsh edges, overgrown fields, backyards, and along forest edges. I'll occasionally see them at my feeders more often in winter than any other time. According to the range maps, I live at the dividing line where their winter range starts and their year-round range ends. I mostly see them in winter but have spotted them in my area in summer too. They live up to their name in being one of the most persistent singers throughout the spring and summer months.

If you have snow out where you live be sure to get out and feed the birds. These can be tough times for wildlife and a little bird seed would be a nice welcome to a hungry song bird...and have fun in the snow while your at it!

Be sure to visit Birdfreak's Bird Photography Weekly #75 for more great bird photos.

 

Technorati Tags: Song Sparrow,Bird Photography Weekly,Snow

Red from the Rooftop

 One of the last birds spotted before the New Year came in was this red-shouldered hawk.

I was in my front yard working in the flower beds when this big guy showed up on my rooftop. I slowly slipped inside the house to grab my camera, expecting him to be gone when I returned, but lucky for me he was still there. He/she seemed to be more occupied on something else than what I was doing so I quickly snapped off a couple photos before the big guy flew away.

Red-shoulders will often visit backyard bird feeders to prey on small birds feeding there, especially in winter. They will drop on prey from a perch location. This one seemed to be doing just that. He was eyeing my backyard bird feeders hoping to snatch an easy meal for sure. Fortunately for the birds feeding below it flew off without a meal this time.

On a separate note, I want to apologize, especially to my regular readers for going AWOL and not not posting for a couple months. Now that we are through the holiday season and it's too cold to spend lots of time outdoors I will be posting more regularly again. I haven't visited many of your blogs either, so I have lots of good reading to catch up on!

In the meantime, be sure to visit Birdfreak's Bird Photography Weekly #72 for more bird photos.

 

Technorati Tags: Bird Photography Weekly,Red-Shouldered Hawk,AWOL

It's Officially Winter Now - The Snowbirds Have Arrived

We all see and enjoy the beautiful fall colors and feel the relief of cooler air that fall brings. It's a short lived introduction to the season we all know arrives next. But to me, nothing introduces the winter season more than the arrival of the Dark-eyed Junco. In my house these birds were, and still are, referred to as "snowbirds". I guess they got this nickname for their knack of showing up just before the first snowfall - or in my area, the first cold spell.

I'm always excited to see my first Juncos of the season and this weekend was it! I spotted them foraging under my bird feeders.

Juncos are ground feeders that tend to stay together in small flocks. They vary in color across the country, but in general they’re dark gray or brownish birds. When they take flight, they can be easily identified by the two white stripes on their outer tail feathers.

In my own yard, I've noticed that these birds like to hang close to ground cover - like shrubs or small trees. These birds would benefit well by providing them with a homemade brush pile for winter protection. I'll post more about that later...

Have a great week everyone and be sure to check out more bird photography over at Birdfreak.com!