Keeping A Bird List

by | May 25, 2016 | Birds, Nature

A joy of inviting beautiful wildlife to a yard is the periodic chance to see something new. That happened recently at Winding Pathways. We were astonished to spot a Black Poll warbler in our oaks. It was the first of this species we’d ever seen anywhere. Another amazing sight happened on a clear March morning when sounds from above brought us outside. We were thrilled to watch a huge flight of snow geese winging north way over our house.

 

We’re not overly serious birders, but keep a running tally of species spotted each year. Lists are fun, especially for people with a competitive bent. We identify birds by either sight or sound, and use these clues in our count of yard visitors. We also include some species that fly over but don’t land. Winding Pathways is two acres. And, we’re fortunate. Just past our property line is 110 acre Faulke’s Heritage Woods.  Its large oaks and elms attract forest birds that might not normally visit our yard.

Here’s our running tally this year as of mid-May:

Wild Turkey

Seven woodpecker species (Hairy, downy, red bellied, red headed, sapsucker, pileated, and flicker)

House Finch

English Sparrow

Junco

European Starling

Native sparrows (white crowned, white throated, song, fox, chipping)

Indigo bunting

Warblers (black polled, yellow rump, yellow, palm, and redstart)

Oriole, orchard and northern (Baltimore)

Cardinal

Tufted Titmouse

Black Capped Chickadee

Hummingbird

Wren (house and Carolina)

Goose (snow and Canada flying over)

Ducks (mallard and wood)

Owl (barred and great horned)

Hawk (Coopers, sharp shinned, red tailed)

Turkey vulture

Chimney Swift

Nighthawk

Brown Creeper

Cuckoo

Goldfinch

Robin

Crow

Killdeer

Whip-poor-will

Mourning Dove

Bald eagles

As we continue to add a diversity of shrubs, trees, grasses, and wildflowers we’re creating habitats that should lure new species to our yard. We’ll keep adding species as the year goes on.

We use several references to help identify birds. Here are our favorites:

Printed books.  Real bird books:

The Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America.  This 2008 book is fairly large and heavy, we keep it in the house to aid in identification.

The Golden Guide to Field Identification.  Birds of North America.  This classic bird book has been around for years. It’s small and easy to carry and is the book that stays in the car and gets carried when we’re walking a trail seeking birds.

The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. This details the life history of birds. It’s a heavy large reference book that provides information on a bird once we’ve used other sources to make an identification.  A companion Sibley book helps with identification.

Electronic Identification Aids

Outstanding information sources come from the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology, both on their website and on their smart phone app called Merlin.  We use Merlin regularly when in the field.   Although it lacks some species our iPhone is easy to carry and the organization of the app makes it easy to identify a new species. The app includes several still photos of each bird, range maps, and the call and song of the bird. It’s Free!

When at home we often access the Lab’s Website. It includes more extensive information on more species than the iPhone app and has video clips. It is outstanding, and access is also free. We like it so much we joined the Lab and appreciate receiving its gorgeous and informative magazine called LIVING BIRD. The Lab’s general web address.

 

Lightning Strike!

by | May 16, 2016 | Geology/Weather, Nature, Trees/Shrubs

Rich and Tree

This stately Oak took a full bodies hit that vaporized the sap and blew off the bark in four places.

An enormous explosion brought us bolt upright in bed. 10:44 p.m. just after we’d fallen asleep on April 27th. . The blast was so powerful it knocked pictures off the wall shattering the frames and glass. A quick check revealed no other home damage and a few low rumbles assured us that the noise had been thunder created by a very close lighting strike and not a bomb.

A few days later we discovered a massive white oak about 300 feet from our home with its bark blown off in four different places and loose in others. The lightning’s heat and force vaporized the tree’s sap and enormous pressure blew the bark off. It’s hard to imagine that so much damage could happen in a two tenths of a second-long lightning bolt.   The thing is, the tree top is lower than our home! Why did lightning strike there and not the house?

A lightning strike isn’t always a tree’s kiss of death. If only a narrow swath of bark is blown off it may recover. But we fear our magnificent oak was so damaged that its days are numbered.

The tree’s imminent death is good news for small songbirds, especially brown creepers that seek shelter between loose bark and a tree’s trunk. As the oak gradually deteriorates it will provide food and shelter for a host of insects and the woodpeckers that love dining on them. We anticipate a day when our pileated, red headed, red bellied, hairy and downy woodpeckers nest in the old oak snag.  Eventually it will topple over and over time return nutrients from rotting wood to the soil.

View to House

The distance from the lightning strike to the house is about a football field.

Lighting can be both lethal and sneaky. Every year it strikes about 25 million times in the United States and kills an average of 49 people.  Many more humans are hit but survive, often with lingering physical problems. Ligntning is nothing to fool around with. As we learned on April 27th sometimes lightning strikes well before the main storm arrives and after it leaves. The safest place to be is inside a building away from windows, pipes, water, wires and landline telephones.

To stay safe, follow the 30-30 rule of thumb.  When you first see lightning, begin to count “One Mississippi, two Mississippi….” until you hear thunder.  If you hear thunder before you reach the number 30, lightning from the storm is in striking distance. Go inside!  And, after the last rumble of thunder wait 30 minutes before venturing outside again.

An outstanding source of information, including many safety tips, is on the US Government’s website.