9 January 2024
Good Morning Everyone,
Wow. -14 C on Wednesday in Winnipeg. What a great mid-week temperature. The bird feeders were busy! We see the Crows flying in the distance, and the Starlings made certain that the big table feeder had sufficient cat kibble by coming up to the garden door and pounding away at the feral cat dish. It sure got my attention!
It will warm up overnight to -3 C. Do you know what this means? Tomorrow will be a good day to go for a walk in the forest. We hope to capture some images of deer and Black-capped Chickadees for you.
There is a new wildlife camera in Arizona’s desert that you might be interested in watching. Here is the latest on that venture:
Here is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/live/jrkzQTbONl4?
I caught some White-Crowned Sparrows getting a drink.
White-crowned Sparrows are located throughout North America at various times of the year. These 17 cm (7 inch)White-crowned Sparrows are found throughout North America at various times of the year. These birds are approximately 17 cm (7 inches) long. Adult White-crowned Sparrows have attractive black and white striped heads and an orange beak. Their necks and chests are a soft grey, while their wings display a mix of brown, grey, black, white, and rust. In contrast, younger birds are primarily grey and brown, featuring a pinkish-orange bill. They are characterized by their striking black eyes. White-crowned Sparrows visit our feeders during migration as they head north to breed in the Arctic. They typically nest in areas dense with bushes. The white-crowned sparrow is not currently considered to be in immediate danger. That said, there is some concern regarding the impact of climate change and habitat loss. High snow cover and low temperatures will impact their breeding areas, especially at the northern end of their range, the Arctic. Additionally, heat domes and/or increasing temperatures will impact the ability of young birds to survive.
There was a Northern Mockingbird. This feeder might be a great way to help you with your bird identification especially with those many species of Sparrow.
The Northern Mockingbird is a medium sized songbird that can be heard to sing up to 15 lines. Look at the bird on the edge of the water tank. Notice the dark eye-line with that soft, almost cashmere look to the grey breast. There are two white wing bars. They are 21-26 cm or 8-10 inches in length making them bigger than the White-Crowned Sparrow.
The Northern Mockingbird forages on lawns, fields, or other open ground, where it hops and runs along the ground after insects. They also can be seen eating various types of fruit.
Threats to Northern Mockingbirds include predation by raptors such as hawks and owls. Domestic cats and crows often prey on fledglings, while eggs and nestlings face dangers from cats, Blue Jays, crows, snakes, and squirrels. Additionally, their habitat is being destroyed while weather, including storms and heat, are having a strong impact on their survival. Human activities contribute to these challenges, including window collisions and the use of rodenticides. Some people also directly kill these birds because they feed on fruit from their trees.
They are rarely seen in southern Canada.
Jackie and Shadow played tug-o-war with a fish on the nest. Cute, so cute. You have to love and be inspired by these two. Nothing gets them down and out for long! https://youtu.be/AVMpPOYJgS8?
Another milestone at SW Florida. The Es are beginning to pick at prey and self-feed!
I don’t know about you, but I am getting ready to get my eyes glued to the NE Florida nest of Beau and Gabby. Pip watch begins on the 11th for both NE 30 and 31. That is SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!! There are no words for the excitement that each of us is experiencing. Will this be this couple’s year?
The number of viewers are growing in anticipation.
Fires are raging in various areas of the US. Our thoughts and best wishes go to all living things in or near those fires, many of them being whipped about by growing winds. These situations can be deadly. Please keep them in your thoughts.
Calico’s Tip of the Day: Don’t Waste your time cleaning up your yard and plants in the fall. Close your ears to the neighbours talk and just think about the birds and insects that you are helping.
Now is also a good time to clean your windows and start putting up those collision strips. If you use decals remember they must be 2 inches apart! And you have to put them on the outside of your window not on the inside. The most efficient and reasonably priced method are the window paint markers. Crayola makes them. Scribble away – on the outside after cleaning.
Dr Green is giving a lecture – on insects!
Her name, Skylar, means Little Warrior. Wild Heart Ranch Rehabilitation in Claremore, Oklahoma, has been working to open her locked talons. They gave it everything they can – and guess what? Their help is working! Look carefully at what they are doing to separate those talons.
They described what they did to help her: “We use moldable plastic beads to make our Birdenstock shoes and the Birkenhawk shoes. We trace a template of the birds opened foot, or as far as we can open it. The moldable plastic beads are placed in hot, hot water to soften. They are removed and the beads are pressed into the shape of the template and the thickness we want. Once the shoe is the way we want it, it’s run under cold water to harden it into an unbreakable and squish-proof piece of plastic. The shoe is then placed inside the opened foot and taped onto the hawk, owl, or eagles foot. Enough tape is placed on the foot so the bird can’t undo the tape and get the shoe out of their foot. If the bird needs progressive bigger shoes and the foot tendons stretch out, the bird may get 2 or 3 different sizes of shoes before their treatment is completed on their foot. We save all the shoes to reuse if needed. The eagle’s left foot shoe is a shoe we used on a red tailed hawk. Below is a video of a RTH wearing its Birkenhawk shoes. Enjoy the video! -Volunteer Janice”
Incubation continues at several nests including John Bunker Sands Wetlands near Dallas, Texas.
Thunder and Akecheta are working on their nest in the Channel Islands. They are hunkered down roosting in the strong winds Wednesday night.
Look who’s home at Sauces!
Mr and Mrs North are at home in Iowa.
Snow on the nest at Kansas City.
In the UK, the RSPB stops the sale of table feeders because of a deadly finch disease. ““As a precautionary measure, whilst we await the findings of the review, we have suspended all our bird tables and related products, table mix and table mix extra, window feeders and feeder guardians with trays, from sale. This is because there is evidence to suggest that some birds, particularly finches, can be more exposed to disease when fed on flat surfaces like these.”
If you have finches visiting your garden and you have a table feeder, please read the following article and consider removing your table feeder.
I do not have any finches, but I need to find out if there is any concern for the other species visiting my garden. I have tube feeders, cage feeders, and a small and medium size table feeder. I certainly don’t want to cause the death of any birds.
Thank you so much for being with us today. Please take care of yourself. See you soon!
Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, images, articles, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘Geemeff, J’, spo.com, SK Hideaways, NEFL-AEF, Carolina Birders, USFWS, Montana Osprey Cams, Wild Heart Ranch FB, JBS Wetlands, IWS/Explore.org, Raptor Resource Project, Farmer Derek, The Guardian
