OLLI Redden State Forrest Field Trip 4/24/13

Brrrr! Still cold in the morning, like 50 degrees with a stiff east wind, but we still saw many good birds. My tally was 34 species, with 8 species we have not encountered before, so now our cumulative species list for this spring is 89 species. Not Bad!

The obvious highlight today was the Red-headed Woodpeckers, seen at first far away, but finally close through the spotting scope (above photo by Bill Fintel). Other highlights were great looks at 2 resident warblers: Prairie Warbler (below, photo by Chuck Fullmer whom we saw this morning), Worm-eating Warbler, and some  of us had good looks at the Ovenbird.

Our next field trip is to Milford Neck in the peak of spring migration. We will meet at Prime Hook at 8 am to car pool, or if you live near Milford, we will also rendezvous at the Valero gas station just beyond where Rt 1 and Rt 113 merge, about 8:15 am.

Grackle-proof Cage Feeder

The above pic shows 2 White-throated Sparrows and a Pine Warbler inside the cage feeder, and a 3rd White-throat about to enter. Other small birds which use our feeder include chickadees, titmice, Carolina Wrens, nuthatches, goldfinches, siskins, and Downy Woodpeckers. The seed is Black Oil Sunflower, usually with some peanut halves, and the suet stick hanging in the center contains peanut butter suet. I have made and used this design feeder for the last 30 years. It allows small birds access to the food, and excludes large birds, such as grackles (hanging on back of cage in below pic).

There are some commercial feeders which use the same principal of a screen to exclude large birds, but in general, the commercial designs do not have a large enough feeding space to accommodate several small birds. In my latest design, the inside dimensions are 22x22x16 inches, LxWxH. The wire mesh is 1x2 inch hardware cloth, with every other opening enlarged to 1 and 1/2 inches wide using pliers.

Medium size desirable birds, such as Cardinals, can sometimes enter the feeder, but more often they get seed that becomes pushed to the edge (below pic). Red-bellied Woodpeckers will often hang on the feeder wire, and use their long tongues to tease a peanut half over to the edge where they pick it up with their bill.

The above pic also shows the top of commercial squirrel-racoon baffle on the pole below the feeder. Racoons gave me a challenge this past winter by climbing over a single baffle, but by placing a metal cylinder baffle on top of a metal cone baffle, I was able to stop them.

Think the Grackles are mad at me? This guy sure looks mad.

April 10 Field Trip at Prime Hook

It was challenging, but it was also very successful. When everyone in a 15 person group gets really good looks at a Yellow-throated Warbler, that is just great. It is a very beautiful, and very uncommon bird in our area.

I also enjoyed my first singing Purple Martins, plus almost overwhelming numbers of singing Field and Chipping Sparrows, great looks at Pine Warblers, male and female, lots of woodpeckers, mostly Downy and Red-bellied, but also a loud but unseen Pileated Woodpecker.

We had a total of 39 species again on this field trip, which brings our 3 field trip total to 81 species. Just wait, in the peak migration in May, we should get close to 100 species in just one field trip.

PS - Post below has directions to Redden State Forrest for April 24.

Directions to Redden State Forrest for April 24

I have attached a Google Maps link to guide you there (and you can zoom in or out on this link). If you are "map challenged",  just go to Georgetown, bear north to connect with Rt 113, go north on 113 for about 3+ miles and turn right on Redden Rd. Go less than 1 mile and turn right into Redden State Forrest (well marked). Proceed about 1/4 mile to the main office and parking.

We will all go back toward Lewes via some of the neat back roads, so you can experience them first hand. If you are map savvy, come over via the back roads as well. If you get lost, just keep heading west until you reach Rt 113, and then use the above directions (adjusting for how far north or south on 113 you are). Still lost? Call my cell: 302-236-5675.

Bill

PS - My apologies for having to leave Prime Hook quickly today. As we got back to the Headquarters,  I was reminded by Sally that she had a noon lunch engagement in Rehoboth, so we had to leave promptly. I will give you our backyard Screech Owl details at Redden. I could post it here, but in general, making owl locations too public is not advisable, as the information often gets the owls harassed by too close approaches, photographers, etc.

Spring Migration

What a great time of year to be outdoors. I went to Prime Hook this morning to check out birds that have recently arrived there. I was happy to locate 3 singing Yellow-throated Warblers, and we will certainly try to see at least one on tomorrow's OLLI field trip. Other recent arrivals, both very vocal, were Chipping Sparrows, and Brown Thrashers. Additionally, the numbers of singing Pine Warblers and Field Sparrows has dramatically increased.

What I did not locate was an early Ovenbird, or Blue-gray Gnatcatcher .....maybe by tomorrow with it being 82 degrees today....... and I know you know (if you have been paying attention in class), they migrate at night, and tonight has all the earmarks of being a good migration night. Want to get really into bird migration science and prediction? Visit woodcreeper.com

See you tomorrow.
Bill

Cape Henlopen Field Trip 4/3/13

It was clear, cool and sunny, and we had lots of good birds. Starting at the Nature Center, a lucky few got a view of one Pine Siskin before the Cowbirds ran it off. There were also quick looks at Brown-headed and Red-breasted Nuthatch, and some American Goldfinches almost in full breeding plumage.

 The real highlight for me was approximately 10 Piping Plover (above) very close on the bay side of the Point. Other birds observed there were American Oystercatcher, Brant and distant Black and Surf Scoters.

From the Hawk watch we had many Northern Gannets (above), and a very close Northern Harrier. At Herring Point we eventually had good looks at a Common Loon feeding in the surf, plus some distant looks at Red-throated Loons. We finished the morning back behind the Nature Center where most got excellent looks at a beautiful male Pine Warbler (below). Our total species count for the morning was 39.

 We will meet at 8 am next week, April 10, at Prime Hook NWR Headquarters.