December 18, 2013

Suet

Winter is the time to feed the birds. Dependent on reliable food sources like cherry trees, winter berries, and open fields - feeders also provide winter birds with an important food store. Suet in particular can make for good fodder. Most often purchased as a store bought “cake” it is possible to get fresh suet from your butcher. If dealing with a cow’s kidney fat doesn’t sound like a fun family holiday craft idea purchase a metal cage and form fitted suet cake from any hardware, animal feed, or bird store. These cakes are often filled with dried seeds, nuts, or fruit and are easily hung from a tree branch or empty flower pot hanger. Unlike many seeds, suet is less attractive to squirrels and can be left without much worry that a grey, red, or little stripper will clean you out in one sitting. Among the birds that will visit a suet cage are woodpeckers, nuthatches, kinglets, bluebirds, wrens, robins, starlings, and if you’re lucky a brown creeper. Woodpeckers who don’t eat seeds are an exciting addition to the feeder station when suet is provided. Remember suet is animal fat and should only be offered in cold weather when there is no chance of softening or spoiling which is not only disgusting but also a health risk for the birds. Remember too that birds will rely on you as a food source and while November and December is a good time to start feeding it is important that you stay consistent until spring. Serve the fat!

December 11, 2013

Snowy days

Snowy owls show up each winter in varying amounts, from tons to none. Depending on some elegant curve of lemming populations, mean temperatures, and good luck these owls "irrupt" from the great white north downwards into the lower 48. In 2011 we saw many of them across the country but not a lot here in New England. 2012 was a quiet year for the "ermine owl," with only scattered records from barrier beaches like Duxbury, MA and Salisbury, NH. Weighing a mere 3-4 lbs, these birds sit around two feet high. Fiercely white they would more likely be confused for a Clorox bleach bottle washed ashore than any gull. But they're size is formidable and they can easily kill ducks and geese as well as Boeing 747s

To find a snowy owl go to your local tundra: long beaches, airports, or large farm fields. Or for warmer views visit ebird.org


Nov - Dec 2012

Nov - Dec 11th 2013

December 6, 2013

tree sparrow

Like the dark-eyed junco and white-throated sparrow the american tree sparrow appears in New England with the first frost and replaces a similar looking summer resident, the chipping sparrowThe tree sparrow is a tight packed bird, with handsome slate gray and cinnamon stripes on the face. With a dull grey chest marked by a single dark spot this sparrow can often be identified by using the time of year. Consider this data from ebird.org comparing the reported observation of tree sparrows and chipping sparrows in Massachusetts over the course of a single year.
Besides a three week period in April and November notice how the arrival and departure of the chipping sparrow (green line) is in direct correlation with the departure and arrival of the tree sparrow (orange line). This type of seasonal movement is an important clue in identifying a bird and is often only learned through personal observation or anecdote.


Louis Agassiz Fuertes
The (poorly named) tree sparrow is most often found in open fields and low brush. They will visit feeders, though often pick seeds from the ground  and seem to dart around nervously, like an Englishman trying to order pastrami at a New York deli. Listen for the choral of rainy, crystalline “chwee” notes given by groups of these New England sparrows.

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