Peak Hummingbird Season is Here!

For all of those people who say they cannot attract hummingbirds to their yard, now is the time to give it another try (at least for those of you who live in or near Connecticut).  Most of the nestlings have fledged so there are more birds in the area than at the start of the season.  Soon we will be seeing migrants from areas north of us (many of these states such as Maine and Vermont get many more hummingbirds nesting than we do here).  There are probably already male Ruby-throats that have left their summer grounds and are heading south, the females come next, then the babies from this year.  By mid-September most of the birds are gone from our state although it is still possible to see one even into October.

Keeping the feeder clean and the nectar fresh are both important if you want to attract hummingbirds.  Also having the feeder in an area visible to the birds or where there are flowers can also help.  They are not afraid to come up to a window or a deck even if you are sitting outside, just don’t make any sudden movements.  They are attracted to the flowers that are red, orange or pink, although all flowers will help attract them to your yard.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds migrate all the way to southern Mexico or Central America although a few winter over in Florida and along gulf coast.  If you see a hummingbird in Connecticut after October 15th or so, please give us a call, it probably isn’t a Ruby-throat!  The most likely bird to be here in the winter is a Rufous Hummingbird, a bird that normally lives in the western part of the U.S.  Why we seem to be getting more hummingbirds coming through the state in late fall and winter is not understood but the numbers do appear to be increasing.  It is still a rare occurrence to get a hummingbird out of season but not out of the question.  Many of the western female hummingbirds look strikingly like our Ruby-throat but of all the ones captured and measured, the vast majority are not Ruby-throats.  A male Rufous is easy to identify, as its’ name implies, it is reddish brown.  Jim got a call about 5 years ago from Ann, a woman in Branford who had a male Rufous Hummingbird at her backyard feeder in late fall.  Jim was able to go over to her house and get an up close and personal look at the bird, quite a site!

Heat Wave & Wyoming Trip

Jim and I just returned from a photo/birding trip to Wyoming.  What a welcome home we received, hot and humid!  We missed the 105 degree day but we can see from the grass and flowers that it has been extremely hot and dry for a while and even today is hot although not as bad as yesterday.

Birds need water all year and when it gets really hot and dry they need it even more so make sure you are keeping your bird bath clean and filled.  We have a product that helps with algae build up and is safe for all critters, it can really help during this time of year.

As for our trip, it was of course a birding trip and a photo trip combined.  Jim took more pictures than I can remember for one of our trips together.  Of course he does some trips without me that are primarily for photography, but our trips are more leisurely and often times he comes back somewhat empty-handed, well not on this trip!  We had some incredible birds including American Three-toed Woodpecker, a bird that is often difficult to find but this year we found many of them; unfortunately it was because there were MANY dead or dying trees due to a beetle infestation in the Snowy Range Mountains of Wyoming (probably elsewhere too).  It is a native beetle but the decimation was unbelievable, whole hillsides of pine trees were dead or mostly dead (due in part to fire suppression).

For other notable birds, we saw many Golden Eagles, Swainson’s Hawks, Prairie Falcons, Ferruginous Hawks, Mountain Bluebirds, a pond with approximately 100 Eared Grebes nesting, Snipe all over the place, McCowns and Chestnut Collared Longspurs, Lark Buntings, Mountain Chickadees, Western Meadowlarks, and much more.  Jim has been trying out video as well and although the sound portion has proven to be a bit of a challenge (trying to hear the birds and not the wind, airplanes, mosquitoes), the videos he has of many of the birds and other critters are just phenomenal!  Once he gets time to process the images we will post them on the web site as well as send them via the Fat Robin e-mail.

As for mammals, we found a family of foxes that were very cute sunning themselves on bales of hay.  A black bear with a cub as well as a moose with her calf, white tailed deer, mule deer and of course thousands of prairie dogs and other kinds of ground squirrels.

We were gone 10 days, the longest trip Jim and I have taken together since we opened the store in 1995!  A huge thank you to Ryan and Gary who did a great job keeping the place rolling without us!

Happy Father’s Day!

I hope all the father’s out there have a great weekend and happy day on Sunday!  There are also many, many father’s in your yard right now busily feeding baby birds.  We have been watching a male Red-bellied Woodpecker being chased all over the place by one of his offspring.  You can tell a baby Red-bellied Woodpecker from an adult because the babies have either very little of no red on their head.  Most songbirds will be virtually the same size as the adult bird by the time they fledge (leave the nest) but may have shorter tails and appear slightly smaller.  A baby Cardinal will have a dark beak whereas the parents have red beaks.  Chickadee and Titmice babies look virtually the same as the adult, but will often flutter their wings and “beg” for food.

Can you tell what kind of baby bird is in the photo below?  This one looks quite a bit like it’s parents except for the speckling on its’ breast.

Did you guess correctly?  It’s a baby American Robin, there is probably one just like it somewhere very close to your yard right now.  Robins leave the nest before they can fly so this is the time of year to be extra careful if you have outdoor cats.  Keep them indoors if at all possible.  If you find a baby robin that looks like this, his parents are nearby.  If you think the bird is in danger by being on the ground you can pick him up and put him in a nearby bush for protection but other than that they should be left alone.  Mom and dad are the best ones to take care of them!

Return of Tom Turkey!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about finding an injured tom turkey in our yard.  Jim was able to catch him (not an easy thing to do, even with an injured turkey).  With the help of Jayne from Mt. Vernon Songbird Sanctuary we found Michele from Webbed Foot Wildlife who was willing to take tom and try to nurse him back to health.   Well, tom came back “home” today and from the pictures you will see that he REALLY wanted to be out of his cage!  Michele wasn’t sure what had happened, the foot injury was actually a neurological problem that resolved itself after a week or so.  He had a lot of parasites but once those were taken care of he felt much better and was becoming a bit tired of his confinement!

Turkey being released after rehab

So, welcome back Tom, we hope you stick around the yard for a while, word is it’s a good place to hang out with lots of  good food put out for the birds!

Today’s Walk Sat June 5th is canceled

Thunderstorms are moving through the area so our “perfect” weather wise season comes to a close with a dud!

Saturday Bird Walk

This Saturday, June 5th, will be our last bird walk of the 2010 spring season.  We will be having the walk at Brooksvale Park in Hamden, same meeting location as usual (the corner of Brooksvale Avenue and Mt. Sanford Road) or you can meet us at the store between 7:20 and 7:40, we leave the store promptly at 7:45.  Cost of the walk is $2 per person, binocular rentals are available for $3.  PLEASE NOTE:  WE WILL UPDATE THE POST BY 6:45AM THE DAY OF THE WALK IF WE PLAN TO CANCEL DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.

The baby Eastern Bluebirds have been coming for meal worms, even as the parents begin their second nesting (I checked the box this morning and there are already 2 eggs!).  Orioles have been around as well as Indigo Buntings and many woodpeckers, grosbeaks and other nesting birds.  We hope you can join us, we hear many comments during the year from people who say they want to come on the walks, now is your last chance, at least for this year!  Thanks to the many who have come on our walks this year, especially those who make it almost every week.  We hope you have to to see some birds you hadn’t seen before or got to learn their songs.  We do our best to make sure everyone has an opportunity to see each bird and when possible to also learn their song.

We just got word on Tom the turkey and he is doing so well he may be able to come back to his home turf next week!  It’s amazing what some rest, antibiotics and TLC can do, for us and for the birds.  If you don’t know what I am talking about check out the previous post.

Great Horned Owl Fledgling!

Jim and I went birding in northwestern Connecticut Thursday morning.  Not long after the store opened Ryan called to say one of our customers, Tom from Plumb Farms in Prospect,  www.plumbfarms.com/index.html had found an owl behind his business that morning and was concerned about its’ safety on the ground.  Later in the day we stopped by and lo and behold there was a fledgling Great Horned Owl by his greenhouse!

He appeared in fine shape but just not quite ready to fly which isn’t unusual for an owl, but this guy had gotten himself cornered  by some netting and tall grass and was also in a busy place.  Many Great Horned and Barred Owls end up on the ground at some point before they are ready to fly, but they have very long claws and can scramble up trees fairly easily.  Because Jim used to band hawks and occasionally owls he knew how to handle this youngster who although young, could still cause serious damage if not handled properly (to the owlet and to the handler).  First he covered the bird with a small quilt to try and keep him calm and from seeing just where his hands were and gently reached under to feel for the owls feet!

After getting hold of BOTH legs properly the bird was very calm although did snap his bill fairly often which is their way of saying they aren’t happy.

We assessed the area to see where the best place would be to locate the youngster out of danger.  He (not sure if it was a he, but for purposes here we will use that term) had surely fledged from somewhere close by and we found a perfect spot nearby at the edge of the woods.

The parents were certainly nearby and would find him once night fell.  Jim tried to place the owlet into the tree but it would not latch on so he placed it on the ground adjacent to a rock wall and the tree.

Before Jim got 10 feet away the baby had already scrambled to the top of the rock wall.  There were trees overhanging the wall not far away and with a bit of work the youngster would be able to scramble higher up and be safe while waiting for mom and dad to come and feed him.

Big time kudos to Tom for being concerned enough to make sure nothing happened to this little guy during the day until we arrived.  I know he made many calls trying to find someone who knew what to do, wildlife rehabilitators are few and far between and work their tails off this time of year when baby birds are all over the place.

So, keep in mind that many baby birds are not able to fly when they first fledge, this is normal and if they are healthy like this one, the best thing is to place it in as safe a place as possible, close to where you found them and let mom and dad take care of them, they do the best job!

Only 2 Bird Walks Left!

We hope you can join us on Saturday, May 29th for a morning bird walk at Brooksvale Park in Hamden.  We only have two walks left so time is running out.  Jim spotted one of the baby Bluebirds this evening so we hope we can spot some of them on Saturday.  They fledged (left the nest box) almost two weeks ago.  The day looks beautiful, as has been the case for almost all of the walks this year.

As usual, meet us at the store anytime from 7:25 to 7:40 - we leave promptly at 7:45.  If you want to meet us at the park and don’t know the area you can call the store at 203-248-7068 for more details.  The walks are $2 per person and binocular rentals are available.  Renting a binocular is a great idea if you are thinking of upgrading what you own.  Pick one in your price range and give it a try.  If you decide to buy one within a month of the rental, we’ll deduct the $3 rental fee from your purchase price.  (We would need notice prior to the walk to make sure we have something ready for you to use).

The meeting place for the park is at the corner of Brooksvale Avenue and Mt. Sanford Road.  Park on either side of Brooksvale Avenue near this intersection (note for anyone who hasn’t met us here before, there is another similarly named road in Cheshire called South Brooksvale Road, Brooksvale Avenue is in Hamden and is the road where the main entrance is to the park).

PLEASE NOTE WE WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY FOR MEMORIAL DAY.  Thank you to all who are serving or have served in our military, you are very much appreciated!

Saturday Bird Walk (May 22)

Saturday is looking like another gorgeous day for a morning bird walk in Connecticut.  Since we are still in migration season Jim and I felt a second trip to East Rock park might get us a bigger variety of birds, especially warblers.  The picture Jim took of this magnificent Magnolia Warbler on the right side of this post is just one of the many species of warbler that might be seen.

The leaves are in as you all know so birding is now done more by ear than by sight.  Hopefully there will be some cooperative birds that can be found at eye level but most seem to be in the tree tops where the bugs are!  As always, you can meet us at the store no later than 7:40am or you can meet us by the Eli Whitney Museum in front of the covered bridge just before 8am.  Walks are $2 per person and binocular rentals are available for $3 per person.  If you have an interest in renting the binoculars please meet us at the store in the morning or call ahead.  If you have any questions please call us at the store at 203-248-7068.  See you Saturday!

May 15th Bird Walk Report

Today was just about perfect!  A little breezy but clear, cool and plenty of birds as well.

We had a great group of about 15 birders on our Saturday morning bird walk.    The walk featured some  great looks at a few of our most colorful birds including Baltimore Orioles, Scarlet Tanagers, Eastern Bluebirds and Indigo Buntings!  For warblers we only heard or saw Blue-winged Warbler, Canada Warbler, Ovenbird and Common Yellowthroat, a little quiet for this time of year.  By the way, the 5 Bluebird babies fledged later in the day Saturday!  I am surprised we weren’t able to see the babies looking out of the box when the parents were feeding which is usually the case the day or two before they fledge!

The breeze brought out the raptors who just love taking advantage of the wind and we had Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned, Coopers, Broad-winged, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks!  Thank you to all who came on the walk, hope you can make it next Saturday as well.