[birdky] Re: natural bird food

From: Joyce Bender <landstewardky@xxxxxxxxx>
To: brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, BIRDKY <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2022 12:13:09 -0400

In addition to cedar trees providing food for waxwings, they provide critical shelter for birds during ice storms. Rough-leaved dogwood and spice bush fruits are ripening when birds are migrating. Please think twice about cutting back poison ivy vines and cat briar if you can. These plants that are inconvenient to us provide fruit for birds into winter and spring. You’ll attract more birds with a diversity of plants all year long.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 22, 2022, at 9:39 PM, brainard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

This has been a good winter/early spring for waxwings in contrast to the past several years. Up until this winter, a few have hung around thru the CBC season but have become quite scarce in KY as winter has progressed. In fact, it has not been until latest April or even the first ten days of May before they have shown up on their way back north.

I think it can totally be explained by a greater than average amount of winter food (soft mast; berries) this year. We had something of an unremarkable fall migration for berry eaters, and even here on my family's farm in suburbia where starlings usually gobble everything up during all there was a decent supply of wild grapes and cedar berries.

This is much the way waxwing abundance used to be during the 1970s and 1980s.

bpb, Louisville

-----Original Message-----
From: <kistlers76@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Mar 22, 2022 5:22 PM
To: BIRDKY <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <Srsepulved@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [birdky] Mammoth cave today

Cooler and cloudy today. No new spring birds, but we had many more chipping sparrows than last week. They're not really singing much yet, but it won't be long now. Today was waxwing day in the park! Hundreds of them were flying around in flocks as I drove in and around. Highlights included a flock of 75 waxwings bathing in a puddle thirty feet from the group, showing off every feather they had.Beautiful. Also two stunning sapsuckers, which we missed completely last week. Red-headed woodpeckers never fail to wow 'em. Steve Kistler Hart County, KY Number of Checklists: 2
Number of Taxa: 27

Checklists included in this summary:
(1): Mammoth Cave NP - driving on park roads from north entrance to visitor center parking lot with windows open.
Date: Mar 22, 2022 at 7:37 AM
(2): Mammoth Cave NP - with Tricia Sepulveda and 8 park visitors. (Including three very bird-happy kids)
Date: Mar 22, 2022 at 8:33 AM

5 Mourning Dove -- (2)
2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- (2)
2 Red-headed Woodpecker -- (2)
6 Red-bellied Woodpecker -- (1),(2)
3 Downy Woodpecker -- (2)
1 Pileated Woodpecker -- (1)
2 Northern Flicker -- (1)
2 Eastern Phoebe -- (1),(2)
7 Blue Jay -- (1),(2)
9 American Crow -- (1),(2)
6 Carolina Chickadee -- (1),(2)
13 Tufted Titmouse -- (1),(2)
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet -- (2)
4 White-breasted Nuthatch -- (2)
7 Carolina Wren -- (1),(2)
15 European Starling -- (2)
3 Eastern Bluebird -- (1),(2)
31 American Robin -- (1),(2)
95 Cedar Waxwing -- (1),(2)
25 Purple Finch -- (2)
6 American Goldfinch -- (2)
20 Chipping Sparrow -- (1),(2)
10 Dark-eyed Junco -- (2)
2 Eastern Towhee -- (1)
13 Brown-headed Cowbird -- (1),(2)
4 Yellow-rumped Warbler -- (1),(2)
5 Northern Cardinal -- (1),(2)

[birdky] Re: natural bird food

Other related posts: