[texbirds] Re: Yard birding, jays crows and the end of summer and a question
- From: Stenmead@xxxxxxx
- To: josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx, texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:06:53 -0400 (EDT)
Joe and All,
During the summer months I saw few if any Blue Jays. Then about 3 weeks
ago I counted 30 flying south to north through the neithborhood in one big
flock. The next day there were about 10 at the feeder and bird bath, all
carrying on. There have been three only in my yard for the last 10 days.
My questions are: where are the "migrating/flying" from and too? Where
have they been all summer?
Stennie Meadours
San Leon
In a message dated 10/30/2013 9:01:39 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx writes:
Blue jays continue to add life and mystery to the back yard. While 2
family
groups of jays summered nearby compared to the 5 or 6 groups normally
present until the bad west nile a couple of years ago, they did not do well
with young. The alarm jay which was the only survivor of the breeding birds
close by continues with one group but still is not integrated. It is also
the only bird that imitates hawks on approaching the balcony.
I have seen or heard no migrant jays this fall although there have been
more at Smith Point than in any year I have been there. Normally the local
birds serenade migrants following the bayou to make sure they do not tarry.
Also, I have seen no comments on texbirds or elsewhere about jay
migrations. It seems that it would be a migration year of some local birds
as last year was an enormous acorn year and this year is a bad year. I have
not seen my jays carrying any acorns back home yet this fall.
Has anyone seen migrant jays in numbers anywhere around.
Crows are another bird that vanished with west nile locally. One and maybe
2 birds were around a little last winter but vanished come spring. I did
not have crows until a couple of weeks ago when a crow wave went over one
morning but did not linger. I have heard a couple birds in late evening
since that flight.
Yesterday while making groceries, a large group of crows gathered on a
nearby office building in early afternoon. More birds joined them as I was
leaving the parking lot but lots of horn honking at somebody stopped my
count. But there have been no crows in that area for several years. They
appear to be urban acclimated so came from a town environment.
The red-bellied woodpeckers raised no young here this summer and one of the
3 regular pairs vanished in mid-summer.
Also, the cardinals raised no local young but some fully grown and molting
birds arrived at the feeders after the breeding season. Most of them have
moved on temporarily with the ripening of the ragweed and will be back in
December.
House finches did well and left for the ragweed feast in early October.
However some birds showed up again but based on plumage, they were not the
birds that left nor birds that had been around all summer. They just moved
out in the last couple of days.
And Carolina wrens had almost no young except for a possible very late
brood which did not stay around with the parents so may have been lost.
House sparrows had a banner year with several broods for each female and
are not going anywhere. The common grackles were absent all summer for the
first time but a couple of birds are now around and have not joined the
fall flocks which are also absent in the absence of acorns. Great-tailed
grackles never repopulated a traditional corner after west nile. But there
have been no starlings or cowbirds all summer which makes up for the
grackle loss.
Chickadees and titmice did well with youngsters but appear to be having a
shortage of natural food right now and are ravenous at the feeders all day.
The wintering Wilson's warbler showed up on schedule, attracted some
friends but they did not stay after several days. Lack of spiders around
the balconies and windows did not really keep them around. The Wilson's
warbler is my current mixed species flock around the house. Have heard a
ruby-crowned kinglet so the flock may increase with the next front.
--
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx
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