[texbirds] Yard birding, little birds bring the hawks

From: Joseph Kennedy <josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx>
To: 4 Texbirds Maillist <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:34:41 -0600
Over the last couple of weeks, there have been good numbers of goldfinches
here on a regular basis after being scarce and sporadic.
The real surprise has been the swarm of pine and yellow-rumped warblers
feeding on the peanut butter mix and sunflower seeds. At times there are a
dozen feeding a time with more scuffling to replace them. More of either
species than I have ever had.

Lots of variety in the pine warblers from really yellow to almost
yellow-rumped looking. Great study of the individual variation.

Not many waxwings and robins here on a regular basis although there were
lots just as the rain started with the cold snap and then none with the
cold or today after it got warm.

Perhaps the hawks have something to do with it. Last week I watched an
early flock of say 200 waxwings leaving a roost and heading down the bayou.
As they passed they were followed by a merlin and a sharp-shinned hawk. The
next day 2 large female cooper's hawks were tailing a robin feeding group.
There are at least 2 small cooper's males that sit around the feeders and
another sharp-shin that likes the balcony rail as does one of the cooper's.

The red-tails are starting to thing of nesting and doing some soaring
around the trees and one bird sometimes roosts where I can see him.

Speaking of nesting, the chickadee people were gathering nest lining stuff
prior to the ice but are doing very little singing. The titmice people have
also chased off the kids and are coming as paired birds.

The barred owls are getting amorous and the male has started banging on the
window again at night. At least it is around 11pm instead of 2am as in the
past.

There is very little food out there in the way of mast as the squirrel
people ate the last pecans way back in the fall and there are almost 0
acorns anywhere around. The blue jays are almost dependent on me and are
eating 2-3 times what larger numbers ate in past years. A new clan of jays
comes by for food to which results in great posturing and wheedling calling
in the treetops. Each group eats alone and there is little fighting.

I was lucky in the ice storm as the temperature here by the bayou did not
go below freezing until an hour or so before the drizzle stopped. A large
part of the trees remaining are bay and laurel cherry which do not do well
in ice as the leaves gather so much weight that the soft wood cracks and
splits. But some will have to be trimmed where it is leaning on the house.
And its a long time for nice summer weather.

-- 
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx


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[texbirds] Yard birding, little birds bring the hawks

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