western pa. my five acres (1 Viewer)

[Gary Polliard]

Frost was on the rooftops this morning but the birds were busy at the feeder. White-throated sparrows, chipping, house and song sparrows did most of the ground foraging. A male and female (first this year) eastern Towhee also made an apperance. Had only seen the male up to this time. the Hairy, Downy and Red-Bellied woodpeckers hammered at the peanuts and I had to go and buy another ten pounds for thier hungry appetite. A Pileated came flying through searching a large pine dead pine tree and noisily making an appearance. I love to see that bird and am trying to find its nest if there is one. I grabbed my camera and caught one of those far pictures with my 300 mm lens. got to look at that. The family of Carolina Wrens are busy feeding the chicks bringing in small pieces of insect every other minute. The guord house worked out great (posted previously) after some hesitant starts. The usual cardinal, robin and bluejay are always a given and for the first time the chimney swifts came swooping over the pond. A chickadee worked over one of my macrame hanging planters made from hemp or also called jute. they would grab the bottom frayed gathering and rip at it for nesting material. First a chickadee and then a tufted titmouse. The white breasted nuthatch and goldfinches also came to the feeder. On my evening walk I saw an eastern Bluebird female flying in the upper field but did not see were she may be nesting. the noisy crows are still nesting in the tall pines but sadly I have not seen my pair of screech owls for a few days. It has been good birding on my five acres and I just got it registered as a bird sanctuary with the local Audubon. Life is Good.

 

[Gretchen]

Sounds beautiful - what a great selection of birds (reminds me of home). Great to hear that you have bluebirds nesting somewhere in the area (not in a house, I take it). A bit worrisome about your screech owls, since you thought they were nesting in the house, right? or maybe they were just roosting?

You better watch out for your hanging plant, if too much of the holder goes for nests.... But I can understand that jute would be a very desirable nesting material.

 

[Gary Polliard]

Sounds beautiful - what a great selection of birds (reminds me of home). Great to hear that you have bluebirds nesting somewhere in the area (not in a house, I take it). A bit worrisome about your screech owls, since you thought they were nesting in the house, right? or maybe they were just roosting?

You better watch out for your hanging plant, if too much of the holder goes for nests.... But I can understand that jute would be a very desirable nesting material.

The past few days have been cold, frost in the morning and the high temps only up to low 50's. Today the weather got up to 80 and yes the gray owl was at the opening looking at me. Truly do not know now if they are nesting but I hope so. The tadpoles are getting bigger and along with the Bullfrog the Green frog has also made an appearance.

 

[Gary Polliard]

The Barn Swallow has made his spring appearance soaring over the pond and dipping to the surface, wings held up and back and skimming the surface for a drink. The gray sceech owl watched me as I planted the many native plants the local Audubon had for sale.

 

[etudiant]

Wonderful that you have Bluebirds and Barn Swallows.
With a bit of luck and some mealworms, you can sometimes entice Bluebirds to your feeder.
Barn Swallows are pure enjoyment. Of course they sometimes accept a very sheltered overhang as a nest site if a good source
of mud is nearby. Some UK BF members apparently run a hose to make a temporary mud pit to encourage them to settle in.

 

[Gary Polliard]

Wonderful that you have Bluebirds and Barn Swallows.
With a bit of luck and some mealworms, you can sometimes entice Bluebirds to your feeder.
Barn Swallows are pure enjoyment. Of course they sometimes accept a very sheltered overhang as a nest site if a good source
of mud is nearby. Some UK BF members apparently run a hose to make a temporary mud pit to encourage them to settle in.

I have the mud, with the pond in my front yard but as you said I need some platforms, I can add those under a cantilevered porch on my house. The day was a drizzle rain, warm and the swallows still came in to the pond. I counted at least 7 at one time. A male bluebird flew past the house but still no site of the nest site. The red screech owl made an appearance at the opening of the nesting box almost all day long. Lots of plans for attracting wildlife and all the tips are greatly appreciated.

 

[scary-canary]

Gary
This is a nice blog. You should take some photos too so we can see where you live. I've got friends who live near Wilmington and it's a great place for a birding holiday
Chris

 

[etudiant]

Good on you, Gary!
It sure seems that you are putting out the welcome mat in a comprehensive way.
If your pond is big enough, maybe hang out some gourd nests for Purple Martins next year. They accept those, but HS don't.

 

[Gary Polliard]

Good on you, Gary!
It sure seems that you are putting out the welcome mat in a comprehensive way.
If your pond is big enough, maybe hang out some gourd nests for Purple Martins next year. They accept those, but HS don't.

I had bought some gourds last year (along with pumpkins) for my wifes annual pumpkin carving party. they dried over winter and one worked great for the carolina wrens. (one of my previous posts). this year with the one acre field I have the idea of Purple Martins sound great. I will try it next spring. Thanks

 

[Gary Polliard]

The rain clouds left this morning and a bright spring sun blasted through to dry up the land. A female red-bellied woodpecker hung on the empty peanut feeder squawking to fill it up. Later I sat on one of my benches as the evening came and watched brown bats catch insects over the pond. There may have been six of them twisting and turning to grab a bug. Then for my first, this bird came flying across my view and it was the screech owl coming back to the box. It was the first time I saw the short stubby owl up close in flight. Still looking for orioles and hummers.

 

[etudiant]

Glad to hear the Screech Owl is OK, hope it settles in.
Happy that you're considering a Martin complex.
Martins start migration early, sometimes by late February, so timing for setting up nesting sites is important.
A good resource is the Martin Conservation Association, http://purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html offering excellent tips on attracting and keeping Purple Martins.
Please keep us posted.

 

[Gary Polliard]

The weather turned colder today with the windy, rainy weather front pushing through but there at the feeder was another favorite. the Rose Breasted Grosbeak was feeding on my peanut feeders. Goldfinches, Woodpeckers, and all the other feeder birds were there and a hummigbird, first this year, flew around the plants by the pond. Got some pics of the Grosbeak but have not downloaded yet.

 

[Gary Polliard]

Here is the pic of the Grosbeak. Decided to stay up and download the pics. Look forward to seeing this one everyyear. The female has not showed up yet.

 

[scary-canary]

Here is the pic of the Grosbeak. Decided to stay up and download the pics. Look forward to seeing this one everyyear. The female has not showed up yet.

Isn't he a beauty?

 

[Gary Polliard]

Isn't he a beauty?

Indeed he is. It is hard to decide which bird is the most colorful in the bird world, but this male grosbeak with only three colors ranks right up there. I hope they stick around and nest on my small patch of ground but time will tell.

 

[Gary Polliard]

These White Throated Sparrows are always a treat to see at the feeder to add a little color to all the ground feeding birds. Occasionally I will also get a White Crowned sparrow.

 

[Chopper]

Nice selection, Gary. Hope you get all you want out of your acreage.

I haven't the diversity it sounds like you have, but I am working on it. I plan to landscape my own yard to cater to many kinds of birds in the future. Right now, I am stuck on 19 species. I have yet to see my own state bird...the Bluebird you are seeing. But, I did see some WCSparrows this week.

Good luck to you.

 

[Gary Polliard]

Got a new one this morning for the year. I noticed a disturbance in the pond but could not see what was making it. Walking down with binocs in hand a pair of wood ducks came into view. The pond is too close to the house for them to hang around, they are real jumpy so as I backed away they took off. It is a treat to see them at least notice the pond and pay me a visit. The male wood duck has some colorful markings.

 

[etudiant]

Wow, wood ducks on your patch!

They are so beautiful, prettiest duck in the world, imo.
That's a very nice tick to get. Congratulations.

 

[Gary Polliard]

Finally an answer to my screech owls. There were two a red phase and a grey phase in the same box since the first of march. I never looked inside to see if there were any eggs but as time passed it looked as though it was just a roosting site. Today I saw two small heads and four big yellow eyes looking out at me. The young chicks were both gray phase and they were both looking out of the entrance hole at the same time. Hopefully they will be cooperative when the camera is set up but it was a great day.