Belmont BioBlitz – Fall 2016

Last week was BioBlitz week a Belmont Manor and Historic Park. It was 4 fall days with 5^th graders from 4 different Howard County Schools. My husband volunteered as well and we worked together all 4 days. We arrived about 30 minutes before the students to get our gear (a backpack of magnifiers, identification books, a white cloth, and a ruler) and listen to the briefing about what was unique about the day. The students arrived in 2 or 3 busloads with their chaperones and we were assigned a group. The first day we had 5 girls; it was a huge contrast when we had 11 boys the second day! The last two days we had groups with boys and girls - about 10 students.

We started each group with a short introduction and then helping everyone that had smart phones get the iNaturalist app and sign on to the Howard County Conservancy’s id…then we were out in the field. I had added a pair gardening gloves to my backpack and that helped the students find things in the leaf mats, soil and rotten logs – like small mushrooms and worms and slugs!

We made a stop back to the nature center for a briefing about looking at the data they were collecting during BioBlitz after they returned to school – emphasizing the Citizen Science aspect of what they were doing. The observations of the students last week and previous Belmont BioBlitz weeks can be found here: http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/belmontbioblitz.

Most days the students were able to use a spotting scope pointing to the birdfeeders at the edge of the meadow near the nature center. I got a picture of a woodpecker one morning before the students arrived. It seemed like the house finches were gutsier and stayed around the feeders even when the students were not that far away.

And then – after all the flurry – BioBlitz for Fall 2016 was done. I took a picture as my husband and I headed out of Belmont on the last afternoon.

Bird Photography through a Window – February 2016

It’s been a good month for bird photography through my office and kitchen windows. There are several kinds that visit daily. The male cardinal is so brilliantly colored that he always stands out. He is bigger and quite assertive about keeping the juncos at bay when he’s hungry. He’s too big for the feeder so he hogs the seed bowl when he is around.

His mate is the same way.

The blue jays visit the maple tree

And the bird bath. The jays are noisy so I usually have plenty of warning that the flock is passing through. The bird bath is popular when it is very cold because it is heated and probably the on only liquid water around.

The dove come in pairs…and sometimes larger numbers. They like both the seed bowl and the birdbath but sometimes sit on the deck railing and look out over the yard. There was one odd instance when the dove turned around and appeared to be watching me cook dinner through the kitchen window.

The robins have been increasingly common at the bird bath. Previously I saw them in the yard occasionally. One afternoon when the snow was melting the robins were having a feast of worms that must have been close to the muddy surface.  This particular robin has come to our birdbath several times. Can you spot what distinguishes this bird? (Part of the left foot is missing.)

I see the crows frequently and sometimes here them. They sometimes flip debris from the gutter over my office. They very seldom sit anywhere that I can photograph them. This one seemed to be posing for his picture.  Note how different the feathers on the head are from those on the back and wings.

There are others that are less common. A pair of pileated woodpeckers came through a few times this month. They stay in the woods behind the house.

We sometimes see house finches but the juncos generally drive them away from the feeder.

The same is true of the titmice.

A flock of red winged blackbirds came through early in the month. At first I thought they were something else because they were not all black. But I did notice the red and yellow patches. It turns out that these are immature males!

Some of them were blacker…and more mature.

Cowbirds also came as a flock and gobbled up most of the seed in the bowl. There are still some around but not as many at one time as that one cold afternoon. No other birds could get close to the bowl.

Madera Canyon

The drive between The Paton Center for Hummingbirds and Madera Canyon was scenic … through the Santa Rita Mountains. We had visited the canyon back in June 2013 and headed straight for a bird watching area near a gift shop that we had stopped at previously.

I saw a woodpecker as I was getting out of the car…did not manage a good picture…and then did not see it at the feeders at all.

Then again – is this an Arizona woodpecker? They are brown and the female does not have any red at all so I think it is. I didn’t realize what I was getting when I took the picture.

There were squirrels cleaning up the seen under the feeders --- but the feeders are positioned to keep squirrels from getting the seed directly.

There were quite a few Mexican Jays at the feeders

And the nearby trees and railings. Some of the railings have numbers to help people talk to each other about the location of a bird they are pointing out to someone else.

The biggest birds were the Wild Turkeys. They too were under the feeders although the adults spent most of their time parading. Two of the juveniles managed to fly up to the feeders – perch on the roof – and eat the seeds.

There were a few hummingbirds. This is the only one I saw well enough to identify – as an Anna’s Hummingbird.

The Yellow-eyed Juncos were fast but I was patient enough to get one good picture! I had a hard time identifying it as I was writing this post because it is not in All-About-Birds!