In My Binoculars...

Welcome to the Wild Birds Unlimited of Yorktown's first edition of the birding blog, "In My Binoculars". This will be a source of information, observations of what is going on outside RIGHT NOW, reflections on topical activities, musings and reports of recent bird outings, along with some good information, hard facts and a little humor. We hope you stop by often to check it out on those days when you're stuck inside or can't make it to the store for in-person information. And maybe it will even inspire you to reach outside of your comfort zone and look for some of your own adventures.

So I just returned from Pittsburgh and the WBU Annual Meeting and had quite an exciting couple of days. While Kristin and Gregory remain up there to check out nw and exciting products for the bird feeding enthusiast, we are holding down the fort. We did have a chance to do a little birding up there in Steel town near the mighty three rivers. Incidentally, some of the good stuff we found were off the beaten track a bit in a reclaimed recreation area along a creek in the suburbs. It was the Wingfield Pines Conservation Area along Chartiers Creek, where the land trust is attempting to stop iron oxide from depositing into the creek. An old strip-mined area, it produces 43 tons of iron oxide a year and through a multi-pond filtration system, they are able to stop the run-off. It is VERY COOL and a great example of how land can be reclaimed and improved. There was lots of great bird life there, too, between the marshy ponds and the creek and the wooded areas full of wildflowers and wild berries! Some of the highlights included Rough-Winged Swallows, Orchard Orioles, Eastern Wood Pee-wees and Yellow Warblers. We also saw Warbling Vireos and Yellow-throated Warblers! One of the coolest discoveries was a Cedar Waxwing building a nest! That is a pretty far range point for them, so we were pleasantly surprised. We also saw Green Herons, an Osprey and some of the usual suspects like American Robins, American Goldfinches and Red-Winged Blackbirds. All in all, a nice birding outing, followed by a Kestrel showing up as we dined on the sidewalk on Penn Avenue!

The night before we had quite an exciting night as we got to see one of our very own, Ernie Miller, awarded the Sales Associate of the Year for the entire franchise, which is comprised of nearly 300 stores! The excitement continued at the National Aviary where we enjoyed South African Penguins, Golden Plovers, Screaming Pihas and Flamingos.  If only we had had a little more time there, like maybe a MONTH!  Ha! But, we had to get back to our fabulous nature store and the multitude of babies everywhere. Seriously, it seems like the outdoor area at the store is full of babies and even in my yard. Are you experiencing the same thing in your natural areas? Look for baby Gray Catbirds, baby Brown Thrashers, baby Eastern Bluebirds and baby American Goldfinches being fed. Make sure your nest boxes are cleaned out in between broods because once the babies fledge, they don't return, but the adults will and possibly build again or someone else will move in! Eastern Bluebirds can have as many as three broods in one nesting season. I'm also seeing some cool migrants nesting in my yard, like Great Crested Flycatchers! they are super cool birds with yellow on their undersides and rusty tails and a grey crest. They sound like jungle birds when they call and sing and are cavity nesters, so make sure you have rooms for rent at your house! 

Cheers and Happy Birding!

THE BIRD NERD HAS LANDED

So here I am writing again on the bird blog with fervor and zest!!! It is SPRING and renewal and rebirth and energy abounds. The Bird Nerd is now fully immersed in all things bird and birding, after lighting at Wild Birds Unlimited of Yorktown, VA. As the Community Outreach Coordinator, I am reaching out to the community holding talks and classes about birds, backyard habitats and photography. It has been a wild past eight months and I have added lots of life birds to the list. Hampton roads is an exciting place for a birder and now that spring is here, it's time to start focusing on the neo-tropical birds who migrate here every Spring and call the area and many other areas along the Eastern Seaboard home for at least a few months while they breed and raise their young.

Look to the next post for some specific accounts of new sightings and tips on what to look for in your very own backyard!

Cheers and Happy Birding!

Middle O' Winter Birds

While some areas of the country are lucky enough to enjoy mild or temperate temperatures during the winter months, most of us are experiencing some cold weather.  Here in the East, we have been graced with some Spring-like days so the plants are getting confused and some trees, bushes and bulbs are emerging early from their winter hibernation. So, many people wonder if the birds get confused with the warm days and if they are encouraged to migrate early.  Actually, migrations are based on length of day, so while we are enjoying those warm days, so are the wintering birds. Birds like the White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Juncos, Carolina Wrens and some woodpeckers are enjoying those warm days just like we are.  In fact, they become extra active, so make sure to keep those feeders full.  On those warm days where it feels nice to be outside filling them, the birds are stocking up, trying to eat as much as possible to prepare for more cold days.  The birds are a good barometer, too, as they get busy right before inclement weather, so they can be an indicator of impending storms, rain or snow.  Here the wrens are singing in the morning, the woodpeckers are visiting the feeders and the bluebirds are flocking together in search of food.  Using shelled sunflower seeds, sometimes called sunflower hearts or kernels can provide beneficial protein for all sorts of birds, especially those thrushes who can't crack seeds, like the bluebirds.  It also eliminates the shell mess that piles up under the feeder and causes bacteria and mold build-up.  Suet is another good option when you find a suet feeder everyone likes that's also squirrel-proof. I have yet to find a raccoon-proof suet feeder, but I'm still searching.  Don't forget to provide clean water for the birds, too.  Even when it rains or snows, the birds still visit bird baths they've become accustomed to visiting in the summer.  Contrary to popular belief, they don't get their water from streams and rivers or lakes, but from puddles and bird baths.  

If you're a true snow bird and have escaped to warmer climates, then good for you!  Enjoy your respite from the cold.  We just returned from Palau in Micronesia, where I took some underwater photographs while diving there.  I have added them to the underwater gallery on my zenfolio website for your viewing pleasure.  Remember that when ordering any photos or photo products, they will not come printed with the word "PROOF", but if you order them with the watermark with my name, they will have that printed on them.  As always you can contact me for custom projects like calendars and photo books.  

Happy bird watching and don't forget to look up at the sky or listen to the bird songs. 

How much Wood would Woodpecker Peck?

So yesterday, I had Mrs. Red-Bellied Woodpecker visiting my feeder.  This after I spotted a Hairy Woodpecker on my feeder the day before.  A first for me to see.  So while I'm looking through my super powerful binoculars, I see a little White-Breasted Nuthatch on the tree behind my garden and just up the trunk from him was a downy woodpecker.  What the what?  Craziness.  It doesn't take much to make a bird nerd happy, just some mad woodpecker action!  Here's a little Downy from the fall.

Hummingbird haven

Bees do it.

Bears do it.

People do it and

birds do it.

No, I'm not talking about that, dirty birds! I'm talking about stuffing your face!

So it's that time of year again. Not back to school time, but put on winter fat time. We wait until Thanksgiving, but the hummingbirds are doing it now. They are trying to double their body weight for their long journey south across the Gulf of Mexico to migrate and winter over in Central America.

So PLEASE don't take down those feeders, you won't be keeping them here, only to suffer from a frost and die. You will actually be doing them a disservice if you take down your feeders because now is the time they really need that easy food source. Besides, they migrate based on length of day, not on temperatures or availability of food.

Since males lose half their body weight during mating season, they are trying to compensate right now by "carb-loading" at your feeders and the remaining blooms of summer.

Also, the babies are out and about now and moms will try to coax them to the feeders eventually, first showing them the flowers as food sources and then on to the easy nectar in your feeders.

Don't hastily pull up those petunias, million bells and other flowers to replace them with ineffective mums just yet. They need all they can get.

Just imagine if you have to make a road trip on an empty stomach or run a marathon with no breakfast. What if there were no McDonald's on the way to grandma's?

You'd be pretty steamed if one day you went to the fridge for a slice of apple pie only to find somebody had thrown it away, wouldn't you?

Just think about that before you try to take down those feeders.

Been a Long Time!

It's been a while, mostly due to problems logging on to my account since the change to gmail supported logging in. I don't know if that's proper grammar for tech-talk, but it was the best I could do!

I'm happy to have finally worked though the bugs and can waxwing poetic again about birds. Oops, a little birdnerd humor there!

Last baby bird season was kind of a bust for several reasons. First of all, we were undergoing some serious construction so we could not repair the camera birdhouse. As we speak, it is empty, even though the blues built a nest, but apprently did not have successful egg laying.

Next, I put up several houses in the neighborhood to start my very own bluebird trail! I had to rally for volunteers to agree to have them on their property, but due to a delay in the newsletter going out (it was not sent out until middle of April I think), I got them up late. I had made a pretty convincing flyer (IMHO) including a picture I took of Lloyd, the very fertile male in my yard. I had six takers and added one to an existing post at the end of our street (it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?) and two houses in one yard. So a total of 8 houses have gone up and I am very exited about it!

I had a busy summer and unfortunately was under the weather for much of it so I couldn't do as much monitoring as I would have liked.

This year is pretty good so far, but a bit of a mixed bag. I am sure some of it is weather related and I think some of it is the result of some new parents in the neighborhood.

The good news is that our blues built a nest in a previously never occupied house in our yard and had six successful fledglings! The bad news is I didn't get any footage, but I am happy they all made it out!

More news soon and some fun sightings, neighborhood inhabitants, and some helpful information related to other critters not of the winged variety.

I'll also try to post some fun bird video!

It's like Thunder, Lightning......

Okay, okay, bad disco song reference, but "Knock on Wood" is one of my favorites and certainly that line is appropriate considering the recent events.


Sincere apologies for being absent for so long, but there has been a lot of recent activity. The saddest and most frustrating news is that the Bluebird cam got hit when our house was recently struck by lightning. It's been a nightmare logistically for us. I am glad that the blues weren't in the house or affected. They seem to be carrying on as usual, probably happy for their new-found privacy!!

I know that Sylvia and Lloyd had completed the nest and I know she is incubating based on their activities, so that's consoling.

There's quite a bit of other activity considering the recent cold snap with temperatures in the freezing to below freezing range.

• The Goldfinches are all dressed out in their mating plumage.
• I thought I had a pair of House Finches building a nest, but it appears that there is a courting conflict going on.
• "Snowflake", my near-albino Tufted Titmouse is still around.
• Chickadees seem to be building in yet another house I have hung.
• The Tree Swallows are still buzzing around my other two boxes, but I have yet to see any construction. They're usually late and a bit messy anyway (their the "creative ones" in the bird world. I can relate!)

Some of the tender flowering plants have been hurt by the cold snap, so that might affect food sources and insect quantities. The daffodils had a short run, as did the hyacinth, the wisteria and some tulips. I am worried about peonies and some cherries and other fruit bearing trees and shrubs, but everything else seems to be fairing well.

Tips of the moment:

1. Keep those feeders full! The birds are feeding like crazy because it's mating season and it's been cold.
2. Watch for fun and interesting mating behavior. Many birds will feed potential mates. I caught my finches doing this. The deal isn't sealed yet, Mr. House Finch!!!
3. Don't forget to provide clean water!
4. Clean your feeders when you fill them.

That's all for now. Hope this is helpful and feel free to post questions or comments!