Monday, December 14, 2020

Jericho Take Count Dec 19-20 : Christmas Birds


Jericho & nearby towns 
Take Count 
reports from residents

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Observations 
From the Morse Family

Hey Bernie-

Here's our family's data.  Thank you for championing this event and being so kindly and inviting.  Give Maeve our best too!  These are the birds that we saw in Jericho and recorded over both the 19th & 20th per your guidelines.  Let me know if you have any questions:

5 Dark-eyed juncos
4 Black-capped chickadees
2 White-breasted nuthatches
2 Tufted titmice
1 Downy woodpecker
7 American crows
1 Barred owl
2 Northern cardinals
1 Blue heron

My 6-year old granddaughter, a Daisy Scout from NYC who sold 500 boxes of Girl Scout cookies last year and LOVES the great outdoors, and I discovered a bird's nest on the ground that must have blown down out of a tree over night.  Not sure if you might be able to identify what species of bird made this nest?  Attaching a photo of Ruthie and the nest beside the trailhead sign to her path...


and also the Barred owl-  my wife Maura and I were surprised by the wingspan when it suddenly flew off. 

[Measurements from Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
Both Sexes
Length: 16.9-19.7 in (43-50 cm)
Weight: 16.6-37.0 oz (470-1050 g)
Wingspan: 39.0-43.3 in (99-110 cm)]

Steeplebush birders:

Our son Joe Morse
His wife Aryn Morse
Their 10-year old son Kieran Morse
Their 6-year old daughter Ruthie Morse 
(all four on loan from NYC for about 1 month)
My wife Maura Morse
Myself

Best regards and Happy holidays!
Michael Morse


 PS, I got excited this morning when I heard what I thought was a pileated woodpecker down our road...  It turned out to be a Suncommon work crew installing solar panels on our neighbor's roof!
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Barred Owl photos and comments from Jim Carroll of Jericho

What is fascinating is that it is actually looking the other way, turned its head 180 degrees. It was hunting there 4 an hour or more. I just love the natural phenomenon of how does a 180-degree head turn still have a 100 % feather match up. 


It comes around and is very self-confident. I have been trying to get a pic of the Hawks. No luck yet.

They are so magnificent. ~Jim Carroll

                            Looking North
Looking East

 Looking West

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From Bert of Jericho
Recently at our bird feeder, we have seen:
up to 30 mourning doves
6 blue jays
male Pileated woodpecker
3 Downy woodpecker
2 Hairy woodpecker
dozen chickadee's (of different types)
4 - 6 juncos /starlings
male & female cardinal
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From Angelike of Jericho

Hi,
 I had expected to see more, but here's what I came up with at our homes in the Foothills Devt, Jericho on Dec. 19/20. 

3 Cardinals
1 Bluejay
3 American Crows
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 chickadee

The blog posts look great with what everyone else found this weekend!

Angelike Contis 

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From Louanne of Jericho

Bernie and Maeve,

Nice spotting of a Black-tipped Tail Weasel.  Yesterday, I saw a Red Fox, but it was in 
Williston on my CBC route which I'll bird tomorrow,

I was home in Jericho all day and watched my feeders.  Not a lot of activity and I 
didn't report it to eBird.

Here are the sightings: 
2 Downy Woodpeckers, 1 m, 1 f
2 Hairy Woodpeckers, 1 m, 1 f
2 Blue Jays
1 American Crow - flyover
8 Black-capped Chickadees  (seen at one time)
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 American Goldfinch
2 Cardinals, 1 m, 1 f

Thanks for doing this and the tabulations.

Louanne

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From Bob of Jericho

I saw a flock of 20 pine grosbeaks in two places, Jeri hill apts, and river road by the school. Also, hairy and downy, tree sparrow, b c chickadees, crow, blue jay, m. Dove, pigeon, junco, cardinal. Missed turkey and nuthatch, which are usual suspects. 

Bob Weber
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                             From Andrea of Westford

We had lots of birds, as usual, but we had an owl & a pileated woodpecker that’s been hanging around for the last couple of weeks. 
 Here is the owl :)
Andrea Sprague

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Bernie and Maeve observed the following on Dec 19-20 in the backyard.
1 Northern Cardinal 
6 Black-Capped Chickadee
7 Mourning Dove
9 House Finch
2 American Goldfinch
7 Blue Jay
3 Dark-Eyed Junco
2 White-Breasted Nuthatch
1 Tree Sparrow
2 Tufted Titmouse
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Hairy Woodpecker
& 1 Ermine

Bird Count Captures surprise visitor

While watching and counting birds, Bernie spotted a small white creature, about 7 to 13 inches long with a black-tipped tail - coming out from under the snow. I did not get a photo - she sure moves about quickly. But you can see the same kind of creature I spotted by watching this youtube. So cute! 


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Here are some of the birds Maeve and I have observed in our backyard in November this year. 


White-breasted Nuthatch
 

Downy Woodpecker

Note the black flecks in the outer tail feathers of the Downy Woodpecker (photo above). Bill is about half the length of the head.

Note the outer tail feathers of the Hairy Woodpecker photo below) are pure white. Bill is almost as long as the head.

 Hairy Woodpecker


Red-breasted Nuthatch 
(They seem to particularly like unsalted peanuts)


White-breasted Nuthatch 
(They also seem to particularly like unsalted peanuts)



Black-capped Chickadee


Blue Jay


House Finch

Covid Haircut

Mark the dates: Dec 19 & 20 and send Bernie your counts, photos, comments after Take Count Day(s).

Cheers, 
Bernie & Maeve

"We put our minds together as one and thank all the birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them the gift of beautiful songs. Each morning they greet the day and with their songs remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader and to watch over the world. To all the Birds, from the smallest to the largest, we send our joyful greetings and thanks.
 Now our minds are one."
From Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer


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Dec 19-20 Jericho 
and surrounding towns Bird Count

Last year a group of us joined ranks for a first trial run of a Jericho/Underhill Christmas Bird CountThe Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer birdwatchers and administered by the National Audubon Society.

There will not be an official CBC in Jericho this year. However, we are inviting you all to join us in observing and recording birds in Jericho/Underhill - be it in your backyard or elsewhere in either town for an unofficial Jericho/Underhill 'Take Count' on December 19 & 20. Then send us a list and (optional) photos as well as anything you would like to share about your bird count experience. We will publish the results on this blog. 


Here are the guidelines.
  1. Observe birds anywhere in Jericho or Underhill any time on December 19 and 20 or either of the two days.
  2. Record the highest count seen at any one time for each species observed. For example, if at 10 AM on Dec 19 you see 3 chickadees and 1 Blue Jay, then at 11 AM you see 2 chickadees, and on Dec 20 at 4pm you see 1 chickadee and 2 Blue Jays - Record 3 chickadees, and 2 Blue Jays for the count. Same way with any other species that you see.
  3. Send your highest at-one-time count for each species. Note which town (Jericho or Underhill) each was observed in, and your name, to Bernie.paquette@yahoo.com. 
  4. Optional: Send in photo(s) of any birds observed during the two days.
  5. Optional: Tell us your Take Count two-day experience, bird story, or comments so that we can share with others.
  6. We will post the counts, photos, stories, comments on a blog post.
Will you Take the Count for Jericho or Underhill? We hope you will join in the count and share your observations, and of course, enjoy time watching our avian neighbors. 

 by Bernie

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Where are the (backyard feeder) Birds?


Where are the birds?



Black oil sunflower in shell, 

Black oil sunflower shelled, 

Safflower seeds,

Unsalted Peanuts for the Jays, Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers.


Tube feeders, tray feeders, peanut feeders all cleaned and filled; a few handfuls of seed scattered on the ground for the Juncos, and Sparrows.


Binoculars, Camera, at hand.


Just missing the BIRDS!



Short Stories of 55 Words

Bernie Paquette




Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Birding Binoculars choosing, purchasing, and calibrating

Buying Binoculars in brief

Binoculars are a birder’s most important tool. There are a lot of specifics about binoculars that you might want to research before buying. But a short-cut is to google “binoculars for birding” and read several reviews and summaries. e sure to research specifically birding binoculars! 

There are kinds of optics on the market that are fine for watching an opera or a Broadway play, or for bringing with you to a football game. 

Others are small and lightweight, great for, say, long-distance hikers – but they’re frustrating for bird watching because it’s hard to find birds quickly through such a limited field of view.

 Other binoculars are designed for hunters, so they can see deer from a great distance. Others are for people on ocean-going boats who want to focus on objects that are miles and miles and miles away – but using these binoculars for birdwatching can give the user a bad case of what feels very much like sea-sickness. 

Most birders choose magnification of 7x or 8 or 8.5. Any more makes it impossible to focus on small birds and often make people queasy because they’re so hard to hold steady.

It’s always a good idea to try binoculars before buying.  Unfortunately, there’s no local store that has lots of birding binoculars to try and compare. If this pandemic ever eases, maybe you can go on a few bird walks with other people and ask to take a look through their binoculars. 

Bernie loves his Nikon Monarchs, which are popular with many birders. They usually sell for under $300. Nikon also makes several “entry-level” models, in the $120 dollar range, that get good reviews and have the same excellent lifetime warranty.

These links will give you a good overview of what’s out there:
https://www.audubon.org/gear/binocular-guide  The “Get in the Game” and “Good Value” sections have many brands and models that get very good reviews.
This is an older article but still has some good info: https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/gear/binoculars/five-binoculars-great-birding/
It would be great if you could get a few pairs to try out, because different people find different binoculars very – well … different


I used to love Eagle Optics because they’d always send multiple pairs and because there was always a human to talk with if you called; they went out of business a few years back but passed the torch to Redstart Birding: https://redstartbirding.com/collections/binoculars
See notes near the end of this post that explain Focusing and Calibration, and interpupillary distance, magnification, etc. 

Buying Binoculars in more detail

Buying Binoculars? - Some Things to Consider. Binoculars come in an incredibly wide range of prices, from a few that are just a little over a hundred dollars up to many that are over $2000. In general, you get what you pay for – but this isn’t always the case.  Every now and then a  relatively inexpensive set of binoculars comes along that amazes everyone.  

The most important thing is to try binoculars before buying. Unfortunately, there’s no local store that has lots of binoculars to try and compare, so your best bet is to go on bird walks with other people and ask to try out their binoculars. 

Weight 

Standard-sized binoculars are much better for birding than compacts. The extra weight is worth it because you’ll be getting greater quality and clarity.  However, you’ll make excuses not to carry binoculars that are too heavy. Again, try before you buy! 

 Binocular harnesses take a lot of pressure off your neck, distributing weight evenly across your shoulders and chest.



 Interpupil Distance 

 If you can’t adjust the binoculars properly to the distance between your pupils, you won’t be able to use them as binoculars. 

Magnification Power 

 “8x35” binoculars provide an image that’s magnified 8 times (as compared to seeing it with your naked eyes). More power is NOT better for birding binoculars. Don't get talked into buying 10 or 12 power glasses. They're incredibly hard to hold steady and you can't focus on anything close. People who watch songbirds usually have binoculars in the 7x to 8.5x range.

 Optical Performance 

Best way to test this: Set up an eye chart a good distance away and see what’s the smallest line you can read. 

Ease of Focusing 

•  How much do you have to turn the focusing mechanism to go from watching a warbler in a bush right in front of you to checking out an osprey overhead?

 •  How smooth does focusing feel? Low-quality binoculars feel as if there’s grit in the mechanism.) 

Minimum Focusing 

Distance Some binoculars focus down to 5 feet; others are blurry at any distance under 25 feet! Many birders also enjoy watching butterflies and dragonflies. They need binoculars that allow them to focus on distant birds as well as beautiful flying creatures that are just a few feet away. 

Brightness

Divide the size of the objective lens (the 35 in 7x35) by the binocular’s power (the 7). In general, the larger the answer, the brighter will be the image you see through your binoculars. (However, inexpensive 7x35s with poor optics and poor lens coating may lose so much light that they’ll be “darker” than a pair of 10x40s with good optics.)  

Sturdiness

Some binoculars can survive many hard bumps without losing any of their optical quality. Others get knocked out of alignment the first time they roll off the car seat onto the carpeted floor. Tell the  salesperson  where  you’ll  be  using  your  binoculars  and  how  hard  you  usually  are  on  your equipment.

Water Resistance

 If  you’re  going  to  do  a  lot  of  birding  in  fog,  early  morning,  or  from  a  boat,  make  sure  your binoculars’ water seal has a good reputation. (Most binoculars from reputable companies do fine!)

Maintenance/Life Span

Good  binoculars  will  last  for  many  years,  but  they  might  occasionally  need  to  be  cleaned  or (after  a  few  hard  knocks)  “re-columnated”.  Most  reputable  binocular  makers  have  good warranties. (Birders tell stories about getting their favorite “bins” replaced for free after they’ve left a pair on a car roof or dropped them in a swamp.)  I’ve  had  very  good  service  through  Land,  Sea  and  Sky,  a  Houston  company  that’s  been repairing sports optics for decades. They have contracts to do repair work for several binocular makers. Last fall, after three incredibly soggy days at Plum Island, my “waterproof” binoculars ended  up  full  of condensation.  Land,  Sea  and  Sky  took  them  apart,  dried  and  cleaned  them, returned them to me within a week, and charged me only postage. 

Eyeglass compatibility

All  good  binoculars  have  eye  cups  that  can  be  adjusted  for  use  with  or  without  eyeglasses. However, eye cups differ greatly. Some twist up, some are pushed or pulled, some have to be folded  down.  Many  birders  have  strong  opinions  about  what  system  works  best.  If  you  wear eyeglasses, talk with other eyeglass wearers before buying. 

Some Suggestions

Google "binocular reviews" and you’ll find several helpful sites. It’s best to read more than one site to get a balanced picture.

  •  Check out BirdWatching magazine’s advice and reviews at http://www.birdwatching.com/optics.html   

•  Audubon has lots of useful information at http://www.audubon.org/gear/binocular-guide 

Note: New models come out very quickly and old ones get retired, so you might not always find the specific binoculars that were recommended by a friend. 

YOU PROBABLY DON’T HAVE TO PAY THE LIST PRICE!! 

Maeve Kim 2012 – revised 2017 

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Focusing vs Calibration 

Most people know how to focus their binoculars using the central focusing wheel to focus both barrels on the binocular simultaneously. But this is only part of the story! You also need to calibrate your binoculars for your own vision, for any differences between your left and right eyes. Calibrating binoculars needs to be done only once and takes less than a minute.  

How to Calibrate your Binoculars using the Standard Diopters The most common place to find the diopter adjustment is on either the right or left barrel of the binoculars near the eyepiece. 

1. If the diopter adjustment ring is on the right barrel (which is the most common-place), shut your right eye and leave your left eye open, or just cover the end of the right barrel with your hand. (Do the opposite if the diopter’s on the left barrel.)  

2.  Keeping your eye shut, use the center knob to focus on an object about 30 feet away until it becomes sharp.

3.  Now open your right eye and shut your left eye. 

4.  Look at the same object and turn the diopter ring until you see the object in sharp focus. 

Look through the binoculars with both eyes open. You should have a clear, crisp view of the object. The binoculars are now correctly calibrated for your vision. From now on, all you have to do is use the central focusing wheel to bring each new bird into sharp focus, depending on how near or far away it is. (You might have to recalibrate after letting someone else use your binoculars, if he or she has very different vision than your do.)                              

How to Calibrate your Binoculars if the Diopter Adjustment is on the Focusing Wheel 
Some binoculars have the diopter adjustment located in front of the central focusing wheel. To adjust the setting, first focus your binoculars on something as normal, but with only one eye open (usually your left), keeping the other shut. Then you swap eyes, look through the binos with the one open eye (now usually your right) and, then instead of turning the focussing wheel, you turn the diopter adjustment wheel located in front of the focusing wheel until the opened eye is now also perfectly focused on the same object. Once done, the binoculars will be perfectly calibrated to your eyesight. Take a look with both eyes at the object you used and it should be perfectly in focus. 

Other Possible Configurations
There are also a few binoculars like the very high spec Swarovski EL binoculars pictured on the right have the diopter adjustment setting integrated into the actual focusing wheel itself.  To adjust the setting on these, first you focus the binos on something as normal, but with only one eye open (usually your left). Then you pull back on the focussing wheel which engages the gearing on the diopter and exposes the graduated scale. Now close the opposite eye to the first step and look through the binos with the open eye and then just turn the wheel as you would during normal focussing, because the diopter gearing is engaged, the wheel now usually turns with a number of click-stops and you continue until the opened eye is now also perfectly focused on the same object. Then you just click the diopter adjustment/focusing wheel back into place to lock in your setting with your binocular perfectly calibrated to your vision. 

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Northern Birds on Their Way!!!!

Every so often, we have an irruption year - when birds that usually spend the winter up in Canada can't find enough food there and come south to Vermont. It looks like the winter of 2020-21 will be such a year!

Northern spruce and pine cone crops were lower than usual, so hungry birds are beginning to show up at feeders and in forests throughout northern Vermont. Here are some of the species that any of us might see at any minute!

Evening Grosbeaks are big, chunky birds with humongous bills (gross beaks). Males are flashy gold and black and white; females are dressed in quiet tan, gray, white, charcoal and palest yellow.





Back in the '80s and early '90s, Evening Grosbeaks used to descend on feeders in groups of twenty or more and polish off 10 or 15 pounds of sunflower seed each visit. Their numbers have declined sharply, making it even more of a treat to see them than in the past.















Some Vermonters are also reporting Pine Grosbeaks: rosy red males and golden females










Red-breasted Nuthatches, usually much less common than their White-breasted cousins, are visiting Vermont in good numbers too, along with Pine Siskins.

Pine Siskin























And there have even been reports of Common Redpolls! Both males and females have the little red "poll" that gave them their name. Males also have red or pink on their breasts.


 

When redpolls come, they usually come in big numbers! In 2012, well over a hundred enjoyed our feeders for a full week, constantly chattering, flitting and munching.


Sometimes there's one bird in the flock that looks much paler than the rest, as if it was dusted with snow or ice - like the bird in the lower right below. These birds may or not be Hoary Redpolls. A spirited debate has been going on for several years now about whether or not Common and Hoary Redpolls are really two different species and, if so, how to identify Hoaries with any confidence. The consensus seems to be that there's a continuum, with some birds looking "more common-ish" and others "more hoary-ish" - while waiting DNA analysis that will end the debate over species.



In addition to the irruptive birds, many of our regular winter visitors have arrived. Tree Sparrows nest way up on the Canadian tundra and come down here - down south, to balmy Vermont - for the winter months.



Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows, many of which spent the summer on Vermont's highest mountains, have moved downhill for the winter.

White-throated Sparrow
 

Dark-eyed Junco

Juncos show an amazing amount of variability in their plumage. Males are usually dark gray or black, females are usually more brownish-gray - but there's a lot of in-betweens! Two of the oddest juncos we've seen at our backyard feeders were this mottled individual:


and this oddity, which was finally identified as a hybrid between a junco and a White-throated Sparrow!



One more possible irruptive species already has Vermont birders excited. Snowy Owls come south in winters when there are more owls on the tundra than there are rodents to feed them. It's mostly immature birds who make the journey, so they're not totally snowy like the adults.


photo by Peter Swaine


Snowy Owls usually hang out in open agricultural fields, but they can show up almost anywhere! A few years ago there was one on UVM's Redstone Campus for several days, and the bird below spent more than a week atop rooftops at a new South Burlington development.




This will be a good winter for backyard birding, and maybe for an occasional drive to look for big blotchy owls!

If you'd like to hear more about migration patterns, both "normal" and every now and then, Maeve recently did an interview on Royalton Radio's "Vermont GreenZine" about this topic. The interview starts at about 23:50.

photos by Bernie and Maeve (and one by fellow birder Peter Swaine); text by Maeve

Comment received via email: Special thanks to Maeve Kim and Bernie Paquette for that wonderful link to birds in our neighborhood. The birds are out there and I can watch and listen to them without fear of catching or transmitting The Virus. I feel much less cooped up in my home now that I can look for these beautiful visitors in the wild. 
Elizabeth B. Jericho, VT