What Did I Miss?

 1:00 to 2:30pm, 71 Degrees, Cloudy Skies, Wind 8 W, Bar 03.17 fall

What did I miss today? Not the Red-bellied Woodpecker. (Above) I can only look in one direction. Maybe 180 degrees. This is the first time I saw one today. No calls or songs. I just happened to be looking in the right spot. I usually hear them and not see them. On three occasions I saw a red-bellied. The other times I heard the calls and looked. Much lower in the trees today. Also, less leaves. I know I missed my neighbor at Number 2 fill her feeder. I sit with a view of it. I turned around and it was full. Even when I am in The Little Forrest I do not see what is going on everywhere. 

No two people have the same experience. Even sitting next to each other at the same time and place. We bring our different experiences and perspectives. 

Merlin Identified 18 birds. I saw 9 of those. Common Merganser is unlikely in The Little Forrest. It could have flown over. They will winter in Casco Bay. Not far away. 

Not a Mystery

 2:00 to 3:00pm, 53 Degrees, Clear Skies, Wind 7 mph S, Bar 30.34 fall

A kids part east of Fall Brook. The birds were subdued for a while in the beginning. I am not sure if it started just before I sat or if it had been going on for a while. A slow start to the activity of the birds when I got down there. Also, things have been slower. The Blue Jays (above) came in for their peanuts first. 

I saw a Red-tailed Hawk come flying low over the condominiums. Followed it as it flew from west to east. And out of sight. Crows called alarms shortly after I saw the hawk. Then crows coming from the west. Big alarms! Then the hawk came flying from east to west with three crows encouraging to move elsewhere. the leaves have fallen enough that I got to see a lot play out. A month ago it would have been a mystery as to why the crows were alarmed. 

Merlin Identified 13 species. I saw 6 of them. I also saw the hawk! 

New Baseline

 2:00 to 3:00pm, 50 Degrees, Clear Skies, Wind 8mph NW, Bar 30.28 even

Is this the new baseline? The past few days it has been under ten bird species. Definitely less activity. There was a wintery feel Wednesday. Things have quieted since. I suspect the birds that are here are staying for the winter. The migrating birds are through for the most part. It shall be interesting to see what happens.

I took some peanuts to the feeder, after I set up my chair. I did not get back to the chair before a Blue Jay was on the feeder! They know I bring the peanuts. I still can not tell the individual birds. Time and practice will help. They know me however. 

Merlin Identified 10 species. I saw 6 of them. I heard a Carolina Wren for the first time in five days. I thought they had gone. They can be year round here. Although there are less. 

Maybe

 2:30 to 3:30pm, 65 Degrees, Clear Skies, Wind 9mph S, Bar 29.87 even

Maybe this is what winter is like only colder. A good bit of activity in The Little Forrest. However the bird species number is down again. I brought peanuts again. The Blue Jays come in for those. No Titmice today however. The Northern Cardinals (above) are much more curious when the jays are grabbing peanuts. They come much closer than they normally do. The birds are paying attention to the other birds. I do not know if they communicate directly or not. 

Merlin Identified 9 species. I saw 6 species. I heard a Red-tailed Hawk up on the wind. Nice to have merlin confirm that. I can see a lot more sky than a month ago. I was hoping to see the hawk. 

Winter is coming

 3:00 to 4:00pm, 62 Degrees, Clear, Wind 6mph S, Bar 29.99 fall

Winter is coming! It was nice out. However, the birds were not terribly active. Not really a lot of bird chatter. Sunset is 5:35 today. It is the closest I have come to sunset yet. The Blue Jays heard me coming in. They were at the feeder for peanuts within two minutes. Got some really good looks at them. Jon Young in, What the Robin Knows,  talks about building threads with individual birds that eventually become a rope. I have yet to identify an individual bird. I am trying. I suspect some of the birds know me. It seems as if there are two flocks of the jays. The western are more timid. The eastern are bold. One came from behind so close to my head I could feel it. Perhaps one day it will click and I will recognize one.

Merlin identified 6 species. I saw 5 of them. Lowest total for Merlin since I moved down to the brook. I also, saw Downy Woodpecker, (above) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, House finch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Herring Gulls. The birds were subdued.

Wintery

 1:30 to 2:30pm, 49 degrees, Cloudy, Wind 4mph S, Bar 30.39 fall

It felt wintery in the sit spot this afternoon. I have sat there and felt more comfortable at lower temperatures. Nothing of note happened. 

Merlin Identified 18 species. I saw 9 species.

What is Baseline

 8:00 to 9:00am, 42 Degrees, Clear, Wind 7mph 9, Bar 30.35 rise

The birds activity can vary so much. What actually is baseline behavior? I don't think I saw a bird in The Little Forrest for the first half an hour. In the summer an hour after sunrise the birds would be everywhere. Activity seemed to pick up about the time the sun started to reach the forrest floor. I sit down in the Fall Brook Valley with tall trees all around. I suspect that the birds are conserving energy by not being in the colder spots. I will see birds sometimes in the sunny areas around the buildings and then nothing in my sit spot. There are many variables that I do not know or understand yet. I am still learning. An hour of observation at a time. 

I brought peanuts down with me. The first birds in were the Blue Jays. They brought a Tufted Titmouse with them. (above) Again the ones from the north and west took a more circuitous route to the feeder. The ones from the east were more direct. A couple of times the eastern ones flew really close to my head. It was turned away from their flight pattern. It is a fairly large bird! They cleaned the peanuts out faster today than yesterday. I wish I had time to observe the behavior after the nuts were gone. Or lack of behavior. When they were really feeding, robins and a cardinal came in to observe. Also, when the nuts were gone the a jay made a call that sounded specific to the nuts are gone. Sounded a bit whiney. Another landed in the basket the nuts were in and made the same sound. Observing and learning.

Merlin identified 14 species. I saw 7 species. Pine siskin has come up a few times lately. It would be nice to see that migrant bird.