Backyard Birds

Okay, I have to admit that I haven't been hiking at all this past week, leaving me at a loss for adventures to blog about. But that's okay, because I've been waiting for the right time to write about the wildlife oasis that is my backyard, because there have been many memorable moments right outside my dining room window. My backyard has numerous attractions to wildlife--a flowing stream, open fields, shrubs for cover, an adjacent wilderness area, fruit trees, perennial flowers, and plenty of bird feeders. Most days I can see more birds here than I would see if I hiked ten miles through the forest, so you can't blame me for choosing to relax at home once in a while and watch the birds from the comfort of my warm home. I can reliably expect a good number of species here, and once in a while I'm met with some surprises.

A Black-capped Chickadee that I banded

I suppose I should start with the species that have become regular visitors to the yard, some of which I've grown rather fond of since moving here last year. Each morning starts with the chickadees, who arrive just after sunrise each morning in a small flock, taking turns at the feeder (they do, in fact, have a pecking order when it comes to feeding). Chickadees come and go in small flocks throughout the day, making it impossible to know how many there are. The only way to really count them is to capture them and band them, a project I started last week. Using a fine mesh net called a mist net I captured three of my resident chickadees last week and gave them each a shiny bracelet with a USFWS number so they can be tracked if caught again. I've seen at least two of them revisit the feeder, and suspect that there may be dozens more for me to band. That'll be a good project for me this winter.

The next birds to visit are usually the Blue Jays, which loudly announce their presence, and usually only stay at the feeder for a short while each morning and again in the afternoon. Occasionally we will see a woodpecker at the suet, usually a Hairy Woodpecker. I've seen Pileated Woodpeckers in the yard, always a magnificent sight, but they're a little big for my small suet feeder. Lately the only other regular species has been a small flock of American Goldfinches, who like to sit on the feeder's perches and gorge themselves on sunflower seeds.

The Gray Catbird, feasting on crabapples

The regulars are a welcome sight at the feeders, but what really makes this yard exciting is the surprising rarites that pass through. Last week I was sitting at my computer when I heard a familiar meow-like call from outside, which was coming from an appropriately-named Gray Catbird that was sitting in my crabapple tree. Gray Catbirds are rather common birds of shrubby areas in more southern parts of the state, but in the Adirondacks they are an uncommon sight. Seeing one at the end of November is a very rare sight, and it's likely that this was a young bird that flew a little off course from it's migration route south. The confused bird stayed in the yard for five days, then disappeared when a cold snap came through. Hopefully it put on enough weight eating my crabapples to make the rest of its journey.

A Ruffed Grouse surprised me this evening

A few days before the catbird arrived I had a visit from a Ruffed Grouse, who was likely also attracted to the berries on my crabapple tree. In my experience crabapple trees are by far the best way to attract birds to the yard, as I have had a number of rare birds in that tree. Last winter the tree was picked clean by flocks of Cedar Waxwings and Bohemian Waxwings, who depend on trees that bear fruit in winter as their main food source. One day last year the alarm calls of Blue Jays alerted me to a Northern Shrike that was perched in the crabapple tree, a predatory bird that is seen in small numbers here in winter, and rarely seen in backyards. It was likely looking to pick off one of the chickadees or goldfinches from the feeders, but the Blue Jays drove it off as soon as it arrived. This was definitely the most exciting bird I've seen in the yard, and wish I had time to snap a photo before it left.

A Bohemian Waxwing in the crabapple tree last winter

The Black Squirrel

While the birds come and go, there are a variety of mammals that have become regular visitors here as well. A herd of deer is often seen in the fields behind the house, and they cross through the yard to reach the stream down below. A few weeks ago they were in the yard a few nights eating some of the fallen fruit from an apple tree that I have on the edge of the woods. We have excellent rodent diversity here, with at least four species living in or near the yard. There are chipmunks, mice (who are unfortunately sighted inside the house too), red squirrels, and gray squirrels. The star attraction of the yard is a female "black" squirrel that visits almost daily, which is an uncommon color morph of a gray squirrel. She usually visits the feeders just before or after a male gray squirrel visits, so I assume that they are a mated pair. They disappeared for most of the summer, off raising young I assume, but returned about a month ago and have been seen under the birdfeeders daily ever since.


As I write I can hear the chip notes of chickadees outside, an almost constant sound this time of year. The crabapple tree is still full of bright red berries, awaiting its next visitor. There haven't been any sightings of waxwings yet this winter, so I'm not sure if they'll come down from the north this year. I'm hoping to see a Pine or Evening Grosbeak in the tree this year, since they are predicted to come south this winter. Stay posted for the next rare sighting...