birdfeeding | New year, new bird

Screenshot_20230109_115238_Merlin Bird ID~2

So yesterday, after filling the feeders before the winter storm came in (lots of rain and sleet over night), I decided to see what hits I'd get from the Bird ID app, as the shrubs and trees were loaded. I could recognise a few by sight, still couldn't tell you which is a Carolina Chickadee and which is a Black Cap, and the difference in Sparrows, but I can distinguish Eastern Towhees by sound now.

any way, a new bird popped up! A 'Palm Warbler'. Huh. Ok. Never seen that before. Maybe it's a misidentified bird. So I looked it up to see what they look like in the event I spot one.

Lo and behold... That is definitely an Immature/NonBreeding Adult Palm Warbler. And a female House Finch. That's a new Lifer on the app for me.

There's at least 2. They appear to be the Western Palm Warbler, Nonbreeding Adult/Immature variety. It seems they may still be migrating, or have decided here is a good place to overwinter, due to an abundance of open shrub land, boreal forest with bogs/ponds and plenty of easy snacky foods.

Pretty cool.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Haha, the only way I can tell a Black-Capped from a Carolina Chickadee is by what state I was in when I saw it.

That's an awesome little warbler.

I get the Spotted Towhee in my parts (Washington State), from what I understand, the only difference is the spots. They do have a distinct call that's hard to mistake for any other bird.

This is the Eastern Towhee-

They do indeed have a distinctive call! Eastern Wood Pewees do too. House wrens and Carolina Wrens have a tendency to sound as well as look similar, so I get them mixed up too.

I get these occasionally. Most of those sightings are traveling birds in spring, but some years they have stuck around for weeks or months.

They're here year round for me. Heh. Usually in pairs or more.

That's cool. They're so pretty to watch.

Nice!
My dad was always searching for new warblers; they can be evasive!

Also, I really like that feeder. It looks absolutely squirrel-proof! I don't have any low-hanging branches I can use like that right now, but I have a young Catalpa tree that will be suitable in a few more years.

The ball-type feeders work quite well for medium-size foods like sunflower seeds or peanut halves, and appeal to clinging birds while being at least squirrel-inconvenient. There's no tray where squirrels can pick up loose feed, and they aren't equipped to probe for food like birds are. They have to hunt for seeds that are sticking out enough to grab, or shake the feeder and hope that seeds fall out to be collected from the ground.

Chewy has these, the red are under 10.00, and the green are around 11.00. We're up to 7 of them now.

They're great for bird blends with lots of sunflower seeds, dried fruits, nuts, etc. Squirrels try to get stuff from them, but so far, other than what sticks out, they've been unsuccessful. We wrap the hang chain around a branch and hook it on itself, so they can't pull them down easily either.

Almost every bird we get uses them, even non clinging types like sparrows and cardinals.

Edited 2023-01-10 17:30 (UTC)

Those are good pictures. It looks like you have very nice habitat for birds.

Approximately where are you at? I've made location tags for several folks who have mentioned theirs. I'm in central Illinois myself.

I'm in SW/Central Virginia, in the foothills of the Blur Ridge Mountains. I can see the Peaks of Otter from my office.}:)

Woohoo! We now have three out of the four coasts covered, plus inland. :D

I made a location: Virginia tag for you to use, along with Photos since I forgot that earlier.

Awesome! I will do my best to remember to use the tags!

New year, new bird

no subject

no subject

Yes ...

Re: Yes ...

Re: Yes ...

no subject

Thoughts

no subject

Yay!

Re: Yay!

Re: Yay!

Re: Yay!