Date: 1/24/25 1:39 pm From: Debra Babin via groups.io <Debra.b...> Subject: Re: [labird] Snow birds? What's at your feeders?
Wow, sorry for the poor formatting. Not sure what happened. One more try to make it easier to read: Among the usual suspects, we had an elevated number of House Finches(10) and American Goldfinches(15). The Yellow-rumped Warblers have been low(2) and the Northern Cardinals(10) were somewhat typical. Several winters ago we had our highest ever count of Cardinals, 30(!), all of them sunning themselves in a 80 foot long hedgerow! We have also been enjoying Red-winged blackbirds(4), White-throated Sparrows(2), Ruby-crowned Kinglet(1), Orange-crowned Warbler(1), and a Yellow-throated Warbler(1) that has been around since Jan 10th. I believe we've had Yellow-throated Warblers here for about 5 of the past 7 winters. Always excited to see them! The birds hitting the suet during the freeze were Yellow-throated Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Red-bellied & Downy Woodpeckers, Titmice, Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, and even one House Sparrow. This fall, we had Mockingbirds, Brown Thrashers, and even Gray Catbirds "hovering" between the squirrel baffle & the suet feeder, pecking at the suet before flying off with tiny bits. None of these have been see eating suet during this freeze/snow event. Brown Thrashers and Gray Catbirds have not been seen at all over the past week or two. On Jan 24, 2025, at 3:34 PM, Debra Babin via groups.io <Debra.b...> wrote: Among the usual suspects, we had an elevated number of House Finches(10) and American Goldfinches(15). The Yellow-rumped Warblers have been low(2) and the Northern Cardinals(10) were somewhat typical. Several winters ago we had our highest ever count of Cardinals, 30(!), all of them sunning themselves in a 80 foot long hedgerow! We have also been enjoying Red-winged blackbirds(4), White-throated Sparrows(2), Ruby-crowned Kinglet(1), Orange-crowned Warbler(1), and a Yellow-throated Warbler(1) that has been around since Jan 10th. I believe we've had Yellow-throated Warblers here for about 5 of the past 7 winters. Always excited to see them! The birds hitting the suet during the freeze were Yellow-throated Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Red-bellied & Downy Woodpeckers, Titmice, Chickadees, Carolina Wrens, and even one House Sparrow. This fall, we had Mockingbirds, Brown Thrashers, and even Gray Catbirds "hovering" between the squirrel baffle & the suet feeder, pecking at the suet before flying off with tiny bits. None of these have been see eating suet during this freeze/snow event. Brown Thrashers and Gray Catbirds have not been seen at all over the past week or two. On Jan 23, 2025, at 10:40 AM, James V Remsen via groups.io <najames...> wrote: LABIRD: Video of the birds (500+) swarming my feeders on Tuesday. Several were sluggish and clearly suffering. Heavy wet snow was sticking to plumage and freezing. More later …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASxqvW08A24 =================== Dr. J. V. Remsen Emeritus Prof. of Natural Science and Curator of Birds Museum of Natural Science/Dept. Biological Sciences LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 najames<at>LSU.edu On Jan 22, 2025, at 9:00 PM, James V Remsen via groups.io <najames...> wrote: LABIRD: I will post a couple of eBird lists from yesterday with videos to show the feeding frenzy at my place, but meanwhile today …. 100% survival of my hummingbirds despite 10 F. I brought in all feeders last night and had them out before dawn. Because Amazilia is a genus of the lowland tropics, I was most worried about my Buff-bellied, but it made it! This afternoon’s eBird list (5 species hummers): https://ebird.org/checklist/S210310975 =================== Dr. J. V. Remsen Emeritus Prof. of Natural Science and Curator of Birds Museum of Natural Science/Dept. Biological Sciences LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 najames<at>LSU.edu On Jan 21, 2025, at 3:09 PM, Johnson, Erik via groups.io <Erik.Johnson...> wrote: LAbird, With such an unprecedented snowfall (8.25 inches at my place in Sunset!), all kinds of interesting bird observations must be out there. Share what you've been seeing. The most interesting observation at my place was 4 Rusty Blackbirds devouring black oil sunflower. Also, a Brown Thrasher visited the seed feeder, which I think may be a first for me (at least in south LA). A little group of Common Grackles briefly stopped by, which also don't regularly come to my seed feeders. One quick visit by a Dark-eyed Junco, which I haven't had at the feeder yet this winter. Most of my winter hummingbirds are accounted for - I have a few each of Black-chins and Rufous, and no one new has arrived as far as I can tell. Maxed out at 14 Northern Cardinals and about 50 American Goldfinches in view at once. No Purple Finches or Pine Siskins, but this isn't over yet. Hope everyone is safe and warm. Erik Johnson Sunset, LA Erik.Johnson AT Audubon DOT org
