The Birders Report

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Common Moorhen photo by Larry Jordan

The Common Moorhen is a medium sized bird that is the most widely distributed member of the Rail family.  Even though they have a wide range around the world the Common Moorhen is listed as threatened or a species of special concern in some areas due to loss of wetland habitat.

I visited one of our great local birding spots yesterday, where I found this Common Moorhen hanging out in a group of Canada Geese, in a small side finger of a huge pond.  They like freshwater marshes and reedy ponds but can usually be seen along the pond edges, where they sometimes walk on top of floating vegetation, showing their olive-yellow legs, looking for seeds and snails.

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The Last Oak Run Sunset of 2008 photo by Larry Jordan

Go see other Skywatch Friday photos from around the world and join in the fun!

This photo is from Dennis Tennant’s website click on it to go there

We want to wish everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!  May peace and joy reign throughout the world and may everyone, wherever you are, enjoy the best birding the planet has to offer!

American Robin Foraging photo by Larry Jordan

The American Robin is the most widespread thrush in North America and is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin.  Even so, we only counted 1806 of them on our Christmas Bird Count in Redding, California yesterday.  That number was down from last year’s count of 2286.

This time of year in California, the American Robin travels in small flocks during the day, foraging for worms, grubs and other invertebrates in the morning and fruits and berries later in the day.  At night they can form huge flocks of thousands of individuals to go to roost in trees.

According to the data gathered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they tend to avoid areas with snow cover as the snow would make it more difficult to find food for these ground foraging birds.  As you can see from my photo, the snow is melting here but we have still had quite a few American Robins hanging around our feeders.

American Robins migrate southward from their Canadian breeding grounds but many stay in the U.S. for the winter.  Some birds fly down to the warmth of Mexico for winter and return in early spring, being one of the first birds to nest and lay pretty blue eggs.

Many people look forward to seeing their first Robin in the spring.  I know it always makes me feel like summer is right around the corner.  But I also enjoy seeing them this time of year knowing that the weather is not too severe and I will be enjoying their company in larger numbers soon.

Make sure to visit the other Camera Critters photos and have a great weekend!

A Bushtit Foraging In An Oak Tree On Christmas Morning by Larry Jordan

When I went out this beautiful Christmas morning, I had an oak tree just teaming with hungry Bushtits.  This is one of the shots I captured with my new Nikon D90.

Make sure you check out the other Skywatch Friday photos!  And have a Joyous Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah.

May the Peace, Joy and Happiness of Christmas be with you every day.

Mountain Quail photo courtesy of Browninga5.com

Yesterday when I took my break from the computer to finish up the second day of my Feeder Watch count, I walked to the living room window to see how many birds were out in the yard before gathering up the essential bird counting tools.  What I saw sent me running to the kitchen to get my bins.

When I looked out the window, I saw a Northern Red-shafted Flicker pecking on the ground and several, rather large, what looked like Quail foraging in the yard.  But they were big, plump birds.  As I brought my bins up to my eyes to get a better look, sure enough they were Mountain Quail!

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Steller’s Jay and House Finch photo by Brigitte Jordan

Brigitte took this photo that looks like a House Finch riding a Steller’s Jay.  We had a foot of snow on the ground for the past week so the backyard is full of Dark-eyed Juncos, Steller’s and Western Scrub Jays, Spotted Towhees and Golden-crowned Sparrows.

We still have the Lesser Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, Mourning Doves, House Finches, Oak Titmice, Acorn Woodpeckers, and White-breasted Nuthatches at the feeders.  We have also been blessed with visits from Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, Hermit Thrushes, American Robins and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the past couple of weeks.

Plus we still have a few Anna’s Hummingbirds hanging around too!  Merry Christmas to all and have a great Camera Critters Weekend!

News Release December 19, 2008 - Revised teaching unit is released from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Ithaca, NY–Why is that crow chasing a hawk? Do birds fly away from noisy places? How long will an American Robin spend pulling a worm from the ground? The BirdSleuth curriculum from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is all about tapping into a child’s natural curiosity to answer scientific questions in a fun way. The just-released revision of the Exploring Bird Behavior module offers educators even more lessons, posters, and multimedia resources. The new student toolkit comes with two important tools for collecting behavioral information about birds: a BirdSleuth stopwatch and tally counter.

“Kids love to work with gadgets,” says Birdsleuth project leader Jennifer Fee. “Give them a stopwatch or put them in a lab coat, and they transform into little scientists. And then it becomes easier to explain tricky concepts, such as the difference between a behavioral event and a behavioral state.” (An event can be counted; a state can be timed.)

This module also comes with a DVD showing bird behaviors most students have never seen, including stunning slow-motion video of the exotic courtship dance of the Greater Sage-Grouse. A 32-page teacher’s guide includes step-by-step instructions for completing all six lessons, or “investigations.”

The Exploring Bird Behavior module, like the others in the BirdSleuth series, engages students in inquiry by building lessons and activities around citizen-science projects from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This module uses the Crows Count project. Students count crows and their relatives (ravens, magpies, and jays), observe their behaviors, and report what they see to the Cornell Lab where scientists are studying the dynamics of group behavior in crows.

“BirdSleuth gets kids interested in nature, gets them outside, and teaches them to think more critically,” says Fee. “They ask questions, collect data, look for patterns and evidence, test ideas, make conclusions, and share results.”

To learn more about the new Exploring Bird Behavior module and about the entire BirdSleuth curriculum, visit www.birds.cornell.edu/BirdSleuth.edu. The staff is happy to answer any questions about how to make Birdsleuth a welcome supplement to your existing science curriculum.

Contact:
Jennifer Fee, Project Leader, (607) 254-2403, jms327@cornell.edu.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a membership institution dedicated to interpreting and conserving the earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. Visit the Lab’s web site at www.birds.cornell.edu.

Venus, Jupiter and the Moon Begin to Converge photo by Larry Jordan

This was taken a couple of weeks ago, on November 29th, just two days before these three celestial bodies converged.  You can read an interesting article on this phenomenon at the National Geographic website.

I liked the pastel shades of the sunset mixed with the moon, the planets and the city lights of Redding.  Enjoy the other Skywatch Friday photos.