Backyard 8/29--Ovenbird

Before Irene came along on Saturday, we took down the feeders we'd put up to prevent them from being blown away.  Sunday evening, as the wind died down we started putting back a few and this morning completed the task, including putting up a couple we hadn't deployed previously.  We may have gotten carried away; there are 2 sock thistle feeders, 3 hummingbird feeders, and 5 seed feeders scattered around the property, so that makes 10, count 'em, 10 in all.

Happily, they all attract birds. Hummers come to all 3 of the feeders, the socks have been covered with goldfinches and House Finches, and the seed feeders do a heavy traffic in chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, sparrows, and cardinals. So we're delighted with our results and I think, with our trip to Lowe's this morning to buy a baffle, we've made the feeders high enough to be inaccessible to deer (who knew deer liked bird seed?) and have them far enough away from tree trunks and branches to make them difficult for squirrels.

However, the best bird today was one that doesn't come to feeders since it is a warbler and their diet is bugs. This morning Shari spotted from our bedroom window an Ovenbird skulking around in the leaf litter at the edge where our lawn meets the woods.  At first she thought it was a thrush (which would have been cool) but then spotted the striped head and knew what she had. I took back my binoculars from her and got on the bird. It is by no means a rare bird (though it is my first of the year), but I just never considered that we'd have one here.  The birds I'm looking out for are Red-breasted Nuthatches and Brown Creepers.

Late this afternoon, Shari and I took the walk through the WMA to the lake.  We added a couple of new birds to the list for that spot--a flyover Northern Flicker and a few Yellow Warblers mixed in with some Pine Warblers.
BACKYARD
12 Species
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Downy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Ovenbird
Chipping Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
American Goldfinch
WHITING WMA
13 species

Mourning Dove  10
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Blue Jay  1
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
American Robin  3
Yellow Warbler  3
Pine Warbler  4
Chipping Sparrow  1
House Finch  4
American Goldfinch  2