Feels like winter birding

I was out of town for Thanksgiving and got back Friday.  But between the rain and work I couldn't get out to bird the neighborhood until this afternoon.  It was nice to be out in the cold overcast weather, and it's starting to feel like winter birding again!  I walked 1-2 blocks from my house before I saw or heard a single bird.  But walking down Stillforest I came across 2 fun mixed species foraging flocks including several birds that are only here in the winter:

• Blue-headed Vireo -- I got this mediocre picture of it when it briefly perched low.
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• Orange-crowned Warbler
• American Goldfinch
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  -- the first I've seen this season

Continuing down to the T&C playing fields at the end of Meadowheath, I crossed the new footbridge into the flood plain property.  There I found Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Northern Flicker, 4 Greater Yellowlegs on the creek, and the biggest flock of Chipping Sparrows I've ever seen in the neighborhood.  I estimated 40 birds, all on the ground near the new trailhead parking lot.

White-crowned Sparrow

Saturday morning I birded the neighborhood for about 3 hours and found 33 species. On Chester Forest a Cooper's Hawk flew low across the street in front of me. Stillforest and Meadowheath were pretty quiet. At the south end of the flood plain property there was a large flock of mostly Yellow-rumped warblers. There were 20-30 of them, the most I've seen in the neighborhood this year. Nearby I also found a single juvenile White-crowned Sparrow and got this picture. I've only seen a handful of these in the neighborhood since I've lived here. Where the flood plain property meets Braeburn Glen there was a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk perched low. It flew off fast through the trees as soon as it saw me.

Warm and Breezy Morning

I birded the T&C playing fields and the area downstream this morning for about 3 hours. It was surprisingly warm and a little breezy. I was excited to see this grasshopper impaled on a barb on one of T&C's fences. Loggerhead Shrikes do this. They eat grasshoppers like this one and sometimes stick them on thorns or barbs to store or maybe to hold them steady for eating. (No one is sure why yet.) I've only read about this and seen pictures before. This is the first time I've seen it personally.

This Lincoln's Sparrow was in the reeds by the creek just downstream of the fields. It's one of our native sparrows that only lives here in the winter. Like most sparrows, it prefers low dense brush. Some of its distinguishing characteristics are gray in the face, fine streaking on the breast, and a band of yellowish buffy color across the breast streaks.

At least one Osprey was on the creek, and I'm expecting to see some wild ducks return any day now. I was excited to add bird #170 to my neighborhood list this morning -- Eastern Bluebird. 4 of them flew over the T&C playing fields at about 8:45 AM. The light was just right so I could see their blue backs and orange-red breasts even though they were flying pretty high.

NASWC Bird Walk

Yesterday morning 5 of us found 30 species for the November NASWC bird walk. The morning started cool but by mid morning it was actually a little bit warm. I can't wait for the cold front tonight! Here are the highlights from the walk:

• Wilson's Snipe were present in the creek bed and offered decent looks.
• A pair (male and female) of Belted Kingfishers made constant noise and finally sat on a wire over the creek and offered great views.
• A Northern Flicker was heard all morning but never seen.
• We got a brief but good look at a Brown Thrasher, the first I've seen this season. And this is a bird I only see a few times a year in the neighborhood, so we were very fortunate to see one on the walk.
• There were 20-30 extremely active Yellow-rumped Warblers on the flood plain property, the most I've seen this fall.
• The House Finch below did not mind us getting pretty darn close and me taking this picture.

Once we were back at the Meadowheath parking lot, 3 of us were hanging around scanning the creek bed when we saw a Blotched Water Snake that was trying to swallow an extremely large bass. We thought the fish was too big for that snake to swallow, and we couldn't stop watching. But 45 minutes later, snake had done it! I posted some pictures here. Be warned, they're not for the faint of heart!

Edit: Sheri makes a good point in the comments. This snake is nonvenomous. I've read that this family of snakes will bite if you try to catch one, but the bite is not dangerous. There could well be venomous Cottonmouths on the creek, but I have not seen one yet.

Lizard in the House

After brunch today I sat on the sofa and saw this lizard on my fireplace screen. (It's a Fence Lizard, Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus.) Oh great, I've got to catch a lizard and get it out of the house. How did it get in? Maybe through a door when I went in or out, or maybe down the chimney. I looked at the cup and piece of cardboard I usually use for catching bugs and realized there's no way that would work. So I decided I better catch this thing with my hands. I went over and moved the screen and it scuttled down under the firewood holder. It moved way too fast for me to try catching it. OK, Plan B. Let it live on doodle bugs and little spiders in my house. It will probably (I hope) stay around the fireplace since there's lots of masonry that matches its camouflage there. And a month or 2 from now I'll find a lizard that died from thirst somewhere. Then I got the idea to try and trap it. I got a big glass pitcher with overhanging sides out of the kitchen and put a little bit of water in it. I put the pitcher by the masonry step in front of the fireplace. So hopefully when the lizard gets thirsty enough it will jump into the pitcher and won't be able to climb out. We'll see! In the meantime I guess I have a houseguest.

Cooper's Hawk and White-throated Sparrows

Yesterday I spent about 4 hours birding the neighborhood and found 40 species. Just east of the T&C playing fields this Cooper's Hawk flew in and landed on a relatively open perch. I took a few pictures then tried to get closer but I scared it off. I saw where it landed again further off, and a few minutes later I watched a male American Kestrel dive at it and harass it until it flew off again. Nearby I saw 3 White-throated Sparrows for the first time this season. It was a good day for seeing hawks -- I also watched an Osprey on Lake Creek with a fish in its claws. When I got back home another Cooper's Hawk and a Sharp-shinned Hawk were soaring together right over my house.