This week, several storms out of the gulf of Alaska brought much needed precipitation to our county! On Monday 4" of wet snow fell! On Thursday it poured all day, for a total of 1.1" of rain. Friday night it snow 6" of wet snow. Another 3" of snow fell on Saturday night. A little more snow is predicted for today. Yahoo! The river is up, the ground is getting saturated, and the creeks are running faster!
Last week, before the temperatures warmed up, there were beautiful ice sculptures forming on the creeks and the river. They're gone this week, but they were lovely to see! It's amazing what difference a few degrees makes!
Ice shards and ice "bells"!
Grizzly Peak
I see Grizzly Peak every day. This week it changed dramatically, along with the weather! Cloud shadows, frost, fog, and snow changed the nature of the peak's appearance daily!
Northern Goshawk - Accipiter gentilis
Northern Goshawk - Accipiter gentilis
This week I found a beautiful, dead, adult male Northern Goshawk in the woods. I found it face down, spread-eagled on the ground, at the base of a large Douglas Fir tree. Its neck was broken, and its beak was slightly cracked. It was large and weighty! I took tons of photos! The feathers were so finely detailed! Such beauty! These beautiful birds are uncommon, and few in number, in our area. I was sad that he had died. I feel so privileged to have been able to study and photograph him.
Northern Goshawks have a wingspan of 41", a body length of 21", and weigh 2.1 lbs. They are the largest and most powerful of North American accipiters. Accipiters are hawks that are distinguished by short, broad wings and relatively long legs, adapted for fast flight in forests. Usually they rely on stealth and lightning quick strikes to catch their prey. If detected by their prey, they can chase them at tremendous speed through the forest, using their tail as a rudder! They hunt for birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects in the forest and forest clearings. They will attack while in flight, from a perch, or on the ground. They catch their prey with their feet.
Their preferred nesting habitat is mature old-growth forests, with a 60% closed canopy, and in close proximity to a creek, pond, or lake. Nesting begins in February or March. A large stick nest is built mainly by the female, on the largest, lowest branches of a mature conifer. The nest is approximately 3'-4' long, 1.6'-2.2' wide, and 2' tall. The interior cup is lined with leaves, and strips of bark, and is 9" long and 3" wide. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states, "Northern Goshawk pairs build and maintain up to eight alternate nests within their nesting area. Even with options available, they may use the same nest year after year, or may switch to a new nest after a brood fails. Pairs may add fresh conifer needles to the nest during breeding. Aromatic chemicals (terpenes) in the needles may act as a natural insecticide and fungicide." Surprisingly, Northern Goshawks do not mate for life!
Northern Goshawk (details) - Accipter gentilis
Anna's Hummingbird (male) - Calypte anna
The male Anna's Hummingbird is still feeding from the bird feeder! I thought for sure the wet, cold weather would convince him to move on! I haven't seen the female hummer for a little while, but I haven't been out watching the feeder all day either.
Hopefully they'll both make it through this week of winter weather!
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelius phoeniceus American Robin - Turdus migratorius
I was so surprised to hear the Red-winged Blackbird one morning this week! I thought he had left! Later that same day, I was really surprised to see 2 of them!!! They were both feeding on a new feeding table we had set up under a cedar tree! It looked like they were both males, but I couldn't tell for sure. Unfortunately, it was late and there wasn't enough light to photograph them! Hopefully they'll be more visible this week!
The American Robin has eaten all the hawthorn berries! He's still hanging around so he must be eating worms, that have surfaced since the heavy rains! I've only seen one Robin so far, maybe more will arrive this week!
Pine Siskins - Carduelis pinus
Project FeederWatch Update!
My bird counts have been staying pretty much the same all winter. I usually see 2 Spotted Towhees, 2 Song Sparrows, 16 Steller's Jays, and about 30+ Dark-eyed Juncos at our feeder every day. This week there were 122 surprise visitors, a flock of Pine Siskins!!! They showed up on Saturday, the snowiest day of the week. I had put out some birdseed that was mainly thistle seed, and the Siskins loved it!!! They are so beautiful to watch as they swoop, dive, and land together as a group! They are tiny birds. One of them flew into a window on a building near the bird feeder, and stunned itself. I picked it up from the snow and warmed it in my two hands. After about a minute, it perked up and flew away! Yahoo!!
Pine Siskins are nomadic finches that range widely and erratically in response to seed crops. Their main food in winter is cone seeds and tree buds. Locally they've been eating the seeds from last year's alder cones. When food is plentiful they will store lots of seeds in their crop, which gets them through cold winter nights. Unlike hummingbirds, that go into a state of torpor overnight, Pine Siskins ramp up their metabolic rate to stay warm at night! They also put on a layer of fat for winter! I love watching these little birds and hearing their busy chatter as they forage on the ground, and perch in the trees!
Pine Siskins - Carduelis pinus
Steller's Jay - Cyanocitta stelleri Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
Cold Feet!
I've noticed that the birds at the snowy feeder are sometimes standing on one leg. This is one way they deal with cold feet, but they also have a couple other strategies. Birds' feet don't get frostbit because there's not much fluid in the cells of their feet. Their feet are mainly made up of tendons and bones, and don't have much muscle or nerve tissue. Also, the two blood vessels that carry the blood from the bird's body to its feet and back, are right next to each other. The cooled blood returning to the bird's body, is warmed by the body-warmed blood going to the feet! Also, their circulation is so fast, that the blood doesn't stay in their feet long enough to freeze! Wow!!
Old Oriole Nests
Nests in Winter
I've seen 9 old oriole nests in our neighborhood this winter! All of them appear to have fishing line and blue plastic tarp incorporated in their nests! In winter, orioles reside in Mexico and Central America. They'll be back this spring, and a lot of these old nests will be recycled and re-incorporated into new nests!
Why don't the birds that live here in the winter, use nests in the winter? Well some of them do, but not these type of cup nests that fill up with snow. Some birds use abandoned woodpecker nests for shelter in winter! Often, several birds of the same species, such a bluebirds, will shelter together in a woodpecker nest overnight or in stormy weather! Most birds don't build nests in winter because it uses up a lot of energy (calories) to build a nest. Also, birds need to move around a lot to find enough food in winter, and going back to their "home" may not be worth the energy expended to get there. Not all birds use woodpecker nests for shelter. Some birds huddle together to stay warm. Others fluff up their feathers and perch in a protected location.
Old Oriole Nests
Skunk Deer Raccoon Fox
Mammal Update!
I haven't seen the fox or any deer, but their tracks are all over the place! My husband saw a skunk up on the bird feeding station one night! I found raccoon tracks on the other side of the creek. Once again, I haven't seen these mammals because they are mainly out a night! Their tracks tell where they went, and sometimes what they caught or found. This morning it was obvious that the fox was digging down in the snow to eat the birdseed! This summer, I'm determined to spend the night out in the garden and watch what happens!
Is Spring around the corner?Are the Pine Siskins going to stick around?
Have the Hummers survived this winter weather?
Where are the Red-winged Blackbirds?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!
Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!
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