November 9, 2022 at 4:09 p.m.
Fish Like A GIRL
Birds show up just in time for Project Feeder Watch
Fish Like A GIRL
Project Feeder Watch asks volunteers to simply watch their feeders or other favorite areas where birds gather for resources. The project starts in November and runs until April.
We recently bought a house, but we are only about three blocks from the apartment we lived in, so I am guessing most of the birds I see will be the same. But before Feeder Watch began, I was thinking I might not see any birds at all.
When we moved here there were arbor vitaes at both sides of the front of the house. They had not been tended to in a number of years and were rubbing against both the siding and the gutters. Needless to say, Chet took them down immediately. I was a bit sad, as was our elderly neighbor lady who enjoyed watching the birds in the tree nearest to her house. But, at the same time, I knew they needed to go.
The previous owners of the house left a galvanized garbage can half full of sunflower seeds in the garage. I had put the seeds out in the feeder I had from the apartment building. Nothing much happened - other than feeding Felix the chipmunk and a gray squirrel that was big enough to make a meal in a crock pot. After leaving the sunflower seeds out for about a month and not seeing many birds (after filling the feeder for the critters several times), I decided to go back to the seed mix I had been using before. I put up a "Critter block" for the squirrels and whatnot, and filled my bird feeder with the other seed mixture.
The next day, one day before Feeder Watch was to begin, I woke up in the morning, opened the drapes and there was a chickadee in my feeder! I know it seems like such a small thing, but after all of the birds I had seen start coming to my feeders at the apartment for those couple of years, I was a bit sad to leave them. Not sad to leave the apartment building and purchase my own home, of course, but sad to leave my little flying friends.
The chickadee was soon followed by the usual gang of suspects here in this part of town. American tree sparrows and house sparrows seem to be pretty popular. They are not fancy, brightly colored birds, but they are kind of cool to watch. It was almost as if they knew Feeder Watch was about to begin, so they started to show up.
I am always amazed by how quickly a person can start seeing birds after they put up a feeder. Or, should I say, a feeder with bird seed in it that the "locals" actually like. It only took a couple days, and they started to show up. Now there is not enough room at the feeder for all of the birds the come through at any given time.
I also saw two European starlings, who stopped by at the "critter block" for a while yesterday. I am not entirely sure they were Fred and Wilma, who used to frequent the suet feeder at the apartment building, but with the proximity, I suppose it could be them. Honestly, I am not sure what the range of a European starling is, but they were fun to see. They will be known as Fred and Wilma II from now on.
I am hopeful there will be others to follow and I am hopeful we will start to see some other species as time goes on. It took over a year at the apartment building, but I did start to see some house finches and gold finches and things of that nature. I would have to look back to see when I started to see them and when I no longer saw them, but I am hoping some of those species might happen by again.
I also know we have at least one woodpecker close by. He stopped for a short time when I had my last suet block out when we first moved here. But that was when the cover of the arbor vitae was still available. I am not sure how much that will matter once winter gets here and food becomes more scarce, but for now, with the tree gone, he seems to stay away, preferring to hang out in a big tree at the neighbors house behind ours.
When I mentioned looking back to see when I had started to see the finches, I would be remiss to not put in a plug for the eBird app here. Each time a user creates what they call a "checklist," that checklist is saved to their profile. I can look back at every checklist I have made in the app, which is a pretty cool feature. I can also look around the neighborhood to see what others nearby are seeing at any given time. The app is pretty cool, and one that is talked about in phenology circles now as a great way to track the arrival of migratory bird species.
There is a separate app for Project Feeder Watch as well. Once enrolled in the project, users can download the app, or use the website, to track their sightings over the winter. All that is asked is that a volunteer submit one checklist per week to Feeder Watch.
I will likely complete more than one checklist per week, as I have for the last few years, but the other observations I simply put into the regular eBird app. It is a fun project to get into for those who will be looking at their feeders anyway - or who have a favorite birding area. To check out the project or get involved, simply go to the website: feederwatch.org.
Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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