The Backyard Birdman

“How Could You Ask Me That Question?” photo by Mark Schmitt

I was asked by Mike Bergin of 10,000Birds.com to answer the question “Why are you still bird blogging”?  Are you kidding me?  How could you ask me that question?  Not only do I get to share my birding experiences, I also get to meet all kinds of great folks, interested in some of the same things I am interested in, like birding!      (more…)

Birdhouse Tree photo by Larry Jordan

I wanted to share this interesting grouping of birdhouses I saw in a quiet neighborhood in northern California.  This person has quite a collection!  If you like to collect birdhouses for fun and conversation, this can be a cool hobby I suppose but it would be for your enjoyment and not for the birds.  There must be at least fifty birdhouses in this yard but no birds did I see.  Well, I saw one house sparrow.

Most of these birdhouses were strictly for decoration but would not be suitable for birds to breed in.  Some had perches (a feature that only aids predators), some were made of metal (good if you want to cook your birds) and I didn’t see even one of these birdhouses that opened so it could be cleaned and monitored.  There were many with two holes, one above the other, but no floor to separate the two.

The other important thing to note here is that these birdhouses are all way to close to one another for any cavity nesting species to use.  There are only two species of cavity nesters that I know of that will live in a communal setting.  Those are the Purple Martins and the Tree Swallows.

Purple Martin House

It is also very important to have the proper cavity size and the proper entrance hole size for the species of bird you are trying to attract.  For more information on building birdhouses, read my article here:

 http://buildyourownbirdhouseplans.com/buildingbirdhouses.html

Happy Birding!

Ash-throated Flycatcher photo by Frank Kratofil

The Ash-throated Flycatchers are back in a big way!  I currently have three pair nesting and others still checking out nestboxes.  I really love these birds.  See my other post here Ash-throated Flycatchers Nesting In My Backyard .  I love this shot of the flycatcher my friend Frank took with its “crest” standing up like Don King on a good day.  Here are a few pictures of the newly hatched flycatcher chicks I’ve taken in the last couple of days.      (more…)

Burrowing Owl with Sunset In Its Eyes photo by David Roach

 I was very fortunate and extremely pleased to be invited to spend a day with my friend Steve on a 16,000 acre cattle ranch in Central California where he is in charge of monitoring over 400 nestboxes.  That’s right, I said over 400 nestboxes.  And that is only on the ranch I visited that day.  Steve (with a little help from his friends) monitors nearly 900 nestboxes of different bird species in several locations.

I will be posting more stories of my trip with Steve coming up but I really wanted to share my Burrowing Owl story with you today.  When Brigitte and I moved to northern California back in 1980, we were amazed at the abundant wildlife and beauty of this area.  One of our first observations was the abundance and variety of birds we were seeing everyday.  This is the reason I began building bird houses and putting them up all over our new property.

One of the many new birds we would see all the time was the Burrowing Owl.  They would be standing in the middle of the road when we came home from town at night.  I remember the first time we saw this little owl, just standing there, in the middle of our gravel road.  He just stood there for quite a long time.  We studied him so we could get home and look him up in our field guide.  We had no idea what kind of owl it could be with those long legs, just standing there.

Burrowing Owl Standing Guard photo by David Roach

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Tree Swallow Chick 13 Days Old photo by Larry Jordan

I had an incredible day on the bluebird trail the other day.  Three pairs of nesting Tree Swallows and more Western Bluebirds on the way!  This little guy was hanging out at the entrance hole waiting for mom and dad to bring lunch.  In a few days he will be out there in the real world looking for insects to eat.  And someday he will look something like this handsome fellow.

Tree Swallow Male photo by Steve Berliner

Steve has some incredible bird and wildlife photos here: Steve’s Photo Gallery .  The Tree Swallow is a cavity nesting bird that will nest in natural or man-made cavities.  They will compete with Bluebirds for nesting cavities anywhere their habitats overlap.  Tree Swallows build a nest of mostly grasses with many feathers from other species.  See the following photos.     (more…)

My Mom, The Number One Mom In The World (all photos by me)

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!  We love you with all our heart.  I want to extend this greeting to Moms all over the world.  Thank you for everything you do, Mom.

This beautiful lady in her 90’s is the best mom in the world!  She not only brought me into the world, she has supported me my entire life with unconditional love and wisdom.  I feel like one of the luckiest people on the planet and I want her to know that I love her with all my heart.

A few months ago I put up a bluebird house in her backyard, along with a bird bath.  My mom has always loved birds and I thought it would be nice to try to attract some birds to her yard.  Even as I returned home from her house the following day, she had birds visiting her backyard.

Now, I want you to know that her backyard is in a senior community, near a golf course.  She has no lawn, only some small bushes and immature trees in her small backyard.  However, she now has a pair of Western Bluebirds building a nest in her birdhouse!

Female Bluebird with Nesting Material

I took a few photos of the Western Bluebirds while we were sitting on the back porch.  My mom told me that she was spending a lot of time watching the birds and felt like she wasn’t getting anything done (smile).  I know what that’s like!  She also told me that she had been watching the birds from inside the house because she was afraid she would scare them away.

This is a very important point: when you put up birdhouses in your yard, get out there and do all your normal yard work and activities.  This way your birds will get used to you being there and you can observe them from much closer without the birds being alarmed.  You can even teach them to eat out of your hand or come to a special treat when you give them a certain whistle or sound a bell!

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A Pair of House Finches photo by Lisa Williams

As I was driving home from town yesterday, coming down the gravel road that is the last mile to my house, I saw a Western Kingbird sitting on a neighbors fence.  The Western Kingbirds have just arrived in my area and this one was in beautiful color.  You’re probably wondering why I’m talking about the kingbird when this post is about House Finches?  Well, let me explain.

I got out of my car to get a better look at the kingbird as it flew up into the top of a nearby tree.  One of my neighbors had been behind me on the road and had turned up his driveway about a quarter mile back.  When he saw me intently viewing something with my binoculars, he decided to come back out on the road and approach me to find out just what I was doing.

I explained my birdwatching activities and he and his wife were quick to jump in.  They proceeded to tell me about a bird nesting in the potted ivy on their back porch!  Since they din’t know what kind of bird it was, I asked if I could come take a look (my biggest fear was that it could be a house sparrow ).

I was much relieved when I saw this nest in the planter.

House Finch Nest photo by Larry Jordan

Sure enough there were a pair of House Finches sitting up in a nearby tree watching as I took this photo.  These pretty birds are abundant in our area and most of the U.S.  They make a very neat nest , in this case, lined with horse hair. (more…)

Western Bluebirds 8 to 10 Days Old photo by Larry Jordan

Oak Titmouse Chicks about 1 Week Old photo by Larry Jordan

You can see by these photos that these birds are about a week old but no older than 10 days because they still have their feather sheaths. Shortly after these photos the sheaths will begin to disintegrate and wing feathers will begin to emerge.

It is critical that you don’t try to monitor the birds beyond day thirteen. The reason for this is that you don’t want to create a situation where the chicks try to fledge prematurely. If you keep good records during incubation and know when the chicks hatch, you can have a very good idea of when they will fledge and you will be able to watch them take their first flights! (more…)

Western Bluebirds 2 to 5 Days Old photo by Larry Jordan

Oak Titmouse Chicks on Day 1 photo by Larry Jordan

As you can see in the top photo, six of the Western Bluebirds have hatched and that was the last egg count I had of this nest. I am thinking that they are at least three days old here because they have all hatched and they have some feather sheaths beginning to develop on their wings.

The Oak Titmouse, on the other hand look like they are just hatched. They are bare and there are only four hatchlings and I counted six eggs on my last count. I couldn’t see well enough inside the nest to see how many unhatched eggs were still there. Hatchlings this young are very delicate and it is best not to handle them at all.

I will keep you updated on the bluebird and titmouse families and try to check their nestboxes more frequently for the next ten days. It is very important not to check your nestboxes after day 13 as you may cause premature fledging of the young.

To see a complete set of photos from egg to empty nest, check out my friend Bet’s website here: Sialis.org She has an incredible amount of information on Bluebirds.

Western Bluebird Nest from my Bluebird Trail

Oak Titmouse Nest from my Bluebird Trail

These are photos of a Western Bluebird nest and an Oak Titmouse nest from two of my nestboxes on my bluebird trail. When monitoring a birdhouse or nestbox trail it is important to be able to identify the birds and the nests that you find being built in your birdhouses. It is also important to note when eggs are laid and when the hen begins to incubate those eggs. (more…)