Maggie's Farm

Flocks of birds from Richard Barnes. h/t David Thompson's Friday Ephemera.

The one in the air, not the Canvasbacks in the water. Photo from the Ducks Unlimited 2008 members' photo gallery.

Occasional commenter and blogger Retriever sent us this photo of American Robins eating old rotting apples last week, in Massachusetts. People talk about the first Robin of Spring, but these woodland thrushes, who like fruit and berries, winter in almost every state in the US.

They are migratory (Turdus migratorius), so our winter birds here probably breed in northern Canada. They all go south, but only so far. The cold doesn't bother them at all, nor does global cooling.

A reader sent a nice photo of a Cedar Waxwing in an apple tree in Lenox, Massachusetts, taken this past weekend. These birds can be seen in every state in the US either as breeders, migrants, or over-wintering.

These are usually flocking birds, and fruit is their favorite food. They have been known to get drunk or die from eating rotten, fermented fruit. They will roam the countryside all winter, stripping trees and vines of their remaining fruits and berries. That's why you will never see them at a bird-feeder.

You can read about this elegant songbird here. Interesting detail: the orange at the tip of the tail indicates that this bird ate plenty of Japanese Honeysuckle berries (an invasive alien species) when those feathers  were growing.

The "Can" is probably the most sought-after duck for hunters (but I know I have described Mallards and Black Ducks similarly). Not only is his 60 mph flight a challenge, but he is considered the most tasty duck at the table. He is probably tasty because, despite being a diving duck, he prefers plant material. He's fairly large, too.

He breeds in the West and Northwest up through Alaska, but winters all along the Eastern Seaboard. You can read about them here.

Gwynnie took this photo of a male Can in breeding plumage on Saturday in CT. The sloped head is diagnostic, even in poor light. I suspect that he used a long lens:

In the snow and cold (13 degrees F yesterday morning, 9 this morning), we had hungry Gray Squirrels but not much of a variety of birds: Cardinal, Chickadee, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, Song Sparrow, English Sparrow, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White Throated Sparrow, SC Junco. Boring.

The problem is the rats at night, picking up the cherries fallen off the plate, as it were. It gives some fun for the pup, though. But you hate to get licked on the face by a pup who just ate a rat. Our Great Horned Owls need to get busier. I hear them at night. They like it here in the winter. Lots of rats. I think they ate most of the bunnies already.

In the interest of improving the bird interest among our readers, a reader took this photo this week of these hardy shorebirds on the CT coast, not yet in their breeding plumage. Can you name it?

A reader took these photos this weekend on the CT shoreline. That is the common Ring-billed Gull (sometimes known as the Parking Lot Gull), an inland, fresh-water breeder. They head for the coasts when the fresh waters freeze up.

 Gulls take seveeral years to reach maturity and to earn adult plumage. These, I think, are second-year Ring-billed gulls hunting in the surf. First year birds would have a darker brown plumage:

And a good portrait:

Two males and a female, in their breeding plumage already. A reader in CT took this shot on the 31st on a stream-fed pond in southern CT. (No idea why it isn't frozen over. Maybe brackish.)

You can read about the fine Hooded Merganser here. I don't shoot Hoodies, but I know folks who will shoot the males for mounts. I think a photo is better.

Just watched a Red Tail grab a squirrel from my bird feeder. Squirrel was, understandably, not happy about it at all.

They usually miss them. This guy came out of nowhere, fast, like an Israeli jet. Nature red in tooth (?) and claw.

Those squirrels are over-fed and full of juicy fat. Happy dining, pal.

Now I wish the Sharpies would pick off the rest of my pesky English Sparrows.

My Chipmunks seem to be doing their sleep thing (they do not hibernate, they just curl up and snooze when it's cold out) because I have not seen them for a while.

Long Vs of Canada Geese have been honking high overhead all week, heading south, fleeing the snow cover in search of open fields for grazing. It's a sight and sound to lift anybody's spirits.

All we have at the bird feeders now are White Throated Sparrows, Juncoes, Mourning Doves, Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, and Blue Jays. Kinda dull at the bird welfare office here, but we are always glad to help out at Christmastime. I did see one shivering Mockingbird. Where are the Goldfinches and all of the interesting sparrows? Even our semi-tough Carolina Wrens seem to have taken a hike south.

I think they are all fleeing global cooling and sitting on lawn chairs in patios in Key West, sipping Rum Punches.

If they weren't bird-brains, they would stay there.

Quite remarkable. Hippos are not known to be friendly beasts -

Thus far this morning, the bird feeder outside my office window has been dive-bombed by a Red-Tail Hawk - on right - after a squirrel (he missed), and by a Sharp-Shinned Hawk - below - after an English Sparrow (he got it by pursuit, crashing through the shrubs). Not my photos, obviously.

During the past couple of months, I have noticed our bunny rabbit (Cottontail Rabbit) population taking a sharp decline.

Then we saw the fox. They must have moved in recently.

The diminutive Red Fox is the most widely distributed predator in the world, from Asia through Europe and North America. (Yes, he is a Fox and she is a Vixen.)

While our American Red Fox is likely a descendent of foxes imported from England for hunting, there was a pre-existing Red Fox here which inhabited boreal regions of North America.

In the US, they are hunted with horses and hounds, but I don't know anyone who shoots them for fun. In the UK, our cousin Mr. Free Market loves to blast them, but he is a deeply disturbed individual (like all Capitalist gun-lovers), and he also tries to protect his pheasants.

I tend to feel happy when I see one, which is not often, at dawn, trotting across a meadow. I think I have liked them since Roger and the Fox was a favorite of mine around age 6. They are increasingly semi-suburban, but are basically a rural animal.

These nocturnal handsome bushy-tailed guys are mainly mouse, fruit, and bug-eaters, but they have been known to steal a chicken or young pheasant. Both coyotes and wolves will kill foxes.

A bit about their range and natural history here.  More here.

A flock of Brant ("Brent" in the UK) over Long Island Sound this weekend. Thanks, reader.

Well-preserved Jurassic turtles found on Skye. They call it a missing link between land and aquatic turtles.

Today, we still have many species that do a little of both, like North America's wonderful Wood Turtle, which swims and hikes.

North America's Eastern Grey Squirrel is one adaptable critter. Here, in their native territory, I am happy to have them around - and so are the Red-tail hawks that eat them and keep their numbers down.

I think it's been a long time since American kids went out with their .22s to get a mess o' savory squirrel in the oak trees for the family stew-pot.

Like everybody else around here, my main problem with these crafty acrobats is that they eat me out of house and home on my bird-feeders. (Plus, these sneaky little terrorists almost blew me up when they chewed through the hose of my grill's propane tank.)

The ongoing war of brains continues at Maggie's Farm and, thus far, the Grey Squirrel still wins.

Here's some advice on Squirrel-proof bird feeders.

Wki has a good summary on the Eastern Grey Squirrel. Here, we have the black version too, but not many.

The wary American Black Duck of the Eastern US and Canada is prized by hunters, and there is no binocular birder either who is not happy to see them. Sadly, their numbers in the Northeast have been dropping while the population of their close relative the Mallard (with whom they commonly hydridize) have been rising.

Unlike most dabbling ducks, Blacks are happy breeding on either freshwater ponds and marshes or in salt marshes. Some studies in recent years indicate a significant reliance on beaver marshes for breeding habitat.

You can read about the American Black Duck here.

Photo from that site.

The next big rain will knock the remaining autumn leaves down. Here's where we are today: