Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Ovenbird



Over the years, while walking my dogs through the woods, I've often heard the emphatic song of the Ovenbird, a warbler that looks something like his woodland neighbors the thrushes (Hermit, Wood, Veery, etc).

The Ovenbird seems to screech, in rising volume, TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER! Though as often as I heard him, I seldom caught sight of this small olive brown bird who spends much of his time searching for insects on the woodland floor. And never have I seen him or her on my property, though its western boundary is bordered by woodland.

So you can imagine my surprise when I not only saw but also had the opportunity to photograph an Ovenbird on two consecutive days--from with my own backyard! In the top photo, you can clearly see his/her pink legs and even the black stripes that line either side of an orange patch on his head.

Just goes to show--if you're patient, there's no telling what bird you might see, or hear, on any given day.

Till next time . . . Keep birds in your heart!

Georgia Anne

Saturday, August 20, 2011

A Crue of Field Sparrows


I took this image of two Field Sparrows at the end of June. I'm writing about them now because these sparrows seem to be "popping up" everywhere I go. Okay, I may be exaggerating . . . "everywhere" is actually just along the fence where Bridget (my black lab) and I walk to head out the back gate for a romp up on the pasture.

Every morning now for a week, a collection of Field Sparrows (3, 4, 5 or more) fly up from the high grasses and goldenrod to perch momentarily on the fence rail. (Did you know that a group of Field Sparrows is called "crue"? I didn't until just a moment ago.) As Bridget and I approach, they fly up and away to land just a bit farther along the fence. Then as we get closer, they again flit up and away but not too far. I was beginning to think we were getting some kind of royal treatment, preceded on our walks by a festive retinue of attentive sparrows.

Turns out, according to Whatbird.com, this behavior is typical of Field Sparrows. More specifically, the site says:

"The Field Sparrow when frightened does not retreat to the cover of foliage, as does the Song Sparrow, but flies to an exposed position on top of bush or low tree, where it can watch and await developments."

Find out more about the Field Sparrow at the Whatbird.com site below. (It provides both a color illustration and a beautiful photo). When you take an interest in birds, there's always something new to learn.

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/210/_/Field_Sparrow.aspx


Until next time . . . Keep birds in your heart!

Georgia Anne


Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Female Yellow Warbler


Wood Warblers belong to the family Parulidae, and as a group are described by Roger Tory Peterson as "Brightly colored active birdlets, usually smaller than sparrows with thin needled-pointed bills. The majority have some yellow." I include this excerpt from Peterson's field guide because the Yellow Warbler is the "buttercup" of all warblers, being extensively yellow.

The one pictured here is a female, who had the misfortune of slamming into a house window. I heard the hit and ran outside to find her on the ground, stunned. I scooped her up to inspect the damage, and finding none visible, placed her on this low tree branch to recuperate. My experience has been that birds who fly into windows either die instantly (from a broken neck) or recover after several moments to fly off. So I went about my business, checking periodically to see if she remained perched. (In my experience window "hits" are unusual for warblers, who don't "hang out" around houses as do seed-feeding birds who frequent backyard feeders. A simple way to avoid such unnecessary tragedy is to keep your bird feeders far from the house.)

After about 10 minutes, this pretty young female flew off and away, and I wish her well.

Till next time . . . Keep birds in your heart!

Georgia Anne