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How Many Birds?

By Scott Surner

How many birds do you really have at your feeder? The short answer is it’s very hard to know. Most of us (including me) will keep a species list of what shows up at the feeding station and try and ascertain how many of each species there is. The easiest and only way to do this is keep a tally during the day. At the end of your observation period you take the highest number of each species for the day and you have your high count for that species. This is pretty much the only way to do it, and it’s fun to look back over the years and see what some of the high counts have been and on what date. So, when keeping your list, remember to not only keep a species list and numbers, but remember to enter the date!

Published on August 30, 2020.

Reflecting on Spring Birding Class 2020

By Scott Surner

Well, June is now in the rear-view mirror, spring migration is over, breeding season is in full swing and (wait for it) and fall migration starts to show itself in a small way around July 4th . This is when a few southbound shorebirds from the arctic starting showing up along coastal beaches.

Published on July 5, 2020.

The Rush of Warblers

By Scott Surner

Looking at the Calendar, the month of May is the time when both serious and slightly less serious birder’s wait for with great eagerness. Every month offers something a little different during the birding calendar year, but it’s May that brings out the biggest birding crowds of the year. During the month of May dozens and dozens of species from their wintering grounds in the Caribbean, Central and South American make their way to the valley to establish breeding territories, while others continue their long journey to northern New England and some all the way to the arctic.

Published on June 7, 2020.

Consider a Bird Bath

by Scott Surner

While many of us are still at home because of the coronavirus, I’ve mentioned in the last couple of weeks about monitoring what’s moving through your yard and at your feeding station. Well if you want to up your game a little bit more and potentially attract even a few more species into your yard, consider (If you haven’t already) putting out a bird bath. Believe it or not bird baths fill an important niche in your yard’s ecosystem supplying a source for drinking water and of course as the name suggests, a bathing area.

Published on May 3, 2020.

Enticing Non-seed Eaters

By Scott Surner

Today I’d like to touch upon some of the birds that are returning, but are not seed eaters. The birds I have in mind require or prefer a slightly different menu. In the next ten to fourteen days, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Gray Catbirds and Baltimore Orioles will be returning to our area from their wintering grounds. If you’ve never tried to entice one of these species into your yard, now maybe the time to give it a try.

Published on April 19, 2020.

Start a Yard List

By Scott Surner

The great thing about birding is you can do it from any location! In this time of the coronavirus your own backyard could be your best and safest choice to view migration and nesting birds. I certainly understand not one yard is like another, some have very large yards, while others might have more modest surroundings, either way it’s amazing what moves through and over our yards during the year. If you haven’t already, start a yard list and you will be amazed at what you see. 

Published on April 12, 2020.

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