Pine Siskins Michael Conner 12/25/13

Just curious if anyone has seen pine siskins this season. By this time last year I had seen them in various locations as well as a steady 100 or so that visited my feeder every day. This year, none. I looked at Ebird and found no listings for the last three months of 2013 in Whatcom county.

Are we to be blessed by an absence of pine siskins this winter? My birdseed bill would certainly be less. 

We were just talking about this yesterday.  None at our house.  We live between Barkley Haggen and Alabama St.  

Suzetta

Our conversation as well: anywhere here on the lower south hill.

Lynn

None here in Ferndale either.

Brian

None here on Raymond street off Lakeway 

Jo Ann

I'm pretty sure that we didn't have a single PISI on the CBC on the 15th. And still, none to report? Mighty strange, indeed.

 

Joe Meche

Chirp,

No PISI here either! 

However, the last two days I have been seeing American Goldfinch for the first time in quite a while.

They were at my feeder today, and yesterday we found a small flock by the lower Whatcom Creek tidal zone.

This photo is from yesterday.

Dear Whatcom Birders,

I don't bird Whatcom enough, but I can say that I have not seen or heard a Pine Siskin anywhere since September, including several forays into Whatcom County. There were decent numbers of them in the Upper Skagit all summer long. I did see some in Newhalem and thereabouts last spring. The last Pine Siskin that I saw was a lingering individual at my feeder near Lyman on September 11.

Bob Kuntz and I tallied 497 Pine Siskins in the Tennant Lake area of the Bellingham CBC in 2012. We had zero in that area this year. I don't think there were any found anywhere on the North Cascades CBC, either. That count includes Diablo and Newhalem.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch

I reported seeing them at my bird feeder on October 18th. None since. Nancy

It seems Pine Siskins are very patchy and with out good numbers i would say at least every  third year they do not show or show in the new year at my work feeders below squailicum high school.

None Yet .

Evening grosbeaks came through earlier an i have heard some reports of a flock (s) North Bellingham.

Also had a Ruffed Grouse drumming yesterday- seemed odd.

Fredrick R. Sears

On the Whistler, CBC they had a count of 900+ Pine Siskins. Yes, Whistler is a long way from Whatcom County, but it is good to know that there are numbers of them somewhere. Must be plenty of food for them in the North this year.

Andrea Warner

Likewise, I haven't seen any Pine Siskins my way either.

Barry Ulman

For everyone in Siskin withdrawal, please let it be known the species still
exists. Dick McNeely, Herb, and I had three at a feeder in LaConner
yesterday on the Skagit CBC. We agreed that with 18 Western Meadowlarks,
they were the birds of the day in our area.

Cheers,
Joe Mackie

I remember one winter when Pine Siskins were absent until January, then they showed up in good numbers. So maybe . . . . .

Barry Ulman

Bewick's Wren Joe Meche 12/24/25

Took a much needed walk along lower Whatcom Creek yesterday and observed a few interesting birds, including this BEWR that appeared anxious to follow me until it was chased away.....by an Anna's Hummingbird!

Merry Christmas  to all and to all a good bird,

Joe Meche

  

Birding Drayton Harbor, Pelagic Cormorant rescued Eric Ellingson 12/24/13

A very calm and overcast day on the harbor.  Good day for kayaking with my camera.

 

Highlights for the day were 50 Black Turnstones, 20 Sanderling with 5 Dunlin mixed in, and about 10 Long-tailed Ducks.

 

Along the rock breakwater of Blaine Harbor a Pelagic Cormorant was tangled in some fishing line. Got up the courage to exit my kayak and then cut the line. Was wondering if I’d ever use the knife I carry on my PFD. Glad I had it. Some of the line was still around it but it flew off easily enough so hoping for the best.

 

 

Monday at Birch Bay State Park: lots of Kinglets, many feeding on the ground, and 7 Varied Thrush together in one area with more around the park.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Birding

 

 

EricEllingson.com

Photo to follow....

NCAS facebook page Twink Coffman 12/23/13

If you are a facebook user... please go to our page [if you have already--thank you] and LIKE our NCAS facebook page... we need more LIKES... link is below. Thanks and Merry Christmas everyone and I wish you all good birding.
Twink for North Cascades Audubon Society--

https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Cascades-Audubon-Society/270825823037482

-- 

happy birding

Twink

Mystery bird....Joe Meche 12/22/13

....was back at my suet feeder again!

Don't know, looks kind of European to me and even a bit vulgar. 

Cheers,

Joe Meche

crows & coat hangers Wynne Lee 12/22/13

Nat Geographic just posted its pictures of the year. #4 is of a nest made by crows in Tokyo... of coat hangers. Hard to believe. And just plain hard :0

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-contest/2013/entries/wallpaper/nature-winners/#/3

Townsend's solitaire Andrew Reding 12/21/13

Managed to locate this Townsend’s solitaire in Bellingham's Columbia neighborhood today, eating juniper berries, on winter solstice:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaotter/11487407474/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaotter/11487387675/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaotter/11487385125/

Andrew

Dark-eyed Juncos.‏ Fred Sears 12/21/13

With the recent weather the flock out of my office window has been quite frenzied. This individual bird has been present off and on for most of fall and winter to date. There is a bit of brown and I would take it to be an intergrade from "Rocky Mt" forms. 

Fredrick Sears

Townsend's Solitaire update‏ Joe Meche 12/21/13

The avian star of the Columbia neighborhood CBC is weathering the snow and still on patrol protecting the stash of juniper berries.

 

Cheers,

Joe Meche 

B'ham CBC adds‏ Paul DeBruyn 12/21/13

Just now got all the sheets and went through them once.  We can add Black Turnstone and Turkey Vulture that were passed over at the potluck.  Count period additions are snow goose, redhead and pine siskin.  I hope to tally everything up tomorrow and get the official list out.  Thank you everyone for your participation and patience.  Paul

Varied Thrush‏ Joe Meche 12/20/13

It never fails that snow in the lowlands means that VATHs are about. I found this one this afternoon on the creek trail behind city hall.

Joe Meche

There was a flock of seven of these darlings chowing down on the barberries this morning.

J

sapsuckers and hummers...‏ John Bower 12/19/13

A fun happening this morning at our house on Alabama Hill. Two red-breasted sapsuckers (new to our yard list) were chasing each other around our yard this morning, when one of them bumped (not hard) into our window. The sapsucker flew to a tree and perched for awhile, not doubt recovering from the embarrassment of window bumping, and 30 seconds later an Anna's hummer (male) flew up to the sapsucker and hovered around its head – no doubt enthralled with all that red! Or maybe worrying that a very large Anna's was threatening to take over his feeder. Over the next couple of minutes the hummer alternated between perching right next to the sapsucker and hovering above its head until the Sapsucker, tired of the harassment, flew off to continue its day.

Happy Holidays! And thanks for making Whatcombirds what it is!

John Bower

Happy holidays....‏ Joe Meche 12/19/13

.to everyone at whatcombirds.

 

Enjoy,

Joe Meche 

Ferndale swans Joseph Kelly 12/18/13

The swans have finally showed up around Ferndale. Saw a large group along Slater Rd.west of the bridge on the north side of the road and a smaller flock along the Ferndale Rd. north of Slater, a little west the large group. JK

There was a large flock early this afternoon on north side of Axton
near Meridian.

Elizabeth Dean

Crows - Chuckanut Brewery, Holly Street‏ Paula Rustan 12/17/13

12 noon, Wednesday
Driving by the brewery noticed about 25 agitated crows, alarmed & close together, on phone wire in front of the brewery. Having seen a similar gathering about 4 years ago on F Street near the railroad crossing, on a telephone wire too — and then discovering a dead crow at the foot of the telephone pole, I stopped to to see what was happening in front of the brewery. Scanned the ground and street — nothing, finally looked up and thought I saw a dead crow hanging on the side of building but was too far away to be sure. Crossed the street to look, and indeed it was a crow, hanging by its head and extremely high up, if you are familiar with the building. It appeared that it might have somehow gotten stuck in the small gap between the roof and the side of the building. I just hope that it died quickly (a broken neck rather than the obvious alternative). The companion crows dispersed when I came to look — likely they will return. Notified the brewery staff who indicated that they would climb onto roof sometime today or soon, to remove the remains. 

Gull re-feeding‏ Alan Fritzberg 12/17/13

This may be just old news to the real birders among us.  However, despite years of being around the shoreline areas and seeing gulls, I guess I haven’t spent time with a cup of hot coffee and watched them enough to see the variety of behaviors they exhibit.  I wasn’t doing this during the CBC either, that is, sipping coffee and just watching gulls.  

However, at Marine Park on Sunday, Ginger Ridgway and I noticed a mature gull and a fairly large immature gull being obnoxious while begging around the parent. This included bumping and pushing of the parent by the young ‘un.  This went on for a quite a while.  The two of them turned toward us and at that time food started coming out of the parent’s mouth in a stream of pieces.  The immature one quickly scavenged the pieces and the area returned to a more peaceful condition.

Alan

I would think that it is a little late in the season to be feeding chicks? Is this normal?

The most interesting gull behavior that I have ever seen happened about three years ago in Fairhaven. I was walking along tenth street with my husband when we heard a mighty angry/distressed gull cry from above. We looked up to see a large mature gull dangling another mature gull by the nape of the neck over the edge of the roof of a two story building! The first gull held that screaming gull there by the neck for about a minute while the dangled gull screamed . Finally it let go of the dangled gull, which then glided a short way and then flew away! This was in early summer.  ??? Adena

I have a seagull that I see everyday that I am home, sitting by the suet feeder or up on my roof, waiting for some suet nuggets to drop to the ground.  It also drinks fresh water daily from the bird feeder.  This has been going on for more than 2 years, all year round.

Carol Rice

What do Townsend's Solitaires eat?‏ Joe Meche 12/17/13

This TOSO is a real fan of juniper berries, and stays busy protecting his stash.

 

Joe Meche

White-crowned Sparrow‏ Joe Meche 12/17/13

Though this species eluded me on the CBC, this adult and one juvenile stopped by to check on the Townsend's Solitaire yesterday.

 

Joe Meche

Mountain bluebird still seen @ Semi‏ Eric Ellingson 12/16/13

• Mountain bluebird still seen @ Semi‏

Counting Birds‏ Doug Brown 12/16/13

Chirp,

A big thanks to Geri, Paul, and Paul for organizing the Christmas Bird Count. 
The area 5 {Silver Beach, Whatcom Falls Park, and more} team identified 52 species.
Three of my favorites were these......

A Barred Owl was located thanks to some Steller's Jays.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler {Audubon's} was seen in the Red Tail Reach area.
She was hawking bugs over Whatcom Creek.
Four American Dippers were found in Whatcom Creek.
This one was foraging in the Red Tail Reach section of the creek.

Sorry I wasn't called. I participated last year. Nancy Downing

Is this really a wild raven? Jeff Borsecnik-older

Is this really a wild raven?

interesting video:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2013/07/15/tsr-moos-pkg-raven-plucked.cnn#/video/us/2013/07/15/tsr-moos-pkg-raven-plucked.cnn

Jeff Borsecnik

Derby Pond report‏ Joe Meche 12/13/13

The Derby Pond in Whatcom Falls Park is at times teeming with waterfowl.

Along with the usual horde of Mallards yesterday, I observed 28 Wood Ducks, at least a dozen Hooded Mergansers, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, American Wigeons, and one rather strange Mallard X ????  (I'll post a photo later when I can sort through the best angle).

The X in question is not the cream-colored one that everyone has seen but something new to me.

Holiday cheers,

Joe Meche

dyckmartha??


My timing has been way off. Every time I go to Derby Pond, I see practically nothing but Mallards. If there's anything else, they're usually considerably upstream from the pond.

Barry Ulman

Sharpy‏ Doug Brown 12/13/13

Chirp,

Marion and I spent some time today scouting and planning for the Christmas Bird Count.
While in the Red Tail Reach area, we spotted this beautiful, juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Doug Brown

Townsend's Solitaire‏ Joe Meche 12/12/13

With the CBC coming up on Sunday, I was excited to find this TOSO in my territory this afternoon. If you know where this is, please stay away....until Monday.

 

Thanks,

Joe Meche

carrying capacity‏ Adena Mooers 12/11/13

When we went to the Galapagos Islands this last summer, we were not 
allowed to take any food ashore and were instructed NOT to give water 
to any birds or animals. Even diabetics had to give emergency food to 
the rangers to carry for them. I actually had a mocking bird fly down 
and peck on my water bottle cap to beg for water but I didn't give it 
a drink. ( That was hard!) The whole purpose of this was so that they 
did not have more birds and animals on the islands than they could 
naturally carry.

I wonder if we bird lovers are in some way responsible for the Anna's 
staying here through the winter? I wonder if we should all take our 
feeders in on a specific day in September each year so they all 
migrate south? I wonder if we have increased the Anna's population 
beyond the natural carrying capacity? I wonder if we are doing more 
harm than good with our winter feeders??? Someone mentioned here that 
they have not always stayed here through the winter. I am interested 
in all of your comments on this. Adena Mooers

Here's one answer that I found on a standard Google search. Many other links have similar responses.

 

Anna's Hummingbirds are non-migratory..they do NOT stick around because people feed them. Even migratory species do not stay because people feed them...they leave when they need and want to, this is a myth that people believe but it holds no truth. Also, a hummingbirds main diet is actually insects, not nectar, although in a snow storm their only choice may be your feeders. Keep them filled for them. I live in the local mountains of So. Cal and we are having a snow storm here..and the first thing I did was fill my hummingbird feeder as I have some resident hummers in my yard. I also put out some suet that has been extremely popular. Hummingbirds can go into a torpor state (light hibernation) and may do so if conditions get too bad. Many will not survive if it gets extremely cold. There is no reason to call anyone to have wild native birds removed from nature like someone else suggested. That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. Obviously if these birds were injured or sick..I would suggest a wildlife rehab..but no reason to remove healthly animals from nature just because. Just provide food for them and hope that they make it.

 

Excellent question, however.

 

Joe Meche




I think there are a couple of answers to your question. Feeding does change the distribution of birds etc. extreme weather, viruses and other factors also select for specific qualities in birds.

In the context of recent events Anna's are not really well adapted to cold and whiles feeders likely helped some survive the cold many likely expired.

Conceptually this is more of an issue of " selection" more then carrying capacity .

For a much longer treatment of this subject " the beak of the finch" about Darwin's finches is an interesting read.


Fredrick R. Sears

My opinion: Always hard to know unless one studies something carefully,
but the general thinking is, yes, feeders have helped Anna's hummers
expand northward, as have non-native garden flowers, and warmer winters
have probably played a role as well. Taking down feeders (even if one
could get all hummer feeding humans to do it!) in September would not
encourage the hummers to migrate because they are primarily a residential,
not migratory, species. All that is likely to happen is more of the
hummers will die during cold snaps.

Even more opinion: the existence of seven billion humans (of which a
billion or so use as much resources as the other six billion combined)
have changed the living conditions for just about every bird species in
the world. There's no going back to the way it was (Anna's staying in
California for instance) so you may as well put the feeders out and enjoy
having them around!

Best,

John

Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco Joe Meche 12/11/13

I encountered a small flock of juncos near the mouth of Whatcom Creek yesterday and noticed one that was slightly different. They were on the move but I did manage a few shots from the hip. 

 

Joe Meche

WOW‏ Eric Ellingson 12/10/13

The planning of the 2014 Wings over Water is currently going on.
 
We are looking for ideas/suggestions from this local birding community that can enhance the event.
 
A link thru Blaine Chamber http://www.blainechamber.com/wow/
 
and the direct link http://www.wingsoverwaterbirdingfestival.com/
 
An item that I've seen in other such events is a list of the birds seen during the event from past years. I feel this would be good to have in the WOW website and in print in the flyers.
Could this be roughly compiled from the Sat morning Semiahmoo walks, ebird or someone have a good list that could be put out there. Ideally there could be one from each of the viewing stations and the Plover tour.  If not one for this year, assistance to get one for next year would be great.
 
A maybe separate list that covers this area compiling year round sightings would also be of interest. 
 
A few additional scopes/binocs loaned for some of the viewing stations might be needed.
 
Do you have any fundraising ideas from small raffles to large cooperate gifts?
 
Please contact me directly.

 

Eric Ellingson

Bushtits‏ Joe Meche 12/10/13

Personal best for our suet feeders yesterday afternoon with 22 Bushtits!

 

Joe Meche

Digiscoping Joe Meche 12/10/13

If you ever have the urge to try your hand at digiscoping, the Semiahmoo Spit is a great place to start. I enjoy practicing every chance I get and the bright sunshine on Sunday afternoon was perfect. Finding a bird that will sit still is another matter altogether.

 

Here are shots of a Harlequin Duck and a Black Oystercatcher from yesterday's field trip.

 

Joe Meche

Merlin on Whatcom Ck trail‏ Nat Whitman 12/10/13

Had a couple of thrilling seconds eye-to-eye on a collision course with a merlin this morning as we both navigated the same stretch of trail (south of Iowa) from opposite directions at inadvisable speeds--and both of us hogging the center of the path! Fortunately, the bird had the "up" option which it exercised at the last possible moment. 

I'm sure there's a chickenhawk joke in there somewhere...

-Nat

Questions and musings‏ Cindy Klein 12/10/12

The presence of seemingly so many overwintering Anna's Hummingbirds has raised a lot of questions for me.

Last winter was relatively mild. Were there also more overwintering birds then? Would the overwintering birds have more of an advantage for early and more successful breeding?

We did not notice any at our place after mid-September of 2012. This year the last of the fuschias were still blooming in early October and we had three ANHU's hanging around. We made the decision to put the feeder back out after a frost took out the rest of the blooms.

I had read somewhere that Ruby Throated Hummingbirds were overwintering instead of migrating in areas of the southeast because people were leaving feeders out for them. How much has human "help" influenced Anna's in this part of the country?

Do the Anna's that survive the winter here defend the territories they have established as the seemingly ( at least to my observations) more agressive Rufous Hummingbirds move in? Our experience with Anna's here has been that they are usually on the periphery and we only occasionally see them during the summer and most often when the Rufous crowds have thinned out in the fall.

How far north have they been sighted in the winter?

The male that has been at our place was still here today. He gives me a piece of his mind whenever I'm in hailing distance. It's a relief to know he is still here.That a creature so tiny could survive such temperature extremes is mind boggling!

Cindy K.

• Everson Anna's‏

The second Anna's  I ever saw was an adult male at our first Everson house in the fall of 77 (the first was on the 75 CBC).  During the recent cold weather I heard a hummer near our north fence and yesterday the neighbor lady fessed up that she has a feeder up and has at least two coming to it.  Paul

Now deceased Anna's‏ Brian Jones 12/10/13

This was the subject about 2000 last night.

Manual of ornithology from‏ Fredrick R. Sears 12/10/13

This might speak to recent events:

Fredrick R. Sears

Where to see good birds right now‏ Joe Meche 12/12/13

If you'd like to see a few thousand good birds, pack a BIG lunch and head up to Blaine's Marine Park. Check the tides and take a scope.

Cover the area at the park as well as the pier at the end of Marine Drive and the boat launch area. You'll not be disappointed.

 

Happy Holidays

Joe Meche

Re: torpor continues John Bower 12/9/13

I'm not a torpor authority. Have only experienced it a few times in my life, all a long time ago. :,)

It certainly did seem strange that both birds in torpor (Gayle's was a different bird, right?) were still not active by 8:30 AM. Did Gayle's die too? Is there some way the light could be problematic for them? Mysterious.

About feet: my understanding is the same as Fredrick's: birds (all birds? Most birds?) are able to lock their toes into place so that it does not require muscle work to keep them locked in place. Many soaring/gliding birds (hawks, eagles, seabirds) do a similar thing locking their wings open while soaring.

At my house there has been a drop off in hummer visits as the week has worn on. Always hard (impossible?) to count unbanded birds, but I had at least two males and one female visiting my three feeders at the beginning of the cold snap. As of this afternoon, only one male visiting. I suspect the worse.


Best,

John Bower

Reflecting back now, after learning of the foot locking, my bird was still moving about the feeder at 2245 last night. When I was headed for bed at 2315 it was hanging upside down, possibly dead at that point ...maybe.  When into torpor do they normally hang upsidedown? Brian

I do not know but like you I doubt it. 

Adena

Gayle told me that her bird in torpor was also dead.
While in Carlsbad caverns this last summer, we saw a bat that was dead 
and had been "hanging on" for about 3 years. Their little claws relax 
in the clasping position while our hands relax in the flat position. 
That is why birds and bats can sleep while holding on to a perch or 
cave roof. I didn't know that until this last summer. I really should 
read that Sibley behavior book cover to cover instead of spot reading 
the subject of the moment!
Adena
I have also experienced a drop off in hummingbird activity. I never knew exactly how many hummers were visiting my feeders, but I suspect about a half dozen, including an adult male. Today I saw at least two, maybe three, and feeder visitation hasn't been so frequent (strange, because you'd think that they would come more frequently in this cold weather.). I haven't seen the adult male for at least four days. I fear for their welfare in this bitter cold weather.



Barry Ulman

2 hummers 1 in torpor‏ Brian Jones 12/9/13

Here is a low quality pic cropped from my wife's phone. Will post better pics later today.

Fwd: Deceased!

Removed from perch with no signs of life! So...it must have died last night. Question now is why?  Near a source of warmth and energy but death prevailed...as it sometimes does in our lives. B

Amazing!  Still unmoving here. GS

photo file size...‏John Bower 12/9/13

Hi Whatcombirders,

There's been a good run of interesting photos of roosting birds and feeder birds, but please remember to keep photos below 200K. You can easily reduce file sizes using digital editing software.

And here's a picture from my archives of a Bewick's wren roosting in a roof vent at my house during a cold snap a few winters ago.

Best,

John

BlaMoo Field Trip‏ Joe Meche 12/9/13

Yes, it was cold, but no wind and lots of birds and lingering ice!

Thousands of Dunlin on the Marine Park side of the Blaine waterfront, close to Cain Creek, and  even more of them at the boat launch. Loons, grebes, scoters, wigeons, scaup, and all the other dabblers and divers you can think of. Everything was on display and the sun came out to ease the pain of the cold.

Great trip with 14 participants, hot soup/chili at the Marina Café, and a couple of sightings of the female Mountain Bluebird to cap the day. Digiscoping this one was a challenge!! 

*Attached is a shot of a Lesser Yellowlegs foraging along the icy edge of the shoreline at Blaine.

Cheers,

Joe Meche

• Greater Yellowlegs!‏

In my zeal to edit a few hundred photos and get the right side of my body back to normal temperature, I inadvertently labeled a Greater Yellowlegs as a Lesser, so I stand corrected.

The one in the photo was likely a juvenile, as well.

 

Mea culpa,

Joe Meche

 

*Thanks Andrew

Re: Torpor‏ Brian Jones 12/9/13

I currently (1900) have an Anna's perched on my feeder right next to my 75w work light. He has been there over an hour. At times he moves an sits on the light guard.  Will be watching to see what he does throughout the evening.

Several people have asked how the hummer is doing.  11:00 pm now - seems so vulnerable with the light on.    Not a neighborhood with owls - up high enough away from cats.  Looks like a long night  :)

Gayle

Ours spent the night at the feeder in torpor upside down from a perch right next to the light. This is as of 0800 this morning.  Brian

8:30 and still upside down.  I had read that arousing from the torpor involves muscle contractions.  So far, hummer perfectly still.  Over the past several days by 7:00 am I would hang out the fresh feeders and turn on the lights. On two different mornings a hummer would be right there, drinking from the feeder even while I was getting it positioned, and on the others, arriving fairly quickly after the feeders were available.  I can't be sure if this is that same individual.  Sure do hope he wakes up! 

g

Temps are up today...29 here now. Just put my second (unheated) feeder out as a 2nd hummer showed up. It won't go to the heated feeder where the hummer in torpor continues hanging. B

I now have a 2nd one feeding from the port where the 1st one continues in torpor... sits on the same perch. B

Who is a torpor authority...John?  Is there a "death grip" phenomenon associated with it? I'm still seeing no body movements here. B

The nature of bird legs is the flexors can grip via levers and gravity.

My understanding of hummingbirds is they enter  torpor ( hypothermia) a couple time a night to conserve energy.

Citations later.

Fredrick R. Sears

Torpor‏ Gayle Stebbings 12/9/13

Finally figured out a safe way to provide enough warmth to my feeders that kept them from freezing.  Last two evenings I would turn the lights off and bring in the feeders and then put them out under the lights in the morning.

 

Tonight the hummer never left and I kept the light on.  Then, at 6:30 pm when I looked out to check on him he was hanging upside down off the feeder.   This must be what is described as "torpor."  The link below is to a photograph of a hummingbird in torpor.  The attachments are a photo I took with my phone of the hummer in my carport.

 

Just seems so precarious and I wonder if he will make it through the night even with the light left on. 

 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hummingbird+torpor+photograph&qpvt=hummingbird+torpor+photograph&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=24551EB2D72E13A92C20D0537305B60C540F99FB&selectedIndex=2

 

Gayle Stebbings

Crows‏ Dick Porter 12/9/13

Right now there’s a river of crows flying north east from Padden Lagoon towards west side of Sehome Hill and ?????  At least 200 hundred in the last 10 minutes

Dick

We see this every evening. The opposite must happen in the AM while we are reading the papers. Mt husband Bob and I call them the " diagonal crows" because they fly in a diagonal pattern past  our yard. They go to Sehome Hill for the night and then back to the beach and the Fairhaven dumpsters in the daytime. Sometimes they trickle by  in small groups of 12 or more. Sometimes a huge group goes together. In the summer, many of them stay down by the beach longer and fly later. Someday I should go to Sehome hill after dusk and seek out their roost. ( Maybe when it is warmer?) Adena Mooers

RE: Anna's Hummingbirds‏ Valerie 12/8/13

I have been rotating humbird feeders out; place a defrosted one out and bring in the frozen one! They are incredible, it was 20 degrees when an Anna’s was at the feeder!

Valerie

Yesterday a friend called my attention to a sub-adult Anna's who has taken charge of her feeder. Young perhaps but not submissive, it chases away 3 other Annas who try to get at the feeder. When not at the feeder it (he?) guards it from a nearby tree. All puffed up against the chill he fooled us by being so stout until we got a good look at beak and markings. Judy Krieger

2 hummers at one feeder hole‏ Wynne Lee 12/7/13

Just saw this at my HB feeder - at first thought the male had his wing out, then got the binocs out. The photo isn't great, but I was pleased to get it. It shows the male sitting behind the female (I assume) at the same hole. They stayed like this for 5 minutes or more. 

Blaine report and photos, yesterday, Dec 6‏ Andrew Reding

This report is a bit more limited, because the cold was so bitter I had to fight frostbite.

Still, I got a nice series of dunlin photos, taking advantage of the fact that they were also feeling the cold, and huddling together to keep warm:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seaotter/

There were thousands of dunlins, carpeting the beach, and flying in vast clouds.

Feedback on the geese photos I posted earlier from Bellingham. There was one vote for Taverner’s cackling geese, but the consensus, backed by Dennis Paulson, was that these were lesser Canada geese (Branta canadensis parvipes). The key factor was the length of the bill.

For more on distinguishing Canada and cackling geese, see http://www.idahobirds.net/identification/white-cheeked/subspecies.html

Andrew