Charlie Spencer Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 My goldfinches are starting to get some yellow, and my Butter Butts are getting some darker markings. A vacant lot under development nearby had a flock of over 250 Chipping Sparrows on Sunday. The local birds are starting to sing more and longer, are showing up at the feeder in pairs more often, and are getting more territorial. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeInDallas Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 I had 2 Red Wing Blackbirds this morning eating peanuts and sunflower hearts, and the American Robin is showing up everyday for a bath and a drink. Several Orange Crowned Warblers make the daily stop for some mealworm suet. Still lots of Dark Eyed Juncos every morning. I'm starting to see the House Finches show back up again too. Lots of baby Grackles come out of no where all the time, and ravage everything. Blue Jays are starting to figure out there are peanuts for them, I see more and more everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tclarkwood Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Spring is starting early for us too. My Okame Cherry trees are already blooming! Still have winter species hanging around. It will not be long until the rose-breasted grosbeaks and hummingbirds come back! Can't wait. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 40+ American Goldfinches at my feeders this morning, boosting my GBBC count! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamRHead Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) Thanks for the reminder on GBBC! I had forgotten about it. Edited February 17, 2019 by HamRHead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyE Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I'm seeing an increase of Pine Siskins right now. and less Goldfinches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tclarkwood Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 My pair of Red-shouldered Hawks are trying to make baby hawks.... A lot of racket in the woods right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 My Yellow-Rumpeds are suddenly all in breeding colors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeInDallas Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Something came thru yesterday and sat on the feeder pole for awhile. Not quite sure what this bird is, but all the other ones ran away, so I assume is some sort of hawk. Was a rather large bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyE Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 (edited) Looks like a Coopers Hawk. Pale nape and rounded tail. Edited February 24, 2019 by RustyE 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Agree with Cooper's. Some birds come to feeders to eat seed and suet, others come to eat other birds. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tclarkwood Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Handsome bird 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 Lots of activity this weekend, and lots of chirping, calling, singing, and other bird-type noises. Red-Wings, Brown-Heads, and grackles moving through in mixed flocks of several dozen or more. Also pure flocks of robins. American Goldfinches are still hogging my feeders in flocks of 15 to 25. During the GBBC I tripped over a small group of Palm Warblers in breeding plumage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeInDallas Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 I would love to be able to get the Goldfinches like that. Sadly I only get 3 at the most at one time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 I only had a few at a time for most of the season. I had some in the fall, the numbers dropped off in the winter, and they've boomed for the spring. I've had more in the last three weeks than I've had in the previous 14 years combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tclarkwood Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 I was out of town and we had like 7 days of rainfall a week ago so I was unable to fill my thistle feeder. With the thistle feeder and all my BOSS feeders being empty for a week , all of my goldfinches left and have not come back. Isn’t it amazing that my medium sized thistle feeder being empty for that long could have influenced that whole group of goldfinches? I had about 20-30 of them prior to running out of seed. One might say it was time for them to leave but they usually don’t leave until April in previous years. Seems very interesting to me on how a group of these little birds can become expectant on one food source. On another interesting observation, my pair of red-shouldered hawks (mating pair) have started feeding on the squirrels that try to invade my bird feeders. They caught one of the squirrels this morning and had him for breakfast! Ha ha! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted March 13, 2019 Author Share Posted March 13, 2019 Spotted the first swallows of the season over a farm pond Monday evening, but it was too dark to make out what species. Also had the first Osprey, perched on a snag where two had tried to start a nest last year unsuccessfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasCobra Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 At this point in time I have overlap between the winter resident rufous hummingbirds and the arriving black-chinned hummingbirds. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasCobra Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I have been getting flocks of cedar waxwings. I frequently have thirty of forty of the birds at a time. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 Nice! I've only seen them by looking up at them in the tops of tree tops. I didn't even know they had backs ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasCobra Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Sometimes they are in the trees, Charlie. Sometimes they are in the wind. I kind of object to the way they eat up the juniper berries and leave purple deposits on my flagstone pool deck! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandude Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Spotted a new bird, at least for me, to my area yesterday. A rad-naped sapsucker. I was surprised to see him since the maps show that they are barely east of El Paso and I am near Brownwood, TX. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasCobra Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Great photo! I have spent two-thirds of my seven decades in Texas. I never saw one of these critters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandude Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Thanks. I just noticed I typed rad-naped instead of red-naped.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tclarkwood Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Nice photos of some really handsome species. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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