Birds in the Garden - August 2015

Nature Notes for August 28, 2015

For the past couple of weeks, my birding has been confined to my own yard, so this column reports on my observations there.

On August 9, I was wakened by a terrific racket of calling American Robins. They had found the chokecherry bush in my garden and declared the fruit ripe and tasty. Many of the robins had speckled breast which indicates that they were hatched this year. There were a few Cedar Waxwings also, but their very soft calls were drowned out by the robins. The robins were joined briefly by a Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher and Northern Flicker. On the third day, a few European Starlings joined the feasting throng. 

The robins feasting in my garden were a bit older than the one in the photo, but many still had the speckled breast that indicates this year's young.

photo © Rob Lonsberry Photography

For three and a half days, the noise was constant.

Sometimes, a robin or a Blue Jay would come down to the deck to pick up the fallen fruit. A fearless chipmunk was also making use of the bounty. It would pick up a berry, eat the pulp off and stuff the pit in its cheek pouch. These berries are very, very tart (I’ve tried them.), but perhaps chipmunks like this taste. The pits were probably being stored by the chipmunk as winter food.

They suddenly, about noon on the fourth day, I became aware of silence. One glance at the chokecherry bush revealed the reason. Where there had been many plump berries, there were now only empty stems. Even most of the fallen berries had been cleared off the deck. Perhaps a raccoon had visited in the night when I wasn’t watching.

I expect a similar visit when the birds declare the fruit on my mountain ash tree ripe. The tree is loaded with fruit this year. In years of abundant fruit, sometimes the fruit will remain on the tree until the spring, when returning migrants devour it.

My hummingbird feeder is being regularly visited by probably more than one Ruby-throated Hummingbird. In my garden, hummingbirds use the feeder in the spring on their arrival back from migration and then I don’t see them for a while. They feed their young very small insects such as aphids, so aren’t as interested in the sugar water in the feeder during the nestling period.

They turn up again in August. Now, they are bulking up for their long southbound migration. Most hummingbirds will be gone from this area by the end of August. A few may hang around until later in the fall, but most will leave by Labour Day.

The peanut feeders are being visited regularly by several species of woodpeckers and many Black-capped Chickadees. It is difficult to tell exactly how many chickadees there are, but there seem to be at least three family groups of five or six birds each.

Both Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are regularly feeding in the garden. The youngsters seem to be quite independent now. When they first arrived, the youngsters were obvious by their behaviour. The fledglings would land on the feeder, fluttering their wings and making begging noises until the adult took a peanut and stuffed it in their mouths.

There has also been a juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker visiting the feeder. Although an adult pair has been seen regularly for several years, this is the first year that I remember a youngster visiting. It can be identified easily because it doesn’t have any red on its head yet. It usually announces its arrival by its clucking call.

Of course, where there are peanuts, there will be Blue Jays. They swoop in, with a great amount of fussing, and chase every other bird away from the feeder. They can’t hang on long to the tube feeder holding the peanuts, but they always manage to pull out a few nuts.

On the squirrel baffle under the feeder, I’ve often found the resident Song Sparrow. This bird has been spending a lot of time in the yard for about a month. It seems to have no head feathers. I’ve seen this problem in Blue Jays, Common Grackles and Northern Cardinals at this time of year, but this is the first time I’ve seen a bald Song Sparrow. The sparrow is feeding on the crumbs of peanut that have been knocked loose by the larger birds.

It is not necessary to go to some exotic location to observe birds and their behaviours. An excellent place to start is your own garden.