Will La Niña Influence Spring Migration?

The roller coaster weather continues.  Today, almost 70, tomorrow only a high of 49 is expected.  The weather effects of La Niña are expected to continue through March.  The milder winter has had a noticeable affect on the number of migratory warterfowl and songbirds that normally winter over.

By this time last year, we had already received a couple of rounds of snow (granted not that much in our area) and January was a miserably cold month.  This year, two weeks before the end of January,  I still have petunias blooming out on the deck.

There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Juncos, Kinglets and even White-Throated Sparrows which are generally everywhere in winter.  Last year it was not unusual to look out at the suet feeder and see 5 of 6 YR Warblers clinging to the feeder at one time.  This year I feel lucky to see one or two in a week.

I have to wonder how or if this will influence the arrival and departure times during spring migration.  Will those that arrive early be even earlier?   Time will tell. 

Timelines for March Arrivals

Arrive       Depart       Bird         (approximate dates)

--------       20-Feb      Lapland Longspur
8-Mar       ---------      Chipping Sparrow
--------      15-Mar      Fox Sparrow
18-Mar      3-May      Henslow's Sparrow
26-Mar     --------       Yellow-throated Warbler
27-Mar     --------       Black-and-white Warbler
27-Mar     --------       Black-throated Green Warbler
30-Mar     --------       Common Yellowthroat
31-Mar     --------       Louisiana Waterthrush
31-Mar     --------       Palm Warbler

Timelines for April Arrivals

Arrive        Depart       Bird 
---------      4-Apr        Song Sparrow
8-Apr        ---------      Northern Parula
---------      12-Apr      Dark-eyed Junco
12-Apr     ---------       American Redstart
13-Apr     ---------       Yellow Warbler
14-Apr     ---------       Ovenbird
14-Apr     ---------      White-crowned Sparrow
15-Apr     ---------       Prairie Warbler
18-Apr     ---------       Hooded Warbler
18-Apr     ---------       Prothonotary Warbler
19-Apr     ---------       Grasshopper Sparrow
21-Apr    28-Apr        Le Conte's Sparrow
23-Apr     ---------      Yellow-breasted Chat
24-Apr     ----------     Northern Waterthrush
24-Apr     ----------     Worm-eating Warbler
27-Apr     19-May      Black-throated Blue Warbler
28-Apr      ---------     Chestnut-sided Warbler

Hermit Thrush

Long ago I gave up on growing grass in the highly shaded back yard and keep it natural.  No grass to cut but leaf mulching is required.  I usually wait until closer to spring when the sight of a copperhead sends me running for the mower but with the warmer winter, went ahead and mulched early.

A good thing that has resulted from an early mulching is there always seem to be birds out scratching finding something to eat.  Today it has been a fiesta for the Robins, Towhees and sparrows.  As I would pass the window I noticed a bird that looked different from the usual visitors.

Out with the camera to get a shot.  Very glad to see the Hermit Thrush in the yard and it has spent the majority of the day here.

Signs of Spring in a Winter's Chill

A cold front that moved through Thursday night brought howling winds and cold temperatures.  Early in the  morning I was awakened by the sound of a crash on the roof.  Fortunately, no real damage from the rather large limb.

Early yesterday morning the wind cut through you and made it seems much colder.  By late afternoon the winds moderated somewhat.  Having gone to work very early, I left shortly after 1400 and was able to spend a few minutes outside when I arrived home. 

As the last rays of sunshine for the day flooded into the yard, 20-30 robins arrived giving the yard a once over.  They took turns splashing in the various bird baths then finding a sunny spot to warm and dry.  When I see the robins start to flock in, a case of spring fever always follows.  Seeing the daffodils starting to peek through the leaves only adds to the desire for spring to arrive. 

After the robins finally left, a dove that had been huddled close by watching all the commotion and antics of the robins settled in on the bird bath for a drink of water and to catch the last of the sunshine.

 This morning it is a hard cold out.  I just walked out to take the crate off the bird feeder in the backyard (raccoon protection) and the leaves on the Acuba shrubs were curled and frozen.  Early birding this morning....probably not.  Fortunately, this cold snap will be short lived and temperatures will moderate during the upcoming week.

Merganser Decoy in the Making

After three weeks off, then back to work for two weeks straight including weekend, the adjustment has been....to put it nicely, difficult.  This past Saturday was beautiful and it killed my soul to not be out.

A bit of sanity has been the decoy carving class I started on 2 January.  It has been very neat to see a flat pattern go on a big chunk of wood, rough cut out the shape, and after last night's class, beginning to see a "duckish" shape emerge. 

The teacher has many taxidermied ducks of various North American species to serve as models and I have enjoyed getting detailed up close looks at the various species.  It makes me appreciate their fine patterns and coloration.

I thought that the beginning duck was going to be a Lesser Scaup however with a small class, we could choose our duck.  I was torn between several but decided on one that I knew I would have the opportunity to  observe while I was working on it.  My choice, a drake Merganser.

Next came pose selection.  The instructor stated that most do the alert duck with crest high but I chose to do one in a resting position which allowed me to cut out head and body out of one piece. I meant to take a picture of the very first cutout and forgot before I made changes last night.  So from here on, I will document after every class so at the end I can look back.....maybe 4 or 5 months down the road?

It doesn't look like much now yet however from the first cut to now,  I am beginning to see the duck that was hidden in the wood.  While a great many folks dread Monday's as it is the start of a new work week, I now look forward to them.

Mid-Week Stuff

Cold weather arrived with a front that moved through Monday.  It has been hard to take after above average warmth up until then.  Cold temps finally killed the summer annuals that had flourished up until now.

The cold has brought a flurry of birds to the feeders.  Around Christmas I made a large batch of suet cakes chopping up some cranberries and blueberries and adding to the mixture.  The birds are loving it.

Just before dark tonight, I looked out the kitchen window and could see the deer wandering behind the fence.  They have been arriving before dark since the cold.  I took a large bag of acorns out of the freezer in addition to the scoop of corn/deer chow mix I spread out.

Usually the doe's come up first however tonight, the buck came up first and made a pig of himself.  I finally tapped on the window which sent him moving on and then the doe's came in.

 All the creatures were looking for food tonight.  Several raccoons scurried about trying to get to the deer chow and then the fox came by.   I am always amazed when I see the deer, raccoon, and fox all  together at the same time, same place, and manage to get along with each other.

Last Day of Freedom - Back to Work

Tomorrow it is back to work after three weeks of vacation.  The time has gone by in the blink of an eye.  If only time working went that quickly.  While I am extremely thankful for a job, it is with much dread that I have to go back to the office we have knicknamed "The Tomb".  It could be a primer on poor design for every architectual and design student on what NOT to do.  No natural light (then battleship gray furniture to boot), pitifully poor layout, loud and absolutely no privacy what so ever.  All combine to create an extremely poor work environment. From about 0530 to 0730 is your only opportunity to get any productive work done.  Yes, the thought of returning brings a nervousness rolling back in like a thunder storm.

So enough of that and on with the good.  I begin my decoy carving class tonight and am very much looking forward to it.  The duck we will begin with will be the Lesser Scaup drake.  I guess for beginner carvers this is suppose to be one of the easier ducks.

I spent some time this morning doing searches on photo sharing sites looking at photos and downloaded quite a few to create my storyboard to help in the anatomical study of the duck.  I think it is great that so many are willing to share their pics and allow them to be downloaded.   I am sure it will be a couple of weeks before we start carving.  I  believe you start at the very beginning of squaring up the lumber, gluing up, rough cutting out then finally start carving.

 And finally to birding.  Early this morning when I first pulled up the blinds, one of my favorite birds, a Northern Yellow Shafted Flicker (male) was paying a visit and giving the yard a once over looking for insects.  I like the subtle coloration of their head that conflicts with the intricate patterns on their remaining body.   Unfortunately this time of year, a huge magnolia in my neighbors yard blocks most sunlight until after mid-day so early hour, low light and high ISO do not good pictures make.

Red Headed Woodpecker

Beauty in classic colors of white, black and red;

you capture the eye and turn the head.

Inquisitive yet shy, a true beauty to spy;

what a delight of color and pattern as you flew by.