Category: Birds

Posted on in Birding Trips, Birds, Nature

Bird Mania—The 2011 CFO Convention

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I just got back from my first birding conference—the annual Colorado Field Ornithologists’ Convention. This year it was held in Grand Junction, on the western slope of the Rockies. My friend Debbie (above) and I enjoyed three days of beak-geek heaven, plus a full day each way for the 5 hour drive from home. Sometimes life can be pretty sweet.

As a newbie attendee, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. However, I had heard about the amazing field trip possibilities. After reading all the glowing descriptions on the conference website, I signed up for three outings, one a day. As far as the rest of the activities… well, I’d just have to wait and see.

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Posted on in Birds

Bracelets for the Birds

yellow-warbler_boqueronbirdrefugepr_20100527_lah_5179The sun is starting to color the eastern sky, although it won’t appear over the horizon for almost another hour. Flocks of songbirds that have been flying all night finally give in to the overwhelming need for food and rest before resuming their northward migration.

While most sensible people are still in bed, a team of dedicated volunteers is already hard at work. They’re bird banders. Capturing, measuring, tagging and releasing wild birds provides researchers with unique opportunities for study.

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Posted on in Chickens

How to Be a Mama Hen

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Your chicks have arrived! You got the call from the feed store or post office to come pick them up. Now it’s your job to be a mother hen for the next several months. What do you do?

Newly hatched chicks have a few simple needs. Meet those needs and they should grow into adult, egg-laying hens in about six months.

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Posted on in Bird Profiles, Birds

The Return of the Swainson’s Hawks

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It’s time for the changing of the guard. Rough-legged Hawks are on their way to the northern edge of the continent to breed and raise their young in the 24-hour summer sunshine. At the same time, Swainson’s Hawks are on their way back from Argentina in search of an endless summer.

Swainson’s Hawks were the first hawks I learned to identify as a fledgling birder. The dark-dark-light pattern of perched birds is easy to remember—dark head and chest, white belly. Plus, the russet cowl is distinctive. Smaller than other Colorado Buteos, their tiny feet allow them to perch on wires whereas other Buteos prefer trees and telephone poles. A friend described the white over their beak as their “searchlight” and the mnemonic stuck. And finally, no other American hawk has pale coverts with dark flight feathers. A soaring bird is instantly recognizable.

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Posted on in Chickens

Choosing Your Chickens

cecilia-chicksIt’s spring. Bulbs are blooming, birds are singing, and feed stores have fluffy yellow baby chicks!

When we were still living in Silicon Valley, finding a source for baby chicks was a challenge. These days, no matter where you live, buying chicks is easy. There are lots of hatcheries that sell by mail-order. It may seem odd that day-old baby chickens are shipped in a cardboard box via snail mail, but it actually works very well. Newly hatched chicks can survive without food or water for the day or two it takes to arrive at their destination. The post office will call you as soon as the box arrives, and you have to be ready to rush over and pick up your brood.

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Posted on in Birds, Conservation, Nature

A Second Opinon on Invasive Species

I recently read a confounding article on Garden Rant (a gardening blog like no other). The author was reporting on some new research suggesting that not all invasive species should be eradicated.

lonicera-honeysuckle-dbg-19sept05-lah-250-1Specifically, a Penn State biologist named Tomas Carlo studied Japanese Honeysuckle (considered a noxious weed in much of the eastern US) and found that its presence increased the biodiversity of bird species as well as the number of individual birds. In fact, the fall berries are a major source of food for fruit-eating birds.

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Posted on in Birding Trips, Birds, Hotspots

Golden State Birding

western-scrub-jay_toropark-ca_lah_6689I’m in California, and the birding is great! A generous friend gave my husband and I a pair of “buddy passes” on Alaska Airlines, and we used them to fly to Sacramento.

I ticked off Great Egret before the wheels even touched the runway. Not a bad start, even if it was pouring rain.

Keeping my notebook handy, I added a Yellow-rumped Warbler foraging outside the terminal and the huge flock of Brewer’s Blackbirds that filled the parking lot. Birding from the freeway is always a challenge, especially in a heavy downpour, but I listed 16 more species in the next 20 miles.

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Posted on in Chickens

Coops (continued)

hen_blkforest_20090729_lah_7828Last week I wrote about the design and layout of chicken coops. Today we’ll talk about the inside.

Lighting

If your coop is large, you’ll need some light inside so that you and the hens can see. Also, chickens lay eggs when days are long, then stop and molt when fall arrives. If you want them to continue producing eggs into the darker months, you’ll need an artificial light source (and electricity).

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Posted on in Bird Profiles, Gardening, Landscaping, Plant Profiles, Surviving Winter, Veggies

Go for the Green

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In honor of today being St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d celebrate “green” in the garden. No, I don’t mean about being environmentally friendly, although that’s certainly important. I’m talking about just plain green… as in chlorophyll-laden leaves.

This time of year, I’m pretty frantic for anything green. There aren’t many broad-leaved evergreens that tolerate Colorado’s winters. Even the conifers are more a blackish-olive drab—not nearly as nice as the “pine” of the decorating industry. Cold weather does that to leaves: many junipers turn plum-purple in winter. Leaves should not be that color. (Mahonia wears the same hue, but manages to look more attractive in it.) Hardy ice plant glows red, and ornamental grasses shimmer in copper and gold. Mostly, however, things look dull grayish brown, or just plain dead.

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