Welcome to our blog!
It's all about our discoveries in our private Shady Oaks Sanctuary for birds, pollinators and wildlife. We gauge our success by the diversity of species we observe and document with our photography.
We hope you are inspired to create your own refuge!
September, it's a wrap! 9-30-21
The last day of September began with wispy cirrus clouds and filtered sun. Lovely!
The first of fall Ruby-crowned Kinglet came in on, what else, the first day of Fall, 9-22-21. An immature Red-eyed Vireo visited the bubbler for the first time. Look closely, it has brown eyes, thus it is a first year bird. Magnolia Warblers have been around the last week, too.
A young male Ruby-throated Hummingbird has come in to bathe two days. It has one little red feather below its right eye, so I'm quite sure this is the same bird. It perched and preened in the smooth hydrangea before going back to the jewelweed.
A female Northern Parula had a bit of trouble getting to the water, the American Goldfinch wasn't having it. It looked at the basin and decided to come back later and it had the place all to itself. Listen for the Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, American Crows and other birds in the background.
Now, wasn't that fun!
A strongly marked male Northern Parula was at the bubbler on this last day, 9-30-21. The white belly is much more pronounced when it's all fluffed out!
Black-throated Green Warblers have been easy to find, foraging in the viburnums and golden currant.
Black-throated Greens are also frequent visitors to the water features, along with Tennessee Warblers.
A little Nashville Warbler studied the dripper before going in, and then was joined by a Eurasian Tree Sparrow.
An adult Cooper's Hawk got in a late dip one evening.
Our first of Fall Blue-headed Vireo showed up on this last day of the month, too.
I saw a bluish-backed bird flitting around the sump puddle and on closer inspection, there were two female Red-breasted Nuthatches there, getting quick sips of water.
Another Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was busy in the woodland. Now, it's on to the last quarter of the year with October's arrival!
Third week of September migrants, 9-21-21
A Change in the Weather!
Without winds from the north to help them move along, warblers have been circling the 'hood, fattening up to be ready for the next frontal push. That front came through overnight, with 2.37" of rain here. The following warblers have been seen in differing groups of 8 or 9 nearly every day.
American Redstarts and Magnolia Warblers
Ovenbirds and Bay-breasted Warblers
Chestnut-sided and Black-throated Green Warblers
Black-and-white, Tennessee and Nashville Warblers.
They are all looking for food in the form of caterpillars and other small insects. Oops! Missed one!
The second Blackburnian Warbler of fall was seen just yesterday. To add to the mix, there have been new arrivals!
A female Red-breasted Nuthatch came in to the Bubbler, becoming Bubbler Bird #87 for the year. She had quite a reach to get a drink, but did this repeatedly. What Olympian strength in those tiny legs!
A beautiful male has been coming in, there may actually be two males. We are hoping this irruptive species will be around this winter.
An immature Wilson's Warbler came in on Friday, 9/17/21. It explored every inch of the bubbler area, cementing this location into its genetic code to pass along to its offspring.The longer they stay, the more information they gather. It's always amazing to watch a young bird when it does this.
Our FOS Northern Parula came in on Sunday, 9/19/21. It was hesitant to get in, the flock had started a splash-fest!
It was a good time for them and for me, too. Here is my checklist for that 35 minutes: https://ebird.org/checklist/S94910559
To view all the photos since the last post, begin here: Birds since 9/14/21
Enjoy this change in the weather!
The Autumn Equinox is tomorrow, 9-22-21 at 2:21 p.m. CDT here in St. Louis.
Early September migrants and more 9-14-21
Birds continue to be on the move.
The first Swainson's Thrush of fall showed up on Sunday, 9-5-21. It was a day with six warbler species, too.
A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was #85 for the year at the Bubbler on 9-8-21.
A Bay-breasted Warbler was a first of fall bird that Wednesday.
An Ovenbird walked in "the back door" to enjoy splashing about. Another FOS (first of season) bird was heard and seen, a Red-breasted Nuthatch. It was in too big of a hurry for a photo.
This Canada Warbler was seen several times throughout that day, bringing the warbler total to seven.
On Thursday, 9-9-21 a cool front had moved through making for a delightfully cool day with ten warbler species of 32 in total. This Northern Waterthrush was at the bubbler very early in the morning.
American Redstarts, Black-and-white and Bay-breasted Warblers were present.
Magnolia Warblers, the Ovenbird and a Blue-winged Warbler joined in the activity.
There was some discussion between the Bay-breasted and Blue-winged, but they worked it out and a Magnolia Warbler came to the party.
A Chestnut-sided was added to the warbler list.
The female Scarlet Tanager is the second we've seen this fall.
A young male Northern Cardinal explored the Bubbler area for the first time on its own. Golden-winged and Chestnut-sided Warblers decided the larger bird was no threat to them!
The Chestnut-sided Warbler returned later and had the "bubble" on the large rock all to itself.
To see all the photos:
A "worm", a "confusion" and a "glittering" of birds! 9-4-21
Collective nouns for groups of birds can be very descriptive, especially in migration!
It began with a "worm" of nearly 30 American Robins, flying into cover in the woods. Small birds seemed to pop out on branches in every level of the canopy, partially hidden by the fully grown leaves. It was a mini-fallout of migrants on Tuesday, 8-31-21 right about 10:30 a.m. They all had "the hangries!"
The "confusion" of warblers was soon revealed. A Blue-winged Warbler grabbed a caterpillar from a pawpaw leaf (Asimina triloba). As their hunger subsided a bit, the birds came to the bubbler. Black-and-white, Magnolia, and Tennessee vied for the choicest spot to bathe.
A pair of Chestnut-sided Warblers got in while birds were also seen at the sump puddle. Robins were there looking for food under the wet leaves and one chased a Blackburnian Warbler out of its way.
A Nashville Warbler was grabbing insects off of Spicebush (Lindera benzoin).
A female Golden-winged Warbler was very interested in the small bubbler rock in the basin. The contortions it went through to bathe were impressive!
The Blue-winged Warbler just had to get in on this action. It's so tempting to put words in their little mouths, but I'll leave it to your imagination!
That day ended with ten warbler species, including an American Redstart and a Canada Warbler. The Canada brought the Bubbler Bird count to 83 for the year. Another interesting bird that came in was an immature Baltimore Oriole. Wish the robins hadn't chased it off so I could have gotten a better image! What a beautiful, bright russet color it was.
September began with four warbler species on the first. Black-and-white, Magnolias and Blue-winged Warblers were still here. A Black-throated Green Warbler was another FOS (first of season) bird.
One cannot speak of migration without some mention of the "glittering" of hummingbirds we've all been seeing! Keep those feeders clean and filled. They need the energy to catch tiny insects and put on some weight.
Last but certainly not least, a scruffy, immature Eastern Bluebird had been feeding in the canopy and came to check out the Bubbler yesterday morning. We're glad to know that our restored habitat is supporting this species. Many bluebirds were lost in that last hard freeze in April throughout Missouri. I had seen two young birds in late July, so this bird may be from a second brood, its yellow gape is still visible.
Enjoy the new season!
Need a review? Fall Warbler Species
What a hoot! 8-25-21
Barred Owls in the 'hood
The first time we found nesting Barred Owls was in the spring of 2010. This species doesn't build a nest, but will use tree cavities or old hawk or squirrel nests. We had seen a pair actively guarding the crotch of a pin oak tree, chasing squirrels away. On 5-16-10, a young nestling was seen peeking out of the hole.
The following day, the young bird climbed up out of the cavity for a better view of the new world it was about to enter.
On 5-18-10, it was time to spread its wings! It would attempt to fly, then ascend another tree by using its bill and talons to grab onto the bark and flap its wings to climb up the trunk. It was quite a memorable evening as we watched this young bird explore the trees.
The ever watchful female was close by, guarding its offspring. Jump ahead eleven years to this week.
On Saturday, 8-21-21 around 7:15 a.m., a Barred Owl flew from the maple tree down to the stream bed of the pond. Took this photo through the gazebo screen with my phone to document. It went down to the water and then I was able to go inside without disturbing it.
Hmmm, I thought. "He wasn't fuzzy, was he?" Well, its head certainly was.
The bird hunted from the sugar maple and then flew to the east slope, working on low branches. A couple days later, it was back in the pond cypress, shaking water off its feathers and preening. In the comparison photo below, it's pretty clear we have a new kid on the block!
This young owlet was curious and energetically explored our woodland, including the Bubbler area. This all happened just after noon in the brightest part of the day on Monday, 8-23-21. It was hot and humid, but as you'll see in the video, the bird found its own way to cool off!
What a hoot!
To learn more about Barred Owls, check out this page: