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!
An uncommon visitor 1-19-18
We did have our break in the cold and it lasted a few days. The ice eventually melted in both ponds just long enough for an uncommon bird to come in. We were sitting in the breakfast room on Thursday, 1-11-18 with a second cup of coffee when I saw a large wing out of the corner of my eye. Thud. Something landed on the roof. Maybe it was the Barred Owl I heard at 5:00 am. I got up to investigate.
"You won't believe this," I said to Dan.
The bird was a Great Blue Heron. It was looking down at the Bubbler pond to see if there were any fish in it. Well, we haven't had fish in there for several years because the mink and raccoons get them too easily. The heron didn't stay very long and flew west to the neighbors who also have a pond.
The bird was there about 30 minutes. Later, when I checked and didn't see it next door, I carefully went into the front room and peeked around the corner. There it was, fishing in our pond, and being successful at finding a meal!
A one-gulp goldfish meal it was anyway.
I watched the heron for a while and it did make a few more attempts at lunging for fish, but it seemed to have lost the element of surprise. The fish have plenty of places to hide in the caves of the big pond.
In less than 24 hours, the pond was completely iced over again. No fishing allowed for a while!
Another interesting factoid is that we have seen five different individual Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers since late December. The first young female is scruffy-looking and this one I have seen the most often.
Two more young females could be twins they look so alike, but I have seen them at the Bubbler at the same time, chasing each other between getting drinks or a bit of bark butter. Their heads look quite black, the latter one has more black on its chest.
The fourth sapsucker is an adult female with red on its head and a white throat. Here are two views of the female.
And last but not least, there is this young male who is getting its red crown feathers in and has the red throat and yellow-belly.
Last week on Friday, 1-12-18 it had dropped down to 13.5 degrees and birds were moving around. There was an influx of American Robins and they all came to the Bubbler at the same time. I believe there are 15 of the 17 birds that I saw in this photo.
There have been Rusty Blackbirds coming in most days in small numbers. They will forage, drink and then find a branch on which to puff up and rest.
A few times I have seen two Yellow-rumped Warblers at the Bubbler together. Perhaps they are already thinking about spring! I know I have been!
We have been working on a new exhibit called, "Warblers!" that will be up for viewing in May at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center. It has been fun looking at spring photos of these beauties and finalizing the choices for the exhibit. More on that soon. For now, we're back to enjoying our winter birds!
1-7-18 Frosty Start to 2018
Happy 2018!
It has certainly been a frigid start to this new year. It was -5.9 degrees on the first day! For us it has been all about keeping the water features from totally freezing up, feeders filled and being grateful to be able to come back inside where it's warm.
Early on New Year's Day, the "Bubble" had quite an ice dome over it before we helped matters with buckets of warm water.
And, the basin was pretty frozen, so more warm water was brought to the rescue. Watchful maintenance is required with water features in winter.
There was so much ice on the big pond that we had to put in a heater/de-icer for the first time. Usually, the water keeps moving and at least a trough stays open. But these temperatures have been the ultimate test, the water was barely flowing under the ice which was thickening rapidly.
Here's the steam bed on 12/31/7 when we decided to add the heater.
After adding many gallons of water to bring the level back up, we placed the heater where the ice had melted and it started working.
The flowing water opened up the ice in the bubbling spring area on top. Rusty Blackbirds and Common Grackles of different ages soon came in to drink. The sun helped, too!
The feeders have been very busy. We have the mix of black oil sunflower and safflower in several tube feeders. The safflower is not a favorite of Common Grackles and mixing it in helps deter them from dominating the feeders. This bright, beautiful Northern Cardinal welcomed the sunrise on New Year's morning.
There are two wire mesh feeders for the goldfinches and siskins filled with half sunflower chips and half Niger seed. The first Pine Siskins of the year enjoyed a brunch of the mix on Tuesday, 1/2/18.
We spread some mealworms in different places for the ground feeders, like the Rusty Blackbirds and this Groucho-mimic Dark-eyed Junco.
We also put some in this small globe feeder for Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches and Chickadees to get some extra protein, too.
Thanks to my friend, Sue Poley, we have a wonderful source for freeze-dried mealworms in the United States as opposed to buying them from China. It's a small family owned company that supports bat rehabilitation efforts in Central Florida.
Check them out: http://tastyworms.com
We have two bark butter feeders that are up. One is a box shape and the other is a black cherry log. Both have holes in it that are filled with the bark butter. One can use chunky peanut butter which works. We offer the bark butter from Wild Birds Unlimited. Prices vary at different locations from $10-$13 per pound. I will buy 3-4 pounds at a time which gets us through the winter.
Hanging this type of feeder upside-down helps to deter the European Starlings. No solution is 100% with them however, there is always one who will try to cling.
The bark butter log is in a cage that Dan made to prevent access by the starlings. So far, that seems to be working. Carolina Wrens, Tufted Titmice, Chickadees and Downy Woodpeckers can fly up into it from the deck.
The bark butter can also be spread onto the bark of trees, thus the name. I am careful with this - too much hammering by larger woodpeckers can eventually damage trees. So, I spread it on snags or dying trees first, then on trees with thicker bark. Many species of birds look for this food. From tiny Brown Creepers to Northern Flickers and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, it's a favorite. This year, there are two American Crows coming in for it!
The problem is that any kind of peanut butter is also very attractive to European Starlings. When they come in, it's all over. That's when I stop putting it out for a few days until the starlings aren't around and try again.
We used to offer plain suet, but have found that the woodpeckers prefer chopped peanuts. So, of course, we accommodate. This female Northern Flicker is a frequent diner.
Today is Sunday, 1/7/18. We've gained five minutes of daylight, can you feel it? Temperatures have risen above freezing for the first time in over two weeks. There's a catch - freezing rain is on the way before we get a real break from the cold.
To view all the photos of the new year, visit the new gallery: 2018 Birds at Shady Oaks
A White Christmas! 12-25-17
In St. Louis, there's a 20% chance - this year, we have a White Christmas with an inch of snow on the ground!
It was a beautiful, fluffy light snow and we're grateful for the moisture.
From our breakfast room on Christmas Eve morning,
we watched the busy birds at the feeders.
As the snow fell, the woodland became an enchanted winter wonderland!
From all of us at Shady Oaks to all of you, we wish for you days to play in the snow...
...take long walks or take it easy...
...eat, drink and be merry...
...savor those leftovers!
Off to see the Snowy Owl at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary 12-18-17
A female Snowy Owl has been up at Riverlands for several weeks now and we finally had a day when we could 'go birding' and look for it. We packed up the spotting scope and camera and drove up to the sanctuary yesterday. Conditions always feel colder up there near the Mississippi River and marshlands, so if you decide to go, be sure to dress in extra layers. The owl does move around to different areas and others have posted images that are much closer to the owl than I was able to get yesterday, but we were happy to go and see this owl together. The spotting scope helped greatly to view it. Mission accomplished.
Snowy Owls are sporadically and rarely seen in Missouri in the winter. Their occurrence depends on their food supply of lemmings and voles further north. When the lemming population crashes, the owls must move south to find food. In other words, many of these birds may be starving. That is one of the reasons I have hesitated to run up to see one when there has been a sighting, not wanting to put any additional pressure on them. We decided we would take one day and limit ourselves to a few hours and see if we could find the owl and just get a few photos. The bird was a life bird for Dan. I had seen one years ago as we were traveling through Illinois and it crossed the road in front of our car, then landed in a field.
We arrived and checked a few areas then drove further down Riverlands Way. There were several cars and we asked folks if they had seen the bird. "Yes, that way," two women pointed behind them to the south. This Snowy Owl was kind of hunkered down in the vegetation staying low and out of the wind to conserve energy. It was out on a spit of land in Heron Pond Slough.
The wind was brisk and from the south, causing our scope and camera to shake, so I took some photos hoping to catch those moments with less vibration. Enough, we decided to go have our traditional lunch at My Just Desserts in Alton and come back later.
When we returned, the bird had moved a bit, but was still in the same area. Snow Geese and a myriad of duck species were there, but I concentrated on a few more images of the Snowy Owl and we called it a day.
They are beautiful, amazing and alluring owls. Check out this short video about them from the Cornell Lab website:
Here is the link to the Audubon Center at Riverlands which is a wonderful place to visit. They have scopes set up inside to view Bald Eagles or ducks in the water. One can also check the board inside for recent sightings:
Here is a printable map of the area which is up near the Clark Bridge to Alton, IL. off US Highway 67.
The red "X" marks the approximate area where we saw the Snowy Owl yesterday, but remember, birds fly!
Rusty Blackbirds, Pine Siskins and another surprise 12-13-17
Rusty Blackbirds have been seen on a few days this past week or so. Sometimes it's just a couple birds and on Friday, 12-8-17 there were approximately 50 within a much larger flock of 200 or more Common Grackles and European Starlings. They were feeding in the leaves in every bed surrounding the house and would rotate in small groups to the Bubbler and the Pond.
This one is standing on the ice in the Bubbler Pond - it was only 14 degrees that morning.
The grackles and starlings tend to move together and tolerate each other's presence.
The Rusty Blackbirds are the last ones to spook and lift off in a mass, like the other two species. They're also the first to come back down to feed and drink.
There were also two Pine Siskins at the feeder that morning. Like the goldfinches, they drink at the fountain, too.
More Pine Siskins showed up a couple days later. There were 3 in the Bubbler Basin and I was trying to photograph them when another bird popped in to bathe. What? It was an Eastern Bluebird! They are uncommon in the winter. I've seen one in the garden in December before, this one surprised me more!
Three Pine Siskins did come back to the basin to drink together, while three others were at the west feeder with many of the American Goldfinches, who were staging from the nearby trees.
That fountain on the deck provides very easy access to water for them. We refresh it often, put a birdbath heater in it and keep it insulated with a rigid foam surround that Dan made.
The Brown Creeper that's been in every day has its preferred spot now on the big Bubbler Rock to get its drink or bath. When I see a bird repeat the same activity over and over, well, it's likely to be the same individual I think.
The usual suspects were in and out getting water all day long. That included this female Northern Flicker.
It is very, very dry and red flag warnings are up with the elevated fire danger. I do hope we get some substantial rain soon. There were three Rusty Blackbirds back at the Bubbler very briefly on Tuesday, 12-12-17. This was the only one I managed to photograph.
Today, the juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was working on the bark of one of the white oaks, looking for insects. This bird hadn't been seen since 12-1-17.
Temperatures are still fluctuating like a bit of a rollercoaster. The colder days do bring more birds in to feed and drink. I can't decide which is more of a distraction - the birds or my ever-growing to-do list!
To view all the photos for the month begin here: December photos