Two Pine Siskins share the feeder with two American Goldfinches on Saturday, 19 February (the siskins are the two middle birds).

The requirements for participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count are a willingness to count birds in your backyard, favorite state park, or other location, and a willingness to write down what you see and submit it to the above mentioned project managers.

Often difficult to see in both in life and this picture is the Brown Creeper. Creepers cling to the sides of trees woodpecker-style, climbing up the trunks and branches to seek out insects and other invertebrates to eat (2/20/11).

I conducted the count by myself on Friday the 18th of February here at the Museum in Explore the Wild, the Dinosaur Trail, and Catch the Wind. Ranger Kristin counted with me the following day, and took on the job of counting by herself on the 21st, the final day of the four day count period. Other duties called both of us away on Sunday, the 20th of February.

This Red-shouldered Hawk (in its second year of life-SY) is one of 6 seen soaring over the Wetlands during the Great Backyard Bird Count (2/18/11).

We saw two species which can be a challenge to observe on any winter’s day, but on the count day they were a special surprise, Pine Siskin and Brown Creeper, both new birds for Kristin. And, on Saturday the 18th there were as many a six Red-shouldered Hawks soaring above the Wetlands at one time.

The same day, I saw both male and female Cooper’s Hawks soaring together. After a brief courtship display the male took off, presumably, to look for some of Durham’s downtown pigeons, while the female headed off to the pines just north of the Wetlands. It looks as though there’ll be another nest in our midst again this year.

This male Northern Cardinal belts out its song from a perch along the Dinosaur Trail. Common, but beautiful to both see and hear.

We averaged 33.3 bird species for the period (34 birds the day I counted alone, 36 the day of the joint count, and 30 birds when Kristin soloed). Not bad totals for a habitat within Durham’s city limits.

On July 27th both of the immature hawks were up and soaring over the the pines. The birds fell silent on the 30th on July. On Saturday, July 31 I observed one of the immature hawks fly off at my approach through the dense woods, with a bird in it’s talons.

One of the Cooper's Hawks sailing over the pines north of the Wetlands.

On August 3, while walking through The Dinosaur Trail I noticed a scattering of feathers on the pavement. The feathers were spread across the Macadam, but a small cluster of feathers at the center of the path caught my eye.

Some of the many feathers that grabbed my attention. There were many feathers scattered across the path on the Dinosaur Trail.

One of the reddish feathers. The fly sits on what looks like a small piece of breast.

A few of the feathers still had meat attached to them. At first glance I thought that the feathers were from a female cardinal due to their reddish color. But as I looked over to the side of the path I noticed a wing, and then another.

There was little doubt that the two wings on the side of the path, as well as the other feathers scattered about, were from a robin.

This wing is from an American Robin.

For a week or two previous, I’d been seeing family groups of robins foraging along the paths and through the woods, especially along the Dinosaur Trail and the north side of the Wetlands.

While I can’t be certain, it looks as though one of the immature Cooper’s Hawks made a kill at this spot on the Dinosaur Trail. In my mind’s eye I can visualize the hawk capturing the robin in mid air, dropping to the ground and mantling the prey. After having a quick look around to see if all was safe, it commenced to take the unfortunate robin apart. Perhaps it then flew off to the woods to the north of the Dino Trail to eat the bird.

If you see a medium sized hawk with a rather long tail adeptly coursing through the woods, or sailing over the treetops, it just might be one of the two young Cooper’s Hawks hatched and fledged here at the Museum this year. Wish the hawk luck, many of them don’t make it through their first year of life.

Elm buds have been showing for a few weeks, this one was close enough to the ground to photograph.

Red Maple is in full bloom.

Wax Myrtle is showing buds.

A Gray Squirrel partakes in a tasty snack of buds or flowers, or both.

A Carolina Chickadee inspects a natural cavity in a sycamore. This tree is within 12 feet or so of the boardwalk. If the bird decides to use this for nesting it may make for good photographic opportunities.

A Red-winged Blackbird checks out the Wetlands. This bird was in the company of three others and was just passing through. There is, however, a lone male who sings daily in the Wetlands.

Apparently always excavating holes in trees at this time of year, a Brown-headed Nuthatch continues its work.

I noticed this bird circling above Catch the Wind (2/5) performing a "courtship" flight. I later found the bird (Cooper's Hawk) in a pine calling loudly kak, kak, kak, kak...it's time to think about nesting.

A winter resident at the Museum, this Ruby-crowned Kinglet searches for food among the branches of a willow in the Wetlands. Kinglets often start singing before leaving us for points north, I haven't heard their song yet.

Get outdoors and have a look around for yourself, and let me know what you see!

Turkey Vultures are a daily sight as they soar, dip and bank across the Museum’s airspace.

Note the small head, gray flight feathers, and rather long tail on this Turkey Vulture sailing over the Museum.

The slightly smaller Black Vulture, while seen at least once a week here at the Museum, is not as frequently encountered as the Turkey Vulture.

A short tail, small head, and white or gray primaries (the feathers at the tip of the wings) are trademarks of the Black Vulture. Black Vultures flap their wings more often, and more rapidly, than do their larger relatives, Turkey Vultures.

Hardly a day passes without seeing or hearing a Red-shouldered Hawk at the Museum. They are most often encountered while they’re perched in the woods silently watching below for prey.

A Red-shouldered Hawk sits quietly in the swamp between Catch the Wind and Explore the Wild.

Red-tailed Hawks are seen above at least once a week in winter, but there is a two month period during summer when they may not be seen at all. Whenever they do show up, a Red-shouldered Hawk is often there to greet and escort them out of the airspace.

Although larger and more powerful than Red-shouldered Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks are often chased out of the Museum's airspace by the smaller hawk.

This Cooper's Hawk was seen January 28th hunting over Catch the Wind.

Copper’s Hawks have successfully nested here at the Museum for the past two years. I see one of these brazen, bushwhacking, aerial hunters nearly every week of the year, certainly every month. Last week was a double; I saw one (most likely the same hawk) on two different days. Each time, the hawk was hunting from above, settling down into the pines north of the Lemur House.

On February 3rd, a tap-tap-tap-taping sound high in a Loblolly Pine in Catch the Wind signaled the workings of a Brown-headed Nuthatch excavating a nest hole. A pair of these tiny pine dwelling nuthatches had dug two holes in a pine not fifty feet from this location last year, only to give it up (or lose it) to a pair of Carolina Chickadees several weeks later.

One nuthatch quickly exits the hole as the other waits to inspect his handywork.

This pair seems to be a bit ahead of themselves. Last year’s nuthatches were first spotted on February 20 as they had just begun excavation. From the apparent depth of the current hole it appears as though they’ve been working on this one for several days, if not more.

I’ll keep you posted on their progress.

Great Blue Heron perched on a prominent rock in the Wetlands.

An infrequent perch for this heron.

One of the bird's prefered resting locations.

Rocks, especially the two large rocks which can be seen left-of-center from the Wetlands Overlook, are the bird’s favorite perches. Here, the bird apparently feels safe to relax, far out in the water away from any would be predators.

Often, after a long day of hunting, the heron retreats to the large, flat rock and suns itself. Facing the sinking sun, the bird drops its wings to the sides and relaxes.

The heron strikes a pose in the late afternoon sun.

Many years ago when I first observed a Great Blue Heron in this posture I thought it strange and peculiar. It certainly didn’t look very comfortable, but whose to say what’s comfortable to a Great Blue Heron. I’ve never seen other heron species in this pose (after some intense Googling, I discovered that many species of heron have been observed in this posture). Perhaps the pose is meant to help straighten the wing feathers; wing feathers can get quite twisted from flight and the sun may help to take out the kinks. Or maybe the bird is trying to dry out its feathers after wading in deep water.

Of course, the bird may simply be catching some rays. When in this posture the heron is always facing into the late afternoon sun. The shape of the wings while held in the position shown would seem to collect the most possible solar rays and reflect the heat onto the bird’s body. Various birds take on weird and contorted poses while sunning, so this stance should not be surprising.

There’s probably a combination of factors which cause herons to strike this pose, but perhaps the best explanation for this behavior (if an explanation is needed at all) is simply that it feels good to the bird.

Who knows what feels good to a heron, and why.

Elsewhere in the bird world, there is currently only one Pied-billed Grebe in the Wetlands. The remaining grebe is often difficult to locate and doesn’t spend as much time as it previously did diving for fish near the boardwalk where it can easily be observed.

Hooded Mergansers are back! The mergansers arrived sometime during the first few days of November, as reported by Robin of the Butterfly House. I didn’t see them until several days later when six of them came swimming out of the willows on the far side of the Wetlands. Since then, as many as ten have been observed swimming about the water.

Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks have both been observed during the first few weeks of November. One sharp-shinned was seen chasing down a sparrow in front of the Ornithopter. It was a very close call for the sparrow, but it managed to elude the hawk after three or four passes around and through the trees. The hawk gave up the pursuit, and a very relieved sparrow high-tailed it for a nice dense shrub to recoup.

A large adult female Cooper’s Hawk sent the goldfinches, cardinals, doves and sparrows scrabbling for cover as it swooped down from above while I sat watching the smaller birds at the Bird Feeders. The hawk missed, flew into a pine tree, looked around for a few minutes for any careless stragglers, and took off.

The are many Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets about. Watch the Wax Myrtle for these energetic little birds, especially during cold, blustery days.

White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos have both been seen at various locations around the outdoor exhibits, especially at the Bird Feeders. The sparrows arrived during the last week in October and the juncos flew in during the first week of November.

The Museum’s nesting Cooper’s Hawks are busily hunting and feeding their young. You can occasionally see one or both of the adults soaring over the Wetlands, or over the bird feeders in Catch the Wind. On one occasion I saw the male frantically flapping towards the nest area with what looked to be a Mourning Dove in its talons and carrying another unidentified bird later the same day – with several irate, smaller songbirds in hot pursuit.

I saw a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers feeding their fledgling. Frenetic from the start, these tiny little bundles of energy were rapid-fire feeding insect after insect to the whining, begging youngster – bill wide open and wings flapping at its sides.

On June 12th I saw two Green Herons flying out of the Wetlands on a northeast heading. Later, I saw two more. Still later, a single bird hiked it up and over the trees to the northeast. Were they different birds? The same birds making several trips to and from the Wetlands? Don’t know for sure. No matter, it seems these birds have discovered the “stew” in the Wetlands.

A young Red-tailed Hawk, leisurely soaring over the Wetlands, was met by a Red-shouldered Hawk intent on clearing the air of the former. An American Crow flew up to roust the Red-shouldered Hawk. Finally, a Cooper’s Hawk entered the fray. All four were last seen chasing each other off to the northeast. A Hooded Warbler was singing behind the Lemur House and a Red-eyed Vireo and Eastern Wood Pewee were heard near the main entrance to Explore the Wild. A dozen or so Cedar Waxwings breezed through the area on Saturday the 17th during the final day of Bear Aware Week. In my last journal installment I reported a Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s nest above the boardwalk in Explore the Wild. The hummingbird was last seen on May 18 as it sat on the nest, occasionally flying off to gather nesting material. I’ve regularly checked the nest since the last sighting but have not seen the bird.