Some Winter Birds

Redpoll

I used to photograph birds all the time. I would put the winter feeders in the tree outside the window, and in the summer, I would walk early in the morning to capture them. It doesn't happen anymore because now I'm disabled and I can't even provide for the feeders any longer because the snow gets so deep.

White-breasted nuthatch

I have closed my Facebook account, and downloaded all of the photos I had there. I'm organizing them and came across these. There is no rhyme or reason to the selection: they were simply together in  one folder that Facebook sent me. I don't know the dates or whether I reported them to iNaturalist back then. But it is fun remembering how I kept busy in winter back in the day.

Redpolls

We get huge irruptions of redpolls here in the winter. They are so fun to watch and are very gregarious. There are two kinds, and I photographed both but can't remember them at the moment. To tell the truth, I'm so tired after the October spider series of posts that I can't bear to identify or write much about animals this weekend. These are more for memories than education.

Mourning dove

Goose on a neighbor's farm

Redpoll

Chickadee

I hope you enjoyed these and I also hope your weather and mine stays warm so that we don't need to burn oil (although I am beginning to worry about what this warm weather will mean for plants and overwintering animals).

Saturday's Critters at
Viewing Nature with Eileen

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A Squirrel and a Redpoll

Both photographed on April 2, 2011 at the bird tree.

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VIDEO: Redpoll Congregation

Remember the five hundred redpolls that congregated at the feeders on Friday, April 1 (click here to see photos and text)? They returned on Saturday morning. I grabbed my Flip and recorded them. But John and I were talking while I filmed, so I used Flip public domain music to delete our voices. This is another lousy video but you can see that at least 200 redpolls congregated. I actually saw the cloud of them come down the mountain to the feeders and it was an exhilarating sight. They wheeled and dove in the air as they flew down.

After talking to people at the library and at church, we have decided this is the spring congregation of redpolls before they return to Canada for the summer. I can't find any information on redpoll congregation so I cannot confirm whether our conclusion is correct or not.

The Cornell Ornithology Lab writes "An abundant breeding bird of the boreal and taiga regions, the Common Redpoll is seen in North America primarily only in the winter. Even then, it generally occurs during irruptions, typically every other year." We have redpolls every winter, and I don't think that is considered an irruption. They are abundant here and every northern Vermonter, adult and child, knows about redpolls.

Cornell also says that these are Acanthis flammea. I have always thought, from my sources, that they are Carduelis flammea. You can search Cornell with the term Carduelis flammea and the results are redpolls. So now I have to find out why they have two names and which one is in current use.

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Five Hundred Redpolls

I went to work after I filled the thistle socks for the redpolls earlier today. John said that very soon after I left he heard a low drumming sound that drew him to the windows. He saw at least five hundred redpolls at the feeders, in the woods, and in the air. He was stunned and grabbed my camera and started shooting. He did an awesome job with the camera. He used proper estimation procedures, the same we teach our mathematics students. He was still excited about the experience when I returned home.

The feeders are all empty now. Why were we inundated with redpolls? I think it partly was today's snowstorm. Perhaps there is also some communication between different redpoll flocks. We can't be certain of anything. But in the morning, I am going to refill the thistle socks. I want the redpolls to come back! We have video cameras that could capture the magnitude of the combined flocks.

To see the detail of these photos, click on the photo and you will open a new window to the Flickr photo page. On the top left of the photo is a drop down menu that says "Actions." Click that and select "View all sizes." View the original size. I looked at the crowds on the thistle socks and the flying birds for an hour. This is an awesome phenomenon.

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Chatty Redheads

I am not exaggerating when I say that we are getting over one hundred redpolls at the feeders now. It is a hoard of little birds. Redpolls love thistle seed (below). I used to put out just one thistle bag. Then two. Now we have four — two small ones and two large ones. The redpolls prefer the small bags but in a pinch (like when I refuse to refill the small bags) will use the large bags. The ground beneath the bags is an inch thick in thistle seeds. John and I are going to try to plant the thistle in the upper field this year (it is not invasive) to try to harvest our own seed for next winter instead of buying fifty pound bags of it for the birdies.

Only 3 redpolls are in this photo but up to 10 birds will alight on a thistle bag.

Redpolls are a bit skittish. If a car goes by on the road (which doesn't happen that often in the winter), they all fly off. They travel together in huge flocks. More redpolls come during snowstorms than during good weather. When I go to refill the feeders, the redpolls will remain in the tree and watch me. The chickadees will bounce around the tree and feeders, so close that I can touch them, and will scold me. But redpolls wait quietly and patiently. They chatter quite a bit to each other. Some have red patches on their heads, some don't. Some have red breasts and some don't. Some simply look like a streaked sparrow. They come slender and plump, dark brown to nearly white. In the summer, they return to Canada. I miss their friendly chatter when they leave.

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Redpoll Fanny

Sometimes our oddest photos tickle our fancy most. I enjoy looking at this photo of the backside of a little redpoll because I know their behavior so well and this shot illustrates redpoll squabbles and racket as they feast on thistle.

Common Redpoll Set

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A Flock of Redpolls

My Common Redpoll Set on Flickr

Technorati Tags: Carduelis flammea, Common Redpoll
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Common Redpolls

The shrike was here at dawn. But redpolls, chickadees, bluejays and red squirrels flocked to the feeders in the morning. They have to know where it is or its schedule in order to appear like this. I haven't seen the redpolls for a month. There were four today.

These photos will open, full-sized, in a new window when clicked.

Technorati Tags: Common Redpoll, Carduelis flammea
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Heads or Tails: Three

Three Common Redpolls (Carduelis flammea) in today's snowstorm.

Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum)
found this past summer at Moose Bog in Victory, Vermont

To see more Heads or Tails participants, visit Skittles
or click Heads or Tails.
Thank you so much for visiting.

Carduelis+flammea Common Redpoll Painted+Trillium Trillium+undulatum

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