Current Topic: Creek

Around the Neighborhood in Early Spring

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It took a while, but spring is finally here — though it still seems to be fighting with winter. I knew that the nice weekend we had in early March was just a folly, but I did not think that it would be this tough! After some nice weather the birds started to move, only to be stopped by more bad weather. Migration is slow, but the birds are slowly trickling in. Earlier this week, I wrote about my birding trips that involved migrating birds and fallout. Today I want to share some of my local year-round residents and new arrivals.

Sparrows

The Song Sparrows are filling the air with the variety of their tunes!

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Juncos have been hanging around in full force. I get over 20 at a time under my feeders. I am glad they they do not eat from the feeders otherwise they would clean me out! I had multiple incidents where over 30 Juncos would fly from one single area. They are everywhere!

Dark-eyed Juncos

Dark-eyed Juncos

I enjoyed the songs of Fox Sparrows for the first time. They hung around for over two weeks and I had up to six at a time near my creek when they flew right at.

One of many Fox Sparrows who passed through

One of many Fox Sparrows who passed through

Finches

I still have some Pine Siskins hanging around at the feeders with the Goldfinches (who, by the way are starting to look very gold!).

Pine Siskin

Pine Siskin

The lingering Redpolls wish they moved on sooner. I suppose they learned the hard way that staying south did not mean sunshine and warm weather.

Common Redpoll in a rain storm

Common Redpoll in a rain storm

My newest feeder-bird arrival is the Purple Finch. I started with just one for about a week and yesterday I had three pairs.

Purple Finch

Purple Finch

Waterfowl

Every walk at the creek produces at least one Common Merganser. I was able to get pretty close to them at times just by staying still near the edge of the woods.

Male Common Merganser

Male Common Merganser

Female Common Merganser

Female Common Merganser

For the first time, I had Geese across the street from me. I think the creek was too high and rough for them so they wandered a little bit in search for food.

Canada Geese across the street

Canada Geese across the street

Woodpeckers

The Pileated Woodpeckers seem to be a bit less shy then usual when they are looking for insects.

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Since I had no tripod I layed down on the ground across from him and used a stump and my knees to keep the camera steady so that I could shoot this video

I’m pretty sure that I found the nesting cavity for my local Red-bellied Woodpeckers. They are hanging around this tree and especially this cavity an awful lot!

Red-bellied Woodpecker at possible Nest

Red-bellied Woodpecker at possible Nest

Other local birds

The air is also full of the loud songs of my Carolina Wrens.

Singing Carolina Wren

Singing Carolina Wren

Brown Creepers are everywhere.

Brown Creeper

Brown Creeper

And last week marked the return of my favorite flycatcher, the Phoebe.

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe

This past weekend I also had a long-awaited yard bird: while standing in my driveway talking to a friend an adult Bald Eagle flew low following along the creek. This happened not ten minutes after my friend and I were talking about having Eagles as yard birds. Talking about being at the right place at the right time!

My Local Creek and Favorite Patch

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One of the things that I instantly fell in love with when I saw my neighborhood for the first time was the creek that runs along the road. It was in the summer, so the water flowed very peacefully. Little did I know that I would eventually become a birder and the creek would become my favorite birding patch.

Some of the regular visitors to the creek are very chatty Kingfishers.

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

And Green Herons, who I typically see flying away before I even spot them. Sometimes, they stay put.

Green Heron

Green Heron in breeding plumage

Green Heron

Green Heron, digiscoped with my Nikon EDG and Canon 7D

Great Blue Herons have been spotted a few times, even though the fish are pretty small.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

I often get waterfowl, mainly Canada Geese, Mallards and Common Mergansers.

Common Mergansers

Male and Female Common Mergansers

Common Mergansers

Two female Common Mergansers

… who also brought their families along.

Common Merganser Family

Common Merganser Family

Canada Goose Family

Canada Goose Family

I have some one-time visitors that are worth mentioning such as Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers.

Sandpipers

Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers

As well as one lone Double-crested Cormorant.

Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

Some other nice surprises included a Veery, a very vocal Towhee and Great Crested Flycatchers.

Great Crested Flycatcher

Great Crested Flycatcher

I also often get Warblers, mostly during migration. However, the Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats sing throughout the summer.

The best life bird I had at the creek was such a huge surprise. Before I was a birder, I adored the beauty of Cedar Waxwings. You can imagine how excited I was when I found them hawking insects at my creek. Now I get to see them all the time!

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

They would perch on the rocks and on the fallen branches that were scattered throughout. They always seemed to return to the same perches making photos pretty easy.

Cedar Waxwings

Cedar Waxwings

At one point, a bit of flooding washed away the branches, so I replaced one in their favorite spot. Not a minute later, I had a taker.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

This past summer I found a Louisiana Waterthrush fledgling.

Louisiana Waterthrush Fledgling

Louisiana Waterthrush Fledgling

And then Mom showed up, gathering some grub. These birds were very reliable for about two weeks and very easy to spot as they pumped their butts up and down while foraging for food.

Louisiana Waterthrush

Louisiana Waterthrush

The creek gave me my first close up with Turkey Vultures, a bird who is normally seen soaring the skies. They didn’t mind my presence as long as they had their food. They were munching on the bones of a raccoon that is hidden behind a rock. The smell was awful, but the photos were well worth it!

Turkey Vultures

Turkey Vultures

And of course, it is a creek, so birds will find shallow places to bathe…

Bathing Grackles

Bathing Grackles

Bathing Birds

Bathing Robin and Catbird

… and sun bathe!

Sun Bathing Birds

Sun Bathing Kingfisher and Catbird

It’s not just the birds that I enjoy here – there are also mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects!

This summer, a pair of Beavers were spotted, but did not stick around. They had many small trees that they chomped down, but perhaps the creek was too much for them to dam up.

Beavers Pair

Beavers Pair

I often see deer crossing the water.

White-tailed Deer

White-tailed Deer

White-tailed Deer

Deer Couple

Along with many frogs and snakes that I find if I look close enough in the water.

Snake in the Creek

Snake in the Creek

Frogs

Frogs in the water

The frogs also find their way on the rocks by the dozen. I have to really watch my step sometimes because they are everywhere.

And, of course, the outdoor and feral cats that rule the neighborhood have to cross over at some point.

Cat at the Creek

Domestic Cat

All of this is seen within a quarter mile walk along (and through) the water. I really love this creek. Even on days that there are no birds or other animals, there is always something to enjoy.

Autumn at the Creek

Autumn at the Creek