BIRD NOTES: With our snowfall of a few weeks ago, Dick Robertson
decided to put up his bird feeders early this year. Turned out to
be a good move.
So far, he and his wife Elsie have seen three woodpeckers — a
downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, and, for the first time, a
red-headed woodpecker, all at his feeder. A fourth, a pileated
woodpecker, they saw on the other side of the road.
We have to marvel at his luck. He is not sure what might be
attracting them except, perhaps, the ideal cover in their yard and
the early meals at the bird feeder. Dick says the birds really like
a very old and large lilac trees which still blooms every year near
their house.
The Robertsons have a great view of birds (and Bradford) from
their home on Cottage Row which is above High Street.
SAME SUBJECT: While we’re on the subject, it’s time to alert
readers to the annual Project FeederWatch, a citizen-science
program from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies
Canada.
As always, they are looking for a few good birders.
“What happens in the backyard should not stay in the backyard,”
organizers tell us. By sharing information about which birds visit
their feeders between November and April, backyard bird watchers
can help scientists track changes in bird numbers and movements
from year to year.
Project FeederWatch begins on Nov. 14 and runs through early
April. To learn more and to sign up, visit www.feederwatch.org or call the
Cornell Lab toll-free at (866) 982-2473. In return for the $15 fee
($12 for Cornell Lab members) participants receive the
FeederWatcher’s Handbook, an identification poster of the most
common feeder birds, a calendar, complete instructions, and Winter
Bird Highlights, an annual summary of FeederWatch findings.
And for those of you keeping track, the bird on most lists in
the northeast quarter of the U.S. and southeastern Canada this past
year was the black-capped and Carolina chickadees.
Fewer reports were given for the evening grosbeak. A rare bird
listed was a green-tailed towhee in New Jersey.
Since 1987, more than 40,000 people from the United States and
Canada have taken part in the project.
