|
Author: Peter Kasper
Saturday, December 24
Peter had a "bunch" of
Pine Siskins at the Ed Center Feeders today.
Eastern Bluebird. Dave
Saturday, December 17
Today was the annual Fermi Circle Christmas Bird Count. The weather
conditions were the best in years with temps in the mid thirties and
a light snow tailing off as the daylight portion of the count
began. Less than an inch of snow covered the grounds while most
ponds and lakes had mostly open waters. These open waters brought
the numbers of
Canada Geese back up (2308) from last year's low
(170). Other waterfowl seen were
Cackling Geese(15),
Greater White-fronted Geese(6),
American Black Ducks(12),
Mallards(290),
Common Goldeneyes(150),
Common Mergansers(118) and a
Ring-necked Duck (1). Other notable sightings due to above or below average numbers
or just because they are uncommon are listed below.
American Kestrels still remain scarce with only one sighting. Coyotes still
keep the
Ring-necked Pheasants in check with only one sighting. The following species had numbers around fifty percent or more above
previous averages:
Great Blue Heron(12),
Northern Harrier(9),
Sharp-shinned Hawk(5),
Northern Shrike(4),
Horned Lark(49),
Black-capped Chickadee(122),
White-breasted Nuthatch(24),
Eastern Bluebird(16),
American Tree Sparrow(597),
Dark-eyed Junco(272),
Northern Cardinal(69),
Rusty Blackbird(3),
Brown-headed Cowbird(7),
and
Pine Siskin(1). One of the most notable low counts was the
American Robin(2). Some other notable species were
Hermit Thrush (1),
Fox Sparrow(1), and
Swamp Sparrow(2). A first CBC sighting for
the lab was a
Brewer's Blackbird. Finally, we had four owl species
for the count. Two
Eastern Screech-Owls responded in the early
morning snow.
Great Horned Owls(3) were hard to come by throughout
the day. Happily,
Short-eared Owl(3) returned after being missing
for several Count years. One of the bird(s) of the Count was a pair
of
Barred Owls(2) called in with a Screech-Owl call. Dave
Friday, December 9
Today passerines were quite sparse at Fermi, while water birds were
reasonably represented.
Common Mergansers were seen on both Lake Law and Main Ring Lake. Other birds seen on Main Ring Lake were
Cackling Geese,
Greater White-fronted Geese,
Hooded Merganser and
American Coots.
Great Blue Herons were found on Lake Law, Main Ring Lake and
Dusaf Pond. Only
American Tree Sparrows were seen in the Garden Club, probably due to the cold winds blowing. Several waves of
Sandhill Cranes flew over the Lab during the early afternoon.
Finally, an
American Kestrel was still in the osprey nest area,
while a
Northern Harrier was hunting inside the Main Ring. Dave
Sunday, December 4
Again this morning the waterfowl still remained elusive; even the
geese were in lower numbers than in recent visits. The only ducks
seen were several
Hooded Mergansers in Lake Law, a pair of
Northern Shovelers in Dusaf Lake and an
American Black Duck inside the Ring Area. The Swenson Road area produced an
American Kestrel,
Northern Harrier and
Great Horned Owl. Another
American Kestrel was in its
usual area near the
Osprey nest. The north roads area had several
Red-winged Blackbirds and the bird of the day a
Short-eared Owl. The owl
dropped down in medium height grass about fifteen feet from the
road, possibly hunting, and gave us fantastic views. Oh where, oh
where was my camera. Dave
Thursday, December 1
Ice was present on all Fermi bodies of water this morning; from
fully covered Nepese marsh to Lake Law which only had perimeter ice.
Associated with a small flock of
Canada Geese on Lake Law were a
Ruddy Duck,
Hooded Merganser and several
Northern Shovelers. The Garden Club contained just some typical year round residents along
with good numbers of
American Tree Sparrows and
Dark-eyed Juncos.
The Buffalo fields had thirty or more
Greater White-fronted Geese dispersed among a large flock of
Canada Geese. A nice family of at
least five Coyotes was found in the Swenson Road area. Main Ring Lake had about ten
Hooded Mergansers, a
Common Merganser and a pair
of
American Black Ducks. Also in the area were a
Northern Harrier and
Horned Lark. A
Hairy Woodpecker and
Great Horned Owl were found
in both the East and West Main Ring Woods. In addition,
Eastern Bluebirds were heard flying over the woods. A couple of
American Kestrels are still being seen in the general area of the
Osprey nest. A
Belted Kingfisher was spotted perched along the back of Swan Lake and finally a third
Great Horned Owl was flushed in the Big Woods. Dave
|
