Tom's Bird Feeders and Reptile Supplies

Our weather here in Portal has been unseasonably warm. This weather streak started in January and except for a few days when we actually got a little snow, it has continued.

This always allows for the possibility of an early migration.  This possibility came true yesterday when on the way back from Douglas, Arizona we saw our first Turkey Vultures.  There were four soaring above the Highway 80 about half way back home.  Now the average first sighting for the vultures is March 1, so granted this is only 5 day early, but I must start thinking about putting out more hummingbird feeders a week early and will also have to start putting out nesting material.

The nesting material may have to be today.  We have had the Black-throated Sparrows, Cactus Wrens, and Mockingbirds singing their full songs.  A Curved-billed Thrasher has been carrying twigs to his favorite cholla.

Those of you who are going to visit our area to bird watch, keep checking back to see if this early migration trend continues.  You may want to tweak your vacation days.

White-crowned Sparrows are, by far, our most numerous bird species at our feeding station in the winter.  We have literally hundreds of these little sprites feeding at our platform feeders and on the ground under the bird feeders each morning.  They are also notorious bathers and the flocks really send up a spray each morning in our four tiered pond setup.  As common as the White-crowned Sparrows are we quite often have discussions in the morning that go a little like this:  “What’s the blue gray bird that just landed in the Salvia?”  “Hmmm, its a White-crown.”  “Three little buff birds just flew into the third Pyracantha.  When they pop out, see if you can get anything on them.”  “Yeh, they are White-crowns!”  We end up with at least one such dialog every morning.  Within our flocks of White-crowned Sparrows we have individuals with blue gray bodies, buff, and nearly seven different shades of browns or tans.  To top that off, over 3/4 of them do not even have white crowns.  They sport the reddish brown crown indicating that they are first winter juveniles.  While the colors differ markedly all of them show a similar “plumpness” and size larger than the other native sparrows coming into our feeder.  In short, they have that “White-crowned Sparrow look” which sets them apart from other species.  But, just out of curiosity, how would you describe a White-crowned Sparrow to a non birding friend?  Hmmm!

This winter has seemed unseasonably warm with many days reaching the high 70s and mid 80s the last two months.  Many birds have been singing in the yard including Black-throated Sparrows, House Finches, Mockingbirds, Curve-billed Thrashers and Cactus Wrens.  The Cactus Wrens and and Thrashers have been working hard on nest building.  February seems early for such activity, but something must be telling the birds that the time is now.  I checked out the Thrasher nest in a large Prickly Pear Cactus and mama was sitting on four bluish white eggs on Monday.  Spring was certainly in the air.  Then two nights ago the snow came.  Temperatures dipped to 20 degrees and two inches of snow fell on our property.  Winds of 50 miles per hour plus kept the snow blowing even when it had stopped snowing.  The birds were very late coming into the feeders although eventually they did come in.  Large flocks of Pine Siskins and White-crowned Sparrows came in to our platform bird feeders and thistle or Nyjer feeders respectivly.  Usually when we get snow (usually not more than two individual days a year) something special comes in to the bird feeders.  Yesterday was no different as a flock of three Dark-eyed Juncos came in, took a bath in the small section of the four tiered pond which did not have ice over it and fed under our recycled platform bird feeder.  We have only had this species on four occasions in the ten years we have been in Arizona and all four were during snow storms.  As the bird numbers went down at mid afternoon, I checked on mama Thrasher at her nest.  She just looked up at me, very pathetically with a skiff of snow on her back as if to say “Please turn the heat up!”  Her prayer must have been answered because the temperatures today are back up to the 70s.  The snow is all gone and the Black-throated Sparrows, Cactus Wrens, Mockingbirds, Thrashers and House Finches are all singing again with some happy chirping from the White-crowned Sparrows.  With full coffee cups we are sitting in our recliners taking in all of this happy activity.  After all, this is one of the reasons we love the birds so.  They make us happy.

Our coffee mugs were full.  The Pine Siskins were in at the finch (thistle/Nyjer) feeder.  The White-crowned Sparrows were at the four tiered pond. We were also getting Black-throated Sparrows, Lincoln Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows and Brewer’s Sparrows at the platform feeders.

In other words, we were having a typical morning bird watching from our recliners in our family room.  All of a sudden everybody flew.  Now this was not the typical up to the acacia bush and quick hop into the juniper.  It was the every bird for themselves flight from the yard.

We thought at first we had a Sharp-shinned or Cooper’s Hawk.  We have had to take measures to protect our feeders from them before. (See our helpful hints article.)  But after a few minutes the culprit showed himself.  It was a Logerhead Shrike.  He was sitting in the top of an agave stalk we had staked as a vantage point for the birds.

We were debating about opening the sliding glass door and scaring him or waiting to see if he came into the bird pond for a drink.

Our decision was made when a Cactus Wren appeared.  The Cactus Wren landed on the bottom branch of the agave stalk.  He spread his tail to show all of the white at the tips of the feathers, cocked his wings and rattled his angry call. The Cactus Wren then proceeded to hop up the agave stalk one branch at a time.

The shrike watched as the wren proceeded up to two branches below him.  Apparently the shrike decided retreat was the best tactic at that time.  He flew down to the bird pond with the wren following him.  The shrike did not take his eyes off the wren and continued to retreat into the sage bush around the pond.  The wren landed above the shrike and continued to scream at him.

The shrike gave up with out even getting a drink (or breakfast) and flew away.

We think the Cactus Wren is the hero of the day.

Early this week we decided to take a short birding trek to the Sandia Mountains, just above Albuquerque, New Mexico.  That area is about six hours from our Portal, Arizona home.  The area is known for its Rosy Finches and is one of the few areas where all three species (Gray-crowned, Brown-capped and Black) of Rosy Finches occur in one area.  We were fortunate enough to see swirling flocks of all three species coming in to the feeder of a small concession snack bar at the top of the Sandia Crest.  The Brown-capped and Black Rosy Finches were life birds for both of us and we had many excellent looks at all three species.  We did notice, in addition, that the feeder attracting these masses of birds was a recycled hanging tray of a type we offer in our store.  We now offer an entire line of recycled poly lumber bird feeders made out of recycled plastic milk and water bottles.  These feeders are all extremely easy to clean and fill.  They are attractive, have a lifetime warranty against splitting, cracking or fading and never need painting.  They are most definitely, good for the birds, good for you and good for the environment.  Consider buying recycled bird feeders.  You will never have to replace them!  And yes, they do attract birds.

We received a phone call from a friend of ours who runs a local B&B.  They had a birdwatcher staying with them that was confined to a wheelchair.  The birdwatcher had been watching the birds endemic to the canyon for several days and wanted to see the birds that are desert species such as the Black-throated Sparrow, the Cactus Wren and the Scaled Quail to name a few.

We have smooth sidewalks with a clear view of several of our bird feeders, so our yard was ideal.  Of course she was welcomed.  We helped her tell the difference brtween a Crissal and a Curve-billed Thrasher and helped her with the Canyon Towhee and Abert’s Towhee.

During the course of our visit she told us about a website that has helped her become a more active birdwatcher.  This site offers listings of birding locations that can be accessed by those with limited mobility.  Some sites have wheelchair accessibility, birding from a car, or easy trails for those with limited endurance.

Our new friend would like to share this information with everyone.  So here is a link to this wonderful website: http://www.comfortablebirdingforall.com/

Keep your bird feeders full, and you too may make wonderful new friends.