Continent-wide survey of backyard birds begins Saturday

Dark-eyed Junco, by Bob Vuxinic for Project FeederWatch

You have an opportunity starting this weekend to help scientists learn about the health of bird populations in North America while doing something you enjoy anyway: watching backyard birds at your feeder.

Project FeederWatch, a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders, begins on Saturday, November 14, and continues until April 8.

By tallying the species and numbers of birds that come to your backyard, you will be helping wildlife biologists assess the patterns and numbers of winter bird populations.

Participation is flexible: You decide for yourself how often and when you count. The ideal plan is to count birds at a set time for two consecutive days. You decide how much time you wish to watch on a given day. You can begin any period until the end of February and continue until April 8. If you take a winter vacation, you can resume your count when you return.

The project is great winter entertainment for children and a good way for you to become better acquainted with the feeding habits of birds.

Downy Woodpecker, by Errol Taskin for Project FeederWatch

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada operate Project FeederWatch, which is now entering its 28th season. It's a companion to the Christmas Bird Count, which is  conducted during the holidays under the sponsorship of the National Audubon Society.

Project FeederWatch has generated a great deal of useful data. For instance, it alerted state officials in Florida that the population of Painted Buntings has been declining steadily. Armed with that information, the state has begun searching for ways to protect bunting populations.

"We learn so much from the information people report to us, and the data become more and more valuable as time goes by," said project leader Emma Greig.

There is an annual fee of $18 to participate (the fee covers part of the cost of the project). All new participants will receive a research kit in the mail. It explains how to conduct your count and how to report your results. You will also receive a full-color poster of common feeder birds and a bird-watching calendar to help you keep track of your count days. Next autumn, once all the data has been compiled and assembled, you will receive a 16-page report, "Winter Bird Highlights." You also will receive the Cornell Lab newsletter.

To enroll, visit the Project FeederWatch website at feederwatch.org. It will take a few weeks for your research kit to arrive in the mail.

Top 25 Backyard Birds Seen in Pennsylvania

During the 2014-2105 Project FeederWatch

1. Black-capped/Carolina Chickadee
2. Dark-eyed Junco
3. Northern Cardinal
4. Mourning Dove
5. Tufted Titmouse
6. Downy Woodpecker
7. White-breasted Nuthatch
8. American Goldfinch
9. House Finch
10. Blue Jay
11. Red-bellied Woodpecker
12. Carolina Wren
13. Song Sparrow
14. European Starling
15. White-throated Sparrow
16. House Sparrow
17. American Robin
18. Hairy Woodpecker
19. American Crow
20. Common Grackle
21. Pine Siskin
22. Purple Finch
23. Red-winged Blackbird
24. Brown-headed Cowbird
25. Cooper's Hawk

Last bird walk of season at Jacobsburg State Park

Join educator Rick Waltraut for the final bird walk of the season at Jacobsburg State Park on Wednesday, November 18, from 8 to 10 a.m.

Participants should dress for the weather, wear sturdy shoes and bring binoculars. A limited number of binoculars and field guides will be available.

Registration is not required. Meet at the flagpole by the Visitor Center. Jacobsburg State Park is located at 400 Belfast Road, just off the Belfast exit of Route 33 and west of the town of Belfast.

Lehigh Valley bird sightings for week ended November 6

Red Crossbill

Here are the Lehigh Valley bird sightings for the week ended November 6. The list was compiled by Dave DeReamus, of the Eastern PA Birdline, which is sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society.

Plainfield Township, Northampton County
Common Redpoll, 1 on October 31 at a private feeder.

Little Gap, Carbon County
Bald Eagle, 3 on November 1; 4 on November 2, and 3 on November 4.
Northern Goshawk, 1 on November 4.
Golden Eagle, 3 on November 3 and November 4.
Merlin, 4 on November 4.
Red Crossbill, 3 on November 4; 31 on November 2, and 1 on November 4 (fly-bys).
Pine Siskin, 17 on November 2; 3 on November 3, and 8 on November 5 (fly-bys).
Common Redpoll, 1 on November 2 (fly-by).

Bake Oven Knob, Lehigh County
Ruffed Grouse, 1 on November 4.
Bald Eagle, 3 on November 4.
Northern Goshawk, 1 on November 2.
Golden Eagle, 2 on November 3 and 4 on November 4.
Also seen: Common Raven.

Green Lane Reservoir, Montgomery County
(at the Knight Lake area)
Cackling Goose, 1 on November 2.

Merrill Creek Reservoir in New Jersey
(at the Scotts Mountain Hawkwatch)
Bald Eagle, 2 on November 3.
Northern Goshawk, 1 on November 2.
Golden Eagle, 1 on November 2.

To report bird sightings to Dave DeReamus, send an e-mail to becard@rcn.com with the word "Birdline" in the subject heading.

Feed woodpeckers, not starlings

If you have the usual style of suet feeder, you've probably noticed that starlings and sparrows have been hogging it—and eating like hogs—these past few weeks. They're trying to find food, and suet offers a fat-rich meal to help bulk up for cold weather.

As a result, woodpeckers sometimes are left out of the equation. Downy Woodpeckers are much smaller than starlings and not so pushy.

There is a way around the problem. An upside-down suet feeder lets woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches feed comfortably. Clinging upside down is not a problem for them.

Starlings and sparrows, on the other hand, aren't comfortable feeding upside down for any length of time. They may try to peck at the suet but they'll realize quickly that it's a losing cause.

There is another advantage to upside-down suet feeders: The suet stays fresher longer. The typical suet feeder consists of a wire cage that enables birds to feed on three or four sides. But that results in maximum exposure to the weather. As the birds consume the suet, the food continues to fall downward, toward the opening of the feeder. That enables smaller birds to reach the suet.

A second option is to get a caged suet feeder. The cage allows smaller birds—including Downy Woodpeckers—to enter to reach the suet. Starlings are too large to squeeze through the cage.

If you already have the usual kind of suet feeder, you still have another way to discourage greedy starlings. You can use a seed cake especially formulated for woodpeckers. It contains ingredients that woodpeckers love: peanuts, almonds, black oil sunflower seed, sunflower chips and corn kernels. The treats are held together with glycerine, a vegetable extract that is slightly sweet. Starlings and sparrows will be able to eat a little of the woodpecker cake but their beaks aren't long enough to reach deep into the openings. The woodpecker's beak is much longer so it has no trouble pecking for the morsels.

Either way, you needn't have to watch your woodpeckers go wanting while the starlings and sparrows push them aside.

New Product: Peanut Butter Feeder

Offering a variety of feeders will attract the greatest number of birds to your backyard. A new feeder gives birds an opportunity to feed from peanut butter, a healthy and nutritious treat.

The Peanut Butter Feeder is a simple device consisting of durable cedar and a weather-resistant grid. Clingers will clutch on the mesh and pick away small daubs of peanut butter. The feeder is nearly 9 inches high and just 6 inches wide, with opportunity for birds to feed from either side.

Peanut butter is an especially nutritious food. It attracts not only chickadees but also woodpeckers, nuthatches, titmice and even some species of warblers. All you have to do is smear a bit of peanut butter onto the mesh.

Winter is the season that is ideal for this feeder. Birds need ample and wide-ranging sources of high-energy food that they can locate and eat quickly. Peanut butter does not turn rancid in the chilly weather of winter.

Another advantage of this feeder is that there are no seed hulls to clean up. You can place the feeder on a shepherd's hook next to the patio or hang it from a tree limb.

You can use regular peanut butter meant for human consumption but a special formulation is available for this feeder. Wildwood Farms' Wildlife Peanut Butter is a blend of peanut butter, sugar, vegetable oil and molasses, a special but rarely available ingredient birds enjoy. The product comes in a 12-ounce shatterproof jar. If you choose, you can mix a bit of corn meal into the peanut butter to make it grittier and provide extra nutrition.

Squirrels are attracted to peanut butter, but it's easy to add a baffle to either a shepherd's hook or a hook that is hung from a tree limb. With the baffle in place, squirrels will be left watching with envy as the birds enjoy their meal.

Lehigh Valley bird sightings for week of November 2

Yellow-headed Blackbird

In addition to the continuing stream of eagles and other raptors migrating southward along the Blue Mountain, birders reporting seeing several other notable species during the week ended November 2.

One of the most fascinating occurrences in the Yellow-headed Blackbird. A lone bird was seen at the Merrill Creek Reservoir, which is located a few miles northeast of Phillipsburg, New Jersey. 

A migrant, the species has been seen in the greater Lehigh Valley only a few times since records have been kept by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society. That's not surprising; the bird normally breeds in the Canadian prairie wetlands and winters in the American Southwest and Mexico. The birds usually migrate in huge flocks; rarely will the flocks stray east beyond Michigan.

The Yellow-headed Blackbird nests in cattails, bullrushes or reeds, and forages for beetles, grasshoppers, dragonflies, caterpillars and other insects found at the water's edge. They'll sometimes flip over stones to unearth food. They'll often be seen around Red-winged Blackbirds during breeding season but the Yellow-headed birds seem to usually claim the best nesting sites.

The bird has a reputation as having the worst song of any North American bird, according to the National Audubon Society. It's call is a hoarse, harsh scraping. The species is widespread and common in its normal range but the draining of marshes in some areas has reduced the population somewhat.

Male American Golden-Plover in breeding plumage in Canada

Other rarely seen species that passed through our area en route to wintering grounds include the American Golden-Plover, the Red-throated Loon and the Long-tailed Duck. 

Sometimes years will go by without any reported sighting of an American Golden-Plover, according to Birds of the Lehigh Valley and Vicinity, the birding bible of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society. The Red-throated Loon is rarely seen; when does appear, its visits occur in mid-November. The Long-tailed Duck is another rare visitor. It usually appears from late October to mid-November.

Here are the Lehigh Valley bird sightings for the week ended November 2. The list was compiled by Dave DeReamus, of the Eastern PA Birdline, which is sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society.

Martins Creek Environmental Preserve, Northampton County
(Tekening area)
Greater Scaup, 5 on October 28.

Bath, Northampton County
(along Silvercrest Road)
American Golden-Plover, 2 on October 25.

Little Gap, Carbon County
Bald Eagle, 8 on October 23.
Golden Eagle, 9 on October 23; 6 on October 24; 4 on October 25.
Merlin, 4 on October 23.
Common Redpoll, 2 on October 26.

Palmerton, Carbon County
(along Boyer Farm Road and Hemlock Road)
Western Kingbird, 1 from October 11 through at least October 27.

Leaser Lake, Lehigh County
Red Crossbill, 2 on October 31 (fly-bys).

Bake Oven Knob, Lehigh County
Bald Eagle, 6 on October 23; 13 on October 30.
Golden Eagle, 7 on October 23 and October 24; 3 on October 25; 6 on October 30; and 4 on October 31.
Northern Goshawk, 2 on October 23; 1 on October 24; 4 on October 30.
Merlin, 4 on October 23.
Also seen: Common Raven.

Red-throated Loon

Green Lane Reservoir, Montgomery County
(at the Knight Lake area)
Common Raven, 2 on October 24.
Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1 on October 24.
Pine Siskin, 2 on October 23.

Lake Towhee, Bucks County
Trumpeter Swan, 1 to at least October 24.

Lake Nockamixon, Bucks County
Red-breasted Merganser, 1 on October 26.

Peace Valley Park, Bucks County
Long-tailed Duck, 1 on October 26.
Red-throated Loon, 1 on October 24.
Bonaparte's Gull, 2 on October 29.
Lesser Black-backed Gull, 164 on October 24.
Common Raven, 2 on October 26.
Rusty Blackbird, 1 on October 31.

Merrill Creek Reservoir in New Jersey
(at the Scotts Mountain Hawkwatch)
Bald Eagle, 5 on October 25; 4 on October 29; and 6 on October 30.
Yellow-headed Blackbird, 1 on October 24.

To report sightings to Dave DeReamus, send an e-mail to becard@rcn.com with the word "Birdline" in the subject heading.

Time to plan for Christmas Bird Count

Are you already thinking about Christmas? You should be, if you plan to take part in this year's Christmas Bird Count. 

The Lehigh Valley Audubon Society is gearing up for this extraordinary citizen science project that is not only a social event but also is crucial to measuring the health of bird species.

The Audubon Society is offering an informational program on Friday, November, 13, at 7 p.m. in the Education Center Building of the Wildlands Conservancy's Pool Wildlife Sanctuary, 3701 Orchard Place in Emmaus. The meeting is open to the public.

Ever since the first Christmas Bird Count in 1900, tens of thousands of volunteers working through the National Audubon Society have helped conservationists and wildlife biologists assess how the continent's bird populations are changing in time and space over the decades. The Christmas count, along with the Breeding Bird Survey in the summer, presents a complete population trend for bird species.

This year's Christmas Bird Count is scheduled for:

• Saturday, December 19, in the Allentown area.
• Saturday, December 26, in the Bethlehem, Hellertown and Easton areas.
• Sunday, December 27, in the Wild Creek and Little Gap areas of Carbon County.

If you're not interested or able to spend part of your day in the woods and fields as part of the Christmas Bird Count, you still have an opportunity to participate in collecting information on bird populations in your area. You can stay at home and feed the birds in your backyard through Project Feederwatch, which begins on November 14.

Directions: From Allentown and points north or east, travel on South Cedar Crest Boulevard (Route 29). Turn left onto Riverbend Road just outside of Emmaus. Follow the road over the bridge and up a small hill. Turn right onto Orchid Place. The entrance to the Education Center Building is down the hill, less than a half mile, on the right.