Red-breasted Nuthatches

Red-breasted Nuthatch

photo courtesy of the

Wisconsin DNR

www.dnr.wi.gov

My last post was about Northern Cardinals, which are common all over Connecticut, especially at bird feeders. A decidedly uncommon bird found in our state is the Red-breasted Nuthatch. During the winter it is just as likely to find them visiting bird feeders stocked with sunflower seed and/or suet as it is to find them in their typical coniferous forest habitat. Their close cousin, the White-breasted Nuthatch, is found in all types of forest, is a regular visitor to bird feeders, and is far more common than the Red-breasted. For example, we counted 10 White-breasteds and only 1 Red-breasted at the White Memorial Museum Area feeders this past Saturday, 1/29. That is atypical of their population ratio here, as Red-breasteds are usually even less numerous than this. The day before, while working in the Pine Island/Duck Pond area, which is largely coniferous forest, we saw 2 White-breasteds and no Red-breasteds. Elsewhere in Connecticut Red-breasted Nuthatches haven't been reported much this winter. While we had 9 in the White Memorial territory on the Litchfield Hills Christmas Bird Count on 12/19, I think that only 1 was found on the entire Barkhamsted CBC on 12/26. That count was handicapped by an incoming blizzard, but we still managed to cover a good amount of territory before it hit and we didn't come up with any R.b.'s despite lots of suitable habitat. The one that we did find was at a bird feeder. Of the R.b.'s found on the LHCBC 3 were at the Museum feeders and 6 were along the Interpretive Trail and at Pine Island. When Red Pine trees covered parts of WMF property prior to their demise from a scale insect and diseases in the late 1970's, Red-breasted Nuthatches used to be fairly common in these plantations. They still are common in this type of habitat, as well as other types of coniferous forests in the northern tier of states and in Canada. When cone crops are poor in these locations we see an influx (which can be called an irruption) into the states to their south. That hasn't happened recently, which is why we have to work to find our remaining resident R.b.'s; or just visit our bird feeders at the Museum to see them.

Coyote Tracking in Duck Pond Vicinity

Friday, January 18, 2011, start time: 13:15 p.m., end time:16:30 p.m., temperature ~34 degrees F, wind: SW 0 - 10 mph, cloud cover 90% - 100%, snow cover 8 - 32 inches.

Nicki Hall and I observed coyote tracks in the Duck Pond Vicinity; which is located north of Bissell Rd., southeast of S.R. 202, and west of White Woods Road.  The tracks were actually quite tricky to identify because their gate appeared to demonstrate that they were running from the trail while maneuvering through some dense cover.  We were quite puzzled at first because these tracks could have been domestic dog that wandered a little far from it's owners, who remained on the trail.  After a little bit of exploring, we observed a small clue that helped us to determine that it was indeed a coyote.  The tracks became a little clearer as the animal continued to walk further away from the trail.  The following pictures illustrates what we observed:

Photo by James Fischer

The coyote was running and it grazed a multi-flora rose branch.  Notice the photograph above that we observed fur on the rose thorns.  A closer inspection of the branch is below.



Photo by James Fischer

 Although the tracking conditions were challenging, with a bit more careful observations we were able to confidently identify the species. 

Good Tracking!

Northern Cardinals

Male Northern Cardinal photographed by

Bob Stanowski at White Memorial

Northern Cardinals are pretty! That's what Samantha Foster, one of our great Wamogo High School student volunteers says every time she sees one. I'm sure that all of the rest of us share that opinion, too. They may be common, but their beauty always impresses us. What is especially amazing about these birds is their impressive northward range expansion over the past 50 years. They had always been thought of as a southern species, but over the years they have moved north into New England and Canada. I saw my first one in Torrington in 1967, when it was considered to be a rarity in northwest Connecticut. By contrast, we recorded 79 of these birds on White Memorial property, alone, this past December 19th on the Christmas Bird Count. The Summer Bird Count, held this past June, produced 122 of these birds on the Property. This total included many nestlings and fledglings. The CBC total is less than the SBC total most likely due to a combination of dispersal of young birds, some mortality, and less territory being covered in less time on the CBC as opposed to the SBC. The overall population trend for this species from the long-running USGS Breeding Bird Survey is upward for this species in southern New England and New York. At White Memorial, it is easy for one to see at least 10 of these birds around the Museum Area in less than an hour. And as Bob's picture portrays, they really like our bird feeders.