Big Year Week 5

January 29 - February 4

The relentless winter of 2014 continued this week as the only new life form to show up was this Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus).  A small bird with cuddly name and an attitude, I'm reminded of Kenn Kaufman's poem from the Midwestern Birding Symposium a few years back:

"He loves to crush the hapless worm,
and mangle spiders with his bill.
He loves to watch his victims squirm,
The Chickadee was born to kill.

He wears a mask down to his eye,
Befitting Lord of Guillotine.
Beheading bugs to watch them die,
The Chickadee is bad and mean.

His song, which seems so innocent,
As simply sweet as Mother Goose
Is really filled with ill-intent,
Profanity and foul abuse

Black of heart and black of cap
An evil bird of iron will
Rejecting all that cutesy stuff,
The Chickadee was born to kill."

- Kenn Kaufman

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Running total after week 5:

Birds:  16
Mammals:  1

Big Year Week 4

January 22-28

Cold weather and snowfall continued into week four with blowing and drifting snow closing the area schools on Friday, Monday and Tuesday.  My task for this week was to continuing to  photograph the common feeder birds.

One of the most striking common feeder birds the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata).  Blue Jays belong to the family Corvidae, which also includes crows and ravens, but they are the only member of their genus that is native to Indiana.  Blue Jays have a reputation for being bullies at bird feeders, and I do notice that when they arrive, the other birds tend to fly off rather abruptly, but their fondness for acorns makes them an important part of the ecosystem by helping with the spread of oak trees.

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

Our second woodpecker species of the year is this male Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens).  Downy woodpeckers are our most common woodpecker species, and the males can be easily identified by the red spot on the back of their heads.

Male Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)

Another year-round resident to our backyard is the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor).  These feisty little birds are the first to sound the alarm call in the event of danger.  

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Running total after week 4:

Birds - 15
Mammals - 1