The Stroud Preserve, 23 January 2013

Today’s walk was cold. I’ve been trying to figure out if it was the coldest day or not and I think I have developed a test to determine this. Let’s try it out now.

On 22 January 2013 was the East Branch of the Brandywine frozen? No.

On 23 January 2013 was the East Branch of the Brandywine frozen? Yes.

There you have it. Today was more colder* than yesterday. However, I must be honest in that it didn’t feel more colder because the wind wasn’t howling like it was yesterday. Again I employed my graduate school education and checked the weather before I left the house and was dressed appropriately. It will be interesting to see if the Brandywine completely freezes over as the temps are supposed to stay subfreezing for the next four days.

Despite the low temperature, the lowest that I have experienced since moving back the east coast, the birdlife today seemed a little more robust than yesterday. I started off the day with an adult Bald Eagle, which was a first for 2013. The last one that I saw was back on 11 December. They were an almost daily occurrence through to November then they began to disappear.

Speaking of disappearing acts. I was watching the group of about 500 Canada Geese in the field on the west side of the Brandywine when I looked up at the eagle. I looked it for a minute or so then looked back at the geese. Except there were not geese! They had all slipped in the Brandywine without making a sound! Penn and Teller couldn’t have done it better. In all I had 33 species for the day and I'm up to 59 for the year. 

*More colder is a precise technical term used by field ornithologist to describe their level of discomfort at any given time.

Stat time: 9:30

End time: 12:30

Temp: 12-18!

Wind: light winds from the north

Skies: partly cloudy

Species Total: 33

• Great Blue Heron – 1
• Black Vulture – 6
• Turkey Vulture – approximately 15
• Canada Goose – approximately 500
• Mallard – 3
• Bald Eagle – 1, adult. Bird of the Day!
• Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1 immature, probably a male based on size.
• Red-tailed Hawk – 4, 3 adults and 1 immature
• Mourning Dove – approximately 20
• Red-bellied Woodpecker – 3
• Downy Woodpecker – 2
• Hairy Woodpecker – 1
• Northern Flicker – 1
• Blue Jay – approximately 10
• American Crow – approximately 100
• Carolina Chickadee – 1
• Tufted Titmouse – 2
• White-breasted Nuthatch – 2
• Carolina Wren – approximately 6
• Winter Wren – 1, heard only
• Eastern Bluebird – 3
• American Robin – 1
• Northern Mockingbird – 4
• European Starling – 3
• American Pipit – 1
• Eastern Towhee – 6, I’m finding that towhees are difficult to detect on a daily basis. This is by far my high winter count.
• Savannah Sparrow – 2
• Fox Sparrow – 8!
• Song Sparrow – approximately 50
• Swamp Sparrow – 1
• White-throated Sparrow – approximately 100
• Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 15
• Northern Cardinal – approximately 20

Bicycle Botany: Road Marbles, Part Two

In part one of Road Marbles we learned that humans were not the first of earth's organisms to engage in chemical warfare. Plants were probably in need of a Geneva Convention long before animals ever showed up on the scene. Osage orange also has interesting chemical properties…or not.

A common story that floats around is that placing an Osage orange under your bed or in your basement would repel spiders and insects from your house. There are even websites today that sell Osage orange touting it just for that purpose. However, there is not a lick of science to back up that claim. Plus, why would you want to drive away spiders? Spiders are a surefire way to get ride of insects in your house! Osage orange does contain a chemical, elemol, that has been shown to be as effective at repelling insects as DEET. However, the chemical has to be extracted and refined from the fruit for it to be effective. Here is a website that talks about the myth of Osage orange repellent. 

An other myth around about Osage orange is their edibility. Some say that is, some say that they are but why bother, and most (overwhelming majority, including myself) say they are not. My reasoning is that zillions of these things fall to the ground around here and remain there until they rot and turn to a putrid mush (see right). If they were edible I would think some animal would eat them. Plus, who in their right mind would eat something that could also repel and kill insects. We'll just leave it at that. 

Chemical and food issues aside, the thing that I find most interesting about Osage orange is that it is native alien. Yes, a native alien. Osage orange is a native tree of North America. However, it's natural range is fairly restricted, confined to eastern Texas, and small portions of Oklahoma and Arkansas. It's current range extends across nearly the entirety of North America. It is particularly common in the east and midwest. 

The primary reason for this distribution is cattle. Not because cows eat the orange and the distribute the seeds in cow pies (a process know as endozoochory). Nor do the seeds stick the cows fur and fall off in some distant spot later (a process know as epizoochory). Nope. Osage orange has sharp thorns on their branches and can grow in thick hedges that cows cannot pass through. Humans planted these trees far and wide to keep cows close to home. But as it turns out, metal fence post and barbed wire was cheaper and could be put into use fairly quick as there was no waiting around for that fence to grow. 

It was also planted widely as a windbreak in the Great Plains and other places. It was such a popular plant for hedges and windbreaks that FDR incorporated it into his New Deal program called the "Great Plains Shelterbelt." This WPA project set out to stop the dust bowl and change the climate. Really. They planted 220 million trees for this project, most of them Osage orange. 

Osage orange was also prized by Native Americans as the best wood to fashion bows from. It was such a valuable resource for them that wars were fought between tribes for control of lands where the tree grew. I'm thinking the Osage Tribe was pretty popular amongst Native nations. The bows sure were, as they have been found as far as 2000 miles away from native Osage orange range. 

The uses of this tree are many and I could go on and on. It is clearly a plant that humans value and admire. Except for me. I hate the darn things. These oranges are large and when they first fall off the tree they are pretty hard. When the 23 mm wide front wheel of an expensive road bike meets one of these unexpectidly, the chances that you will become a road marble are suddenly increased to a troubling level! 

Ride lots, stop often, and avoid road marbles!

Russell

The Stroud Preserve, 22 January 2013

Don’t let the photo of the sunny sky fool you. Today was a flippin cold! If I said it was cold on any other day this winter I was wrong.  I started out the day at 18 degrees and by the time I got back to the car it had climbed all the way up to 19. Oh, and the wind did blow! Fortunately I used my grad school education to check the weather and dressed appropriately...before I left home. So, I was pretty warm with the exception of my nose. The birds didn’t like it much either. It was pretty darn quite. Some regulars like Morning Dove, Eastern Bluebird, and American Goldfinch were completely absent.

What drives a person to go out on a day like this? Well, I have been reading about all the wonderful winter finches that other birders in the region have been seeing. White-winged and Red Crossbills, Northern Shrikes, Common Redpolls, Evening Grosbeaks are abound everywhere but here. Other than hundreds of Purple Finches and a single day of Pine Siskins, I have not had any of these wonderful visitors from the North. They certainly were not around today. In fact, had the lowest total species tally thus far in 2013 with a whopping 28.

Stat time: 8:50

End time: 11:15

Temp: 18-19!

Wind: Strong out of the west

Skies: Completely clear

Species Total: 28

• Black Vulture – 4
• Turkey Vulture – approximately 12
• Canada Goose – approximately 300
• Mallard – 2
• Common Merganser – 2
• Red-tailed Hawk – 3 adults
• Red-bellied Woodpecker – 3
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 3
• Downy Woodpecker – 2
• Northern Flicker – 1
• Blue Jay – approximately 10
• American Crow – approximately 150
• Carolina Chickadee – approximately10
• Tufted Titmouse – 1
• White-breasted Nuthatch – 5
• Carolina Wren – 4
• American Robin – 4
• Northern Mockingbird – 2
• European Starling – 13
• Eastern Towhee – 1
• American Tree Sparrow – 3
• Chipping Sparrow – 1, Bird of the Day!
• Song Sparrow – approximately 20
• White-throated Sparrow – approximately 50
• Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 50
• Northern Cardinal – approximately 15
• Common Grackle – 1
• House Finch – 1

Westminster Palace

William finished his latest paper architecture project today, Westminster Palace, complete with Big Ben and all. William loves doing stuff like this. When he gets home from school he runs down to the basement and sits at his little stretch of bench space that I have given him and will work for hours on end cutting paper. He started this one on the day after Christmas. We didn't keep track of the total hours he spent on it but it was a lot, especially for a 12 year old. 

He goes through zillions of x-acto knife blades. So much so that it is more economical if I sharpen the them with a wet stone than to buy new ones. He is pretty particular about the blades however. If I don't get the points sharpen just right he will send them back to me. I have to do the sharpening under my microscope to make sure I get the tips of the blades just right. Other than sharpening the blades, I do nothing on these projects. William prints the plans, cuts out the pecies and then figures out how it all fits together. The projects are fairly complecated but he does the entire thing on his own. 

Its nice having him down in the basement (aka the ManCave) with me. Most evenings he will be working on his paper stuff while I work on my paintings. He has decided to give this one to Lucky Aunt Teri. If anyone else want one of his works just ask nicely and he may grant your wish. See more photos of Westninster Palace here. 

Humoreske

Chaos/Control, 2012, oil on wood, collection of Frances and Lee West, Roanoke VA.

Great News! A solo show of my paintings entitled Humoreske is up at the Patrick Henry Community College Art Gallery, in Martinsville, VA from now until Febuary 19th. Also on the 19th I will be giving a lecture on my work at 1:00 PM. 

The Stroud Preserve, 18 January 2013

Burr. Today was cold, and the north wind blew. Burr. For the most part, the bird life was pretty subdued, especially small passerines. Sparrow numbers were way down from my last visit on the 14th.

The unusual event of the day was a steady stream of gulls that were flying over the preserve as I arrived. I estimate that I saw at least 500 flying north. I imagine many flew past before I arrived. These birds were really to far away to identify based on anything other than probability. As such, I could tell that the steam of birds was made up of about 75% small gulls and 25% larger gulls. I could tell that they were not Bonepart's  or Great Black-backed Gulls. The only two species that would be around here in numbers like these are Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gulls. So, that is what my identification is based on.

Apart from the gulls, the day was pretty uneventful. I also had to leave a bit early as about an hour into it I realized that I forgot to give my son his medicine this morning. Sometimes you just have to stop what you are doing and do something else.

Start time: 8:10

End time: 10:00

Temp: 28-30

Wind: brisk from the north

Skies: mostly overcast

Species Total: 33

• Great Blue Heron – 1
• Black Vulture – approximately 12
• Turkey Vulture – approximately 20
• Canada Goose – approximately 250
• Mallard – 3
• Red-tailed Hawk – 4, adults
• Ring-billed Gull – approximately 375, co-bird of the day!
• Herring Gull – approximately 125
• Mourning Dove – approximately 100
• Red-bellied Woodpecker – 2
• Downy Woodpecker – 5
• Northern Flicker – 2
• Blue Jay – 5
• American Crow – approximately 600
• Fish Crow – 2, I actually got to see these perched in a tree near the old barn.
• Carolina Chickadee – 1
• Tufted Titmouse – 2
• White-breasted Nuthatch – 3
• Carolina Wren – 4
• Winter Wren – 1
• Golden-crowned Kinglet – 3
• Eastern Bluebird – approximately 15
• Northern Mockingbird – 1
• European Starling – approximately 12
• Eastern Towhee – 2, heard only
• Song Sparrow – approximately 20
• White-throated Sparrow – approximately 20
• Dark-eyed Junco – 2
• Northern Cardinal – 5
• Red-winged Blackbird – 2
• Common Grackle – 1
• House Finch – 3
• American Goldfinch – approximately 15

Forgotten Philadelphia

The Four Humors of Tinicum, 2012, polyptych, oil on wood panels. 60.7X14 cm. 

​

Last fall I was part of a painting and writing exhibition called "Forgotten Philadelphia" through the organization Philadelphia Stories. The show featured 16 visual artist. Each artist proposed a location in Philadelphia that meant something to them and might be off the beaten trail, or in other words, a forgotten part of Philadelphia. The people at Philadelphia Stories then paired each visual artist with a writer, who then went out and wrote about the location. 

I proposed to make a painting about The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. When I live in Philly over 20 years ago I use to visit this place often as it was one of the best birding spots around. Back then it was called The Tinicum National Environmental Education Center after the creek that flows through it. The poet that I was paired with was JC Tood, who wrote absolutely wonderful poem about the refuge. 

The show in Center City was up from September 15th to November 9th. If you missed it you have another chance to see it because it is moving to Arcadia University from January 21st till February 20th. The opening reception will be on Wednesday, January 23rd at 7:00 PM. 

Along with the exhibit Philadelphia Stories published a book (right) with all the works in it. If you are interested in buying a copy they are available here ($30 hardback). 

Bicycle Botany: Road Marbles, Part One

In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t blogged much about cycling lately. This is due to what boils down to one reason really; I haven’t spent much time on my bike lately! Actually, that is not true, I have spent a lot of time on my bike, just not outdoors.

I’m still having some issues with keeping my hands and feet warm so the idea of heading out on my bike lately has been a difficult issue do deal with. I have been riding my trainer in the basement of our house a great deal (there is Zippy to the left). Which has been working out fine. I don’t know about anyone else, but I really do get an excellent workout on that silly thing. It’s just not a whole lot of fun.

It was about this time last year I started having issues with fatigue, numbness in my toes and various and sundry other stuff that effected my ability, or desire, to ride my bike. I had a blood test done which showed that I had extremely low levels of vitamin D. Normal is between 30 and 100. Mine was 7! My response to hearing this was that 19 years of living in the Pacific Northwest finally caught up to me! Hummmm, sink me.

So, to make up for this I took massive doses of vitamin D and things were dandy...or so I thought. Now, a year later, I just got another blood test. The results were good in that my vitamin D levels are higher, all the way up to a 15! So I’ve still got some work to do there. In addition, I also learned that my vitamin B-12 levels are low. Normal is 200-1000. Mime is 230. So, starting tomorrow, I’ll be getting shots to boost that. Hopefully, that will bring back some of the feeling in my toes. Either way, I’ll be back out on the open road soon! You’ll see.

That’s all good and fine, however, low vitamin levels are a metaphorical road marble that have kept me from riding much lately. They are not the type of road marbles I was thinking about for this blog post. I was thinking about real road marbles. The ones that can actually be a real hazard here in Pennsylvania if you are on your bike. Anyone who rides here probably knows what I am talking about.

What are these road marbles you ask? Road marbles are green and range in size between a racket ball and a soft ball. They come in two types, the smooth smaller type with a fleshy outer layer and very hard center and the nubby fleshy type that are just plain fleshy. Yeah, is said fleshy twice. These road marbles are in fact the fruiting bodies of the black walnut and osage orange trees.  And in the fall they can completely fill the shoulders of the roads around here. I have nearly hit the pavement on more than one occasion after hitting one of these little green spheres.

Black walnuts probably don’t need much explanation. It is a common native tree here in the east. I see them just about everywhere and I think they are quite beautiful (in my humble opinion) and I also think they are one of the trees that define the eastern forest (now that the American chestnut is MIA). The photo to the left is of my parent’s old barn (constructed out of American chestnut) on Fisher Branch near Mars Hill, NC with a walnut tree beside it. While I assume not everyone reading this could pick out a black walnut tree in a tree line up, I would think all most every one was familiar with black walnuts the food item. They are, in fact, yummy. I would expect fewer people to know that the black walnut tree is an important dye for both fabric and wood. Black walnut stain really comes from black walnuts!

My favorite fun fact about black walnut trees is the fact that they are allelopathic. I’m sure you haven’t use the term allelopathy in a while so let me refresh your memory. It is “a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the growth, survival, and reproduction of other.” Got that? Great.

Allelopathic properties are the reason that you plant marigolds in you garden to control nematodes. Marigolds produce a substance known as alpha-terthienyl that kills nematodes at a 100% kill rate. Who knew? Asparagus also produces compounds that control nematodes but they are not quite as showy as Marigolds. Other things like corn pollen can affect the growth rates of other plants. Being able to control the growth rate of your neighbor is a pretty cool trick when it comes to competing for valuable and limited resources.

Black walnuts trees produce a compound called juglone or more specifically 5-hydroxy-1, 4-naphtalenedione. I don’t know about you, but I’m calling it juglone. Like corn pollen, it also allows the walnut tree to inhibit the growth of their neighbors. Which may be a good reason that I see so many of them around.

The problem with so many of them around is that walnut trees are prolific producers of walnuts. They fall to the ground and become road marbles. Something cyclist must stay on their toes (petals, peddle, pedal?) for…

Bike botany, part 2, the osage orange, coming shortly. Stay tuned.

Ride lots, stop often,

Russell

Emily's New Smile

Today was a big day for Emily. As you can see, she is sporting a new smile as her braces were removed! To say she is happy would be a vast understatement. Mary and I think she is just beautiful. Just the mere fact that she let us photograph her should speak volumes. Adding to her happiness is that fact that she had a lot of wooden nickels. Each visit to the orthodontist would earn a few nickels. If they brushed and maintained their braces well, she would get more nickels. Emily saved enough nickels to earn 2 $10 gift cards to Barns and Noble, where she intends to spend the entire thing on Hobbit stuff, and a $10 gift card to Starbucks. I told her the nice thing to do would be to give the Starbucks card to me as I have suffered through this as much as she has. She dismissed my suggestion in its entirety. 

The Stroud Preserve, 14 January 2013

Today started off with thick fog. That combined with very little sleep the night before had me moving real slow today. I covered what I would guess is the least amount of ground on any of my walks in 2013. My impression was that I probably tallied the least number of species, however, when I got home and wrote things down I was surprised to see that I had the most species of any walk so far with 42 in all. By the way, my year list for the preserve is now up to 58. There was nothing to unusual to report with the exception of Killdeer, which I almost never see there. Sparrow species were good again with 7 total.

Stat time: 8:50

End time: 11:30

Temp: 51-56

Wind: None

Skies: thick fog turning to clear skies.

Species Total: 42

• Great Blue Heron – 1
• Black Vulture – 2
• Turkey Vulture – 12
• Snow Goose – 41
• Canada Goose – approximately 400
• Mallard – 13
• Common Merganser – 1
• Sharp-shinned Hawk – 2, immatures
• Red-tailed Hawk – 4, adults
• Killdeer – 1, heard only. This is another species that I rarely see or hear at the preserve. I would think the plowed fields would attract at least a few. This is only the 5th time that I have recorded at the preserve.
• Herring Gull – 2
• Mourning Dove – approximately 250
• Red-bellied Woodpecker – approximately 12
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1, heard only
• Downy Woodpecker – approximately 20
• Hairy Woodpecker – 2
• Northern Flicker – 1
• Blue Jay – approximately 15
• American Crow – approximately 400
• Carolina Chickadee – approximately 25
• Tufted Titmouse – approximately 20
• White-breasted Nuthatch – approximately 12
• Carolina Wren – approximately 10
• Winter Wren – 1, heard only
• Eastern Bluebird – approximately 30
• American Robin – 2
• Northern Mockingbird – 2
• European Starling – approximately 75
• Cedar Waxwing – 6, Bird of the Day! Last observed in October.
• American Tree Sparrow – 5
• Field Sparrow – 5
• Savannah Sparrow – 1
• Fox Sparrow – 1
• Song Sparrow – approximately 50
• Swamp Sparrow – 3
• White-throated Sparrow – approximately 100
• Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 25
• Northern Cardinal – approximately 20
• Red-winged Blackbird – approximately 200
• Common Grackle – approximately 1000
• House Finch – approximately 15
• American Goldfinch – approximately 20

The Stroud Preserve, 10 January 2013

When I arrived at the preserve today the ground near the parking lot had a large dark blanket over it! This large blanket was approximately 2500 Common Grackles. I know most birders here don’t get overly excited about a flock of grackles. I, however, was overjoyed by this sight.

For a little over 19 years I lived in Washington State. In that time, I saw exactly one (1) Common Grackle. In Washington State they are accidental and a few years ago (29 April 2007) one showed up a few miles from my home on the north Olympic Peninsula. That is it in the photo on the left. When I saw it I was reminded as to just how spectacular these birds look. When I moved back to Pennsylvania last year, I thought about how much I would forward to seeing them on a regular basis. This flock today was the first close up look that I have had of a large group since my arrival.

Now, I know most people think of them as a nuisance. Even birders think lowly of them as even a modest flock can consume $30 of cracked corn in just a few minutes. I don’t care, I think they are just awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at their glistening iridescent plumage as they worked their way through the grass in the early morning sunshine.

I also enjoyed observing their flock dynamics. They would move across the ground without any individual bird getting to far way from their neighbor. Every 30 seconds or so, something would spook them and they would all fly up into a nearby tree, but for only a few seconds, then, like a cascading waterfall they would spill out the tree back to the spot the flew from and start foraging again. After about 10 minutes of this routine, they all of the sudden lifted off, not to the tree, but to the open sky and headed off to the south as if this was the predetermined plan all along.

If you haven’t stopped and looked at a flock of grackles in a while, you should do it. They are worth it!

As the flock flew up and down from the ground to the trees I noticed a flash of white in and amongst them. My first thought was that there might be a Yellow-headed Blackbird in with them. That would be a pretty good bird to add to the preserve list. However, scanning the flock I found the source of the flash of white. It was a Common Grackle with a completely white head. It actually looked more like a White-headed Woodpecker than it did a Common Grackle!

The rest of today’s walk had many good birds, including a flock of pipits and a repeat of yesterdays Common Mergansers and Black Duck. I had the best day yet for sparrow species with a total of 8! There were approximately 1200 Canada Geese in the field on the west side of the Brandywine, the largest number of Canada’s that I’ve had so far. I scanned the flock as best I could for the two Cackling Geese that I had yesterday but with no luck. The total species count for the day was 41.

Stat time: 8:50

End time: 12:00

Temp: 32-46

Wind: none to slight from the north

Skies: mostly sunny

Species Total: 41

• Great Blue Heron – 5
• Black Vulture – approximately 25
• Turkey Vulture – approximately 20
• Canada Goose – approximately 1200
• American Black Duck – 1
• Mallard – 21
• Common Merganser – 6
• Cooper's Hawk – 2, 1 adult, 1 immature
• Red-tailed Hawk – 5, 3 adults, 2 immatures
• Rock Dove – 6
• Mourning Dove – approximately 75
• Red-bellied Woodpecker – approximately 12
• Downy Woodpecker – approximately 25
• Hairy Woodpecker – 2, heard only
• Blue Jay – approximately 15
• American Crow – approximately 250
• Fish Crow – 1
• Carolina Chickadee – approximately 15
• Tufted Titmouse – approximately 25
• White-breasted Nuthatch – approximately 15
• Carolina Wren – approximately 10
• Eastern Bluebird – approximately 35
• American Robin – 3
• Northern Mockingbird – 2
• European Starling – approximately 50
• American Pipit – 15
• Eastern Towhee – 2
• American Tree Sparrow – 3
• Chipping Sparrow – 1
• Field Sparrow – 2
• Savannah Sparrow – 1
• Fox Sparrow – 1
• Song Sparrow – approximately 75
• Swamp Sparrow – 2
• White-throated Sparrow – approximately 100
• Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 25
• Northern Cardinal – approximately 30
• Red-winged Blackbird – 3
• Common Grackle – 2500, Bird(s) of the day!
• House Finch – approximately 20
• American Goldfinch – approximately 20

The Stroud Preserve, 9 January 2013

A few days ago, when I was talking to the preserve manager Fred Gender, I complained that I have not seen very much in the way of waterfowl either in Brandywine or overhead. I had hoped to at least add a few species of ducks to my preserve list as migratory flyovers. I did add Cackling Goose and Green-winged Teal to the list, but that is it. I carefully check the Brandywine in both directions for mergansers or other ducks and check the skies overhead but almost always come up empty in terms of waterfowl.

Today when I started my walk, I looked downstream and saw nothing, then looked up stream and saw nothing. Then I stood and listened for what might be calling. Then I looked downstream again. This time I saw something swimming in the water just before the rapids. Finally! Common Mergansers, five of them, 4 males and a female, a new bird for my preserve list! I then turned and walked a short way to get a better view of the field to the north were several hundred Canada Geese were gathered.

As I was standing there Smaller groups of geese were flying in, mostly from the south. One group of five geese had two individuals that were notably smaller with short necks, making them Cackling Geese! Then two groups of about twenty Mallards flew past. The second group had a very dark bird amongst them. I got a pretty good look at it and could see that it had no white in the wings making it a Black Duck! Also a new bird for my preserve list!

I’m at the point now where new birds are becoming few and far between. To get two in one day just moments apart is pretty cool. I’m going with Black Duck as my bird of the day because it was totally unexpected. Later in my walk I near the south end of the preserve, I had a flock of 33 Snow Geese fly over, rounding out my waterfowl species count at 6. My previous high was four; Canada Goose, Snow Goose, Cackling Goose and Green-winged Teal on 25 October 2012.

Stat time: 8:50

End time: 11:30

Temp: 32-45

Wind: none

Skies: high overcast clouds clearing to partly cloudy

Species Total: 36

• Great Blue Heron – 1
• Black Vulture – 1, where did the vultures go? I picked up both species in the last 10 minutes of my walk!
• Turkey Vulture – 2
• Snow Goose – 33, Always a nice sight to see.
• Canada Goose – approximately 700
• Cackling Goose – 2
• American Black Duck – 1, Bird of the Day!
• Mallard – approximately 75
• Common Merganser – 8, 5 at the beginning of my walk and three more over head as I finished up my walk.
• Cooper's Hawk – 1 immature
• Red-tailed Hawk – 6, 4 adults and 2 immatures
• Mourning Dove – approximately 100
• Belted Kingfisher – 1
• Red-bellied Woodpecker – approximately 10
• Downy Woodpecker – approximately 10
• Hairy Woodpecker – 2
• Northern Flicker – 1, heard only
• Blue Jay – approximately 20
• American Crow – approximately 400
• Carolina Chickadee – approximately 25
• Tufted Titmouse – approximately 20
• Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
• White-breasted Nuthatch – 5
• Brown Creeper – 1
• Carolina Wren – approximately 12
• Winter Wren – 2, first time that I’ve seen two together in one spot.
• Golden-crowned Kinglet – approximately 10
• Eastern Bluebird – 2, lowest count in quite a while.
• American Robin – 10
• Northern Mockingbird – 2
• European Starling – approximately 100
• Song Sparrow – approximately 50
• White-throated Sparrow – approximately 100
• Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 12
• Northern Cardinal – approximately 15
• American Goldfinch – 3

The Stroud Preserve, 7 January 2013

This was a banner day for woodpeckers! I start off most days by ticking off Downy and Red-bellied as soon as I start walking. Today was no different, as I noted them standing in the parking lot as I checked the start time and temperature. I took the “Red Trail” into the woods that go along the south boarder of the preserve. As soon as I entered the woods I heard the rattling call of a Pileated Woodpecker! In short order I found a male in the top of a yellow poplar tree. I have been surprised at how uncommon this species is in our area (this is only my 4th observation for the preserve). I almost never see them anywhere else in Chester County. When I first decided to make the preserve my regular birding spot I predicted I would see them in the wooded areas along the Brandywine and on the west end of the preserve as the stands of trees there seemed like appropriate habitat. In fact, I did see Pileated there on my first visit in March and again in April and none since.

As I was looking at the Pileated, I thought “well what are the chances I will see the remaining three species of woodpeckers?” These three species being Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. None of these three are a “given” on any given day. I see flickers on about 60% of my visits, Hairy on about 48% of my visits and sapsuckers are down right rare at about 14%. I figured the chances that I would see one of these as pretty good, but all three would be highly unlikely.

I did my usual look around the preserve with out seeing anything other than Downy and Red-bellied. By the time I rounded the curve and had the parking lot in view I had pretty much dismissed the notion that I would get another woodpecker. I paused to spish for a swamp sparrow at their usual spot when I hear a woodpecker tapping in the trees beyond. Shortly there after, I heard the familiar call of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! With the sapsucker still tapping away, I noticed a bird perched in the top of a tree to my right. A quick look confirmed it to be a Northern Flicker!

Alright. Now I’m on a mission to find a Hairy Woodpecker. Fortunately I didn’t have to work at this to hard. As I approached the bridge to the parking lot I heard a Hairy calling from the big box elder that towers over the bridge and river!

Oddly enough, this is the second time that I have had a six woodpecker day at the preserve. The last one was on 6 April 2012, which was the last record that I have for a Pileated and the first that I have for a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Stat time: 8:50

End time: 11:40

Temp: 37-41

Wind: light to gusty from the west

Skies: Overcast

Species Total: 32

• Great Blue Heron – 3
• Black Vulture – approximately 20
• Turkey Vulture – approximately 30
• Canada Goose – approximately 700, all congregated in the Brandywine on the north end of the preserve.
• Mallard – 17
• Northern Harrier – 2, males. To the best of my memory, these were the first harriers that I have observed that were actively hunting in the preserve. All others that I have seen were migrants flying high overhead. They were working the No Hang Glider Hill where the preserve manager says that he sees them most often. This was only my 6th observation in the preserve.
• Red-tailed Hawk – 5, 3 adults and 2 immatures
• Mourning Dove – approximately 25
• Red-bellied Woodpecker – approximately 10
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1, heard only
• Downy Woodpecker – approximately 25!
• Hairy Woodpecker – 1
• Northern Flicker – 1
• Pileated Woodpecker – 1, Bird of the Day!
• Blue Jay – approximately 20
• American Crow – approximately 400. Many birds spread through the preserve today.
• Carolina Chickadee – approximately 40
• Tufted Titmouse – approximately 20
• White-breasted Nuthatch – approximately 10
• Carolina Wren – approximately 10
• Golden-crowned Kinglet – 1
• Eastern Bluebird – approximately 25
• American Robin – 5
• Northern Mockingbird – 3
• European Starling – approximately 40
• Song Sparrow – approximately 150
• Swamp Sparrow – 1
• White-throated Sparrow – approximately 150
• Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 75
• Northern Cardinal – approximately 30
• House Finch – 2
• American Goldfinch – approximately 20

The Stroud Preserve, 6 January 2013

It may seem backwards to many, but I don’t seem to be able to get out to do much birding on the weekend. I was determined to change that today. I set the alarm for early, got up and looked out the window to see a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. Then just decided to crawl back into bed and let it melt off a little. I still made it down to the preserve, but not until 11:15 AM, which is when I’m usually finishing things up!

The day did warm nicely and despite my late start I saw 35 species, which is just above average for this time of year. The highlight of the day was a single Chipping Sparrow. For some reason, this is a species that I don’t see very often at the preserve. I would think the area would be prime habitat for it. In contrast, I did not see any American Tree Sparrows at all (down from 24 just two day before).

Stat time: 11:15
End time: 2:15
Temp: 34-46
Wind: lite breeze from the west
Skies: mostly clear
Species Total: 35
 
Great Blue Heron – 1, I saw this one snap up and swallow a small rodent in one gulp in the bed of the old farm pond.
Black Vulture – approximately 25
Turkey Vulture – approximately 40
Canada Goose – approximately 375
Mallard – 2, male and female
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1, adult
Cooper's Hawk – 1, immature
Red-tailed Hawk – 6, 5 adults, 1 immature
Rock Dove – 3
Mourning Dove – approximately 150
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 4
Downy Woodpecker – 3
Hairy Woodpecker – 2
Blue Jay – approximately 10
American Crow – approximately 200
Fish Crow – 1, maybe as many as three. I heard a text book call on the west side of the preserve. I think I heard a couple of others in the large flock of crows down by the Brandywine, but could be sure exactly.
Carolina Chickadee – approximately 15
Tufted Titmouse – approximately 15
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
White-breasted Nuthatch – 5
Carolina Wren – approximately 10
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 4
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 25
American Robin – 6
Northern Mockingbird – 2
European Starling – 7
Eastern Towhee – 2, heard only
Chipping Sparrow – 1, Bird of the Day!
Fox Sparrow – 1
Song Sparrow – approximately 25, numbers seemed very low compared to previous days.
Swamp Sparrow – 2
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 35
Dark-eyed Junco – approximately15
Northern Cardinal – approximately15
House Finch – approximately 10
American Goldfinch – approximately 10
 

The Stroud Preserve, 4 January 2013

Did I start my last post about the Stroud Preserve off with “Burr?” I should have saved that for today. While the temperature was a few warmer today the wind made it feel much, much colder. Double Burr!

The birdlife was typical with about the winter average of 31 species. The single larges group of birds today was a single flock of about 200 Morning Doves feeding on the ground in one of the plowed fields. The usual species with large numbers, crows and geese, seemed to be somewhere else today.

The first three birds of the day were good ones, Fox, Savannah, and Tree Sparrows. The Savannah may have been the same individual that I saw there on Wednesday as it was in the same general area. More impressive news about this group of sparrows was the number of American Tree Sparrows; 24 in all! That may be the most that I have ever seen in one place at one time. One sparrow that seems to have disappeared with the arrival of the artic weather is Swamp Sparrow. They are usually an easy find along the road between the parking area and the old farm pond, however, I have not observed one since 15 December.

The number of American Tree Sparrows would usually be enough to qualify it for the bird of the day. However, that will have to go to the Ring-billed Gulls as it was only the second time I have seen them at the Preserve. Any gull over the preserve is notable as was also only the 5^th observation of a Herring Gull.

Stat time: 8:50
End time: 11:00
Temp: 32
Wind: Brisk out of the NW
Skies: Overcast
Species Total: 31
 
Great Blue Heron – 1
Black Vulture – approximately 12
Turkey Vulture – approximately 40
Canada Goose – approximately 175
Red-tailed Hawk – 6, 5 adults, 1 immature.
Ring-billed Gull – 2
Herring Gull – 1
Mourning Dove – approximately 275
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 6
Downy Woodpecker – 2
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 2
Blue Jay – approximately 10
American Crow – approximately 60
Carolina Chickadee – approximately 20
Tufted Titmouse – approximately 10
White-breasted Nuthatch – 3, heard only
Carolina Wren – 4, heard only
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 25
American Robin – 13
Northern Mockingbird – 2
European Starling – 7
Eastern Towhee – 2
American Tree Sparrow – 24
Savannah Sparrow – 1
Fox Sparrow – 1
Song Sparrow – approximately 100
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 100
Dark-eyed Junco – 4
Northern Cardinal – approximately 12
American Goldfinch – heard only

The Stroud Preserve, 2 January 2013

Burr. Today was cold! There was still plenty of snow on the ground from 29 December. As you can see from the photo above, I was able to identify yet another public use for the preserve, snow sleds! It looks like people had fun sliding down the hills.

The day started off with nearly dead silence. Very little was sing, calling, or other wise making any noise. I was afraid that I was going to set the all time low for species and total numbers of birds today. However, as I worked my way around the preserve, and the sun rose a little higher in the sky, things seemed to pick up (notice I didn’t say it got warmer!). I saw a good many birds that I don’t see on a daily basis, starting with Red-breasted Nuthatch. They quickly followed by Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I had great looks at this one. Most that I record are fly by or heard only. Then I saw the Herring Gulls as a fly over. As I walked back on the main road, I had great looks at a Red-shouldered Hawk over head. I don’t know why I don’t see this species here more often (only the 5^th time for me). Then by the side of the road near the old barn, there was a Savannah Sparrow (only the 19^th time). Again, with so much in the way of grassy fields, I’m surprised this one isn’t any more common.

Then to top it off, the final bird of the morning was a single American Tree Sparrow. Perhaps the best look that I have ever gotten of one of these. It was right at eye level about 5 feet away, then flow over my head and down on the side of the road, again about 5 feet away. It slowly pecked around on the ground looking for food as if I wasn’t there. Pretty neat!

Stat time: 8:50
End time: 11:00
Temp: 28-30
Wind: None
Skies: Clear
Species Total: 29
 
Great Blue Heron – 1
Turkey Vulture – approximately 30
Canada Goose – approximately 200
Cooper's Hawk – 1
Red-shouldered Hawk – 1, bird of the day until I saw the Savannah Sparrow!
Red-tailed Hawk – 6, 5 adults and 1 juvenile
Herring Gull – 4
Mourning Dove – approximately 80
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1, bird of the day until I saw the Red-shouldered Hawk!
Downy Woodpecker – 3
Blue Jay – approximately 15
American Crow – approximately 100
Carolina Chickadee – 6
Tufted Titmouse – 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
White-breasted Nuthatch – 3
Carolina Wren – 5
Eastern Bluebird – approximately 40
Northern Mockingbird – 2
European Starling – 6
American Tree Sparrow – Bird of the day! Fantastic views from about 5 feet away. Both in a small shrub and on the ground.
Field Sparrow – 3
Savannah Sparrow – 1, bird of the day until I saw the Tree Sparrow!
Song Sparrow – approximately 20
White-throated Sparrow – approximately 20
Dark-eyed Junco – approximately 15
Northern Cardinal – approximately 12
House Finch – 6
American Goldfinch – 12

Happy New Year!

2013 has arrived and along with it, at last, winter. Our first snow of the season was Christmas Eve, which mostly melted way by the next morning. We go our second snow in December 29th. That one has stuck around as it is still pretty icy in some places. 

For the second year in a row we welcomed in the New Year at our neighbor's Stan and Diane's house. I think that officially makes it a tradition! Most of Franklin Street was in attendance. Diane and Stan recently visited the Virgin Islands and were inspired to give us a Caribbean style meal which was quite delicious! The kids and adults were mostly segregated with the kids in the basement and the adults upstairs. I'd like to think the louder, but I'm not sure that is true. 

As the midnight hour arrived the adults and kids (minus Emily and William who threw in the towel early) converged in the livingroom to count down the seconds with the folks in Times Square. With Champane and Kid Champane (sparkling apple cider) in hand we all welcomed 2013 in style. Thanks Diane and Stan for a wonderful neighborhood party! 

New Years day we had lunch with the Fozards to celebrate New Years Day and more imporantly Louie's birthday! It was also Sheldon's birthday who we saw for all of about 4 minutes before he rushed of to Anut Sheila's house to meet up with Ricky and Cousin Sheila to head back north. Happy Birthday Louie and Sheldon! 

Check out photos of the celebrations here.

Happy New Year! 

Russell, Mary, Emily, William and Paddy

The O'Brian's Visit, Part 2

Sheila, Ricky and Sheldon headed back to their desolate rock in the north Atlantic today. Before they left, we did have a gathering with other aunts, uncles, and cousins in Chadd's Ford on December 29th, which was also Mary's birthday. Happy Birthday Mary! 29 again. See photo's here. 

On New Year's Eve, Mary, William and I took Sheldon on a tour of old City Philadelphia. We stopped by the Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, The Dream Garden, Jeweler's Row, Jim's Steaks, South Street, New Market (which is really an old market), Penn's Landing, Elfrith's Alley, and the Betsy Ross House. All in one Day! Then we got home in time to go to our nighbor's house for a New Years Eve Celebration! See Photo's of our day in Philly here. 

We enjoyed our visit with Ricky, Sheila, and Sheldon, and hope someday soon to visit them! 

Russell, Mary, Emily, William and Paddy. 

The O'Brian's Christmas Visit

About 23 years ago, before Mary and I were married, we visited her mother’s homeland of Fermeuse, Newfoundland, Canada. Most of Mary’s aunts and uncles left Newfoundland in the late 1940’s to come to West Chester. The oldest of Mary’s uncles, Uncle Ned, was already married and had a family when the rest of the Kenny clan emigrated, so he stayed behind. On our visit we stayed with Mary’s cousin Sheila O’Brian, Uncle Ned’s daughter, and her husband Ricky.

Mary and I had an absolutely wonderful visit to Newfoundland in 1989. The drive to and from was quite an adventure, which included a hurricane, an iceberg, black bears, cod tongues, hundred of thousands of seabirds and a hike up Gros Morne where we napped on giant boulders surrounded by Rock Ptarmigans. We got to met Uncle Ned and Aunt Anna and the rest of Mary’s family while we were there. Shortly after this visit, Mary and I got married and moved to the west coast. We haven’t seen any of Mary’s Newfoundland relative since.

This Christmas, Ricky and Sheila came down to Pennsylvania for a visit. They brought their son Sheldon, 20 years old and who we had never met, along with them. We basically picked up the conversation where it left of 23 years ago. They head back to Newfoundland on the 2nd of January See photos of the O’Brian’s visit, so far, here.

See photos of Christmas day and the Rogers/Moore house here. 

Kid Cookery

For some reason, all of the kids have taken an interest in doing more of the cooking around here. Emily and William take basic cooking classes in school. When I say basic, I mean basic. Emily said that one day the made Top Ramen. Yum!

I asked Emily if they have covered taking care of their mise en place and she said that they were no where close to such concepts. Humm...what is a dad, who is a longtime student of French cooking, to do? Looks like it is time for some home schooling. 

One dish that the kids like, looks fancy, and if pretty easy is pull off is fish in papillote. This is simply cooking fish in a parchment paper envelope. the basic principle to keep in mind here is that things need to cook quickly in a hot oven (425 degrees), so the veggies need to be cut small and and the same size. The only other tricky part of the disk is cutting the heart shaped paper big enough and in the right shape, to hold your dish. Emily did a great job and got an A+ in her home school cooking class. She even let me take a few pictures of her at work. 

Paddy got the job of putting cookie dough on the cookie sheet. He did this well and didn't eat too much of the uncooked cookies. The only problem was that we couldn't account for all the cooked cookies once he was done. Humm?

William hasn't done much cooking in the past couple of weeks because he has been busy working on another major paper house project. Last year he completed a model of the Westminster Abby. This year, he wanted to make Grandma Linda and Grandpa Gene a model of the White House for their Christmas pressent. After many, many hours of painstaking X-acto knife cutting of tiny windows, he completed it and it looks great. See photos of both of these project here. 

Happy Holidays!

Russell, Mary, Emily, William and Paddy