New Baseline

 2:00 to 3:00pm, 50 Degrees, Clear Skies, Wind 8mph NW, Bar 30.28 even

Is this the new baseline? The past few days it has been under ten bird species. Definitely less activity. There was a wintery feel Wednesday. Things have quieted since. I suspect the birds that are here are staying for the winter. The migrating birds are through for the most part. It shall be interesting to see what happens.

I took some peanuts to the feeder, after I set up my chair. I did not get back to the chair before a Blue Jay was on the feeder! They know I bring the peanuts. I still can not tell the individual birds. Time and practice will help. They know me however. 

Merlin Identified 10 species. I saw 6 of them. I heard a Carolina Wren for the first time in five days. I thought they had gone. They can be year round here. Although there are less. 

Maybe

 2:30 to 3:30pm, 65 Degrees, Clear Skies, Wind 9mph S, Bar 29.87 even

Maybe this is what winter is like only colder. A good bit of activity in The Little Forrest. However the bird species number is down again. I brought peanuts again. The Blue Jays come in for those. No Titmice today however. The Northern Cardinals (above) are much more curious when the jays are grabbing peanuts. They come much closer than they normally do. The birds are paying attention to the other birds. I do not know if they communicate directly or not. 

Merlin Identified 9 species. I saw 6 species. I heard a Red-tailed Hawk up on the wind. Nice to have merlin confirm that. I can see a lot more sky than a month ago. I was hoping to see the hawk. 

Winter is coming

 3:00 to 4:00pm, 62 Degrees, Clear, Wind 6mph S, Bar 29.99 fall

Winter is coming! It was nice out. However, the birds were not terribly active. Not really a lot of bird chatter. Sunset is 5:35 today. It is the closest I have come to sunset yet. The Blue Jays heard me coming in. They were at the feeder for peanuts within two minutes. Got some really good looks at them. Jon Young in, What the Robin Knows,  talks about building threads with individual birds that eventually become a rope. I have yet to identify an individual bird. I am trying. I suspect some of the birds know me. It seems as if there are two flocks of the jays. The western are more timid. The eastern are bold. One came from behind so close to my head I could feel it. Perhaps one day it will click and I will recognize one.

Merlin identified 6 species. I saw 5 of them. Lowest total for Merlin since I moved down to the brook. I also, saw Downy Woodpecker, (above) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, House finch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Herring Gulls. The birds were subdued.

Wintery

 1:30 to 2:30pm, 49 degrees, Cloudy, Wind 4mph S, Bar 30.39 fall

It felt wintery in the sit spot this afternoon. I have sat there and felt more comfortable at lower temperatures. Nothing of note happened. 

Merlin Identified 18 species. I saw 9 species.

What is Baseline

 8:00 to 9:00am, 42 Degrees, Clear, Wind 7mph 9, Bar 30.35 rise

The birds activity can vary so much. What actually is baseline behavior? I don't think I saw a bird in The Little Forrest for the first half an hour. In the summer an hour after sunrise the birds would be everywhere. Activity seemed to pick up about the time the sun started to reach the forrest floor. I sit down in the Fall Brook Valley with tall trees all around. I suspect that the birds are conserving energy by not being in the colder spots. I will see birds sometimes in the sunny areas around the buildings and then nothing in my sit spot. There are many variables that I do not know or understand yet. I am still learning. An hour of observation at a time. 

I brought peanuts down with me. The first birds in were the Blue Jays. They brought a Tufted Titmouse with them. (above) Again the ones from the north and west took a more circuitous route to the feeder. The ones from the east were more direct. A couple of times the eastern ones flew really close to my head. It was turned away from their flight pattern. It is a fairly large bird! They cleaned the peanuts out faster today than yesterday. I wish I had time to observe the behavior after the nuts were gone. Or lack of behavior. When they were really feeding, robins and a cardinal came in to observe. Also, when the nuts were gone the a jay made a call that sounded specific to the nuts are gone. Sounded a bit whiney. Another landed in the basket the nuts were in and made the same sound. Observing and learning.

Merlin identified 14 species. I saw 7 species. Pine siskin has come up a few times lately. It would be nice to see that migrant bird. 

Mysteries

1:30 to 3:00pm, 62 Degrees, Clear to Cloudy, Wind 4 mph SE, Bar 30.10 fall

It was quiet for the first twenty minutes or so. Lots of crows about when I left my home. They have not really been in The Little Forrest in a while. Something was up. At one point they came down in the valley from the north then down the brook and started a ruckus south of me. My guess is there was a hawk, eagle, or raven they were none too happy about. What actually happened will remain a mystery. 

the Blue Jays came into the feeder first today. It is usually the chickadees. However, they spotted the peanuts. Jays make a bit of noise when they are on the feeder at Number 2. However, with me sitting not to far away, they are stealthy. I have yet to identify individual birds. I did notice different behavior. The Jays coming from the east across Fall Brook made long straight flight paths. Mostly directly to the feeder. No stopping on the branches near by before going for the peanuts. These birds are more comfortable with me. One left the feeder on a beeline for me. We both flinched! After a while a group came from the west. These stopped up high for a bit then slowly moved towards the peanuts. Always keeping something in between us. I saw one bury a peanut, come back for another before disappearing. Lots of new and interesting behavior.

Something large was moving on the other side of the brook. It was definitely larger than a squirrel. It was hard to tell more than that. I was hoping for a bear or moose. Highly unlikely, however there a=was a bear in a parking garage in downtown this year. So, not out of the realm of possibilities. Also, several years ago one of my neighbors got a picture of a moose in front of his condominium! Another mystery.

Merlin identified a mystery amount of species. (my guess 20) If the battery on your phone dies, merlin does not save the recording. I saw at least 10 species. It is hard with out the list.

 

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker October 2026