Wildfires chased them away?

The usual crew are here in the Yoop. Goldfinches, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Robins, Blue Jays and Doves.

This is our third spring here in the Upstate SC, and if anything we have been seeing more birds every year. This might have something to do with the fact that we serve the premium safflower seed that they love. A plus for the safflower is that apparently the tree rats and bully birds (Grackles, Cowbirds, Crows) seem to not like it.

Year around we get Cardinals, House Finches, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, Song Sparrows, Mockingbirds, Carolina Wrens, and Mourning Doves. During this past cold winter we started putting out dried mealworms...the Cardinals, Titmice, Sparrows, Robins, and Wrens go crazy over them. Just started seeing the hummers return as well hitting the flowers and now the hummer feeders.

Between visual IDs and audible IDs (from the Cornell App), we've had over 80 different bird types here.

We had a bird flu in our area a few years back. It mostly affected crows, grackles, bluejays and mockingbirds. Only the crow population returned to normal.

I see a lot of doves and quail here year-round. The smaller songbirds go away for the winter. They're starting to come back now, but not in quite the numbers I've seen before. Maybe it's early yet, but we had a really mild winter this year so I'd expect them to be around in greater numbers.

Once in a while I'll see a bigger bird, some kind of hawk, but only after sunset when all I can see is his / her silhouette against the sky. All the other birds go to ground and get quiet when he comes around.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Absence of birds

Is there something ecologically weird going on this year?

Nothing weird around here. Birds are numerous.

Same. Still drives my dog nuts. Lots of crows, ducks, etc. even a hawk or two.

Outdoor cats particularly ferals when you have a colony of them in an area. Feral cats are so bad in Australia they have driven several species of birds and small mammals into extinction. It's a sport there to go out and shoot hundreds of ferals in a day or night. I have anywhere from 15 to twenty ferals in my neighborhood in town. Not unusual at all to see them with a bird in their mouth. They stake out peoples bird feeders of course.

Superior National Forest is thirty yards out the back door of our lake cabin. Birds are not nearly as plentiful as you would expect. Lots of the nuthatches, sparrows and ravens can be seen but small song birds or other species are a rare sighting. I can go and sit at my neighbors place which is a small hobby farm. He has two cats. They will catch three small birds to every mouse.I suggested he put bells on them but he just shrugged that off.

It looks and sounds like a Hitchcock movie around here.

Metric ton of birds around here.

Haven't seen a ton, put the feeder out, have seen several cardinals, hoping more turn up.

Theres a big ol honkin slab of bird crap on the side of the pickup, so there some thing flying around

Plenty of birds up north here. We have our showdown about to start with the robins and blackbirds all vying for territory. Pelicans showed up last week. The one I wait for is the wren. Sassy little guy, and not a good neighbor, but his song brightens my heart.

We had a particularly vocal northern mockingbird last year at my work place. I haven't heard him this year.

There was a nest in my welding exhaust vent.

Seems like same quantity as previous years here.

I have noticed that the birds are fewer around here this spring. I have not heard or seen a single redwing black bird as yet. Seems awfully late.
I will say that spring has been on the cool side.
I also do not know where the gilded cage is.

We still have deer, bunnies running around. And large birds (hawks?) flying above. These seem normal.

Just no other birds. Looking out for them every day.... It's a little lonely without them.

A couple springs ago ('22) we went about 5 weeks virtually without birds. None at our feeders, none in the skies, no ducks on the ponds, no sea gulls around fast food places or supermarkets where they are usually plentiful. No birdsong or any other usual signs. It was eerie.
Some folks talked about it others seemed oblivious.
I say none, but really if I saw one, that was it, one. Then one day I spotted a turkey crossing the road ahead of me while driving (no, I don't know why he crossed the road) and soon after, they started showing up again.
They have been around as normal for each of the last couple of years. No idea why it happened.

Seems normal around here; there may even be a few more birds than usual this year.

Just like the whacky weather we've had for the last 16 months ,
I wonder if the birds are adjusting and just going elsewhere ?

Perhaps the numbers are decreasing, they are just relocating ?

H m m m

Konata, this is just a WAG, but the Sierras have had an unusually high snow pack this year. Who knows what the birds know?

I was hoping we'd be in NorCal this winter to go to the Graylodge Wildlife Refuge. If you haven't been there, look it up and plan to go next winter. Millions of waterfowl, especially snow geese, winter in the Sac Valley. Both Graylodge and the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge are easy places to drive a car through with a spotting scope and binoculars and a birding book. Stay until sunset when hundreds of thousands of geese and ducks fly back to the refuge from farmers' rice fields. It's one of nature's grand spectacles of the world.

We did have the chance to take our older granddaughter to the Cosumnes River Preserve to see the Sand Hill cranes. We heard them flying right over our rented house in El Dorado Hills. Taught the granddaughter how to imitate the cranes' call. She loved that. When we took her to the refuge the cranes answered her back, and she imitated their dance. It was so cool.

I love Northern California for its abundance of nature in many forms.

quote:

Originally posted by gjgalligan:
I have noticed that the birds are fewer around here this spring. I have not heard or seen a single redwing black bird as yet. Seems awfully late.
I will say that spring has been on the cool side.
I also do not know where the gilded cage is.

I was hearing Redwings last week. I have a tennis court and baseball field nearby w/ runoff ponds and cattails. I use to have a male that would land on our window feeder and scoop half the seed on the ground.
But w/ a Momma Kiki the Former Feral in the house and on the deck, I no longer put seed out.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
Graylodge Wildlife Refuge. Cosumnes River Preserve.

Thanks for the tips! Hadn't heard of these places before. Definitely want to check them out. I'll read their websites but any tips for walking/hiking/kayaking these areas are appreciated.

Winter sounds good but would like to go between now and through summer as well (and maybe take some out of town visitors).