Swing Low, Sweet Hummingbird

Part of my job as the About.com Guide to Birding / Wild Birds is to review products such as field guides, bird feeders and unique backyard birding items, and a few weeks ago I reviewed one of the most unique I've seen yet - the Copper Hummingbird Swing from Songbird Essentials. It is deceptively simple but quite attractive, and after I'd finished examining it I put it out on our deck adjacent to the trio of hummingbird feeders I have in use this summer. For a while it swung empty, but soon the birds discovered how useful it could be, and since then it's been a regular perch. It is especially popular with the territorial rufous hummingbird that insists on guarding "his" feeders, and each day I get spectacular views as he perches, swings, preens, and chitters at all the feathered passersby.

I'll admit, at first I thought the swing might be no better than a gimmick, but I've been proven wrong dozens of times now and I love the unbeatable views I have gotten of the several hummingbirds that have used the swing. While the rufous is dominant in the backyard, the black-chinned hummingbirds have also taken a swing or two, and more than one has peered curiously up at the glass bead that adorns the swing as they settle on the perch. If you want great views of hummingbirds, get into the swing of things!

Get your own Copper Hummingbird Swing!

The Awesome Osprey

In Florida last month, I was astonished to find a familiar Utah bird in awesome numbers - the osprey. We have them in Utah; in fact, I once spotted an osprey hunting along the river a mile from our old house, and a pair used to nest on nearby Utah Lake, but they're not so common here. In Utah, ospreys are only summer guests, and fairly uncommon to sight regularly, but in Florida they're year-round residents and much more thickly populated within that range.

We were along the central coast of Florida, and as we traversed the Indian River on one causeway after another, it seemed there was an osprey perched at regular intervals along the electric poles, or else on the bordering rocks or soaring over the river looking for its next meal. At the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, there was a family of ospreys near the visitor center (including one very insistent youth badgering its parents for more food), and we saw several along one of the refuge's auto tour loops, including one perched no more than 30 feet away that seemed perfectly content to pose for photos. On another sighting, we saw an osprey with its prey at the top of a pole, patiently squeezing the fish it had caught (the fish was not happy with it quite yet).

These are lovely, powerful birds of prey, equipped with long wings and vicious talons. They are piscivorous (eating almost exclusively fish), and are excellent fishers. I'm thrilled that even far from my own backyard, I got the chance to study and delight in a bird from home!

Learn more about the awesome osprey!

Return to Jamaica

On our recent summer travels, one stop took us back to Jamaica - a lovely Caribbean island with a flair for birding with more than two dozen endemic species. While I was privileged to see many of those endemics on a press trip several years ago, it's always worth returning to such a unique location for another look.

Our visit this time was to Ocho Rios, where we took in the sights at Mystic Mountain. I was thrilled to discover, after the lengthy chairlift ride to the top, that Mystic Mountain is also home to a cozy hummingbird garden that is well planted with nectar-rich flowers, supplemented with suitable feeders. During this visit, there were several red-billed streamertails buzzing about (albeit without their namesake streamers, as mid-July is well after the breeding season), but more impressive were the Jamaican mangos. These large, endemic hummingbirds may at first look simple dark and dull, but in the proper light their plumage is riot of subtle color and iridescence. Even on the press trip with the help of experienced guides, I wasn't able to get such wonderful looks at these hummingbirds. In the hour or two we were atop the mountain, I strolled through the hummingbird habitat a half dozen times or more and still didn't get my fill, though they were there with each pass. It's a shame that any visit has to end.

Just seeing a life bird once may be enough to include it on a list, but we can never forget that a quick glimpse is far from really looking at the bird, and there is always more beauty to discover.

Learn more about birding in Jamaica!

Old Habitat, New Lifers

For the first time since Utah became my backyard in 2005, I went back to my old habitat, or close thereof, in Florida. I wasn't a strong birder while living in Florida, and I cringe to think of the birds I missed the easy opportunity to see when a trip to a tropical refuge would be a quick drive away rather than involve crossing two time zones and multiple airports.

This trip wasn't a birding focus - just a family summer vacation - but of course I squeezed a little birding into the mix. My most memorable moments...

• An osprey on every pole along the central coast; gorgeous birds of prey that I can see in Utah, but never with such amazing frequency.
• A black skimmer skimming mere feet away as we walked along Cocoa Beach; too fast for a photograph, but the image will never be forgotten.
• Enjoying the interest my husband showed in my passionate hobby; he's the one person in the world I love to share it with most of all.
• Three new lifers: red-bellied woodpecker, glossy ibis, and wood stork, with great views of each, though photos only of the stork.

 For just a few hours of birding, it was a wonderful few hours and an amazing birding experience. There are so many birds everywhere, no matter where you travel, it can be your backyard for a few hours!

Learn more about bird watching on vacation!

Catching a Kirtland's

Earlier this month I was visiting family in northern Michigan and had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a Kirtland's warbler habitat tour offered by the Michigan Audubon near Grayling. This was a unique chance to go into protected jack pine habitat favored by these precocious and particular birds, and I wasn't about to pass it up.

Good thing, too; it was a fabulous viewing opportunity and our group of about a dozen birders saw not one, not two, but at least half a dozen of these endangered warblers. They prefer the young growth of this forest, and monitored lumber harvest in the area ensures an ongoing available range of young trees for the birds to use. Ironically, most of the Kirtland's warblers we saw were not perched in the jack pines, but were taking advantage of scattered deciduous trees that were taller and offered better views for their territorial defense. That worked to birders' benefit as well, and we were treated to unobstructed, clear views of boldly singing birds. I was struck by the intense volume of their song and their overall size, hefty for a warbler, that made the viewing all the better to see markings and colors.

It is always a treat to see a new lifer, better still when a bird is as endangered and has as restricted of a range as this beautiful warbler.

New Yard, New List

Given that we have recently celebrated our one year anniversary of the new house, it's about time I update my yard list to reflect the new property. It's hard to say goodbye to some of my old yard birds - I still miss the mallards that visited whenever they were at our neighbor's pond - but it is always exciting to welcome new guests that had never been at our old house. While I hope to welcome even more species to my feeders, landscaping, and bird baths, to date the birds that have already joined my backyard flock include...

• House Sparrow
• House Finch
• Pine Siskin
• American Goldfinch
• Lesser Goldfinch
• California Quail
• Black-Billed Magpie
• Western Screech-Owl
• Cooper's Hawk
• Sharp-Shinned Hawk
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Chipping Sparrow
• Black-Chinned Hummingbird
• Broad-Tailed Hummingbird
• Red-Winged Blackbird
• Black-Headed Grosbeak
• Brown-Headed Cowbird
• Mourning Dove
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Black-Capped Chickadee
• American Robin
• Northern Flicker
• Spotted Towhee
• Downy Woodpecker
• European Starling
• Dark-Eyed Junco

Some of these beauties have only been casual visitors or one-time guests, while others are regular residents. In just one year, that amounts to 26 species, and it took five years at the old house to get to 33 - who knows where I'll be a year from now! All are welcome, of course, and as I build up our landscaping to be more bird friendly and continue to add more feeders, I hope even more species will join the flock.

Learn how to attract more birds to your yard!

Unwelcome at Church

Swallows are amazing birds, and I was privileged recently to have an amazing experience with them, owing to a fortuitous turn down a street we don't normally drive. We passed a local church that was surrounded by a cloud of flight, and quickly I urged my husband to pull into the empty, weekday parking lot so we could have a better look.

From the skies to the walls, in and out, a colony of cliff swallows was industriously building their mud nests along the bricks below the eaves of the church. The chirping and other high-pitched murmurs were a constant background to the frantic activity, and we watched the busy birds bring back mouthful after mouthful of mud and dirt to build up and cement their nests. In the air, their flight was aerobatic and precise, whirling and diving with grace and beauty.

Every beautiful story has a dark side, however, and I'm ashamed to share this one. Evidence was clear from mottling on the walls that the nests had been knocked down and destroyed over and over. While this is legal (the Migratory Bird Act offers no protection unless there are eggs are chicks in the nests, and there were not), I find it no less abominable that a church - an institution devoted to honoring God and all His creation - would destroy the life efforts of one of God's creatures. The birds were working to build homes to raise their families, and in a state where family is so very sacred, it is horrific to deny that to other creatures. Yes, there were droppings on the walkways, but wouldn't that be worth the opportunity to witness the miracle of life for another living being? Even more abysmal is the fact that the statement "Visitors Welcome" is so prominently displayed on every LDS church - but clearly that doesn't apply to other visitors God might send to share creation with his devotees.

I'm still grateful to have had the opportunity to see the birds myself, and I only hope that I wasn't the only one ashamed at how they were persecuted (funny enough, the Mormons moved to Utah because they themselves were persecuted). The colony did move on, and I hope they found another, more welcoming home to enjoy.

Humming Along in Texas

It's a challenge to sort through all the fantastic birds I saw in Texas, but sometimes, you have just have to start with small steps - or small birds. On the trip, I added two new hummingbirds to my life list: the buff-bellied hummingbird and the ruby-throated hummingbird.

The buff-bellied hummingbird is a south Texas specialty, and I saw my first one at Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen; a wonderful urban birding oasis with 20 acres of gardens to explore for up close views of some fantastic species. The birds are so used to visitors, in fact, they don't seem to mind a bit of close interaction, and the buff-bellieds posed beautifully for me both times I visited the property.

The ruby-throated hummingbird is far more widespread and passes through south Texas in huge numbers during migration (and more than a few linger for breeding), but has been a nemesis for me ever since I became a birder. I grew up in the east and I clearly remember seeing hummingbirds at my grandmother's feeders, but because I wasn't a birder at that time and wasn't watching for field marks and good views, I was unable to add the bird to my very picky life list once I started counting. Fortunately, on the last day of my trip while we spent time at Estero Llano Grande State Park, a gorgeous male ruby-throat was staking out his territory near one of the feeding stations, and while I wasn't quite so close to get a good photo, there's no mistaking the glowing red gorget. Another lifer!

It is interesting how the smallest birds can be some of the most rewarding to see; not only these hummingbirds, but the black-chinned hummingbirds recently arrived at the feeders dangling off my deck. Now I just have to manage a photo of those beauties as well!