Pine Warbler

I've added a new bird to my life list: the pine warbler. Just as my Sibley's Bird Guide said, he was traveling with bluebirds and enjoying seeds from my feeders and suet instead of his preferred diet of pine seeds. Unfortunately, he was a jumpy little fellow and I was never able to get a clear shot. But here's the best I could do. See his bluebird pal in the upper right corner?

According to a Cornell Lab of Ornithology eBird article and map, the pine warblers we see in southeast Virginia are at the northern edge of their winter range. In January 2008, there were none reported to the eBird in James City County. Cornell says the birds prefer seed, but I found the pine warbler at the suet feeder more frequently over the last two weeks.

Because I saw the bluebirds at my feeder and since Ann Little, president of the Virginia Bluebird Society, spoke at our Master Naturalists meeting last week, I got my husband to help me put our bluebird boxes in place on Sunday. I have one in the front yard and one in the back. Following Ann's instructions, both have squirrel/snake baffles and predator guards to keep cat and raccoon paws out. Okay bluebirds, come on down! You're safe in my yard!

Downy woodpeckers are abundant at my feeders this year. I watched them examine the bluebird boxes and tap away to make the holes bigger so they could get in and out to roost. A September blog post with photographs caught one of them in the act. Sadly, there was some material in one of the boxes that leads me to believe that a vagrant downy was using it as a warm place to sleep. I winced as I swept out the twigs. Sorry little fella.

. . . And This is Why We Need to do More with Less

We had a granddaughter in July, a great niece yesterday, and another great niece is due any minute. My daughter called and told me that two of her old high school friends are expecting. Yikes.



From National Geographic via Sierra's This Green Life:

Coming Soon: 7 Billion People

By the end of 2011, there will be 7 billion humans tramping around on this mud ball we call Earth. We love people as much as the next person — but that's a problem. So the venerable National Geographic magazine decided to produce a seven-part population-themed series.

The energetic video above uses facts, stats, and illustrations to generate interest. We see the precipitous spike graphed out to music, watch as megacities rise, learn that five people are born (and two die) every second, and that, standing shoulder to shoulder, 7 billion people would actually fit within L.A.'s city limits.

Watch and pass it on — we're sure you know a person or two.

--Avital Binshtock

Doing More with Less

Here's a thought-provoking video. Hmmm. We can do just as well ... better! ... with less!

More Cold Days at the Feeder Station

About a month ago I blogged that I wasn't seeing too many birds at my feeder. When I asked around, I heard similar reports by some, and yet others reported that the birds were flocking to their feeders and fighting for a perch at the breakfast bar. One person, who is considered quite expert, said that there was a lot of natural food available. Of course, birds only come to the feeder for a portion of their diet and prefer bugs and berries that they find naturally occurring in their environment.

As the weather became cooler and especially during the December snow days, the birds began to roll in to my feeder station. It was quite a mob scene at times during the snow days. As you can see from the count that I posted to Project Feederwatch this week, copied below, the numbers are up. I've noticed a lot of cardinals and I'm also seeing purple finches this year. I'm just getting the hang of telling purples apart from house finches by the shape of their heads and the extend of color patterns.

Project Feederwatch List for January 3-4, 2011

Mourning Dove	17
Downy Woodpecker	2
Carolina Chickadee	3
Tufted Titmouse	2
White-breasted Nuthatch	1
Carolina Wren	2
White-throated Sparrow	2
Dark-eyed Junco	14
Northern Cardinal	5
Purple Finch	2
House Finch	2
American Goldfinch	4

On Saturday, January 1, I attended the Greensprings Trail Boardwalk Bird Show with friends from the Williamsburg Bird Club. This is an annual event that those who list love because "every bird is a year bird." I took a VSO bird list from Shirley and hope I will follow through with listing for the year. I'm up to 18 species so far. I'm only counting a species if I get a good look and feel confident, so it may take some time to move through even the usual suspects. But this is fun so far and a good way to learn.

We were entertained for a while by a flock of rusty blackbirds, a species I wouldn't have been able to confidently identify without the help of birder friends. We also saw green-winged teal, mallards, heron, and other water birds. A pair of red-shouldered hawks posed for us in a snag. And two painted turtles warmed themselves on a log for the entire two hours that I was there.

Happy New Year and happy bird watching!

Transitioning: A Process That's Developing at This Key Tipping Point in History

Transitioning is about sending out the pulse and giving people permission to get started making the changes they need to make. The transition movement in the US is positive and it's about solutions. It's deeper and richer thinking about building resilience in communities so that they will be able to face the shocks that will come due to the impending crises related to the end of cheap oil, climate change, and economic instability.

Watch this video of Transition Towns (UK) founder Rob Hopkins and read the article from Treehugger.com, below:



Building Resilience: Meeting Peak Everything With Systems Thinking
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 03.17.08

With glaciers and arctic ice melting at unprecedented rates, with traditional politicians all but ignoring the threat of peak oil, with food getting ever more expensive and with extinction rates threatening global productivity, the modern world can sometimes feel like a scary place. How do we respond to all of these different challenges, and how do we know which crisis to prioritize first? In the light of so many different, yet interconnected pressures on our current social and economic structures, many folks concerned with sustainability are beginning to explore the concept of resilience in more detail – that is, the idea of not just tackling a problem like climate change or peak oil alone, but instead beginning to restructure our human-made systems so they are stronger, more adaptable, and able to withstand multiple shocks or pressures. Rob Hopkins, of the magnificent Transition Towns Movement, talked a little bit about building local resilience here, but for those wanting to explore the concept further, the UK Systems Society is holding a 3 day conference entitle “Building Resilience” at the University of Oxford this September. This from the conference flyer:

"We experience a world full of turbulence. In the early years of the 21st century, we can point to many examples of this turbulence: flooding and associated devastation; cyber systems which leave us vulnerable to identity theft and fraud; instability in financial systems causing customers to mistrust their banks. We cannot hope to anticipate, still less control, every source of instability. However, we can aspire to build resilience. We can seek to create human-made systems which, when they fail, fail ‘gracefully’. We can seek to anticipate the consequences of natural calamities on all sectors of society, and ensure that we are ready to deal with them. Systems thinking and appropriate tools for systemic practice can help in this endeavour."