Happy Saturday! Here's Julie Zickefoose's latest birding-by-ear #zicktorial, recorded yesterday morning at Indigo Hill.
📹: Julie Zickefoose
Happy Friday! Enjoy another #zicktorial from Julie Zickefoose, recorded a few days after a large, destructive storm. She wrote:
It was 43 when I woke up. So grateful for the break from the heat while entering my third full day without power. The birds always have the power! I neglected to point out the hooded warbler who sings three more times in the last part. And the worm-eating warbler and Acadian flycatcher were too deep in the woods to register. But it’s a fine crystalline Sunday on Indigo Hill.
📹: Julie Zickefoose
If you provide mealworms at your bird buffet, limit your offerings to approximately 10 mealworms per day per bird. That can be tricky to estimate, but the goal is to limit the birds' intake of this high-energy snack. Given the opportunity, they'll overindulge, which is to their detriment. Such a rich diet will throw off their metabolism and molt schedule!
📷: Eastern bluebird by OakleyOriginals/Flickr
Zicktorial: North Carolina Morning
Take a morning bird walk in North Carolina with Julie Zickefoose, who wrote earlier this week:
Morning NC #zicktorial starring red-shouldered hawk and brown thrasher. I’m betting tons of people have heard this hawk’s lusty screams without ever seeing it.
Zicktorial: Red-eyed Vireo Fight
It's a lively and unusual #Zicktorial this week! Julie Zickefoose wrote:
This insane cascade of rapidfire songs and scolds is being produced by two fighting pairs of red-eyed vireos. I was happy to have my phone up and ready to fire when I heard the outburst and they tumbled into view. Territorial defense is not just for males; females can be just as avid. And those plain green birds are anything but boring.
Zicktorial: Hooded Warber & Swainson's Thrush
Sharpen your birding by ear skills with two clips from advising editor Julie Zickefoose, who wrote yesterday:
A double barreled #zicktorial with hooded warbler first, and Swainson’s thrush in the second video. Rainy mornings are wonderful for #birdingbyear, because the weather finds birds in a contemplative mood and quiets the rabble. In the thrush video, listen for the spring peeper like call the #thrush gives after his song—a highly distinctive “pweep?” They sometimes throw this call down from the night sky and you know they’re migrating overhead. I’m out in the rain this morning enjoying a little fall out of birds from the full eclipse moon night’s #migration flight.
Zicktorial: Spring Morning Walk in Whipple, Ohio
Enjoy another lesson in birding by ear from advising editor Julie Zickefoose, who writers:
I’m always a bit torn about doing a #zicktorial when there’s so much going on. They’re much better when songs are isolated. But I need to give you an idea of just how much is going on that we can enjoy when we tune in to #birdsong —I got 56 species on my hour long morning walk here at Indigo Hill! So just enjoy the soundscape without worrying about being able to pick things out.
Zicktorial: May Day
It's a May Day (and Spanish Mother's Day) tutorial on birding by ear from Julie Zickefoose, who writes:
The spring chorus from the green resting place of Bill and Elsa Thompson, founding publishers of Bird Watcher’s Digest. They wanted natural plantings—nothing fancy. Soon the coneflowers will spring up and do their thing. The lilac was from Bill Jr’s Aunt Lolly on the family farm along Duck Creek in Marietta OHio, so that’s what we call her: Lolly Lilac. The redbud and dogwood were here; they just needed to be revealed. Everywhere there are bluebird eggs and nestlings, and I’ve heard and seen 50 species in an hour. Happy May Day to Elsa and Bill Thompson, with gratitude to you both for conceiving and nurturing my favorite birding magazine.
