Warmer Weather for now!

Today's temperatures make it feel like summer out there, mostly because we have been used to cold, dreary days with no sunshine and precipitation mostly in the form of SNOW.   However, today's temperatures have me thinking about cleaning out nesting boxes and starting to prepare for spring nesting season.  It may seem a little off, but Mr. & Mrs. Bluebird will be starting to scope out homes to create their nest in the next two weeks.   This also means that Wood Duck nesting season is almost upon us! Make sure to check out the activity along the Red Clay Creek at Marshall Bridge Preserve.  Wood Ducks can be pretty flighty, but you can view them and other wildlife from our Eco Shack.


At TLC, we'll be setting up a day in the near future to invite our Nesting Box Sponsors out to clean out nesting boxes and starting to look for spring arrivals.   If you want to join in the fun--sponsor a nesting box (and a home for birds on TLC's Preserves) and visit your box in all seasons.

Last year we found a screech owl in one of the boxes!! We'll be sure to fill you in with what we find this year!! 

Harbinger of Spring?

My mom excitedly emailed this photograph to me the other day with the question: "Does the Robin know something the groundhog (and weatherman) do not?"   Sadly, the answer to her question (and many more) is no. 

So why isn't a robin the harbinger of spring? While many of us think of robins in the spring eating worms off the driveway after the rainstorms, they do stick around in the winter.   While robins are migratory, not all robins will migrate.  Their patterns are difficult to detect--they seem to migrate based on food source which changes with the seasons.  Throughout the spring and summer months, they are more interested in worms, grubs, and other creepy crawly ground dwellers however in the fall/winter months robins turn into fruit eaters.  They will stick around somewhere with plentiful berries and wait out the cold winter months.  In general, most migration patterns follow food sources more than temperature, though the two often correlate. 

The patterns of robins will be different in the winter months.  They have a tendency to flock up more often.  Larger flocks mean that they have more eyes watching for predators and finding food.   A telltale sign that spring is arriving is when you start to notice more individual robins, and they are singing!  This means that they are defending their territory--if you have ever watched a robin throughout the spring, you will know that they are very territorial birds. 

So, while the sight of a robin in the winter months does not mean that spring is coming (no matter how hard we wish); the sight of a single singing robin may very well predict the entrance of spring.  Learn more fun facts about our over wintering friends by attending tomorrow's Wildlife In Winter program at Bucktoe Creek Preserve. 

Great Backyard Bird Count

The 2014 Great Backyard Bird Count begins on Friday, and it is a wonderful example of citizen science at its best.  The GBBC encourages individuals to tally the birds that are visiting their feeders/backyards throughout the four day weekend.  The data is entered online, and helps to give a snapshot of patterns of migration throughout the United States.  

Another popular tool used by scientists is the banding of birds.  This enables bird watchers to report the name/tag on the bird to find out where it has been.  One such bird, a Red Knot--popular along the Delaware Coast during spring migration recently made headlines.  The bird was last spotted in Canada in August, and has been found in Argentina quite recently.  While this is a normal migration pattern, the unusual part is that this bird was initially banded in 1995 and has an estimated age of 21 years old.  Learn more about this red knot (B95) by reading the article: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/greenliving/B95-spotted-once-again-He-made-it-to-Argentina.html

So how do these bird surveys and counts translate to conservation and TLC?  We know how well we are doing managing our properties by what birds we are attracting.  Are we providing the correct habitat to attract birds that should live in southern Chester County?  These are questions our management team asks during each and every restoration project.   We always appreciate all sightings of birds and mammals on our properties.  Be sure to visit one of TLC's Preserves, take along your binoculars, and tell us what you find!  Email us with photos: landmanager@tlcforscc.org. 

Are the Snowy Owls still evading you too?

I have seen beautiful photographs, but have yet to see the Snowy Owl in person this winter much to my chagrin! Don't worry, if I find it, I'll be sure to share it with all of you first (OK maybe second after I call all of my family who know I'm on a mission!). 

This interview with a research scientist from Wisconsin DNR shares some wonderful tips on the Snowy Owl irruption, and how to hopefully find your own! Let me know if they work: http://laboutloud.com/2014/02/episode-107-the-snowy-owl-irruption/

You can also explore Wildlife in Winter with TLC this weekend at Bucktoe Creek Preserve.  Click HERE to learn more.

Passing Time without power

So one of the great things about being without power for 72+ hours (unless you speak with the contents of my fridge) was that it was a great time to bone up on sparrow identification at my bird feeders.  It was like my own personal TV. I could spend time watching the birds come to the feeder and see if I could identify them (I had my field guide at the ready because if you have been following us, you know that I am only an amateur in the world of bird identification).   These two visitors are common, but ones that may make a beginning birder scratch their head, so I thought I would introduce them. 
The Top photo is a White-throated sparrow. They are a pretty common bird to see at your feeder in the winter months.  In addition to the fairly evident white throat (in this picture), the other identifying features of the White-throated sparrow are the yellow "lores", *A lore is the space between the eye and the base of the bill on a bird*, gray breast, and the gray bill.    They still sing in their winter range, and the mnemonic is either: O-sweet-canada-canada or Old-Sam-Peabody-Peabody.
The bottom photo is of a Song Sparrow.  This sparrow is a year round resident of Chester County, and is one of our most common sparrows.   The heavy streaking on the breast with the dark center breast spot is one of the most distinguishing identification features.  They have a comparatively long tail, and show a thick malar or mustache stripe.  They are not as vocal throughout the winter, and their song varies greatly by region.  Our song sparrow has a different variety on its song than a song sparrow found in another region of the country.  The song begins with a abrupt notes and ends with a trill.

I think one of the fun things about having a bird feeder is learning to identify birds, and as I've noted many times before, you can attract and provide good nutrition to birds in your yard without a bird feeder using the correct plants.  That being said, a bird feeder can be a wonderful additional source of food during cold snaps (like the one that we have had last ALL winter) and help us learn more about our feathered friends in the process! Want to know what to plant in your yard?   Our Landscape Visionaries team can help!

Clean Up begins...

This Cornus florida survived the storm!!

So for those of you throughout Chester County who are reading this--congratulations on getting your power back! Not only did the recent ice storm cause us to lose electric, but it also wrecked havoc on our trees and shrubs.  Hopefully if you have trees on your property that lost their limbs or were uprooted over the last 24 hours they did not cause damage to your home, vehicles, or fence.  You may still be left with a mess of broken branches and wondering whether or not your tree will survive the damage. 

It is important to remember that the least amount of additional pruning you can do, the better chance you will have of your tree surviving the damage.  This may not be possible, if you have hanging limbs or branches that are partially broken off.

Your tree has the best chance of survival if:

* at least 50% of the crown of the tree is still intact.
* if the central leader (main branch structure) did not break off, and it is a species that depends on the central leader such as: Blackgum, Junipers, Lindens, Pines, Pin oak, Spruces, Sycamore, Sweetgum, & Tulip poplar
*the smaller limbs were the ones that were broken, and the tree does not have a lot of scars that need to heal.

If you have questions or concerns about pruning your tree to save it, or need help pruning the tree, TLC's Landscape Visionaries program has a list of recommended arborists to choose from.  Best of luck cleaning up after the storm! 

As you clean up your branches remember that brush piles make great habitat for our native fauna, and can provide a shelter for birds to wait out the rest of winter.  

What is a Seahawk anyway??

If you viewed the Super Bowl over the weekend, then I am guessing that you caught a glimpse of the Seattle Seahawk's mascot.   I thought it would be fun to learn a little more information about their mascot.  There is not actually a bird called a Seahawk--though this is sometimes a description used to describe an Osprey, since fish is their favorite and most typical prey.  However, the Seattle Seahawk mascot is not an Osprey, but an Augur Buzzard native to Africa.  The mascot's name is Taima--the only way we'll see an Augur Buzzard in our neck of the woods, is if the Eagles play the Seahawks in a home game next year (and Taima escapes!).   We have a lot of native raptors--and many TLC programs that focus on birds.  View all of our upcoming programs! 


Learn more about Taima from this article: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1946017-taima-the-hawk-everything-you-need-to-know-about-seahawks-feathered-mascot