New Birds!

Two new birds were sighted at OMS on Wednesday.  The Nestwatch team heard, then spotted, an Eastern Phoebe in the same courtyard where the Bluebirds are nesting.  In fact, this may be the bird that’s nesting on top of the fire alarm outside the door at the end of the 6th grade hallway.  The Phoebe is easy to identify “by ear” because it says it’s own name:  “phee-bee!”  and by its habit of “wagging” its tail.

After school, while checking out the nestbox by the 8th grade wing, I spotted two birds in a small tree and snuck up on them to investigate.  Two Cedar Waxwings!  Mrs. Bauer got a quick glimpse, too, before they flew away.  Cedar Waxwings like to eat fruit, so hopefully they will be attracted to some of the shrubs we planted in the courtyard once they grow a little bigger.  Let’s keep an eye out and see if we spot these beautiful birds again!

First Babies of 2009

Here are some pictures of the eggs and birds from Nestbox 4 that Jordan wrote about.  As of Friday, May 29th, the babies hadn’t left the nest yet (we still saw the adults feeding them).  But by Monday when we return to school, they will probably have fledged [left the nest].  Good luck, little guys!

Watch out for Flying Baby Blue Birds!:)

About a week or two ago, there were five blue eggs in nestbox number four.  Now they are feathered baby birds, and learning to fly.  Mrs. Russell says that she thought the birds come back and nest when they are older, but she has also learned that sometimes that is not true.  The birdwatchers are not allowed to visit box 4 until the babies have gone.

Well, stay tuned because it looks like nestbox number two will soon be bursting with activities.  There are four eggs in the box, and that was on the 22nd.  Next nestwatching group, be on the lookout for baby blue birds practicing flying!

Ok, there’s another nest box that has eggs in it.  Nestbox 6 has only two eggs, but eggs are eggs.  Soon OMS Middle School will be alive with bluebirds!  Speaking of which, the Friday group tapped on Nestbox 1B and no adult came out.  But, when they looked inside,  a non-injured adult bluebird was sitting right on the nest, just looking at us.  It wasn’t scared, it didn’t fly away; it just sat there, curiously staring at us.  It was definitely a strange sight, so we’ll have to keep an eye on that.  In the meantime… keep flyin’!

-Jordan R.

Nest watching

At OMS we have six nest boxes. Today we went out to nest box 2 and we found a nest. Our first bluebird nest of the season. We might have a woodpecker nesting is a box soon.

By,

Russell B

How many birdwatchers does it take to put up a nestbox?

You probably wouldn’t guess 14, but that’s how many we had on the job.  Six bluebird nestboxes were put up today, and we have 3 more to place later on.  We know the bluebirds are already here– hopefully they’ll see a nestbox that looks like home!   Last year we didn’t get the nestboxes out until June, and bluebirds nested in 2 out of 9.   This year we’re getting an early enough start that we may get to see the first babies leave the nest before school is out.

Hummingbirds are on their way!

It’s finally March, and spring is just around the corner. Thinking about that made me wonder where our hummingbirds are today. The first Ruby-Throated Hummingbird usually arrives in New Jersey around April 15th. When I checked the map today, I noticed they’re still a long way off– they’re just starting to be spotted in the southernmost parts of Louisiana and the western coast of Florida. But they’re on their way! We can watch their progress at hummingbirds.net.

The Mourning Dove…

Last year the bird watchers found a few sightings of the Mourning Dove and we saw it also.

The one we saw looked “fat” as so to speak. It was a bird we saw a lot. Just a few minutes ago, we saw another mourning dove.

Alex L.

The birdwatchers…

We have quite a few new and senior bird watchers. We owe this entire thing to Ms. Russell, the head birdwatcher. She manages the files, posts blogs, and helps us with the equipment.

Thanks, Ms. Russell, for all you’ve done for us.

The birdwatchers

Birdwatching

We keep logs of the birds we see and record the information at ebird.org. Scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology can use our data to study bird migration.

Also the birdwatchers do a lot of watching from another post inside the school, and with a special camera that takes pictures in an elapsed time. The camera helps us find out what birds visit our feeder while we are busy in class!

Alex L.

“Another Feeder Mom!”

The bird watchers have put in more feeders and more are being put in as we speak. This is a suet feeder especially for our woodpecker friends.

By,
Alex L.