During the languid days of 2012 in mid-March, there were a bunch of birds obvious in the Carthage neighborhood. Highlights included an errant Red-winged Blackbird, and a bunch of Common Grackles were present on 7 March, or which was the 67th day of the year.
 View on March 8th, when the snow had been melting away. |
Realizing that some sort of bird survey at been done a year ago, another survey was done to conform with the same time this year. And then winter weather, with blowing snow and inches of white stuff, so more attention was given to determining the birds present. Weather on Sunday was the primary factor in the situation, where an expected extent of 2-4 inches of snowfall became 6-9 inches by the end of Sunday.
There were 19 species present during the past weekend, including the unexpected visit of some White-throated Sparrows, obviously taking advantage of the food available at a backyard bird feeder. They were the most obvious addition during Sunday, while snow was falling and blowing about the neighborhood. Because of the harsh weather, particular attention was given to making sure that food was available.
About daylight, the unwanted black cat sitting beneath the feeder was chased away. Within minutes, some juncos arrived. The first bit of the mornings' snowfall was raked away so that seeds upon the ground would be available. With the arrival of more snow, the raking routine was repeated, and the actual feeder was refilled. The same effort occurred later in the afternoon, and once again in the evening, when the cardinals were gathered about, eating the seed a a late winter storm raged about.
A comparison of bird life from current days and the during the same time last year, conveys that more than twenty different species have been present, as indicated by the following summary.
| Common Name | 3/7/2012 | 3/8/2013 | 3/9/2013 | 3/10/2013 |
| Cooper's Hawk | - - | 1 | - - | - - |
| Red-tailed Hawk | - - | - - | 1 | - - |
| Ring-billed Gull | - - | 14 | - - | 8 |
| Rock Pigeon | - - | 3 | - - | - - |
| Mourning Dove | 3 | 3 | - - | - - |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | - - | 1 | - - | - - |
| Downy Woodpecker | 2 | 2 | - - | - - |
| Northern Flicker | 1 | 1 | - - | - - |
| Blue Jay | 2 | 3 | - - | 2 |
| American Crow | 2 | 11 | - - | 2 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 4 | 3 | - - | 2 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 1 | 1 | - - | - - |
| American Robin | 2 | 12 | - - | - - |
| European Starling | 27 | 12 | - - | 2 |
| White-throated Sparrow | - - | - - | - - | 2 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 6 | 7 | - - | 11 |
| Northern Cardinal | 2 | 3 | - - | 6 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 1 | - - | - - | - - |
| Common Grackle | 6 | - - | - - | - - |
| House Finch | 3 | 3 | - - | 2 |
| House Sparrow | 20 | 30 | - - | 20 |
The bird feeder scene. | ||
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Along the street. The two women ran their snow blower along 1.5 blocks of the sidewalk. | |
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Completely missing has been the call of the screech-owl, which has been heard in the night hours in times past, but its presence has been missing in the most recent months at Carthage.
The weather is expected to moderate by early in the week. Food provided at the feeder was obviously helpful, as personally observed. Perhaps in a few days as temperatures will moderate, and any Mourning Doves will coo on the rooftops and not have to deal with inches of snow on the ground.
An arrival of the grackles could certainly convey the start of spring in midtown Omaha. This date will certainly be later in 2013, in comparison to 2012.