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February 18, 2009 [LINK / comment]

Late winter bird arrivals

At the Peaks of Otter last week, I saw a Yellow-bellied sapsucker for the first time all winter. It's very strange that I had not seen one , given the remarkable consistency of its fall arrival for the past six years, between October 4 and 6. At Sweet Briar College the next day, I saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a flock of Cedar waxwings, both for the first time this winter. Perhaps I'm just not getting outdoors as much as usual...

On the other hand, we have had Pine siskins at our feeder several times for the past few weeks, an unusually high frequency for that erratic winter migrant.

Wild bird poisoning?

From John Spahr of the Augusta Bird Club:

There have been a number of reports from southwest Virginia of multiple Pine Siskins and other finches being found dead in the yard. All have come from homes with bird feeders. The epidemiology suggests possible (not proven) salmonella poisoning. This could be from contaminated and unclean feeders. Feeder hygiene is always prudent for those who feed birds and can prevent a number of transmissible avian diseases.

Also, Scotts has recently recalled some products, specifically suet mixes containing peanuts, due to potential salmonella poisoning. See bizjournals.com.

Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 18 Feb 2009, 11: 13 PM

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Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.


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The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:

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