The Ice Man Cameth -- January 29--30! Birding out the Window & Birding on the Net Continued

Bijou watches Red-winged Blackbirds and Chipping Sparrows on the iced over deck -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

           The Ice Man came to Charleston!  Whooey!  That is the longest cold spell that I can remember -- about 48 hours of below freezing temperatures here in the semi-tropical south!  With the weather forecasts, we had hoped for snow but the white stuff that came down was the more dangerous ice,  I stayed inside except to fill bird feeders and then essentially skated across the deck to do that.  Even before the ice came down early Wednesday, the birds knew what was coming and were feeding madly at our feeders when I returned home from work Tuesday.  It was non-stop action out our windows Tuesday afternoon, all day Wednesday and Thursday and provided us with great window birding moments. 

          But before I share more window birding pictures, let me share with you a couple of "birding on the net" links that I discovered on my 2 day hiatus from my normal work week.  First, I recommend that everyone check out Dorian Anderson's fascinating ongoing Big Year by Bike adventure on his blog,  Biking for Birds.  He wanted to do an eco-friendly Big Year and the bike, his feet, and from time to time, a kayak when available, will be his only means of transportation.  In the process, he hopes to raise significant funds for birds and conservation.  All donations go directly to the organizations that he has slated as the beneficiaries of this huge endeavor.  Amazingly, he has just completed his first month of biking through snow in sub-freezing temps throughout the northeast and has recorded 127 species thus far.  My guess is that he will enter North Carolina today.  You may have seen some posts about him, such as this one from January 30, on the Carolina Bird Listserv.  What I  found to be among the most interesting parts of his blog (besides the daily post!) are his "Brief Bio" and "Why" pages.  Dorian is an accomplished geneticist who left his post-doctoral work in Boston to follow his life-long passion for birds for a year and to raise money for conservation!  And remember,  in his attempt to do this Big Year, his carbon foot print will be next to zero!  Wow!  You rock, Dorian!  So that I do not miss out on any of his adventure, I have put a link in my blog list to the right.  If you visit his page, you can also sign up for e-mail alerts every time he posts. 

       Here's one more birding link for you as we slowly progress out of this extra cold winter season towards a balmier Spring.  On Wednesday,  as I alternated from computer screen to window birding and back, I received this Bird Cams eNews Flash from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology!  We can now watch live a Laysan Albatross chick (hatched January 27) and his parents on the nest in tropical Hawaii!  Throughout this month, when we come home in the dark from work, we can tune into a little more sunshine and a bit of Spring, as we watch this chick grow up.  Cornell Lab of Ornithology makes it possible to follow multiple species on their nests as they operate several cams or help to sponsor several cams throughout the country.  The best place to tune in to all the different bird cams throughout the Spring months is through this link on their All About Birds -- Bird Cams page.  My regular readers will perhaps remember the PMP blog post about Big Red and her mate, Ezra -- two Red-tailed Hawks -- who nest over the athletic fields at Cornell University.  I understand that they have begun refurbishing their nest again this year!  So when we cannot get outside, we can still enjoy nature LIVE! 

        So enough about birding on the net -- I promised photos from my birding out the windows after the ice storm.  And here they are!

Young male Baltimore Oriole -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

This young male Baltimore Oriole needs a teeter totter buddy! -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

            We have three Baltimore Orioles hanging out in our yard these days and one female Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  The last I saw of our hummer was Tuesday morning.  I worried that she had perished during those harsh temperatures.  But she was back at the feeder yesterday afternoon.  John Fussell of Morehead City, NC reported the same experience with his male Ruby-throated hummer in this post to the Carolina Bird Listserv.  Could our hummers have entered some extended state of torpor to survive the cold? 

Common Grackle -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

Common Grackle -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

Red-winged Blackbirds -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

The always adorable Chipping Sparrow -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

Again, simply adorable! -- Chipping Sparrow -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

Red-winged Blackbird -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

A sweet, sad-faced Pine Warbler -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

Another pose for the sweet, sad-faced Pine Warbler -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

Red-bellied Woodpecker -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

A female Downy Woodpecker -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

We can never tire of watching those Chippies! -- Chipping Sparrows -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

Chipping Sparrow  -- waiting for a turn at the feeder -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

Bijou agrees!  Those bold Chippies are great! -- Parc Perlière -- James Island, Charleston, SC -- January 29, 2014

           Now that the temperatures have warmed back to normal, the feeding frenzy has ended.  Also, I can now go do some birding outdoors and dispell this cabin fever!  Time to find some of those winter specialties before warmer temperatures and longer days pull them northwards!  It is good to know though that we when cannot get outdoors, we have window birding and internet birding to tide us over!