Marge Ward has lived in Sitka for over 60 years and Marlys Tedin nearly as long. They have been recording their daily bird observations since 1980 using 5×7 inch note cards, with a row for each species. This time of year the number of species they observer in a given week doesn’t usually require more than two cards, though at other times they may nearly fill three. Marge often writes additional notes on the back giving additional details about some observations of particular interest, weather observations, or reports of non-bird plants and animals.

Although their records are an amazing store of information about bird occurrence in the Sitka area, it is not so easy to sort through and access in card form. Over the past year or so, I’ve started working to get their observations into a computer database by using a CyberTracker application I created for that purpose. Last winter I made some progress on getting through the historical records, but as the season changed, I became busy with other things and have done little work on the older records since then. I have kept up with current observations, however. I try to visit them most Fridays to get the most recent week’s observations put in.

My only significant time outside today was walking over to Marge and Tedin’s place. Temperatures have continued to be in the upper 30s and low 40s, and although the ground remains frozen, most of the surface snow and ice in the central part of town is gone. It had been some time since I was by Swan Lake, and I was interested to see that it remained covered in ice, though the ice had an inch or more of water on top of it. (I remember walking/skating across the ice in such conditions more than once when I was on my way home from my paper route – but I don’t think I would feel comfortable doing it these days.) Despite the lack of open water, there were 45 or more Mallards and over 10 Glaucous-winged Gulls at the peninsula.

While visiting with Marge and Tedin, I mentioned that robins had been around this past week, but they said they hadn’t seen any at their place. Apparently, in winter at least, the robins prefer other neighborhoods. We also talked about the arrival of Pine Siskins at feeders this week. There had been a individual Pine Siskin or two visiting the feeders at my house, but today there was a sizable flock feeding on the ground in the neighborhood, and making stop by our feeders. I noticed another flock foraging on a gravel driveway along Lake Street – I suspect they were going after conifer and/or alder seeds that were probably released during the last cold snap. Marge commented that the first flock of siskins she had seen at their feeders in a while was today as well.

During our visit we had commented on the abundance of Varied Thrushes this year. I mentioned seeing a couple of loose flocks while on a hike up Indian River last weekend. It was interesting because they weren’t together like a flock of starlings or finches might be, but rather moving in a much more distributed association. When Marge and Tedin dropped me off at the bottom of the hill, we saw 10 or more Varied Thrush – most of them foraging on a mossy roof, but a few more poking about on the gravel road in front of the maintenance building. When they spooked as I got out of the car, they all flew off in the same direction, but only one or two at a time.

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Marge Ward and Marlys Tedin's observation notes for 11-17 Jan 2011.

Marge Ward and Marlys Tedin's observation notes for 11-17 Jan 2011.

Marge Ward and Marlys Tedin's observation notes for 11-17 Jan 2011.

A neighborhood Red Squirrel has been clipping hemlock branches with cones.

On a small island of trees at the bottom of the street we live on, there’s been a squirrel that Connor and Rowan have been paying some attention to. Though I am unsure of their reasoning, they have taken to calling it Hola, and most times we walk by, one of them will point him out. (I am not convinced it’s a male squirrel, but I’ll go with their thinking regarding its gender until there’s evidence otherwise.)

A neighborhood Red Squirrel has been clipping hemlock branches with cones.

The other day we were walking past the island and I noticed a lot of little hemlock branches on the ground. Upon pausing to consider how they came to be there, another one dropped a short distance from me. I looked up and saw Hola working at trimming the ends of branches. All the trimmed branches had cones on them, a fact which I hadn’t really noticed before.

Connor and Rowan seemed to be unsurprised by this behavior, and proceeded to show me a hole where Hola would go at times. Connor believed this hole to be Hola’s home, and he showed me where he had made an effort to help Hola with his work by putting branches at the entrance.

A neighborhood Red Squirrel has been clipping hemlock branches with cones and piling them at the base of trees.

The next day Connor and Rowan were playing down on the island and I asked them about Hola’s activities while I waited for someone to stop by with a delivery. They told me that Hola had been gathering the trimmed branches and piling them at the bases of several trees. I guess that would make them more convenient for grabbing and eating from a favored branch, but the issue of convenience brings up the question of why he’s trimming the branches in the first place. He could just grab the cones from the branches as he wants.

I can think of a couple of reasons Hola harvests the cones in the way he does. The branches ends where the cones are located are quite flexible, and it seems unlikely that he would be able to hold on and eat while out there. That would require a trip to the end to grab a cone, followed by a retreat back to a steady location for eating. This seems like an inefficient process for getting food. Another reason might be that the cones will continue to mature if they remain on the tree. Sometime this winter when conditions are right, they will open up and release their seeds to the wind. Once trimmed, it seems the cones are much more likely to remain closed, leaving the seeds available for Hola to eat. One thing I wonder about though is the quantity of cones harvested. So far it does not look like very many cones have been collected. I would think only enough to last a few weeks, but not the whole winter. Perhaps some are being moved to locations where they are not so visible. I will try to pay attention over the coming weeks and months to see whether Hola continues to harvest and use cones in this way.

A neighborhood Red Squirrel has been clipping hemlock branches with cones and piling them at the base of trees.

Variable Carpet Moth (Anticlea vasiliata) observed on Hillcrest Drive.

A few nights ago after a relatively warm day, I noticed a moth on the window, the first one I had seen this year. I managed to capture it in a jar and got some photos of it. With help from bugguide.net, I got a likely identification of Variable Carpet Moth (Anticlea vasiliata). This species is typcially in flight from spring to early summer. I was interested to note that it did not seem as slowed by refrigeration as other moths I’ve capture. I suppose that’s probably helpful for an early season moth that might face chilly nights.

Red form of Fox Sparrow observed on Hillcrest Drive.

This winter there were several Fox Sparrows hanging around the neighborhood. Most winters Fox Sparrows are Rare at best, so it was unusual to see as many as 8, despite the cooler and snowier conditions that prevailed this year as compared to other years. Of particular interest to me was a red form (Taiga form in Sibley’s Guide) individual that I saw several times. Although the size, shape, and pattern of coloration is basically the same, the red form is not nearly as dark brown as the birds we typically see here. For comparison, I’ve included a picture of a more typical looking bird below.

Fox Sparrow

Sitka Blacktail Deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) observed on Hillcrest Drive.

A few evenings ago I noticed a female deer in our back yard. She seemed a bit larger than I might expect, so I wondered if she might be pregnant. It turns out that Sitka Blacktailed Deer typically give birth in late May or early June, so the timing would not suggest that she isn’t. If so, it might be interesting to see if she stays around the neighborhood with a young deer. At least two deer, including one buck, have been frequenting the neighborhood, and I am sort of assuming that it’s consistently been the same individuals. I also wonder if they are the same individuals that we have seen over the past couple of years, mostly in the spring.

It’s interesting that these deer have shown up in recent years. My dad said that in all the years he had a garden up here, he only remembered seeing deer tracks once. I’ve found them many more times than that in the last three years, so that suggests to me that this incursion of deer is relatively recent. I wonder why they have decided the neighborhood isn’t a bad place after apparently avoiding it previously.