Male mourning dove shows iridescent patch on neck that distinguishes him as a male to birdwatchers and doves of the opposite sex.  Photo taken January 25, 2014 at feeders on front deck of our home in Apple Valley in Howard, Ohio.  (Photo by Don Comis)

While watching a mourning dove chase a female dove around my feeders today, I was struck by a sudden flash of red, reminding me of the red wing badge of a sexually mature red-winged blackbird.  This confirmed my conviction it had to be a male doing the chasing and taught me that the iridescent spot on a male dove's neck may not be as subtle a signal as I thought.

The "spring" sun had hit the spot just right so it flashed at me from a distance, enabling me to know it was there without me being able to see it.  This makes me think that maybe the female sees it that way all the time?

In any case, this goes on my growing list of my favorite signs of spring.  And I'm finally convinced that the spring robins are here, after seeing 12 robins on a lawn in my neighborhood today.

I know woodcocks are doing mating dances and I've seen bluebirds go in out of their houses.  And I've had a pair of house sparrows building a nest for weeks now in one of my bluebird houses.  I've heard the calls of a pair of barred owls announcing they've picked a territory for their nest.  I know great horned owls were incubating eggs in February.

And a great number of butterflies are going to start flying in April and May in Ohio.  For me, the real spring is in mid-April, based on a memory of when I lived in Ohio in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  I just knew it was spring one day when it was warm and the flowers were blooming at the Mount Vernon Developmental Institute where my wife and I worked.

Houses for Red-Headed Woodpeckers, Bluebirds, Robins, and Sparrows

Looking for ideas for mounting a red-headed woodpecker box Steven and  I made, I took a close look at one of my bluebird houses and saw pine needles leaking out of the bottom, a sure sign that the house sparrows who had moved in days ago were building a nest.

And a close look at my robin ledge, mounted on a 10-foot high PVC pipe just as I planned for the woodpecker box, showed droppings that revealed the ledge is being used for roosting this winter.  I don't know if was the cardinals that seem to live in the Colorado spruce trees surrounding the ledge or the tree sparrows or house sparrows that fly out of our hedges when I walk by.  I had never seen any activity there so I didn't know it was being used.

It pays to take a closer look!

I learned a lot--including how to mount the red-headed woodpecker box and quickly got it up without falling from the ladder.

My bluebird house in Maryland only attracted house sparrows.  The baby peeking out must be a baby house sparrow.  (Photo by Don Comis)

I haven't seen my red-headed woodpecker for a while in my front yard in Ohio.  The first bird house I built in Ohio is for this bird, which is being overtaken by a scarcity of cavities and the success of my favorite bird, the red-bellied woodpecker.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Fearing Thunderstorms and Starlings

My two fears today were the thunderstorm and an invasion of starlings at my feeders.  But I checked my e-bird.org records and saw that my 9 starlings today were only 2 more than what I had earlier in the month.


They added nice whistles to the growing chorus, which seemed to include cardinal songs today, songs that will turn into seduction songs soon.  The  two cardinals at my feeders this morning, a male and female, are one of the many possible pairings that will occur soon.  The resident birds like the cardinals, starlings, house sparrows, jays, doves, and downy or hair woodpecker that visited my feeders as I ate breakfast today may already be paired up. 


But those returning from the south, like the house wrens, may be looking for mates.  I'm guessing the house wrens will return to nest in my wren house, the only successful birdhouse I had last year.


Eventually I hope to build birdhouses for all the birds that visited my feeders today, except for the house sparrows and starlings.

Don's Photo Gallery, Website Table of Contents

Two House Sparrow couples wait for their turn at the feeders.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Website Table of Contents

Also see my  website where you can see a quick guide I created to identify 12 birds you're most likely to see at your feeders in winter, in the Midwest or East, central Ohio for sure (Five birds on my website accessible by clicking on "overview" at the bottom of the "Birds" page and seven birds on the "Birds Photo Gallery' page). 


My latest addition (on February 6, 2014) is the "Wildlife Photos" where I have an album of a recently photographed snowy owl and recent photographs of mute swans at Apple Valley Lake in Howard, Ohio.  Thanks to the choreography of the swans and the simplesite program, you can view the album full size as a slide show where the swan photos blend into each other and seem to show the graceful swimming of  members of a 13-strong flock that hung around for a while, until the lake froze over completely.


Here's a list of other pages on the website:

My Front Page: News flash on rare snow "snow roller" phenomenon in Apple Valley, Mount Vernon, and other parts of central Ohio; reprint of magazine article I wrote about wildlife at the USDA research center where I worked; snowy owl sightings; meeting announcements; local bird sighting alerts; photos, including Debbie Hurlbert's snowy owl photo and a photo of a lovely pine cone feeder made at the Apple Valley Garden Club's "Christmas is for the BIRDS!!!" workshop.

Local Events:  Shows schedule of events at the Brown Family Environmental Center at Kenyon College.


Insects:  Has popular newspaper columns written by a U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist in Brookings, South Dakota, a former colleague.


Ohio History:  Information on Native Americans in Knox County.


Archaeological Finds:  Photos of monthly "field finds" award winners at the Kokosing Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Ohio meetings in Mt. Vernon.  Also article on presentation by author and editor Bob Converse and other articles, including date of next local meeting.

Birds:  Reprint of Mansfield News Journal article telling the role of Debbie Hurlbert and Jon Minard in helping to count 27 bald eagles for the Mohican Christmas Bird Count.  Also list of my 12 most common feeder birds this winter.  Also click on "Overview" at bottom of page to see ID tips and photos of the "bottom 5" in the list of my common feeder birds.

Winter Tracks:  Includes material from Aldo Leopold's "Sand County Almanac".


ASO:  Information on the Archaeological Society of Ohio.


Birdscaping:  Article on how landscaping (habitat) is more important than bird feeders, related to the book "Birdscaping in the Midwest:  A Guide to Gardening with Native Plants to Attract Birds."



Suet Recipes: Includes Debbie Hurlbert's handout for the Apple Valley Garden Club's "Christmas is for the BIRDS!!!" workshop in December--and a recipe and tips from Audrey Spearman.

Photo Gallery:  A sampling of slides of  Native American artifacts presented by Bob Converse at the January meeting of the local ASO chapter.