First Redwing Blackbird Sighting

I saw the first redwing blackbirds of the season yesterday. Spring is not so far off! Here's a nice website that allows people to post such sightings: Journey North.

Birds Checking Out Nest Boxes

Every year I've been building some nesting boxes and putting them around our property. We're just starting to exit the winter of 2018-19 and have had a few stretches of warm days. The local bird population seems to be shifting from their winter habits into spring habits. The bird feeders, for example, aren't getting emptied out every day. Also, I notice the birds are starting to check out the nesting boxes.

Unfortunately, I've been slow to build a batch of bird houses for this year. I want to build some bluebird boxes (which often get used by sparrows) and also some platforms for swallows. Last year some barn swallows were scouting our property for a house, but didn't settle in.

It's probably not too late to get some new houses out there, but I better get out in the shop this weekend and at least get started. Here's a nice reference for bird house specifications.

Ducks in Cold Weather

refilling the pond after February warm up

Our 4 ducks (3 call ducks and 1 khaki campbell) made it through the hardest part of the winter (so far) of 2018-2019. They have a nice coop that's insulated and is heated with a 1500 watt space heater that was able to maintain the indoor temperature in the 60s when it was -5F outside overnight with the doors closed. During the day with the door open, it was able to keep their water from freezing.

Prior to the winter, the ducks didn't spend a lot of time in their coop even in crappy weather like rain and sleet. During the coldest days, though, they finally figured out the coop is a refuge and enjoyed the straw bedding.

It seems like the ducks easily tolerate temperatures above 20F, and start to get annoyed at temperatures below 20F, and generally dislike single digit temperatures. They like to go outside, though, even in brutal cold, at least for a while. They dislike snow, though. Once it starts snowing, they'll generally go inside. On the coldest days they avoided the pond, but if the temperatures were 10F or above they'd go into the water.

We put straw down on top of the snow on the brutal cold days. Typically the ducks would stand or sit on straw on the coldest days.