Featured
FeederWatcher:
Dorothy Schroeder
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As the 18th
FeederWatch season approached last fall, staffers
at the Lab of Ornithology realized that a major milestone
was rapidly approaching--the one millionth FeederWatch
checklist would be submitted during the 2004-2005
season! We slowly watched the numbers of checklists
climb towards 1,000,000 when, on January 10, 2005,
Dorothy Schroeder of Mooers, New York, submitted the
magic checklist.
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| Dorothy
describes herself as someone who has always been interested
in wildlife, but she does not consider herself a true
birder. She has been feeding birds at her current
residence for more than 15 years, but just recently
joined Project FeederWatch.
Dorothy
and her husband, John, lived in Westchester County
in New York until they decided to “retire north.”
That is when they moved to their current home in northern
New York state near the Canadian border. Dorothy is
a retired nurse whose last job was teaching nursing
at Westchester Community College. She now trains her
two Labrador retrievers for pet therapy and obedience,
agility, and tracking competitions.
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FeederWatching
Dorothy
watches her feeders through her kitchen window while
eating, doing dishes, or just passing by. She sees
a consistent mix of feeder birds including chickadees,
nuthatches, and woodpeckers. She especially enjoys
a group of turkeys that occasionally visits.
Since
starting FeederWatch, Dorothy has noticed more about
the birds at her feeders. For example, one week she
noticed that her group of little brown birds had changed
from American Tree Sparrows to Common Redpolls, a
change she may not have noticed if she were not FeederWatching.
Dorothy's 2004-2005 counts
As
can be seen by a summary of her FeederWatch counts
through mid-January (below), Dorothy observes a typical
mix of feeder birds for her area. FeederWatch relies
upon participants who consistently report these common
feeder species.
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Dorothy's feeders
Dorothy
maintains two hanging feeders, one filled with sunflower
seeds and the other with a seed mix. A platform
feeder is covered with cracked corn for the squirrels,
jays, and doves. She provides seed at a weight sensitive
“squirrel-proof” feeder, which one of
her squirrels has figured out how to use by only
putting one foot on the lever. Dorothy also provides
suet for the woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees.
A brook runs behind the feeders that is surrounded
by a mix of trees, which provides cover for the
birds.
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Celebrating 1,000,000!
For
helping FeederWatch reach the one-millionth checklist
milestone, Dorothy won a prize package that included
a pair of Swift binoculars donated by Wild Bird Centers
of America, a bird feeder donated by Wild Birds Unlimited,
a lifetime of free participation in Project FeederWatch,
the Birds at Your Feeder book (based on FeederWatch
data), and a free Lab of Ornithology membership. Congratulations,
Dorothy, and thank you for submitting checklist 1,000,000!
Thank
you to all of the FeederWatchers who helped us reach
this milestone, and continue to help us climb towards
checklist 2,000,000. |
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