PSSH! SOME BIRDS ARE IN THE AREA

"Who Dat" - (Marsh Wren) Photo courtesy Sharon Milligan

Photo taken at Seaman Rd Lagoons. This Saturday (9/10/2016) there will be a field trip to this facility.

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While we are waiting out the current slump in migrant bird activity, it seems appropriate to prepare for what we hope will be better pickin's in late September by boning up on some tricky dicky-birding.

There are some widely used methods of attracting small land birds to within binocular range, and they work. When one is lusting for an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with a Magnolia Warbler, each is worth a try.

The first method is what birders call "psshing" - a series of sounds made with the lips which approximate, very loosely, the alarm notes of some small birds when danger, such as a snake, owl, or other predator threatens.

Psshing is not an inherited talent: it is easy to learn. You could practice in your own backyard. Remove all traces of cheese and crackers from your mouth. Take in a deep breath, purse your lips, curl your tongue (lengthwise), and force the air out while opening and closing your pursed lips. Repeat as needed.

Psshing is an effective method of calling up a bird or two, but it does have its drawbacks. In a few years you may be pondering the origin of wrinkles between your nose and upper lip. They are Pssh lines, for which there is no cure. Psshing is also exhausting; it can result in oxygen deprivation if done for more than thirty seconds at a gasp. Then, there is always the possibility that you will be discovered at this unconventional activity and have to move to a place where nobody knows your name.

Some birders kiss the back of their hand repeatedly, smacking loudly each time. This modus operandi may seem more genteel and less fraught with risk than psshing, but it can be especially distasteful if one has recently doused herself with mosquito repellant.

Other sounds which sometimes attract birds may be reproduced mechanically and have been in use for ages, as in the duck calls used by hunters. A variation on that theme is a gadget patented as the Audubon Bird Call - a wood cylinder with a loosely attached metal plug. Your first attempts with it may produce a sound like chalk drawn against the grain of a blackboard, and literally clear the area, but, with practice, you will soon learn to work the metal plug with just the right pressure, and get notes remarkably attractive to sparrows and wrens and other small birds.

In my opinion, of all the ruses which we use to get the birds closer to us, none is as successful as the taped call of a screech-owl.  (Judy mentioned a tape recorder here, but now these are easily accessed on bird watching Apps). When played for a minute or two at some likely spot, "Screech" often brings in a number of small birds - woodpeckers, flycatchers, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, creepers, wrens, kinglets, gnatcatchers, thrushes, vireos, warblers, tanagers, sparrows, orioles and finches.

Each little militia that comes to investigate may be composed of several of these woodland/thicket birds, and they are especially responsive in fall or winter.

Use of recorded calls (a bird's own, or those of a predator) should NOT BE USED DURING THE BREEDING SEASON, or for prolonged periods during other seasons.

As for psshing... you're on your own!


MISSISSIPPI COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY FIELD TRIP

September 10, 2016: Seaman Road Lagoons, Jackson County

Leaders:  Sharon Milligan (2sharon123@gmail.com, 228-861-1622) and others

One of our richest and most popular birding sites, normally only by restricted access, so now’s your chance! IMPORTANT: This is a working facility. You MUST stay with leaders while on site. Call Sharon (above) if you have questions about policy. 

Place and Time: Meet at the park and ride at 7:30 AM I-10 exit 50 (Ocean Springs). (As soon as you exit the interstate going south, park and ride will be on the right.)