Did I mention everything is green now? The bird blog
It seems like it takes about four days from the first little maple leaf unfurling to the greening of the countryside. It is mind boggling how quickly it happens. After driving by bare trees for months, damn, it seems longer, it finally is green! It’s a blow to the senses in many ways. So much is happening, the return of the snow birds (migrants, lucky birds!) the first hummingbird, the first oriole, the first swallow…and on and on. The air is thick with song, absolutely joyful!
It’s hard to believe it was snowing five weeks ago, yes, snowing. We could still get a freeze, or a flurry, right until the end of May…Winter is lurking! NO! Nests! Everywhere, the blue eggs of Robins, small squawking blue jays, they are already the size of their parents, they a head start though!
Some birds have become very quiet, other not so. The Orioles in particular are quite loud and bossy. Trilling at me if I’m sitting too close to the feeder. We have a whole gang of them, perhaps last years babies are back as well!
The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are always a delight to see. We have three males vying for one lady it seems. Their song is so sweet! You can listen on All About Birds here! Beautiful music! And that colour! The Mrs. is so many shades of delightful brown and cream but the boys are the lookers! They are fun to watch, they bicker a bit but not to the extent that many males do. It’s have a seed at the feeder, and share!
The there is the slew of LBB’s, little brown birds! I do love the return of the Chipping Sparrow, I used to call they chirping sparrows, get your glasses on Pamela! The combination of grays and browns is so striking! We’d get these guys in Baja only in the Winter!
…and how do they go from eggs to babies to flying so fast? These robin eggs were on top of an old electrical box at Jennifer’s barn less than three weeks ago….and now this! They are flying, oddly, upside down and backwards, but doing their best to both impress, and distress mother!
Mother Nature works quickly in the Spring it seems! The woodpeckers have become very quiet…except…for the rather impressive pummeling on the wood siding by a very handsome Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker, sometimes he drums on the steel roof as well, what is he, a Calypso steel drum player? They are enjoying the maple sap, they have a little line of holes drilled that the butterflies feed at as well! There has sadly been no sign of the Red Bellied Woodpecker, maybe they took advantage of the hot real estate market and moved away! The Downys and Hairys are bickering with each other, guess it’s time the kids moved out, maybe the nest hole needs remodeling, I dunno! Ha!
The rest of the supporting cast are busy. The American Goldfinches are in breeding colours, the Chickadees are regulars as well at the feeder, not quite as busy as in the Winter but there is so much more to eat now, start with the mosquitos please! Never seen them so bad as this Spring.
The goons are nearly gone, yes, The Common Grackles, Count Gracula and his flock of greedy seed eating relatives. My seed bill has gone down by half now! There are a few Red Winged Blackbirds about, I do love the ladies so, those tones of brown and black are stunning! Most of the boys are off in the swamp singing their hearts out but a few stop by to visit.
No sign yet of the resident Bald Eagle, I may have to paddle down the lake and explore their haunts there, as well as the Osprey nest. The Osprey is a regular at sunset. The Eastern Kingbird pair chased him away yesterday, ballsy little birds!
I can hear the Barred Owls hooting away to each other and the Whippoorwills are back as well, such beautiful evening serenades! One day I’ll get a shot of those owls! It has been quiet predator bird wise, a few cries from a Red Tailed Hawk last week but I think everyone is busy nesting!
A few new guys have shown up, or maybe I have just not noticed them before! I listen for the different songs and wonder, who was that? A fabulous Yellow Warbler caught my eye out the window the other day, and I was sitting, forever, waiting for the Kingbirds to return to a nest they are building on an overhanging cedar at the lakeshore and a Red Eyed Vireo sat on a branch right beside, almost too close to get a shot! What a beautiful bird! The Eastern phoebes are on bug patrol…they are my friends! Get those damn mosquitos!
…and then there are the beautiful Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. These little flying wonders are what sparked my interest in photography many years ago in Baja. Although we only have the one variety here, they are gorgeous when the light is just right! I’ve called the resident male Dirty Harry, he’s always giving me the look…like…piss off lady and quit moving the feeders around! He has reason, I did move the feeder to beside the lilac and it worked, he took a look, and also beside the new hanging basket…ha! Got you you little rascal…and this is the look I get! Even though I keep those feeders fresh and filled!
I’m still working on getting a shot of the Mrs. She is about but busy I am sure building her nest. They are single working mothers, the boys do their fun business then buzz off to protect their territory, the hell with raising kids! There are several boys about, one is definitely quite a bit smaller than Dirty Harry. I’ll keep that camera pointed on those sunny mornings, nothing like coffee and hummingbirds to start your day. I’ll leave you here, there are still wildflowers and dragonflies and lake mists, eclipses, thunderstorms and, well…much more! Also, very weird mushrooms, still looking for morels! Ha! and Samoa, Fiji and the Cook and Tongas. I’m busy writing about those childhood adventures as well but too much sitting makes Pamela crabby!
Saludos amigos!
