A Busy Day in the Yard

This afternoon alternated between heavy showers and golden sunshine, and the yard was as busy as ever. At least two dozen species (maybe three dozen) nest in our immediate neighborhood, and most of those make regular visits to our bird feeders. I sat on the back porch and watched the show! Hardly a pause in the activity ... a captivating way to spend an afternoon.

Here is just a sample ...

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - immature male

Mourning Dove

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Evening Grosbeak

Northern Cardinal

Purple Finch

 

American Goldfinch

Gray Catbird

White-breasted Nuthatch waits its turn - Evening Grosbeak (female)

It is a BIRD Feeder!! What do you not understand about BIRD FEEDER?

Good Birding !!

Spring Migration - Arrivals

Southeastern Vermont Audubon has done 2 walks along the old railroad bed at the Hinsdale Setbacks, listing species, and hoping to establish a baseline for future years.

Yellow-rumped Warblers have been the most numerous warbler to date, followed by Palm Warbler, and those are the only 2 which have provided photo ops.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Palm Warbler

On some occasions at the setbacks, Tree Swallows are been rife ...

Tree Swallows

After today's walk, I did my favorite type of birding - sitting on the back porch and watching the action around the yard. The new arrival today was the Rose-breasted Grosbeak ... at least 3 males. Girls haven't arrived yet.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

The Evening Grosbeaks are back in numbers (yet to figure out how many pairs). They are using the maple just off the porch to do their courtship (when they aren't emptying the feeders of sunflower seeds). The boys are displaying their fine grosbeak genes ...

Evening Grosbeak displaying

Evening Grosbeak displaying

 Finches have also been abundant, including Pine Siskins ...

Purple Finch

Finch Feeder - Purple Finch (female), Pine Siskins, American Goldfinch

I don't want to neglect the year-round residents who endured the tough winter, and are now singing the hearts out. Black-capped Chickadee is just one ...

Black-capped Chickadee

And to add the downside to all of this, there have been plenty of Brown-headed Cowbirds ...

Brown-headed Cowbird

Good Birding !! ... and more to come

More from Cape May

Cape May is known as a premier spot for Fall hawk migration. The viewing platform was crowded with observers. The great thing was, one did not have to visit the platform for many and regular hawk sightings, as for example ...

Cooper's Hawk

Sharp-shinned Hawk

A few more photographic samples of the day ...

American Goldfinch

American Coot

Double-crested Cormorant

Herring Gill

Boat-tailed Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

There were also butterflies flying - monarch, sulphurs, whites, Red Admiral, but only the Common Buckeye paused ...

Common Buckeye

Good Birding!

Evening Grosbeak - 2nd brood ?

The literature on the Evening Grosbeak is of mixed or uncertain opinion as to whether they raise more than one brood during a breeding season.

I had my first fledgling being fed on June 9. The peak of the fledglings was late June to mid-July. The young were still apparent after mid-July, but feeding on their own.

Then on August 6, this youngster appeared in the yard, with a clearly perplexed attitude. It pecked around on the platform feeder, then with a slight wing flutter, was fed by its mother ...

Evening Grosbeak - fledgling

Fledgling in foreground - "Is there something here that mom is eating?"

"Yea, mom! Thanks!"

It is strictly circumstantial, but the late timing of this fledgling suggests that it is from a second brood.

... And ... the sunflower feeders continue to enjoy the real thing. Juvenile American Goldfinches are hard to ID, but it looked like an adult male was "keeping watch" or "standing guard" while a juvenile fed ...

American Goldfinch on sunflower

Good Birding!!

Sunflower Feeder

Sunflower seeds are scattered from the bird feeders. Some manage to germinate. This summer a few of these freelancers have prospered adding sunny color to the garden and a new source of food for birds.

When I first saw the American Goldfinch feeding on the sunflower, this sunflower still had most of its petals. The yellow goldfinch was almost "invisible" on the yellow sunflower. Even now, nearby blossoms provide a camouflage background.

Good birding!!

The Hot Days of July

The lazy, hazy summer days of July bring plenty of entertainment as fledglings are fed and juveniles begin to figure out what life requires without mom and dad catering their needs.

Among the many juveniles in the last week is the Tufted Titmouse ...

Tufted Titmouse - juveniles

 American Goldfinch young do not have signs quite as obvious as other birds that identify the young (e.g. the pink at the base of the bill). But there has been lots of "chasing" going on, as young follow adults. This young bird did some wing fluttering and generally appeared a bit perplexed about everything ...

American Goldfinch - juvenile

Even young Blue Jays have an attitude that seems to say, "Well, I can figure this out!" - as did this young jay who studied the suet feeder from the nearby dogwood ...

Blue Jay - juvenile

... and then took a lesson from the topsy-turvy nuthatches to feed on the suet ...

Young Blue Jay feeds in nuthatch fashion

Evening Grosbeak families have had a very successful season and the young birds often outnumber the adults at the feeders. This youngster was even chasing off adult birds from his perch ...

Evening Grosbeak - juvenile

The bee-balm is in full bloom (early it seems), but no complaint from the many young Ruby-throated Hummingbirds working the flower beds ...

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

... the complaints come from the resident male Ruby-throat, who simply cannot keep up with all of the intruders on his exclusive domain. After several territorial flights to chase off these upstarts, he took this breather. He seemed to express his displeasure at the invaders - and the photographer - by sticking his tongue out ...

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

A bonus to the summer bird seeding is the sunflower seeds that have been scattered on the ground - a few have managed to sprout and thrive, providing bright spots of sunshine in unexpected places ...

Add caption

More Spring !!

I continue to be delighted that Evening Grosbeaks have returned to the vicinity after disappearing in the aftermath of last year's hurricane and flooding. At least two pair seem to be courting and hopefully will nest nearby.

Evening Grosbeak - male

Evening Grosbeak - female (background: Red-winged Blackbird female)

This has been an abundant year for American Goldfinches. Their cousins, the Pine Siskins, have also been common at the feeders, sometimes as many as a dozen or more ...

American Goldfinch

Pine Siskin

Chipping Sparrows returned two weeks ago. A few morning I have heard their vocal dueling through the bedroom window as early as 5 am.

Chipping Sparrow

The White-throated Sparrow in the bird bath is one of those "just because I like it" photos ...

White-throated Sparrow - white morph

With the females returning, the Red-winged Blackbirds are no longer hiding their epaulets, but are "singing," displaying, and chasing rivals with vigor ...

Red-winged Blackbird

... and finally, for the last month I have been trying to get photos of the Tree Swallow in flight, with several hundred failures. Then a few days ago, I had several credible successes. Here is one ...

Tree Swallow

Good Birding!!