Backyard birds

Snowy Straggler

The other morning, through the falling snow I noticed a bird different from the normal crew of chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers etc. Getting out the binoculars, I was surprised to see this male Red-winged Blackbird pecking away at the suet. I haven’t seen one for weeks so this guy either missed the departure announcement or was passing through from up north.

After a half hour of feeding he departed, hopefully southward. It will be four months or so until we first hear that “conk-la ree” that tells us that Spring in fact is about here.

Siskins – here and gone

Pine Siskins often arrive like shoppers on Black Friday morning (pre-Covid), chattering, jostling, always moving toward a better deal. I see them first in the recently-bare trees in the backyard.

Their twitters and wheezes are very noticeable.

They are an exceptionally streaky, small-billed finch.

They flock to the feeder and especially the ground beneath it where finches and others have left sunflower seed parts.

Twenty-two of a flock of probably fifty.

It’s chaos around the feeder, especially when you have the ISO set too low!

After several hours of frenzy, they were off, leaving the finches to carry on with relative politeness.

“Better load up on seed, they’ll be back.”

We are fortunate to get a nice variety of birds to our small backyard where we have some feeders, lots of brush, and the river. Here are a few visitors from the last two weeks.

A cool White-throated Sparrow in the garden. Note the band, probably from NBNC, on the left leg.

Another sparrow, might be an adult White-crowned Sparrow.

Some of our daily visitors, wanted or not, are Rock Doves – better known as pigeons.

Another persistent visitor, who is a voracious feeder, is the Blue Jay.

A few Hermit Thrushes are still hanging around.

American Goldfinches will be here through the winter.

We have noticed an increase in the need for the expensive sunflower hearts and discovered one significant reason.

House Wrens Fledged Yesterday

We have enjoyed the energy and singing of our House Wrens and wondered about their offspring, which they been feeding pretty continually the last week or two. It was only yesterday when I saw faces at the bird house entrance and I spent some time quietly watching them yesterday afternoon.

The youngsters were waiting, noisily, for lunch.

I saw one of the parents gathering a snack for them.

It was pretty noisy when food arrived. There were three fledglings.

They leaned out more each time food arrived and I saw some tentative moves toward leaving.

I left them alone and I think they left in shortly afterward. Last evening, I could hear the adults and some begging sounds but the fledglings were buried in the thick foliage. This morning, I saw this proud parent on the woodpile.

Cedar Waxwings

This Spring we have many birds nesting right here in our backyard. House Wrens are on their second batch while we know there are other nesters like Song Sparrows, Common Yellowthroats, woodpeckers, and Grey Catbirds. Yesterday, we added Cedar Waxing to the list.

I’ve yet to find nests but hear a lot of feeding activity — the thick brambles and foliage are perfect for them. I’d just as soon just leave them alone and wait for the youngsters.

Neighborhood Geese

For several weeks, we have enjoyed seeing a pair of Canada Geese rear a young family on the river right out back. We seen them teaching the goslings to bathe themselves and get started on learning to fly. Some days they are right out back, other times they are up to a half-mile upriver. The youngster count has stayed at six for several weeks. Here they are on an outing yesterday:

Wrens

Last week I came across several singing Winter Wrens on a nearby preserve and grabbed this shot of one, in spite of the dog tugging at the leash.

Yesterday, several House Wrens showed up in our back yard and seemed to be interested in our one bird house.

They’ve been checking things out and bringing in some nesting material — we’ll see.

Here are some more shots — it’s wonderful to hear their singing and chattering.

We’ve had a nice variety of new visitors in our back yard this week including a Ruby-throated Hummer, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Gray Catbird, Black & White Warbler, and a Spotted Sandpiper. Still waiting for the Great Blue Heron.

Some Backyard Birds

We are fortunate, in this time of limited contact, to have a lot of birds that we can see from the house or on a short jaunt to the river. Here are a few from the weekend.

This female mallard is half of a pair hanging out right out back

Song Sparrows are very vocal every morning.

American Crows picking through the dropped bird seed.

One of the dozens of American Goldfinches we have had all winter – still in winter plumage.

Downy Woodpecker – another ongoing visitor.

Red-breasted Nuthatches rarely stay still for a photo.

Hanging Around

Early this morning, while walking Ginger, I heard the distinctive chatter of a Belted Kingfisher. The river, which has been frozen over, had opened up after the recent rains but I expected this guy to be in some place warmer. Mid-day, I heard him and was able to get a couple of photos, with the help of a puppy tugging at her leash. We have some real cold weather ahead this week – hope he’s catching a northerly wind and getting out of here.