More About Birds

goldfinch & chickadee

American gold finches are beginning to turn a brighter shade of yellow, donning their summer colors.

I love the way they often hang upside down to eat the seeds from the niger feeder.

We’ve had one faithful little nuthatch at the feeders all winter.

I wonder if it will find a mate now that spring is here. I like to watch it scoot up and down the tree trunk, upside down as often as right side up.

Tiny bold Chickadees sometimes land right beside me while I’m filling the feeders. I wonder if they’re being friendly or just impatient.

Little juncos, with their gray suits and white vests are another regular visitor.

Sparrows will begin nesting in our eaves soon, if they haven’t already. I save the lint from the clothes dryer and throw it out on the lawn for the birds to use as nesting material.

Dainty mourning doves feed on the tray or the ground and sit on the electric wires or in the trees, softly cooing their mournful sound.
Brightly colored blue jays squawk noisily from the maple tree and boss each other around at the tray feeder.

Occasionally we are treated to the sight of a beautiful red cardinal (or two) and its mate. They visit from the hedgerow across the road where there are some lovely big trees for them to nest in. One morning a couple of weeks ago a small flock of house finches, showing off their pretty purple breasts, stopped by for a feed.
True harbingers of spring, flocks of red-winged black birds began coming to the feeders about 3 weeks ago.

Close behind them came the grackles with their iridescent jackets. I’ve noticed a few cowbirds lately too. We can’t forget the annoying starlings of course, which usually show up in great numbers and eat everything in sight.
I saw my first robin on Friday, March 24th. I hope they nest in our maple tree again like they did last year. It was such fun to watch them raise their babies and see the babies fledge.

A pair of woodpeckers raised three babies too.

They nest in the Oz trees (developed in Australia, they are a cross between willow and poplar….they grow fast!) we have planted as a wind break on the north side of the house.

My hubby made a feeder that holds pieces of orange or apple, which we hope will attract bright orange and black Baltimore orioles to our yard.

I’m going to try putting out a saucer of grape jelly too. Last year we had a pair nesting in the hedgerow across the road. We would often watch through binoculars as they fearlessly chased the bigger birds (crows and hawks) away from their nest, scolding loudly enough to be heard over here.


And!......(drum roll)......The tiniest and most entertaining of all…..The long-awaited, dear little ruby-throated hummingbirds will be back in our area in May. They are such fun to watch. I can’t wait to see them again!