Bird butt

From August. 

Morning at the Beach

This was from September, well into what seemed to be an early fall. It was cool that day and the seagulls congregated on this rock to squawk and poop together. 

Quiet times

We haven't had much bird activity at our new house, and it's been very disappointing. Coming from a neighborhood with such diversity to one where we haven't even had to refill the feeders all summer, it makes me sad, like there's something sweet missing in my life. 

We had some migratory ground feeders in late summer/early fall. They didn't come to the feeder but flitted among all the trees in our yard. We had warblers and redstarts in with this group. They were difficult to photograph.

I did see a hawk one day. Next year I will go to Hawk's Ridge to watch for them. 

I think I have a few bird photos from the summer, mostly seagulls. We're going to vamp up our bird feeding operation this winter/spring. Until then, here's my new sweater:

Redstart

I came out from putting the baby to bed and Rob said, "We had a visitor," and urged me to look at the photo he sent to my phone. I went outside to check and he was still there. He must have smacked the door and was a little dazed.

American Redstart, probably a young male.

Loon on the Lake

Can you spy the loon? 

Or is it a merganser duck? It's too far away to tell for sure but it looked like a loon.

Our new adventure!

I had to say goodbye to my backyard birds this week and in a few days I will meet the ones who live in my new backyard. Here's a seagull; something we'll be seeing a lot of now!

Zoo Goose family

These geese live at the Zoo near the farm and are so used to people they didn't even try to move as we and our excited children came within feet of their young. I wonder if this watchful parent is one of the babies we saw this other time we were visiting the zoo farm.

Sky Blue Sky

I just love the avian diversity in my neighborhood. This bald eagle was flying right over our house! 

Rare sighting of red-tailed hawks

A pair of red-tailed hawks were soaring over the yard this afternoon, riding the breeze. One took a rest in the neighbor's tree. In a word, impressive. After they left and had been gone a few minutes, the flock of cedar waxwings flew out from their hiding spot to their favorite crab apple tree.

A Christmas for All Creatures Great and Small

The birds weren't the only ones who appreciated what I got for Christmas this year. All creatures are welcome at my feeders. I had bunnies and squirrels (even a mouse) climbing the entire ascent of the deck steps to enjoy what we put out for the birds.

A wreath decorated with suet balls. Unfortunately the dog helped herself to these goodies.

Homemade bird seed cakes in fun cut-outs. Chickadees and downy woodpeckers love hanging from these, but it was the squirrels who would steal them off the hanger. 

Snowman feeder. I didn't have enough sunflower seeds to fill him all the way but I put him out anyway and the squirrels found him.  

Catching up a little

It's been a busy fall/winter so I haven't been updating this blog as much as I would like.

This photo is from after Christmas. A Cooper's Hawk, chasing all my little birds away.

After the Storm

The robins found the heated birdbath. 

Mid-winter break

How many cedar waxwings are flocked in these trees?

Backyard Oasis

As we enjoy the last few weeks of summer on our new patio and still-new deck, we've also made a pretty nice place for my birds to hang out by finally putting up the bird bath on the deck right above a hanging feeder placed on the edge of the yard. 

So far it's been just the usual: sparrows, finches, chickadees, and occasionally a cardinal. The chipping sparrow below was feeding its biological baby (not a cowbird baby like the other family I saw a few weeks ago).

Chipping Sparrow (there's a baby hiding in the shadows somewhere behind her) 

Double Hawk Day

This morning, a Cooper's Hawk...

In the evening, the Common Nighthawk...

A speckled egg

Found on the grass near some pine trees at the YMCA. Cardinal? Cowbird? Not sure who it might belong to.

Mama chipping sparrow and cowbird baby

I was surprised to see this cowbird baby and its chipping sparrow mama since I had seen very few cowbirds this spring and summer. In years past I've seen cowbirds raised by other sparrow varieties, and even cardinals. But these two are so off in size, it's comical. 

Robin's nest

This is the robin nest from under our deck. I took it down after the second brood successfully fledged and the family moved out into the wild. 

Catbird

Catbirds are so secretive that this was the first year I've been able to get a decent picture of them. Earlier in the spring they were nesting in the neighbor's shrub, but now it appears they've moved on to a nearby pine tree. They spent the majority of the day clucking and mewing their warnings at me and our nesting robins, often with a mouthful of food.

The upside of having weeds...

We have a full-on thistle farm waiting to be destroyed by the landscaper later this month. In the meantime the weeds are an eyesore and I'm totally embarrassed by them.

But, I found the silver lining! They feed the goldfinches! 

Just today we had at least two females and one male fighting over their turn at the lavender bristles.