Category Archives: rosebreasted grosbeak

The Summer of ’24

butterfly, flowers, gardening, Goldfinch, goldfinches, Hummingbird, morning glory flower, Nature, New England, rosebreasted grosbeak, summer, sunflower, Tiger Swallowtail, , , , , , , , ,
Well, you might not know it from this week’s temperature, but summer should be moving into autumn now that it’s September.  So, perhaps my late developing pumpkins and veggies may come to full bloom after all.  Earlier in the season, we did dine deliciously a couple of times on our own eggplants.  And there are more growing! We also have had a few meals flavored by our home grown peppers.  Here’s a shot of one harvest.  Don’t you just love the deliciously spicy and fresh smell when you slice open a  garden pepper?

We haven’t had such good luck with our tomatoes and pumpkins this year – although  we did get a few fresh tomatoes for Yang to add to his omelettes and stir fries.  The beans are just now coming into form.  We had one serving earlier, and we’re planing on harvesting some of these beauties soon.

 

I’m also hoping that though these pumpkin and gourd embryos are late comers, they may still grow and ripen with the hot autumn we’ve been having.

 

We didn’t have the best of luck with our sunflowers, as some form of insect (we think beetles) brutalized the plants grown from seeds planted directly into the garden.  However, after a daily spraying of tabasco sauce in water to drive off the insects, most of the sunflowers recovered.  Some even grew  up to full height and even better than the ones we’d protected by growing them as seedlings in cups before planting.

 

 

The Morning Glories had been growing full throttle, vines creeping up the trellis, until chipmunks tunneled out of the wood retaining wall on which the flower’s boxes were located and munched them silly.  It’s a jungle out there! Again, tabasco spritzing did its job and some managed to recover and grow.  I especially like the orchid colored ones.

Did you notice the  two-toned orchid and purple one?  Those hybrids pop up every year.  If you look at the seeds, they are even half black (purple flower) and half cream-colored (orchid flower).  I save the seeds every year and replant, so I sometimes even get pink instead of orchid.  I guess that’s the orchid and magenta hybrid.

 

We’ve had interesting fauna as well as flora this year.  First, let me introduce you to Bunzie.  A very young and small rabbit showed up at the beginning of the summer.  He has since grown!  Best of all, he seems to  eat only clover and grass – well he did devour much of a dying petunia.  However, that petunia regrouped and has a lovely deep pink flower now.  So, I guess he was just dead heading for me.  He’s actually not too afraid of Yang and me, but we don’t bother him, either.  One night, he triggered the motion-detector light outside the sun porch and we got to watch him dash hither and yon while two skunks patiently waddled about that stretch of yard looking for grubs.

I only saw one Monarch Butterfly this year, yesterday.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera with me – and I scared Bunzie when I rushed over to the butterfly bush to see it.  We have had at least two regular visitors to the butterfly bushes, these Tiger Swallowtails.  I love how you can see the same yellow and black patterns on the insect’s body that you can see on his wings.  I was so surprised that these guys let me get close enough to watch and take these pictures.  They also love to dine on the nectar of flox and Rose of Sharon flowers.

Another critter who loves butterfly bushes, flox, and Rose of Sharon would be the Hummingbird – or birds.  We had at least two, though usually only one showed up at a time.  When there were two, feathers flew, so to speak.  Yang got some great shots.  It’s fun to watch him , the bird not Yang, come in for a landing, wings a-whirl!  I’m sure that you can understand why the pictures are a little blurry!  Once he/she landed, the little guy enjoyed our nectar – as well as taking sips from all the flowers.

Sometimes, he just liked to sit majestically atop the feeder and survey his domain.  Other times he enjoyed parking his tuffett on the structure on which the Morning Glories grew – he thought they were tasty, too.  If you’re wondering what that contraption is atop the feeder, it’s a moat that Yang created to keep ants from climbing down into the feeder.  Yang saw some designs for sale on line, figured he could make one for much cheaper – and did it!

Sometimes the Hummer just stared at our window with a “Who you lookin’ at?” attitude.

Of course, we also had some of the other usual suspects this summer.  The Goldfinches pretty much dominated the two globe feeders, though the Redbellied Woodpecker wasn’t above shooting his long tongue through the bars to steal some sunflower hearts.

The Rosebreasted Grosbeaks were back as well.  I saw as many as three males at once one time!  I also saw the females and some juvenile males as well.  Unfortunately, though we kept putting out oranges, we only saw an Oriole here twice.  My neighbor said he saw the Oriole quite a bit, though on the feeder.

 

 

One visitor to the feeders who was rather unique for the summer was this chap.

Now how often do you see a Slate Colored Junco in new England in the middle of July?  He stayed around well into August, then I haven’t seen him since.  Someone got his GPS all fowled (ahem) up!  Now, will he be back this autumn?  Stay tuned!

Adieu, Summer, Adieu

birds, frog, gardens, Goldfinch, goldfinches, Nature, New England, Red bellied Woodpecker, Redbellied Woodpecker, rosebreasted grosbeak, summer, wood peckers, , , , , , , , , ,
I had planned to do this farewell -to- summer blog much earlier, but since the heat and humidity of the first couple of weeks of September seemed to embody summer hanging on by the claws, I figured I’d better wait.  So, now that crisp fall breezes, pellucid blue skies, and incipient flares of leaf color are taking over, I guess it’s time.

June started us off nicely.  I filled our window boxes and other planters with bright colors that “flowered,” if you will, abundantly.

 

The mound beside the fish pond had gorgeous Irises and Marigolds, beautifully complementing blue with light orange.

 

 

 

 

We had some nice fancy Irises in the front yard, as well.  Interestingly, we did not have as many blooms as usual.  Perhaps the May frost nipped a few?

 

 

 

 

 

The sea-rose bushes in the back yard climbing up the slope had tons of gorgeous pink blossoms.  Here’s a shy little bee hiding among the petals.

 

 

 

July was fun for beasts, birds, and flower.  One morning when I went to rinse out the cat-food cans before putting them in the recyclables, I found this fellow chilling in a bucket that had filled with water.  For a few days, this was his private pool, with the high grass surrounding making up his stomping, rather, hopping grounds.  Yang was careful not to mow around where the frog hung out.

 

 

Yang put up a new bird feeder that is sheltered by a globe cage.  The little birds loved it!  Here you can see the Goldfinches mobbing the feeder.  I think that sparrow must have worn a yellow feather to sneak in.  Of course if you’re a larger bird and a Redbellied Woodpecker, you can still grab a snack.  If you click on the photo and look carefully, you can see our friend Red using his looong woodpecker’s tongue to grab some food.

 

A Rosebreasted Grosbeak was just able to sneak in there, himself – though he and the Orioles faded away unusually early, in later July.

 

The butterfly bush near the house attracted quite a crew.  Here, you can see one of the several Tiger Swallow Tails who daily dined on the shrub.  We also got some hummingbirds, Wolf Moths, and Bees dropping by for a nectar treat.

 

Usually, our rose from China only gives us one bloom, but this year it gave us two at the same time.  Neat, huh?

 

 

August brought us continued Goldfinch mobbing, and the flowers began to fade a bit.  We had lots of Morning Glories, which I forgot to photograph!  This year, we had orchid, magenta, purple, pink, blue, blue/white, and the white moon flowers.

 

I did remember to photograph the Ghost Pipes that sprang up!  I remembered we had them once before during a rainy summer years back. Consequently, I predicted we might see more this year.  Boy, was I right!  I’ve never had so many!

 

So, on to Autumn! 

Backyard Birdwatching Is the Best!

birds, cardinal bird, catbirds, chickadee, Goldfinch, goldfinches, Indigo Bunting, Redbellied Woodpecker, rosebreasted grosbeak, rosebrested grosbeak, spring, summer, , , , , , , , , ,
As you may have extrapolated from many of my posts, Yang and I are great bird watchers.  We’ve traveled all over the Northeast (and to Canada, China, England, and France in the past) to sight all kinds of befeathered critters.  My count for species this year is now a whopping 93!  However, I can’t help agreeing with him that we often see a greater numbers of birds and species on our bird feeders thnt we do on our trips to woods, fields, rivers, and oceans!  Maybe this blog will lead you to agree.

Many of our regular spring and summer visitors have made their appearances here.  I can report that I’ve seen one Hummingbird, lots of Goldfinches and House Finches, Red-winged Blackbirds (male and female), and Cardinals by the score.  Our Chickadees and Titmice have briefly been on haiatus, brooding their babes, but they are now back at work snagging black-oil sunflower seeds.  It’s also so much fun to see Mommy and Daddy (mostly Daddy) Cardinals bringing their kids to the feeders now that the little tykes can fly.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of these guys, but I do have quite a few of some of my other feathered favorites.

One of my favorite species are the Rosebreasted Grosbeaks.  Usually, we get the females first, then the males; however, it was the opposite this year.  We had at least one male, finally, on a feeder.  Then, tragedy struck:  we found him dead on the ground under a tree.  Yang and I were heartbroken.  These guys were like our pals.  Still, our hearts mended a bit two week later when we found another male chomping on sunflower seeds.  Then we saw a female.  Then we saw two males at the same time!  There could be up to thirty males on that feeder as long as they didn’t all show up together!  By the way, the males are quite aggressive.  They don’t take guff from each other and not from Grackles, Blue Jays, or Mourning Doves.  The females can be tough cookies as well.  Anyway, I’m glad they are back.  Below is a shot of the males in a more pacific mod. I guess they can stand each other when multiple  tubes of seeds separate them.

 

Another of our beloved colorful visitors is the Baltimore Oriole.  After long waiting, we saw one toward the end of May, then nothing!  Many an orange might have withered away if not for other birds. So, we almost gave up hope of seeing another Oriole – until in the middle of June Orioles reappeared!  We saw a male several days in a row, then a female for a couple of days, then a week later:  a juvenile.  It’s been a couple of weeks and – nothing!  Of course, who knows what shows up when Yang and I are away, but we haven’t seen any Orioles since.  I guess this was just a stopover on their way to their real summer grounds.  Well, at least we saw a few of them!  And the oranges did not go to waste.

We have discovered that Catbirds adore orange pulp!  When there’s no suet to be had (and even when there is!) our catbird couple come by to snack on the orange halves we have set out.  They must keep up their strength, since they have a nest with babies on our property.

Mr. Redbellied Woodpecker thinks the oranges are pretty cool stuff, too.  You can see him having a grand time chowing down on pulp.  Maybe the Orioles are afraid to go for the oranges with these guys around!

One idea that Yang came up with to thwart the squirrels from stealing food from the birds (and breaking our feeders) was to buy a tube feeder inside a globed cage.  It also had the advantage of preventing the big bully birds like Grackles, Doves, and Jays from keeping the little birds from food.  it works. Of course, medium size birds like the Rosebreasted Grosbeak and the female Redwinged Blackbirds can get in, without being bullies.  Tough luck male Red Wings!  Birds with long beaks also have a shot – like the Redbellied Woodpecker.  The House finches try to out-aggress the Goldfinches, but the latter either hold their own or just wait and dive in when the coast is clear.  Titmice and Chickadees are too fast for anyone to harass them!

 

 

 

So, you can see, we’ve seen a healthy variety of avian visitors right outside out windows.  Bring on the Scarlet Tanagers, the Pileated Woodpeckers, and the Indigo Buntings!  It wouldn’t be the first time one of them has shown up at chez Yang.

 

 

Feathered Critters of Summer at the Yangs’ Abode

birds, cardinal bird, catbirds, Nature, New England, rosebreasted grosbeak, summer, turkeys, Uncategorized, , , , , ,
DSCN5870I haven’t had a chance to do a lot of photography around the yard lately, since I’ve been so busy with writing and traveling.  However, we do have many neat critters to see.  We still have many interesting birds, for DSCN5877example, a turkey for several days, visiting around 5:00 in the afternoon.  Rosalind noticed the turkey first and tipped me off.  so, we got some nice shots of her.
DSCN5879The cardinals have been bringing their kids to visit.  I see plenty of Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, but I’m not sure how many adolescents they have because they are all olive colored with black beaks (The beak helps you distinguish kids from female adults). I only see one baby at a time, so I don’t know if it’s the same one repeatedly or different Cardinal kiddos every time.  Last year, the parents brought quite a few to the feeders, andDSCN5880 we had about six males and females in the winter and through the spring.  Then, we only seemed to have two adults.  My guess is the last generation of kids moved off to college or got a job and nest in a new territory.  What do you think, Cardinal experts?  Anyway, this kid is pretty aggressive.  He was on the feeder with a female Rosebreasted Grosbeak, who had scared every other birds off, including Mommy Cardinal.  Not this kid!  He kept pecking right back at her for some time.
DSCN5867Speaking of Grosbeaks, we have at least three males (whom I’ve seen all at the same time), but I’m not sure how many females.  I have noticed that I do see a pair show up frequently, though I usually see a male or two show up DSCN5886without the wife. Occasionally, I’ve seen a female without the hubby.  These two like to hang together on this particular feeder.  They also decided to check out the oranges we put out for the Orioles as well.
DSCN5885The catbirds used to come frequently in the beginning of the summer, then they disappeared, pretty much, for about a DSCN5979month.  However, now they are BACK.  And they are aggressively defending the suet, cocking up their black tails and showing off that red spot underneath.  I’m glad to see them-and hear them call my name, “Sharon! Sharon!”  There’s one outside my window right now!
I’ll have to do another bird blog, to show you more pictures of our other feathered visitors.

Backyard Birds 2

Baltimore Oriole, birds, Hummingbird, Indigo Bunting, massachusetts, Nature, New England, rosebreasted grosbeak, spring, summer, Worcester, , , , , , , , ,
Right after I did my last backyard bird posting, wouldn’t you know that Mr. and Mrs. Grosbeak made their return.  And they were ultimately joined by some exciting friends.  But enough about the friends later – first, let’s get to the Grosbeaks.
First, I saw the female and managed to get some nice shots of her.  I never noticed this on females before, so I’m not sure if this gal is unique, but you can see from these pictures that this gal has some lovely orange coloring, analogous to where her hubby has his rose breast – a broad splash, with a narrow taper. There may be another couple, because I believe that I have also seen a female this year without the orangey coloring. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled.  We’ve been having Rosebreasted couples visit us for more than five years.  At first, we had only females, then one year males joined in.  One year we had two males.  We may have more than one couple as it is, but I just haven’t seen all four at the same time.
Anyway, is it me or is this girl giving Yang a smile?

It’s fun to watch the male and female come and feed together.  They seem to prefer the single copper-topped feeder.  I usually hear one of them singing, then, there they are, having a meal out!  I love to hear them sing in the trees as well.  I can’t help wondering if they have any nests nearby.  I do know that the pair with the gal in the peach-colored breast feathers makes the round with some of my neighbors, as well.  According to the Cornell Ornithology site, both parents brood the children, with the Daddy often singing away in the nest.  Here’s a link for more information on these wonderful birds.  I also love to watch the males fly away, with the flash of black and white on their wings like a special optical effect.
I have also noted that these birds can be pretty aggressive.  No Grackles, Starlings, Mourning Doves, or Blue Jays better mess with them when they want to feed.   Who you Lookin’ at?
Another fairly aggressive beauty that I found on my feeder this year was the Baltimore Oriole.

Yes!  We do have Orioles this year! Usually, one or so will cruise through in May, take a look at our suet and seeds, then turn up his beak and take it on the wing.  This year, I got wise and noted how people placed their orange halves for Oriole delectation.  It worked!  I cut the oranges  across the equator, then impaled them on the trellis for our Morning Glories.  Now I can’t keep the Orioles away.  We have two adult males, one juvenile male (below), and two females, one orange and one yellow (yellow to the right).  And woe betide the Oriole who wants to join another Oriole at the juice bar, even if it’s a female with a male  or they can sip from different halves.  Orioles may have lovely calls to announce their coming, but their aggression chatter is NOT soothing.  We even had an Oriole/Grosbeak confrontation – Mr. Grosbeak won.  Still, if two Orioles can rarely feed together, the disappointed party will usually go to town on the suet. One time, Yang looked up to see a male Oriole perched on the window ledge and staring in  at him!
If all this weren’t exciting enough, on three separate days we had a hummingbird on the hummingbird feeder.  I couldn’t tell you if it’s the same one or not, but there have been repeat appearances.  Yang was even able to snap some photos, as you can see – well, you can see better if you click on the photo.  I normally don’t see these guys until July, but I’d been hearing on FB about all kinds of sightings. So I thought, maybe if there are no flowers around, the hummers would be more interested in my feeder.  Bingo!  It worked.
Now, for my final extraordinary sighting.  I’ve never had a clear look at one of these guys before.  I’ve always wanted to see one in all his glory.  It seemed as if everyone in Massachusetts was sighting these guys but me!  Then, yesterday, while we were watching the episode of Father Brown that I’d dvr’d, Yang said, “Wow!  What is this strange bird.  I’ve never seen this before.”  I hopped up, took a careful peek around the window curtain, and there it was in all his indigo  glory!  Yes!  My first full-color Indigo Bunting!  Well, I guess he hasn’t completely changed from his winter to his summer duds, but he is still something!
I don’t know if he’ll be back.  He wasn’t crazy about the oranges, he was skeptical of the suet, but the sunflower hearts did seem to grab his attention – though the Grackles kept getting in the way.  Let’s hope we see more of him!  Wow!  What a bird- watching season!

“I’m Ready for My Close-up, Mr. DeMille!”

birds, black cat, catbirds, cats, massachusetts, mischevious cats, Nature, New England, rabbit, rosebreasted grosbeak, spring, summer, wood peckers, , , , , , , ,

 

We’ve been seeing lots of beautiful birds as we move into June.  Many of the usual suspects are still showing up.  I managed to get some interesting close ups and Yang took some videos, so our birds are moving-picture stars!

One day when I was exercising in the parlor, I was lying on the floor, and when I cam up to window level, I saw the Rosebreasted Grosbeak up close.  So, I snuck off to get my camera and managed to take some wonderful close ups!  You’d swear he knew what was going on and decided to pose!  We’ve been so lucky to see one of the males almost every day.  We often see one male and one female together, while sometimes we also see a lone female.  We can hear their birdsong quite often.   I suspect they may be nesting fairly close by.  Maybe they’ll bring the kids to brunch some day.

 

We’ve also been blessed with some frisky catbirds who mainly love to chomp down on suet from the two such feeders we have in the yard.  I and the cats often watch them through the sun porch windows.  Today, one was chattering to me  while I was hanging out the clothes on the line. Anyway, here are some shots that Yang took for me.

 

 

The Downy Woodpeckers also like to feast on the suet as well.  Yang got a few shots of one doing so.  We haven’t seen many Hairy Woodpeckers this year – or Flickers or Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers.  Maybe the latter were too scared.

 

Yang also took some videos.  Here, we have The Adventures of Cardinal with special guest star Rosebreasted Grosbeak and a cameo by English Sparrow  Roll ’em!

 

We also have some mammals in our yard as well.  I managed to get a few shots of a baby rabbit, from which we strenuously held back both Rosalind and Natasha on separate occasions.  Enjoy watching him/her nibble.

Someone else enjoyed watching the bunny, as well.  She thought he looked delicious, er, adorable.  We made sure that she was restrained.

 

Old Friends Return!

Baltimore Oriole, birds, catbirds, cats, goldfinches, Nature, New England, redwinged blackbird, rosebreasted grosbeak, spring, summer, turkeys, Wild turkey, , , , , , , , ,
The snow has finally been gone for some time now. Even though it’s raining and chilly today, we’ve had a whole week of sunshine and warm weather with just a touch of rain to treat the thirsty plants. And our spring birds are back! April brought a caravan of wild turkeys, one at a time, through my yard and past my sun porch. Though I was too busy watching them to take a picture, I did get some shots of one of my favorite avian harbingers of spring, the Redwinged Blackbird. He showed up at first on March 3rd, then I gradually saw more males flashing their yellow and red epaulets. They sometimes get resistance from another spring returnee, the Boat-Tailed Grackle, but the Redwings are pretty staunch in defending their places at the feeder. Just over the past week or two, I’ve been seeing the female Red-wings show up as well.
I mustn’t forget to mention the multitude of Gold Finches. They do tend to stay around all year, though the number of their appearances dwindles in the winter. However, in March and April I would see more and more of them. I loved watching their dull winter coats turn gleaming yellow as the spring progressed. I like that they are feisty and don’t let the bigger birds bully them off the feeder.
Another of my favorites is the Catbird. I first spotted one this year on May 5th, but this day I was lucky enough to catch two together, feeding with a Mourning Dove. I love how the Catbirds have such a plethora of different calls, many so musical. For me, it’s fun that one of their calls, though not of the musical variety, is “Sharon!” They’re always looking for me. It’s nice to be wanted!

 

We really hit the jackpot this week! Shortly after spotting a sleek, coppery fox gamboling in my yard, Rosalind focused my attention on the backyard feeder, and what did I see but a male Rose Breasted Grosbeak (5/8)! The next day, I heard a lovely birdsong (not Cindy) in the trees, and when I investigated, I saw the Grosbeak again! I’ve seen him at least once a day since, usually feeding on suet or black oil sunflower seeds. He’s quite the cheeky fellow, for when I was feeding the fish in our small pond, he sang me a song. When I repeated it back to him, he popped over to the nearby birdfeeder and chowed down for some time. This morning, he finally brought Mrs. Grosbeak to one of the feeders. I’m glad that these Grosbeaks are not easily intimidated by Grackles, Blue Jays, or Mourning Doves.
In the same week, (5/9) Yang called me to look at the backyard feeder, and what did I see but a Baltimore Oriole! He also appeared for a snack on the suet feeder by the side of our house, as well. I haven’t seen him in a few days, but my neighbors usually report on him. Of course for all these birds, I may not be seeing the same one every time, but it is fun to note that they seem to show up at almost the exact same date every year. It’s lovely to see old friends!
Of course, I have lots of help bird watching.

Spring Birds Are Back!

Baltimore Oriole, birds, Cape Cod, catbirds, caterpillars, Nature, New England, redwinged blackbird, robins, rosebreasted grosbeak, summer, Wild turkey, wood peckers, Yellow Warbler, , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve had the pleasure of many wonderful bird sightings since spring began.  Some are old friends, and at least one is a new addition.  Because I don’t have a fancy camera and the birds are too shy to let me get close enough or they don’t stay still long enough for me to get a good shot, some of these pictures aren’t the best and some I had to find online – but I hope you enjoy hearing about what I’ve been seeing lately.

 

One of the first signs of spring was the return of my friends, the Red-winged Blackbirds.  They’re usually the first to arrive, so I’ve been seeing them  March 6th.  They even stuck it out through our April torture by snow.  I’ve seen several males and also several females.  I guess these folks must find my feeders quite the congenial place.

 

In April, I was further delighted by the return of the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  Interestingly enough, my first sighting this year was almost exactly the same date as my sighting last year.  This year, we have at least one male and one female – it’s hard to tell if I’m seeing the same or different ones every time.  Happily, even as we move through June, I still see these beauties every day.  Please forgive the fuzziness in some of the pictures.  It’s rather hard to compensate for the pattern-effect of my window screens.

 

 

 

 

 

Also back once more is our buddy from last year, turkey Raymond Burrd – though I have since figured out that “he” is a “she.”  Still, if there can be gals called Micheal, Jamie, and Ashley, having one named Raymond shouldn’t be any problem.  It’s the twenty-first century, folks.  Get over it!  She has shown up every day, sometimes more than once a day for over a week now – starting 6/4.  She’s pretty friendly – not that she’s asking me to tea or anything, but she doesn’t startle and run away or threaten me when I have to walk past her for one reason or another.  If I’m enraptured in reading, she’ll wander by quite close without turning a feather.  My neighbor said he thought she was going to hop into my lap the other day!  Although Natasha was howling out the window at Raymond in the beginning, she and Rosalind have settled down to a minor glance in the turkey’s direction while looking daggers and claws at chipmunks and morning doves.

 

We were not able to use the front porch for a while because the Robins would shout up a storm at us – they had built a nest in a rhododendron surprisingly close to one of the porch columns.  It was so surprisingly close that I happened to glance down and was shocked to see two young, speckled robins checking me out from a nest.  Needless to say, the flowers on the front steps went thirsty for awhile.  After some time, no Robins could be heard squawking in the rhododendron, so I checked and noted there were no kids in the nest or parents around.  Fledging must have occurred, and the parents probably figure they’d move to a neighborhood with less traffic for their next clutch.  That’s why I was able to take these pictures.

 

We also had a Baltimore Oriole visiting our yard.  I had heard him for some time, then found him sitting in the juniper bush outside my bedroom window.  I ran to get my camera, but he’d taken off when I got back.  I have seen him in the high trees in my backyard and hear him as well.  In fact, I’ve had lots of Oriole and Yellow Warbler sightings.  We saw both types of birds at the Blackstone River Trail and I later had about six sightings of as many as two Orioles at a time by the Quinnebaug River in Putman, Ct.  There were also plenty of Yellow Warblers, too.  I wonder if the plentitude  of Orioles has anything to do with the large number of Gypsy Moth Caterpillars invading New England now.  I could hear the caterpillars in the trees by the Q. River – I’m too delicate to tell you what I’ve been informed that I was hearing the caterpillars doing.  Let’s just say I was glad I had a hat on!

 

On a trip to the rail trail that runs from Falmouth to Woods Hole, my husband and I were lucky to see Ospreys hunting and feeding their kids. Here’s an older picture from the same area.  We also saw out first Blue-grey Gnatcatcher.  It’s quite the lively bird, and you can’t miss the white vertical bars on the sides of its tail. This link  shows the little guy in action and captures his blue-gray colors.

 

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen as many goldfinches, chickadees, Titmice, and nuthatches of late – though I have seen s few.  I know they sometimes disappear around this time to brood their young, then return with the kids, when they can fly, for family smorgasbord.  I hope they haven’t been driven out by the greedy Grackles, Mourning Doves, and Sparrows.  Though Sparrows can be pesky, I have to admit these guys are cute.

 

At least I saw the Catbird again yesterday while I was reading!  This picture is from last year.

Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers have come by, as well as a Flicker. Here are two neat, albeit window-screen-fuzzed, photos of a Hairy Woodpecker. Like most Woodpeckers, this guy just loves that suet!

 

Oriole image from Pexels.
Yellow Warbler image from:  Pixnio.

 

Birds of Spring

birds, catbirds, goldfinches, Nature, redwinged blackbird, robins, rosebreasted grosbeak, wood peckers, , , , , ,

 The other day I did a post on the birds of winter.  I still have enough pictures for a Part II; but, right now, let’s accentuate the springitive (so to speak). Many of my favorite warm weather birds have returned.  Even before the snow was gone in March, I caught this shot of a Robin in the Canadian Maple outside my window.  Apparently, the winters are warm enough that most Robins don’t go South for the winter, but stay in the deep woods up here.  Nevertheless, this was one of the first Robins I had seen in quite some time.  Our Robins are quite different from the blue and rust-colored English Robins.  As you can see, this guy is much bigger and is actually grey/black on top.

 

To me, of the first avian signs of spring is the return of my friend the Redwinged Blackbird.  He’s always at my feeder and showed up for the first time on 3/2.  I had a hard time catching him on film, but I did manage to sneak around the window and get a few pictures.  Yang helped as well.  I’ve also seen a female at the feeder, though I wasn’t able to get a picture of her.  So, it looks as if he brought the Missus.  Of course, there could be a whole bunch of different birds showing up, just one at a time.  Still, I like to think that he is my old-time buddy, as is his wife, who comes back every year to whistle in the spring with his trademark call.

 

 

 

 

 

My next favorite harbinger of spring is the Rosebreasted Grosbeak.  For years, I’ve seen either some females, a male, one year two males, or pairs. This year, I saw the female first.  Don’t you love the impish way she peaks through the window here?

Then, not many days later, the male showed up. He only would show me his back at first, the little stinker.  However, before long, I was able to get some shots of that rose breast for which he is known.  Isn’t the pink just like pure liquid color?  And the pristine white proves a gorgeous contrast to the rose and his black feathers. They both love the sunflower-seed hearts.  Already shelled, the seeds don’t require them to put their grosbeaks to work cracking.  I first saw them here on 5/4.  I hope they stay a few weeks.  Maybe they’ll nest and have baby grosbeaks?

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s two more shots of the Grosbeaks, just because they’re so fun to see.

 

My next favorite harbinger of spring is the Catbird.  They are so perky and intelligent. Many a time I’ve sat quietly by the fish pond and one has come over to drink, getting quite close to me. And they have so many delightful calls.  I believe they are related to the Mockingbird, so that would explain their extensive array of  vocalizations.  I think one reason that I’m partial to them is that one of their calls sounds like, “Sharon!”  My name.

They adore suet, so I play bird police and chase away the grackles and starlings when they try to hog the suet block.  Don’t you just love the sassy way Madame Catbird gives a little cock to her tail?

 

Another favorite pair are the House Finches.  They may occasionally show up in the winter, but I never see too many of them until spring.

 

 

 

All year round, we have Goldfinches.  In the winter, even the males turn a drab olive.  It was neat to watch them gradually change to a more brilliant color as the spring progressed. However, whatever their colors, neither male nor female Goldfinch will abandon our feeders – especially the ones with the sunflower hearts.  They are delightful old friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking old friends, the Hairy Woodpeckers had a grand old time going after suet and sunflower seeds.  We also had many Downy Woodpeckers and, from time to time, Flickers and Redbellied Woodpeckers.  The Titmice, chickadees, Cardinals, and Nuthatches have kept us company year round as well.

So, it’s up to Yang and I to keep our avian friends up to their beaks in sunflower seeds and suet.