Happy Birthday to Me!

What a beautiful day! A few years ago on my grandpa's birthday I saw a flock of cedar waxwings, and now today on my birthday here they are again, like Grandpa Lambert was sending his good wishes to me.

And even an ordinary sparrow can look sweet on a day like today. 

Other birthday callers include chickadees, a goldfinch, a woodpecker, robins, a female cardinal, and a bluejay calling in the distance. 

Finally!

The chickadees have finally found the suet. 

A Chickadee's Nest

This, from our correspondant Diane. A family of chickadees took up residence in a small hole in the foundation of Diane's house. They discovered this on Mother's Day as a busy little mommy chickadee fed her babies while dogs and humans looked on. What a strange little place for a nest.

Holly checking out the nest.

Springtime Birdservations!

A briefing on what the birds have been up to in my neighborhood:

• While on a walk we heard the chickadees with their two-note call. One bird called out and another answered, descending down the musical scale. As they continued with their individual rhythms, the notes were soon in tandem with each other to make perfect harmony.
• The goldfinches are gaining their summer plumage back so they look more as their name describes and not the buff color they were all winter. I saw one call out from a spindly sprig at the top of a pine tree, alerting all available females to his grandeur.
• A crow also took advantage of the highest point on the street and claimed himself to be king of the hill from atop a chimney.
• Every time I see geese my heart melts a little. Often in pairs on grassy areas, one picks away at the ground while the other watches for danger. 
• Two bluebird sightings in one week! It's so exciting to see rusty red and cerulean blue dart through the air.
• There is what I believe to be an egret living in the pond by the community center. They move so carefully, even their flight appears in slow-motion.
• Our backyard has been full of activity from the robins as they hunt worms and enjoy old berries still on the tree.
• Also in the backyard was a large bird I didn't see long enough to figure out what it was. It was bigger than a robin, was feeding on the ground, and when he took flight there appeared to be a bright yellow coloring under his wings. This would lead me to believe it was a flicker but I'm not certain.
• I've heard more red-winged blackbirds than I've seen.
• And finally, I've seen many birds of prey gliding overhead. Their cries reminded me of something you'd hear in an old western movie as  the sun bakes the desert landscape.

Sock Feeder

Because of an increase in goldfinch activity, I bought a nyjer seed sock feeder to accommodate these sweet birds. It went unnoticed for a day, but now even the sparrows and chickadees are enjoying it. I positioned the tray underneath the sock so the seeds won't drop to the ground and plant themselves, and the sparrows have found it's a convenient platform from which they reach up to the sock to grab a few bites, and it's also a great place to politely wait one's turn.

Another Installment of Weekend Birdservations!

• A baby chickadee with a particular bald spot on his forehead finally learned how to eat from the suet grate.

• Never before seen in our yard, a white-breasted nuthatch made an appearance. Since the visit I've heard their nasal "yaank yaank!" call from both ends of our front yard. I was able to get pretty close to one too as he waited in the tree for me to fill the bird feeder.

• A raptor (falcon? kestrel?) stalked the feeder until he snagged his evening meal of sparrow. He came back for a second meal Sunday morning, and later awed the guests of our Father's Day picnic as he flew across the backyard.

• The hungry baby chipping sparrow I mentioned the other day ended up being a baby cowbird that a family of chipping sparrows fostered. I guessed this because the markings on the baby was not consistent with sparrows of any kind, was twice the size of its parents, and much hungrier than most sparrow babies. A week after I captured those photos I noticed them again and learned that those sparrows are actually raising two cowbird babies. 

• Juvenile robins have been practicing their songs as the afternoons fade to evening. A little sputtery at times, but sounding more and more like their parents every day. 

Baby Chickadees!

Last weekend the sparrows were busy bringing their newly fledged babies to feed in our yard. They stayed mostly on the ground picking up bits from the grass and mulched area under the feeder. It usually went like this: mom and dad sparrow hop around a find a few morsels and when the babies saw this they'd turn on the charm by peeping and fluttering their wings in a most helpless way. Today most of the sparrows I see are feeding themselves so perhaps the babies have learned what they were supposed to!

Yesterday and today I noticed several black-capped chickadees hanging out in our birch tree. Chickadees commonly grab one seed at a time and fly off to a branch where they can pick at the shell until they get the seed out, so I figured word got out that I put more sunflower in the tray so everyone came for a bite to eat. But then I noticed this very panicked, and persistent, and relentless high-pitched squeak, much like, "dee-dee-dee!! DEE-DEE-DEE!!!!!!!"

Trusty binoculars in hand, I watched them for a while. Some of those chickadees were plump and fluffy, and didn't know what to do at the feeder. They spent most of their time in the tree while the mature chickadees were back and forth, back and forth between feeder and tree. And the babies were doing their part of the dance by singing to mom and dad: "PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH! RIGHT NOW!!!! DEE-DEE-DEE!"