The Uncaged Bird -Hummingbird feeder is up!

Morganna said:

joanne said:
You're inspiring me to plant some petunias in my garden, they're such a happy flower. Of course, I won't attract hummingbirds here!
We have a new-old invasive avian pest: peacocks. I knew they're nasty, I hadn't realised how widespread they've become. Sigh. (Game of Thrones in the bird world??)

 Never thought of peacocks as pests and also never associated them with Australia. They seem to be placed in showy gardens, and never seem local to anywhere. Maybe India.
Petunias only survive in my garden in hanging baskets. On the ground they are one more tasty snack for our deer or woodchucks.
If peacocks are a bit nippy, I'm sympathetic, as our wild turkeys can be down right aggressive. Here they are chasing the mail truck.

 My cousins would always tell me about their vicious turkeys and I didn't believe them -- until one afternoon a group of them surrounded my car on Valley Street in West Orange and would not let me proceed!  I was late for a doctor's appointment as a result, and of course, my excuse didn't "fly"....

mumstheword said:
 My cousins would always tell me about their vicious turkeys and I didn't believe them -- until one afternoon a group of them surrounded my car on Valley Street in West Orange and would not let me proceed!  I was late for a doctor's appointment as a result, and of course, my excuse didn't "fly"....

 LOL, they can be intimidating in a group. I often have a single female and they are quite sweet. But the flocks that are male dominated can be challenging. My semi feral cat, is fine with the girls, so we all live peacefully while she makes herself at home. My indoor cats often enjoy the company.

I didn't have my camera handy so I'm posting a stock photo of a Baltimore Oriole. The beautiful bird made a brief appearance in my yard today. I'm attributing it to the fact that my fountain is set up, which attracts so many birds who are drawn to the sound of running water. He stopped by one of my bird baths for a sip and flew off.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak - saw this beauty on feeder outside kitchen window a week or two ago; book photo much better than mine.

snowmom said:
Rose Breasted Grosbeak - saw this beauty on feeder outside kitchen window a week or two ago; book photo much better than mine.

 Yes! I snapped a picture of one at my feeder last year.

Where are the wrens? I have 2 houses up and I'm not hearing a single love song.

Cowbirds from the other day with sparrow friends.

The more I look at those stunning cowbird feathers, the more I’m impressed by the patterns hidden in them. The deep blue-on-blue hides the intricate tracing and stencilling effect; it’s almost like very old jewellery, or even the delicate hand-dyed lace and embroidery on Victorian widows’ ‘weeds’, isn’t it?

I thought you might be curious to note the progress of our young-adult (7-month old) cygnets. We only seem to see two these days, not sure if one has already left the nest or was sickly and a wildlife ranger came to take it for veterinary care (and then release into the Wetlands). 

These pix were taken around 7:30am, when it quite cool for here. (Around 55degrees F) The waterfowl were demanding a THIRD breakfast! You can see the distinctive banding of the cygnets’ wings more clearly as they upend for their seeds and shredded lettuce. 

Wow @joanne they are lovely.

Yes the cowbirds catch my attention often because of the bronze heads on the dark slate bodies. I'm anxiously awaiting a tiny wren male to show up as they have the most beautiful bird songs. I have a choice of 2 houses but so far no prospects. I'm listening for the song and running my fountain as the running water attracts our winged friends.

Of my 4 footed visitors I've spotted my first woodchuck and finally one of the does surprised me with her faun. They usually have twins but I've only seen this little one.

Morganna said:
Wow @joanne they are lovely.
Yes the cowbirds catch my attention often because of the bronze heads on the dark slate bodies. I'm anxiously awaiting a tiny wren male to show up as they have the most beautiful bird songs. I have a choice of 2 houses but so far no prospects. I'm listening for the song and running my fountain as the running water attracts our winged friends.
Of my 4 footed visitors I've spotted my first woodchuck and finally one of the does surprised me with her faun. They usually have twins but I've only seen this little one.

 For the second year in a row, I have a wren nest, in the same birdhouse as last year.  There are 4 other bird houses in a row alongside my house, but this guy likes the same one.

Question about woodchucks:  do they dig big holes?  I discovered a huge mound of dirt (about 1 foot high) next to my back porch, and a deep hole burrowed under the slab floor of the porch.  The exterminator was supposed to come today, and didn't, and he's asking me if I know what it is -- like what would I know?  LOL!  He thinks it's a groundhog, but don't they burrow up in smaller holes?

Robin babies!

mumstheword said:
 For the second year in a row, I have a wren nest, in the same birdhouse as last year.  There are 4 other bird houses in a row alongside my house, but this guy likes the same one.
Question about woodchucks:  do they dig big holes?  I discovered a huge mound of dirt (about 1 foot high) next to my back porch, and a deep hole burrowed under the slab floor of the porch.  The exterminator was supposed to come today, and didn't, and he's asking me if I know what it is -- like what would I know?  LOL!  He thinks it's a groundhog, but don't they burrow up in smaller holes?

 The holes are pretty big as they can get pretty large. Nice critters and don't let the exterminator do anything now as they will have babies in their nest. Everyone goes their separate ways in late summer. They do no harm except nibbling on the plants. I'm fond of them. They are gentle and run off if they see you coming out of the house. They don't bother birds or cats. Peaceful vegetarians.

mrincredible said:
Robin babies!

 Oh how cute! Hope they do well through the storm. Keep us updated.

Looks like there may be some rough times ahead for Northern-hemisphere migrating birds that spend time in drought-affected Australia and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-02/fears-for-future-of-menindee-birds-as-drought-continues/11161210

Saw another hummingbird, this time sipping from my honeysuckle. Couldn't catch his picture but this is this year's set up.

Saw the Baltimore Oriole again. Wow.

Morganna said:
Saw the Baltimore Oriole again. Wow.

 I saw one in our back yard as well about an hour ago. My initial reaction was it was a goldfinch, but looking more closely I realized it was an Oriole. Pretty cool.

@mrincredible  check this out. I just learned about these Black Headed Grosbeaks from Cornell Lab of Ornithology online https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/ also on FB.

1st picture if of the Grosbeak 2nd the Baltimore Oriole. Flying through the garden I thought I might have gotten it wrong. (The bird was flying I was not at that moment.) Then checked the map and found that the Grosbeak is a western bird.

Goldfinch will come to your garden if you plant Cone Flowers. 3rd picture in my garden. They also can be lured to a feeder and like thistle but, thistle can get moldy pretty fast and even sparrows are not crazy about it so I use it sparingly. They seem to respond to the sound of running water so I try to keep the fountain going and have 3 bird baths so in the summer I get quite a few birds to stop by for a drink or a dip in the pool.

Do we need this?

We definitely get goldfinch visitors! I love their very particular swooping flight pattern. It's one of the ways I realized I wasn't looking at a goldfinch when the Oriole flew across the yard.

The baby robins are gone. I don't know when it is normal for them to leave the nest but they had grown a lot and their eyes were open. I was away much of last week so I can't vouch for when they left.

Our house backs up to a little stream that runs year-round so it's a nice spot for birds in all seasons.

mrincredible said:
We definitely get goldfinch visitors! I love their very particular swooping flight pattern. It's one of the ways I realized I wasn't looking at a goldfinch when the Oriole flew across the yard.


The baby robins are gone. I don't know when it is normal for them to leave the nest but they had grown a lot and their eyes were open. I was away much of last week so I can't vouch for when they left.


Our house backs up to a little stream that runs year-round so it's a nice spot for birds in all seasons.

 I knew the wren schedule but looked up when robins fledge. 2 weeks after hatching the fledge or began to fly. 2 weeks after that they can sustain flight.

https://www.reference.com/pets-animals/baby-robins-leave-nest-6d37f0fb9259609f

I am sure that I'm hearing a wren but haven't seen him near my nest boxes.

I just checked this thread and I had a pair of wrens by May 11 2018. Maybe all of the rain and late chill slowed things down. Also realized I hung this year's house May 21 due to weather but maybe I missed early nesters.

I spoke too soon! Went out and saw a large twig sticking out of the small nesting box. I tip toed over and took a quick peek and saw the raw beginnings of a nest. Typical male decorating. He has to build a few and then sing his heart out to attract a sweetheart. She will check out his real estate and pick the best nest. Then the fun begins as she redecorates, tossing out half the twigs and redefining her space with Feng Shui considerations I imagine.

I heard his singing and he rivals Pavarotti. Nothing to do but wait for love to conquer all.

OK, just to get a sense of how far this little singer will go to attract an audience.  (I need a better zoom lens.)

Morganna said:

mumstheword said:
 For the second year in a row, I have a wren nest, in the same birdhouse as last year.  There are 4 other bird houses in a row alongside my house, but this guy likes the same one.
Question about woodchucks:  do they dig big holes?  I discovered a huge mound of dirt (about 1 foot high) next to my back porch, and a deep hole burrowed under the slab floor of the porch.  The exterminator was supposed to come today, and didn't, and he's asking me if I know what it is -- like what would I know?  LOL!  He thinks it's a groundhog, but don't they burrow up in smaller holes?

 The holes are pretty big as they can get pretty large. Nice critters and don't let the exterminator do anything now as they will have babies in their nest. Everyone goes their separate ways in late summer. They do no harm except nibbling on the plants. I'm fond of them. They are gentle and run off if they see you coming out of the house. They don't bother birds or cats. Peaceful vegetarians.

 The exterminator checked the hole and determined it was probably Mr. Bunny Wabbit, who lives between me and my neighbor's house.  He is usually found hiding in her side yard (we only have side yards on one side of our houses), across from where my hole was dug.  Anyway, there was nothing in it, so he closed it up and said to keep a lookout.  So far so good.  Now I have to try to grow grass over that patch.

We don't get many rabbits here. Between community cats and foxes I'm guessing they avoid us.

over the weekend D and I visited a local park near the Broadwater here, hoping to visit a couple of camels (long story; we did meet them, briefly. Wonderful, patient animals). While we strolled back through the playground, we noticed how comfortably the local waterfowl had settled in with the active, playing kids, even though so many are night-time or solitary birds. 

In that first photo of ‘trees’, there’s a moor hen or duck hiding behind a tree on your mid-right.

Found a new FB page with awesome bird photos.

https://www.facebook.com/WatchingBackyardBirds/

mumstheword said:
I noticed today my hummers are beginning to grow their ruby throats!

 Then those are boys! Females stay green. I'm not seeing any right now. Could be timing but I do remember getting a long break between the first male arrivals and then seeing females who arrive later to nest.