Spring birds arriving.

tcreeley · Jul 1, 2012

crash325 said:
Road Runners really active today. Not sure if its a male & female and her not in the mood. Or 2 males staking out territory?? They have been going back & forth for over 2 hours now. I think one of them did catch a lizard and looked like it washed it before eating it.

Young Quail are having fun today. They jump up and grab some green leaves off the mesquite tree. These are old enough to come in with out parents, just not full adults. Adults rarely eat anything green, but babies and young ones love green things.

Think my New bay Hummer has left the nest. Mom going to raise another???

I saw our resident hummingbird today. I always worry about our cats- but it is still there. I've never seen their nest. We are still feeding out turkeys- 3 smaller ones compared to the adult. My son said the crows were raising a racket in the corner of the back field- he heard them gobble, then two adults came out from that corner. Our crows act like the neighborhood sentries! I've seen birds in mass. raise two sets in a summer. I think it depends on how much time there is and the cycle length. Amazing to think of the distances migrated. Seeing wildlife is often seeing the world at its best!

tcreeley · Jul 4, 2012

Driving the back roads about 11 mi from home I had a Philadelphia Vireo- quieter and slower song than a red eyed vireo. They sound like they are working from the same music- maybe a little sweeter! For me, it is not as melodic as the solitary video. The Philadelphia Vireo makes me pause and listen as it slowly proceeds -deliberately. Another migration traveller- Yucatan + south to No Maine/Canada -East to West

pics from Nature Instruct Dendroica. (songs are available on site as well, along with range/seasonal maps)

Philadelphia Vireo
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crash325 · Jul 5, 2012

It's been a good and a bad year for the Quail. Lots & lots of babies, but many families loosing young ones, some loosing a parent. One bunch of little guys (6) have lost both parents. They are way to young to be on their own. Have 1 combined family with 4 parents and 20? of so young ones all sizes.

Humming bird mother has raised living baby #3 and no longer at her nest. Maybe she is done for the year???

tcreeley · Jul 20, 2012

Two days ago I saw an Osprey sitting on its nest on top of the high transmission powerline poles. It is enjoyable to watch them fish- dropping into the water at the end of a dive and coming up with a fish in their talons. When I kayaked, we'd see them along the coast.

Come 4 am, it is quiet- relatively speaking. The bird songs are easy to sleep through as the is not a layering of sound- just a few individuals. A blackbilled cuckoo was calling yesterday- and at 11 pm as well. The nesting season is winding down. I've seen barn swallows in larger numbers on one road I drive of farm after farm. The young are out and independent. Two days ago I encountered about 20 kildeer flying over Johnny's Seed company when we visited. They were in the air, dropping into the garden rows looking for bugs and the like. Swallows are usually one of the first to go- one days in early August we had 6 bank swallows show up and spend the night under the eaves of our house where the barn swallows used to nest. Birds time their migrations with their food sources becoming available. My honeysuckles are covered in berries, as are the still ripening elderberries and dogwood. By September the berries will be gone- as bird after bird comes through.
In the spring the apple blossoms told me when to expect the cedar waxwings- when the petals are out- the birds are there eating the petals.

Summer is a time of growth, followed by harvest. I always find it a time of sadness as the days are more quiet and the migrating birds- while a delight to see- have a frenzied level of activity as they push south. Anecdotally birds can live 9-11 years. The bird that comes by for food, will be back the following year- roughly same time, same place. We have a family of 3 crows that return year after year- producing young- getting up to 5,6 birds, dropping to 2,3 the next spring.
We are still putting scratch feed out for the turkeys, chipmunk, crows, jays, and now some ruffed grouse 2-3 - on our road to the back field. I expect we will be feeding during the winter as I generally plow this road for the horses.

pics from Dendroica

Osprey.................................................................................Ruffed Grouse............................................................Wild Turkey
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tcreeley · Jul 20, 2012

crash325 said:
It's been a good and a bad year for the Quail. Lots & lots of babies, but many families loosing young ones, some loosing a parent. One bunch of little guys (6) have lost both parents. They are way to young to be on their own. Have 1 combined family with 4 parents and 20? of so young ones all sizes.

Humming bird mother has raised living baby #3 and no longer at her nest. Maybe she is done for the year???

I didn't realize that a hummingbird would keep nesting! What a lucky thing to have been watching her nest all this time!
I am always amazed at how animals will care for each others offspring!

crash325 · Jul 27, 2012

tcreeley said:
I didn't realize that a hummingbird would keep nesting! What a lucky thing to have been watching her nest all this time!
I am always amazed at how animals will care for each others offspring!

I now have at least 3 humming birds. Think they are all female, very drab gray, with sort of red tail. All three are tiny (as was the nest mother). At least 2 of them think they own the sugar water. Lots of chasing.

The Mexican Air Force has landed. (Turkey Buzzard). Several of them over fly the yard most every day.

Road runners come hunting most every day as well

The quail are a trip to watch, very entertaining. The large 2 family group was squabbling today, little ones & adults all chasing each other. With all of that they still left as a group.

jimmyj · Jul 28, 2012

I love this thread. Thanks for all of your posts and comments.

tcreeley · Aug 12, 2012

Things are slowing down here. Sunrise feels like an hour later and I'm sleeping through the early songs- because there are much less- yellowthroats mostly. The loons are still calling at night. (My wife went swimming at the lake couple days ago- said that she was being bitten by fish when she settled on a large submerged rock.)
Cedar waxwings are everywhere when I am outside- what with all of the berries around and gnarly apples. My wife went riding, and I went along next town over- as we were unloading 3 killdeer were in and off the mowed field. Twenty minutes later 3 bluebirds headed from the trees to the powerline and then across the road. Some goldfinches were on the lines as well. The turkey vultures are moving about and turkeys are popping up in small groups- young included. We are still feeding them. My wife headed out with a ton of scratch feed last night- 5x what I give them! We;ve had a hummingbird in the yard- down by the honeysuckles and up to the clematis on the kitchen window. It will perch and look in then head off.
A chipmunk found its way into our tack room where the horse feed and carrots are. First we noticed the carrots going- then the hole in the feed bag. We are using a metal trash can now and closing the window more frequently. The chipmunk will chatter at my wife. Our cat, Sneakers that used to patrol this area passed away in June and I think it is appreciated by the wild little guys. They are making the best of it.