Birds
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More spring bird sightings
They’re everywhere in the woods, and this is the season not only to hear them, but to see them. And to see them seeing you back.
Ovenbird 
Ovenbird This fellow seemed to want his picture taken…
Chestnut-sided warbler 
Chestnut-sided 
Chestnut-sided 
Chestnut-sided This warbler buzzes rather than sings.
Blue-winged warbler These were a treat to see…
Male blackburnian warbler 
Female blackburnian warbler 
Female blackburnian This guy is a real tattletale — can’t stop chattering when he sees people nearby.
Catbird These next pics are grainy because they’re taken through a window across our yard, but they capture a novel phenomenon. We’ve had several male orioles in different stages of maturity hanging around, eating suet. My only theory is that it’s due to the colder-than-usual spring.
Oriole 
Feeder phenomenon 
Grosbeak and young oriole -
Looking for spring
Spring is really dragging its feet around here. It’s been so cold that there are still bare branches everywhere. But here and there are signs that this too shall pass, and warmth and color are poised to return. Over the past few days I’ve seen the first of the warblers coming through on their way back to the north country, and it cheers my heart.
Yellow-rumped warblers are always among the first wave.
They’re usually accompanied by palm warblers.
I’ve seen a few yellow warblers, too.
Other birds are returning as well. The Eastern towhee has been out and calling for a mate.
A couple of flickers were drumming and calling back and forth in the woods nearby on a recent walk.
Male flicker 
Female flicker A pileated woodpecker was calling for a mate, too.
I’ve heard a couple of brown thrashers making themselves known. They’re favorites of mine, such endless chatterboxes!
The catbirds are back too, but they aren’t making a lot of noise yet. These two hopped silently up from the bushes to where they could examine me.
Those are just a few recent sightings. Of course, there are encouraging signs in the world of flora, too.
Though it’s taking far too long to warm up, I think it’s safe to assume that spring is here.
So long, fall and winter… 
Spring battles through and wins the day! -
Phoebe
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Morning Birds
We went for a walk at the University nature preserve and saw some ruby-crowned kinglets. There was a winter wren singing in the brush near a creek, a pair of wood ducks, a broad-winged hawk and a kingfisher, along with the other tough birds who’ve been here all winter. (Actually the kingfisher may have stayed — we saw one last year in the dead of winter. This was a colder, longer winter though.) There was one I didn’t recognize: a dark reddish-brown, warbler-sized bird working the ground among the marsh grasses. We also saw what may have been an oven bird, as well as a startled (I think) flicker.
Only a few posed for pictures, of course. But it was a great way to start the day — right around freezing, but with plenty of activity indicating that spring is underway.
There was a whole treetop full of blue jays warning that this hawk was around, though we didn’t realize what was bothering them till he flew overhead.
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Song Sparrow
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Big Red
We were in Ithaca on Saturday, so we stopped by the site of the the Cornell hawks’ nest for awhile. This is Big Red on a light post next to the one where her nest is. The nest itself is in a difficult spot to observe — at least, compared to the one they used the year before last. I visited a few times last year but didn’t take many pictures. Luckily lots of other folks did, though.
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Spring Robin
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Patience
It’s been a long, very cold winter this year. Since my last post here, I’ve said goodbye to our dear 14-year-old border collie, had foot surgery that kept me convalescent for weeks, gotten a new puppy, and generally been unable to get out and about with my camera. But things are warming up a bit at last, and I hope to be able to enjoy some of the welcome sights of spring.
I’d like to post some of the few winter photos I have gotten in the last few months. This one is of a redtail that sat behind our neighbor’s shed all afternoon one day back in January. I wondered if it was hurt, but it eventually flew off. My guess is that it was feasting on mice around the shed. I’ve always wondered how long hawks will sit in the same place hunting. The answer, in this case, was hours.
We named her Patience.
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Lunch
Yesterday I looked out the window while I was making lunch — and saw this.
I’ve often seen pileated woodpecker excavations in the woods and wondered what these large birds look like while they’re making them. How long do they stay in one place? How do they go about their work?
This fellow stayed for 15 minutes or so. He had been at work for a bit before I saw him, as the hole he was working on confirmed. It was amazing to see him hammering, pulling away bits of bark, and occasionally twisting his head to get at the bugs apparently deep inside the wood.
After awhile he hopped to the other side of the tree before flying away, giving me a glimpse of woodpecker tongue.
It doesn’t bode well for the tree; I’ve read that they only work on trees that are already dead or dying. But what fun to have him in the neighborhood! Now I want a larger suet feeder more than ever.
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Golden-crowned kinglets
These little birds were fluttering in the apple tree beside the horse paddock where my daughters were riding yesterday. They move so quickly! — but at last I got one decent picture, and several mediocre ones.
