More butterflies have been spotted as the spring flowers have opened. A Tiger Swallowtail was visiting my lilacs that were just starting to open before taking a rest break on the pine tree. The larger female is more colorful than the male as it has more blue spots on its wing.
Male Tiger Swallowtail
It was naptime for this Hereford calf on a sunny afternoon.
Naptime Calf
The later arriving birds are still building their nests, and I like this oriole nest that used grass, plastic pieces from an old tarp, dried cattails leaves, string and even the bright red string which she poked through leaving the loops of string. It amazes me how they can get even building material attached to swaying limbs to start with before filling it in.
Oriole Hanging Nest
Some birds were upset when I was mowing as they were scared off their nest and I spotted some blue egg shells on the ground. These very young robins don’t look too cute as they wait for a snack from their parents.
Young Robin Chicks
The sun was another pink ball in the sky as it has been for a while from the smoke in the air from the fires in Canada. I’m not sure when the winds will shift and blow the smoke away again to allow seeing a more normal sunset.
Pink Ball in the Sky
A Sunday evening drive around a marsh yielded three deer, a Great Blue Heron, a few ducks and birds, including 21 Trumpeter Swans. There was a nesting pair, but the others appeared to be juveniles that looked like a bunch of teenagers hanging out.
Sunday’s Trumpeter Swans
The orioles have been frequent visitors to my sugar water feeders, but they also spend time in the apple trees eating insects and nectar from the blossoms.
Oriole in Apple Blossoms
Patches of pink now line some of the road ditches and woodlands as the wild geraniums are in full bloom. Native to eastern North America, wild geranium is also known by these common names including wood geranium, alum root, alum bloom, cranesbill, spotted cranesbill, wild cranesbill, and spotted geranium.
Wild Geranium Blossoms
While the House Wren may be one of the tiny birds, it is rather mighty, territorial and aggressive as they will puncture eggs in nearby nests or even removing the eggs or young chicks. They will harass and peck larger birds and they sure holler at me when I get near one of their nests.
Mighty Little Wren
With the return of the Tree Swallows and the Gray Catbirds, most the birds have returned for another season. The Catbird may be making its nest near my porch and its calls do resemble a cat’s mew sound, but their songs may lasts ten minutes which includes imitations of birds and other things in addition to whistles and squeaks. Catbirds usually don’t repeat the phrases unlike the Brown Thrashers that normally repeat twice or the mockingbirds repeating three or more times.
Gray Catbird
