This swallow looks a bit upset but at least not it isn’t swooping down and trying to scare me away.
Upset Swallow
Picture of the Day for June 2, 2023
This robin was waiting until the people left the area so it could take the large bug to its nest to feed its young.
Robin Bringing Lunch
Picture of the Day for May 27, 2023
The bright yellow feathers of the Yellow Warbler catches your eye but it is hard to photo this little bird as it hops around quickly looking for bugs. The females are less colorful and lack the chestnut stripes that the males have. But this warbler better watch where it lands in the tall grass as some have been caught in the strands of an orb weaver spider’s web.
Male Yellow Warbler
Picture of the Day for May 20, 2023
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
Picture of the Day for May 18, 2023
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
Picture of the Day for May 17, 2023
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
Picture of the Day for May 12, 2023
Yesterday a couple of male Indigo Buntings arrived at my bird feeders. There might have been some females too, but the female’s brown color does not pop out like the male’s blue even though the males do not have blue pigment. The blue we see instead comes from microscopic structures that refract and reflect blue light in their feathers.
Male Indigo Bunting
Picture of the Day for May 10, 2023
With the trees beginning to leaf out, the orioles have arrived. And they must have been hungry from their trip north as one sugar water feeder was already empty and the other probably will need filling in the morning too. The Baltimore Orioles young males do not molt into their bright orange color until the fall of their second year.
Baltimore Oriole Arrived
Picture of the Day for May 8, 2023
More birds have returned adding additional voices outdoors, including the grosbeaks and the loud song from the tiny wrens. And this evening, the humming of tiny wings was heard as the hummingbird danced near the feeder. With their short legs, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird doesn’t walk but shuffles along a perch.
Shuffling Hummingbird
Picture of the Day for May 2, 2023
My lawn had a moving motion to it with all the birds covering the ground the last few days as the returning sparrows and warblers look for seeds. Many of them are the White-throated Sparrow with their patch of yellow and white throat. The White-throated Sparrow and the Dark-eyed Junco have been known to occasionally mate and produce hybrids.
White-throated Sparrow
