As the birds return and the year around birds shed their dull winter coat, the bird sunflower feeders show a rainbow of colors. The Goldfinch summer’s bright yellow feather pop next to the brilliant blue of the Indigo Bunting. And the red patch standout among the white and black of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Rainbow Colors at the Feeder
I don’t think the birds like the snow covered bird feeders, especially the blue jay that tried to land on the feeder later and with the weight of the blue jay, the feeder tilted to the side and the snow slid off the roof and showered the jay.
Snow Covered Feeder
The calls of the sandhill cranes overhead today announced more returning birds.
Sandhill Cranes Return
It looks like the birds are flying the old year off into the sunset.
Flying Out the Old Year
The sandhill cranes haven’t headed south yet and I saw a couple of them dancing, much like their spring courting ritual, so apparently they have the seasons wrong since it is autumn and not spring.
Cranes in Autumn
When I was at my sister’s place on Tuesday and heard the trumpeter swans, I expected them in the area as there is lots of marsh land open water where they nest. I didn’t expect to hear them this evening flying low by my pond as there is no body of water nearby big enough for them to take flight since they need over 300 feet of water runway for the large swans to get enough lift.
Unexpected Swans
This afternoon, I heard a couple of trumpeter swans making their honking calls. Trumpeter Swans form pair bonds when they are three or four years old and they stay together throughout the year, but nests for first time at age 4-7 years.
Couple of Trumpeter Swans
The holiday Sunday have people enjoying a beach, but they weren’t the only on the beach today as these shore birds were busy finding a snack.
Beach Birds
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
It actually warmed into the 60s today but without the sunshine, it didn’t feel like a nice spring day although the winds blew in the return of the barn swallows. Now I will have to deal with swooping birds when going in to the barn as they like making their nests there.
Return of the Barn Swallows
