Dark Eyed Juncos Return

They left 6 months ago to the day... and today, the dark eyed juncos have returned - 7 days earlier this year than last year. They're so cute, but I am not ready for winter!

It's 54 degrees and partly cloudy. Fall weather kicked in early this year. We didn't have much of a summer, and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with their early return this year. The white crowned sparrow returned last week.

Springtime

Spring has sprung here (finally!), and we're starting to get some flowers and buds on trees.

The last of the dark eyed juncos finally left about a week ago. I'll miss you, juncos!



The ducks are back! No baby ducks yet, but I love that the mallards come up to my deck. They're like vacuum cleaners, gobbling up all the seed leftovers that even the mourning doves won't touch.

After the horrible winter here that appears to have wiped out 80% of my backyard finch population, there are a few house finches that are still around (4 is the most I've counted, down from upwards of 30). I have yet to see the goldfinches return. I had 4 that wintered here, but haven't seen them since our last deep freeze.



This week, 4 white crowned sparrows have taken to visiting my feeders. One is out there right now. I had 2 come by over the winter, so I'm really glad to see these guys. A male and female cardinal stop by every so often, and of course the grackles and red-winged blackbirds have returned.

I've cut back on the offering of cheap bird seed, putting it only in 1 feeder now. The mourning doves and sparrows gobble it up, but so do the grackles and brown headed cowbirds. Oy. So I've been introducing safflower seed in one of the feeders. I also have nyger and sunflower hearts and year-round suet, and occasionally I'll put out the fruit and nut songbird mix (though the grackles usually mog that, too). I don't mind the grackles - it's just that they come here and eat EVERYTHING. I have 6 feeders, and filling them all used to last all day - but now that the grackles are back, they'll plow through it all by noon! So I've got to find something the grackles don't like.

I added a couple new birds to my life list a couple weeks ago, with a visit to Renwick Lake and to Lockport Prairie.

I met with double crested cormorants:


and blue winged teals:


Also saw the herons nesting, which was pretty cool.


There's a strange bit of green ivy-like leaves growing as sort of a blanket under the tree in my back yard. It's growing up some of the brush and twigs as well. I just noticed that it's only under my tree, and not all along the brush down the creek. A few of the same little leaves have sprouted up under my feeders. It must be something from the bird seed, growing! I wonder if it'll turn into any pretty flowers or anything. They look very green and lush right now.

That's all my news. We've got thunderstorms on tap all day today, so I put out minimal seed. It's been raining all morning, and while the birds had a little bit of a break just now, the rains are back and they've flown for cover in the tree. They're still singing, which is so nice to hear!

Splashes of Red

The cardinal was back again briefly this morning. Here I caught him checking out the new nut/fruit/seed bell with a house finch. It's nice to see some splashes of red in the tree.



We had some freezing rain last night, so the tree is coated in ice and the birds are out in earnest taking advantage of the feeders. Even as I've watched for the past half hour or so, the ice seems to be melting off the tree. Traffic maps show "green" so hopefully getting to work today won't be too bad.

And because I think they're cute, here are male and female white crowned sparrows:

Male


Female

Saturday Birding

Saturday's Back Yard Birding

By golly, I do believe that I've got BOTH a sharp shinned hawk AND a Cooper's hawk visiting my yard! All this time, I thought they were all the same hawk. Earlier this summer, I had a hawk ID'd as a juvenile Coop. Then, this fall/winter, I've had a hawk visitor ID'd as a very young adult Sharp shinned hawk.

Today, I had a visit from this guy, and I think it's an adult Coop! (red eye)


I'm going with Cooper's because his crown is dark but the back of his neck is more pale, giving him a more capped appearance. The Sharpie has more of a dark neck on the back for a more hooded appearance. This one also has a rounded tail, whereas Sharpies have a more square tail.

So, I think I have multiple hawk visitors!

The white crowned sparrow was back:




And I think he may have a female with him today!


And of course, I couldn't resist snapping a shot of the poofy mourning dove:

Two Mystery Birds in a Row!

Indeed, two days in a row I've been presented with a new Mystery Bird in my back yard. Hoorah!

I think I might have this one figured out:

Mystery bird! A white crowned sparrow?

A White Crowned Sparrow, maybe?

A few European Starlings stopped by for a snack, but didn't stay long. They didn't bother the smaller birds and moved along after a few minutes. Their reputation has me nervous, but I enjoyed their visit today.


Snackin' Starling

Heck, the Starlings might even make some friends around here. This male cozied up with a Mourning Dove.

Friends!

My favorite shot of the day:

Napping Mourning Dove

The dove had his nap AFTER the visits from the hawk! There is still debate on what kind of hawk this is. One of these days, I'm going to get a good enough shot of it that there will be a definitive identification! I still tend to think it's a Cooper's Hawk, but others have suggested that he's a Sharp Shinned Hawk or a Northern Goshawk. I'm pretty sure it's between Cooper's and Sharpie, but even when I read that page describing the two side by side, I still come away conflicted!


Dear Hawk, Who are you?!

The feeders are busy and the tree is hoppin' as I get ready to head out to work. I swear I could watch birds all day!