Bit late on my bird watching post.. Seems to be a theme for my previous week in blogging. Still, wanted to share my birds from last week. (Did any one else lose track of the days? Oh, it’s Sunday!).

I’m going to try and keep this shorter as I’ll hopefully be right back here tomorrow with a weekly planning post.

UGLY KIDS

It’s a bit rude to call kids ugly, don’t you think? However, what would you call these fledglings? Beautiful isn’t my answer! 

The brown-headed cowbirds found a nest for some eggs. One of their fledglings pictured above and below.

I’m happy to report their adoptive parents weren’t my cardinals! Oddly enough, however, I did capture a cardinal with one of their adoptive mom’s natural babies.

Not to be rude, Mrs. Starling, but your biological children aren’t exactly lookers either.  Perhaps I’m a bit biased against these starlings who reside in our front yard maple tree and “decorate” the side of any car parked too near.

A BIT OF BEAUTY TO END MY POST

Exactly one week ago, so last Sunday, I had an enjoyable little photo session with this little goldfinch. A kind repayment, I think, for my chasing the annoying grackles away from the bird feeders. Please forgive the goldfinch photo overload here. I couldn’t decide which photos I liked the best so you get to see them all!

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For a week that started out with some good bird-watching, the rest of the week was a bit of a dud.  Not an hour before I had my little photo session with the gold finch, I spotted a Baltimore Oriole at the feeder and then in the Oak tree. However, I was too slow with grabbing my camera. (I was working in the garden and not really birding when I spotted it)

Then, later the same day, we watched a bald eagle soaring over a field while waiting for a high school senior graduation parade. Close enough to identify but really too far for a decent photo.

Other than that excitement, it’s been a week of the usual feathered friends in my backyard: sparrows, house finches, blue jays, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, chickadees, tufted titmice, robins, and cardinals. Oh, and the brown thrasher likes it here and hangs out below the suet feeder quite a bit.  What birds did you spot this past week?

Linking up with Anni’s Bird Depot over at I’d Rather B Birdin’

Last week we had a yard full of rose-breasted grosbeaks until we did not.

Goodbye grosbeaks!

At one point, I counted at least 7 milling around our feeders and in the yard. My husband even set up his hunting blind in the backyard so I could try for better pictures. (Most my pictures are through the glass on the back door.)

And then by Wednesday, perhaps Thursday, I noticed I didn’t see them any longer.  Come back anytime grosbeaks! We’ll be here.

A Different Bluebird of Happiness

Feeling a bit glum about the disappearance of “my” grosbeaks and a yucky weather week, I went for a walk on our one sunny day. Drove myself to a park full of trails where I often see little bluebirds of happiness. Usually right as I turn the bend into this tree lined area here:

I did see bluebirds around the bend but not the Eastern bluebirds I usually find. Wow, you are a very blue bird indeed!

While I was fairly sure I’d spotted an indigo bunting, I did consult my bird book at home. My youngest son helped me look and compare (I toyed with the idea it might be a blue grosbeak as well) and we’ve decided yes, I did spot a male indigo bunting on my walk. They’d certainly be welcome in my backyard any time as well as the grosbeaks.

A New Hello at Home

It’s baby season in the backyard.

It’s no secret the house sparrows annoy me with their “suet feeder school” (They’ve now also taught a starling these skills along with the blue jay from last week.) However, the little baby sparrows are quite cute and fluffy.

And so are the babies of my regular backyard residents, the house finches. I’ve been quite enamored with this little one:

Makes me smile. The little gray cat, not so much. She doesn’t care and these birds distract me from my more important duties like showering her with constant attention (until she’s tired of it).

Why do you want to watch birds when you could be petting me?

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Other birds spotted this week: a nuthatch, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, robins, bluejays, cardinals, grackles, brown-headed cowbirds (though not as many thank goodness!), starlings, goldfinch, and my white-crowned sparrow (he also disappeared it seems about the same time as the grosbeaks). Oh, and turkey vultures plus maybe a killdeer (not sure, far away in tall grass) at the park.

Joining in with the Bird Depot hosted by Anni over at I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Happy World Migratory Bird Day! It’s been slow around here so far this morning but yesterday was exciting. This week brought a few new and exciting birds to our yard. Some of our “old” birds learned new tricks. And we even had a garden rescue!

First to show this week. A new one for our yard! And believe it or not, the reason I started feeding the birds. Who knew it would be so hard to attract these little birds…

GOLD FINCH!

Some credit must go to the Tractor Supply store as I’ve bought these little white bags of food previously at other stores with no luck. Right away, I noticed I could actually smell this stuff as I put it out. So perhaps my other food was stale. I don’t know. However, the very next day I had a gold finch on it!

The above photo might have been better had some nitwit realized they left their camera on close-up mode a bit sooner. Anyway, this little goldfinch departed and returned with friends! Just one more because this fellow is handsome!

Also, showing up in our backyard: A White-Crowned Sparrow and a pair of Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks!

Let me apologize in advance as these photos aren’t the best quality but the Rose-breasted grosbeaks is another first for us! 

And it certainly was strange when my husband happened to be watching a show about Alaska and they showed footage of the white-crowned sparrows just after I’d seen one. He really needs to get a move on. It’s bit late for him to be hanging around here.

New Skills From A Blue jay!

Not sure if the house sparrows are running a secret school teaching other birds about how to manage the suet feeder but this happened yesterday morning:

And Now, A Garden Rescue Story!

It’s nesting season around our backyard. And garden season. We finally tilled our garden last Saturday. A pair of cardinals likes to nest under the gutter curve near the garden. Not a great spot but certainly better than the boxwood bush by the front porch. I finally succeeded in getting them to move away from that sight.

On Sunday, I was walking around surveying the garden work and noticed what looked like a bird embryo on top of the dirt. Hoping we hadn’t done something to harm it with our tilling, I returned inside to grab something to remove it and mentioned it to my husband.

Windblown cardinal

He said he’d seen an egg there the previous night. We’ve had some super windy days so were not sure whether it blew out of the nest or someone evicted it. A concern of mine considering the run of brown headed cowbirds around here lately.

As I returned to it with two paper bowls, it moved! My husband scooped it up and returned it to the nest. Later, mama returned. And just yesterday, the baby bird remained still getting care from the mama bird. Sadly, the other egg in the nest had a hole in it and never hatched.

Fingers crossed mama cardinal is raising an actual cardinal and not a darn brown headed cowbird. We’ll know in time, I suppose.

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Joining the Bird Depot hosted by Anni of I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Back yard bird season is winding down a bit. I’ve spent the weekend debating if I should continue filling my feeders. Currently, I’m planning on leaving out the suet feeder and one smaller feeder filled with safflower seed (replacing that with a cheaper bird seed not my best idea!). And adding a hummingbird feeder. My main issues are the current visitors switching from my beloved songbirds to ones of a bit more unruly nature. Open to suggestions over here.

Ready to hear about the good, bad, and ugly birds I’ve seen in the backyard this week? Let’s start with the good.

THE GOOD

Yesterday, one of my very favorite birds surprised me at our feeders. It’s only the second time I’ve ever seen a Baltimore Oriole around the feeders in my own backyard!

Not the best pictures as I was so excited! Only managed a couple quick shots before this beautiful bird left the feeder. I do wonder if I’ll get lucky enough to see this gorgeous bird again. Last year the one who stopped by briefly got a prompt send off from an annoyed cardinal. Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles don’t get along?

Going all the way back to Sunday of this week, I spent a long time trying to figure out what these tiny birds flitting around high in the oak tree might be. They never stayed on the branches very long. Pretty certain, I’ve a pair of yellow-rumped warblers here. (Also shared these photos on Monday because I was so excited)

THE BAD

Last week’s mystery bird, a cowbird indeed! And more than just this deceptively charming pair. I’ve read up on these birds and am not happy to have them in my yard.  They’re interesting to observe but not so interesting that I’m not ready for them to leave! And they’ve brought their friends, the grackles with them. I do think grackles are prettier birds but they’re much too greedy at the feeders. Finally, the house sparrows are doing me in with their bickering and bullying of my other birds.  Instead of a picture of those annoying birds, here’s my favorite red-bellied woodpecker who takes no flak from those annoying sparrows. She could teach the downy woodpeckers a few lessons. They always back down from the fight with the house sparrows. Makes me so mad.

Ready to talk about the ugly. It gets uglier than brown headed cowbirds? Yes.

THE UGLY

So it’s not really a bird but this little fellow is emptying my feeders with annoying speed as well. And on another ugly, though not pictured subject, the nuisance birds mentioned throughout this post aren’t as polite as my songbirds. They tend to do their “windshield business” all over our backyard deck. Another reason I’m thinking it’s time to pull the feeders for the summer. Makes me sad for the songbirds.

Because I don’t want to leave you with crappy thoughts (ha!), here’s a final photo of a little white-throated sparrow. He seemed to be posing for me last Sunday. A goodbye pose? I hadn’t seen (or heard) one since I took this quick snap. Until this morning. I saw one very briefly on the fence. They’ve mostly moved on from our area. A sure sign summer’s on the way!

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Any advice on my nuisance bird woes welcomed. Other birds we spotted this week: hummingbirds, the brown thrasher, robins, blue jays, cardinals, chickadees, Carolina wrens, house finches, and nuthatches.  I saw a hawk of some sort while driving and of course, the standard flock of geese down by the pond. What birds did you see this week?

Joining in with the Bird Depot hosted by Anni of I’d Rather B Birdin’.