It’s been a while since I posted about my own backyard. While not as active as it was this spring, it’s still fun for birding. And for rainbows! I guess that’s the good thing about all the rain we’ve been getting – we’ve been seeing lots of rainbows, too.
The doves pointed out to me that one side of the rainbow seems to go to the birdbath and the other to their favorite bird feeder…so they figure that they found rainbow gold in our backyard. :)
I slipped out into my blind one afternoon in late May to see if I could lure one of our juvenile cardinals onto a pretty perch. Nope! Nobody wanted anything to do with the pretty perches that afternoon. The shepherd’s crook and bird feeders were much more enticing.
We continue to have a few small families of House Finches in the backyard. It’s fun to see the juveniles throw out their wings and dance for food while Mom and Dad feed them on my feeders.
A few Red-winged Blackbirds continue to visit as well. They are always the first to sound the call when I put out fresh food. “Fresh seed! Fresh seed! I can see it! Come and get it!”
I’m not sure what’s up with my Brown Thrashers. Both of them had been regular visitors to my mealworm feeder and birdbath this spring. Then when they started coming separately, I figured they were on a nest, which I think I located in my neighbor’s yard. But they suddenly disappeared. Then after a month or so, a single Brown Thrasher started visiting again. He’s quite the happy bird, always singing! Often he wakes me up in the morning with his cheerful song, which he starts before sunrise. But I’ve seen no evidence of a mate or any babies. In 2011 I saw baby thrashers in late May. In 2014, it was July when I first spotted the fledglings. So we’ll see what happens this year. Hopefully Happy Bird will have a Happy Family.
Now that I’ve put out suet, the Blue Jays are regular visitors to the feeders. It’s fun to see blue when I look out in the backyard. The other night we had a hawk in the area, and the jays all came together to shout at it. “Hawk! Hawk! There’s a Hawk!” They are like a Backyard Safety Patrol.
Speaking of blue, we also welcomed our first Eastern Bluebird to the yard a few nights ago! I’ve seen them in the neighborhood but this was the sighting in our yard. Of course I didn’t have my camera out. :) He sang and sang and sang. Pretty cool!
Our last photo is pretty cool, too. Meet the baby bunny growing up in our yard. :)
