The Sounds of Fall

Yesterday, I was letting the dogs out after work when I heard a bird call that I haven't heard in awhile. It sounded like a nasal laughing, but not the usual kind that Ohioans have become so accustomed to (courtesy of the adorable little White-Breasted Nuthatches which are quite commn around here). This was a slightly higher pitch. I couldn't find the source, but I was absolutely positive I was hearing the smaller version, with slightly different markings, the Red-Breasted Nuthatch. I have seen these only a few times, they prefer coolere weather and so they nest north of here. But in the fall, they come down for the slightly warmer winters. It was nice to hear it even if I didn't see it. If you put out suet or sunflowe/safflower, you might get a glimpse of this little guy, looks about like a chickadee, but with a white eye stripe and the black comes lower on the head, also a very slightly reddish wash on the belly (where it got it's name). One way you can be 100% certain that it is a nuthatch you are looking at is that these are the only birds that walk down a tree trunk Face First. All others, if they walk down the trunk, do it tail first.

An Amazing Day

I've had one of (if not the) best birding days ever. I got up at 7:30 as I do every Saturday, let the doggies out, and then started hanging my feeders. On my second trip to the tree, I saw movement through the treeline that separates our yard from the neighboors. I thought one of them was gardening, which wouldn't be odd, even at 7:30am on a Saturday. Nope, it was just a deer, probably eating the neighbors pear trees. It froze instantly and almost disappeared. By the time I was making trip 3 to the tree, it was gone. I finished putting out the sunflower/safflower mix, the millet niger mix, the oriole feeder, the orange slice to attact the orioles, the niger sock, and the suet (berry flavor). And went in to brew my coffee, who did I see from my kitchen window? Mr. Indigo Bunting himself. Oh I was soooo happy.

Here is a picture I borrowed from a nature photographer. It was the closest to doing them justice. Only yesterday I started to wonder if they were back and had forgotten about the crazy bird lady. When I looked it up on the Internet yesterday morning, I found a birders list who is nearby. They had the Indigo Buntings listed as returning in mid May, whew I thought, they are probably still migrating. Okay so I won't give you a blow by blow, but here is a wildlife list for today:
White-tailed Deer
White Crowned Sparrows
Chipping Sparrow
Mr. Indigo Bunting
Mr. Bluebird (who wants to evict Mr. & Mrs Chickadee from the bluebird house over our leachfield)
Mr. Downy Woodpecker
Mr. Hairy Woodpecker
Mr. Red Bellied Woodpecker
Roufus Sided (or Eastern) Towhee (Mr.)
Mr. Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Mr. Rose Breasted Grossbeak (who btw was singing so happily as I hauled out his breakfast)
Mrs. Grossbeak too
Black Capped Chickadees
Mr. and Mrs House Finch
Mr. and Mrs. American Goldfinch
The Northern Cardinals
Many many many Gray Catbirds (who apparently can't resist berry-flavored suet)
American Robins
Tufted Titmouse
One unidentified bird (I'll try to figure that out later)
A Red Fox!!! (crossing the street as I returned home from the grocery store)
And My first sighting of Mr. Baltimore Oriole!!!! God is he a looker!!! (thanks to my 5 yr. old for pointing him out to me. I must admit when she said "Mommy there's an oriole" I figured Mr. and Mrs. Housefinch were sipping again, but nope, she was right!!) I can't believe that my husband saw him 9 days ago and I had to wait. He was worth it though, totally gorgeous.
I've seen every one of my favorite birds today. Just imagine the most intense shades of Orange, Blue, Red and Yellow you have ever seen and that describes The Oriole, the Bunting, the Cardinal and the Goldfinch respectively (and all Male of course).

Ruby Ruby

Well apparently nobody gives a crap about the birds. I think my bird blogging is killing my blog. Well, too bad I don't care. I am excited to say that the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are back. I've had my feeder up for one week and last night, I was heading out to hang my oriole feede (which is now quite full) and I got buzzed by a hummingbird. The sound was right, I turned to my right and saw *something* flying away. It had gone quite a distance, but the size was right. This morning, my hubby who has been having amazing birding success as of late, confirmed it, they are back!! (He also saw our Cooper's Hawk do a feeder driveby while he was brushing his teeth today).

My husband took this picture last year (IN APRIL!!) This is a female, which is why she has no Ruby Throat. The feeder she is sitting at is hanging from a suction-cup hook off my patio door. If you stand there very still, the hummingbirds don't notice and you can observe them from inches away. I love it. My youngest used to say, "Look, there's a cutie pie!" That name has kind of stuck, we think it suits them

Migration Update

Well I'm very happy and excited to report that we have Orioles in our yard. I put the feeder out with only 1 cup of nectar and a fresh orange slice (figured I'd start filling it up once we've seen them).
I'm at work and got a sweet email from an Oriole this morning that said "I'm Back, Sorry I missed you" with this picture attached.

My experience is that these birds can be shy, they typically get scared pretty easy, so I was very very glad for this photograph today, even if it isn't really clear. I think Orioles are in my top 5 favorites in my area. Their colors are so intense and the sounds they make are equally beautiful.

Incidentally, most bird pictures I post are just so that you will know what I am talking about(I find them with google images). I don't think I've posted any from our actual yard. It's tough to get pics from the patio door, since the deck railing is closer and the camera mistakes it for our subject matter.

Okay blogger is acting up and won't let me upload, maybe a pic later....

Gray Catbird

Today I saw my first Gray Catbird of the year. I'm very excited that they are back. I don't know if it is the same one or many, but I've already had 3-4 sightings today. There was a downy woodpecker drinking from my birdbath (it's been pretty dry here) and a catbird sizing up the suet situation. Many house and gold finches too. So far it has been a great weekend for bird watching.

Migration

Well, I'm glad to say that I saw Mr. Grossbeak tonight. I was very excited and went out to the shop to tell my husband. He was all like, "Grossbeak? I saw him a week ago."

WHAT???

I've been so impatient to see my summer birds again. I cannot believe the Grossbeaks have been here for a week. He said he thinks he told me, and he probably did, but it didn't register for some reason. Sometime during the week when I was too busy to note it, the Dark Eyed Juncos headed home to nest. I haven't seen one in at least two days. They are cute, but I was tired of them. I'm sure I'll be very happy to see them in the fall. Today we've had many White-Throated Sparrows. They are so pretty. OH YES, and Chickadees have moved into my bluebird house. I'm very happy about this because we don't really have the wide open spaces that bluebirds love, and Chickadees are one of my favorites anyway.

I'm still anxious to see the Buntings, Catbirds, Orioles and of course the Hummingbirds. I saw Coop today (that is what we call the Cooper's Hawk who stalks our feeders). I also may have seen a Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker. Whatever it was it was flying overhead. I am pretty sure I saw a yellow wash on the sides, but... I'll have to wait and hope to confirm this.

On a separate topic, my Kindergartener won the Pricipal's award at her school yesterday. We are very proud of her, her "excellent work habits" earned her this esteemed honor. We celebrated with an awesome dinner of black nugget beef kabobs, rice and strawberries on the deck, and while we were eating, 4 deer walked through the back of our clearing (near the chickadee house). Then we had cookie dough ice cream/hot fudge sundaes with whipped cream. It was a wonderful evening.

What Flower Are You?

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

Somewhat accurate I think... Anyone else?