Still Birding

Last night was such an incredible bird night that I’ve been inspired to quickly blog about it. My lack of blogging btw has been mainly due to the workload I have at work coupled with the lack of sufficient hiring around here… Not that work is a place to blog, but I do like to take an occasional break now and then.

We are now feeding suet and also I got an Oriole feeder for Mother’s Day. The suet has brought much more frequent visits from the woodpeckers. We see Downy woodpeckers constantly. Also the Hairy and the Red Bellied Woodpeckers are regulars. Recently we have seen Pileated Woodpeckers on several occasions. They are quite a site to behold. I blogged last year about seeing one at a Boy Scout camp. That was my very first sighting. We now see them weekly at least.

Last week I saw a Downy Woodpecker drinking the nectar from my Oriole feeder. This was new. We’ve had it out and full since Mother’s Day. I had only seen an Oriole once or twice. And only the Hummingbirds were really utilizing it. Then this week I started seeing House Finches drinking it too. My bird book says they drink sap and eat fruit so I guess that’s not too surprising.

Anyway the additional foods have increased the number and variety of avian visitors significantly. These are the birds I saw yesterday:
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Black Capped Chickadee
Gray Catbird
Cardinal
Indigo bunting
Chipping Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole (this was exciting as it’s been while)
Ruby Throated Humming Bird
American Goldfinch
European Starling
Another cool aspect of birding this year is that many of our feathered friends have brought their offspring to our feeders while teaching them to find food. If you’ve never seen that, it is so cute. The baby squaks and flutters with it’s mouth open. The parent bird then puts something in there, gradually though he or she stops feeding them and they begin to use the feeders themselves. We’ve observed this with Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Starlings and House Finches (and last year with the Grosbeaks also. It’s awesome.

Hey Phil, Thanks!

I just finished reading The Innocent Man by Grisham, what's everyone else reading?