Wood Thrush with interesting markings
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Water Thrush #200
Yellow-throated Warbler
Wood Thrush #197
Scarlet Tanager
A Bluebird Day
Snow Bunting
Heading back to the high Arctic breeding grounds these winter birds will soon be on their way north.
Indego Bunting
Such an impactful blue, when you see it, you just know you’ve seen a different bird.
The Blue Birds are back!
Bluebirds seem to arrive in waves… ours seem to be on a later schedule every year, just when I’m wondering if they will be back, they arrive ready to nest in the boxes along the fence line.
Orioles
Phoebe
I think it is fair to say our most entertaining flycatcher is the eastern phoebe. It is the easiest of the flycatchers to identify because of its fondness for human structures, including our barn. From the nest it built in Limerick’s stall, we have watched one female in particular fly to and fro through several summer months beginning in May. The female phoebe constructs the nest from mud, moss, and leaves mixed with grass stems and possibly animal hair. This nest adheres to the barn beams in the barn. Once the eggs hatched, you can hear the insistent chirping complaints of the chicks while their busy mother tried to satisfy the chicks’ appetite for insects. The adult could often be seen sitting on a low tree branch, a few yards away from the porch, flicking its tail up and down.
Northern Flickers
Northern Flickers spend lots of time on the ground, and when in trees they’re often perched upright on horizontal branches instead of leaning against their tails on a trunk. They fly in an up-and-down path using heavy flaps interspersed with glides, like many woodpeckers. This pair were on the road side by our farm.
Mourning Dove
The mourning dove call is a distinctive “wooo-oo-oo-oo” sound which may evoke a feeling of grief over the loss of a dearly beloved. But far from representing death, mourning dove symbolism can give us optimism with its spirituality. Beyond their sorrowful song is a message of life, hope, renewal and peace. This one was in our apple trees.
House Sparrows on a cold fall day
Raven
Barn Swallow Chicks
Red-breasted Grosbeak
Black-capped Chickadee
Eastern Kingbird
Kingbirds love page wire fences, they are everywhere in the country side. They quietly mind their own business until bothered, then look out if you’re a predatory bird looking to do harm.
