Despite the cooler than normal weather the past few days (and some distinctly
white stuff on the ground in the AM early on Saturday...) our yard was bursting
with spring bird song and frogs calling during this wonderul Mother's Day
Weekend.
This AM, I added Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, and Catbird!
Weekend birds around our yard include Wood Ducks in the oaks, Canada Geese but
no goslings yet, Turkeys calling at dusk on Saturday, Sora Rail out in the
marsh, Sandhill Cranes in the marsh, Broad-winged Hawk out at the end of the
drive just like usual, and Barred Owls later in the day and at night when I go
out with the dog to get a bit of fresh air. The Ravens are commonly overhead
during the day so I know their nest is quite nearby again this year. Tree
Swallows are gurgling over the marsh. Song Sparrows are very common this year.
A Red-breasted Nuthatch stopped by for a bite at the suet and peanut feeders --
hadn't seen it for a while. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is calling and checking
all the trees--maybe he'll stay around this year, but they usually go a bit
farther north.
The Phoebe is somewhat quiet right now so I know they are sitting on the nest
which is always built on a ledge we put up for them under the eaves of the
house in the L next to the garage, a nice quite area to raise one's young...
but the WREN! Wow, what output those little guys have! We had one in the
closed-door fireplace last week, he must have come down the chimney while
investigating a good place to make a nest start. We tried to use a butterfly
net to get him to fly into, but he eluded us. So, we isolated him on the back
porch and then picked him up after he got tired of missing the open door. Got a
good look at his evil-looking bill, and then let him go. He flew to the side of
the house, blinked the ash from his eyes a few times and off he went, to resume
singing just a little while later. Speaking of output, the goldfinches are also
pretty prolific, considering that they won't nest until later in the summer!
While working in the garden during the rain on Friday (under the trees it
wasn't so bad but I got pretty wet anyhow!), I heard several Black-throated
Green Warblers, and many Tennessee Warblers with their 3-parted song that, if
you are closeby, can give you almost the same decibels as the Sandhill Cranes
in the marsh during the day or the frogs at night! There are still some
Yellow-rumped Warblers, too. One Ovenbird is singing quite close to the house,
plus some are singing from opposite sides of the drive. White-throated Sparrow
song awoke me early each AM, while the Indigo Bunting's song was a welcome
addition during the day.
Last week we had Nashville, Black-and-white, Tennessee, and Yellow-rumped
Warblers, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers all over the place for a couple of days.
This week I hope to add Redstarts and Chestnut-sided's, maybe a Pine, the
Yellow, and Yellowthroat, maybe a cuckoo or two, and I will put out the jelly
for the Orioles and the sugar-water for the Hummingbirds.
This AM I plan to spend out digging up sod so I can move my daylilies to a
sunnier bed, hopefully before the rain sets in. Due to a lightning strike that
took out a previous computer, I now have a bit of sun that I can put daylilies
and peony's into, to break up the shade-lovers like hosta, astilbe, bleeding
hearts, trillium, huechera, and ligularia. I love to listen to the birds while
I work in the garden. Quite relaxing despite the exersion of digging up sod.
This PM I will catch up on email and other indoor things, but I'll keep a
window cocked open to hear the birds if they'll sing through the rain.
Ah,
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious
(to quote a favorite poet...)
Holly Peirson
Columbus, Anoka Co.
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