Let Me Serenade You

When I've been out in our backyard lately, a little song sparrow has been sitting in one of our leeland trees singing. If he's not there when I get outside, he appears while I'm there. When I hear him singing, I think about the Three Dog Night Song, Let Me Serenade You. It may be the only time I evere get a serenade, but it happens quite a few times a week!

I also saw him foraging on the ground underneath our cedar trees. He was protective of "his" territory and ran a couple of house finches off. I haven't seen him at the feeders off the kitchen window very much, but I'd like to get a better picture!

When I was watching the song sparrow, I also caught a glimpse of the female cardinal that visits our yard. Last year, we had three juvenile cardinals eating from the feeders off the kitchen, but, the year, we rarely see more than one cardinal at the feeder at a time. I'd love to see more of them. The female is very shy and flies off as soon as she even thinks she hears us. She is one of the prettiest birds I see in the yard. The picture below is what I see of her most.

Hummingbirds

The hummingbirds are finally back! They took a while to find our feeders this year despite the red ribbons. One feeder is on the window beside our breakfast table where we eat all of our meals. We're very entertained with the hummingbird wars that have already started. One little guy lands on the feeder, and another comes diving down at him. They fly off in circles with one another. One sees a chance to land again, and the cycle continues. It's great fun and terrific dinner time entertainment.

My four year old learned last year to identify the males and females. It took her a couple of times to get it right this year, but she is accurate each time now! I hope she always loves the birds!

Finches

A juvenile male house finch visited our feeder yesterday. His feathers are just beginning to turn crimson. Some of his little downey, baby feathers are still visible right above his legs.

A pair of gold finches also flew in. I couldn't get a good picture of them together, but I was able to get a picture of each of them. I thought I saw a male gold finch feeding a baby at the feeder this week, but I wasn't able to get a picture of them. We planted a very small maple tree in our yard last year, and I'm hoping when it gets bigger that a pair of these birds will build a nest. We hear them chirping as they fly around the house and when they land on the feeder. It's been fun getting to know their voice, and now we know they're on the feeder as soon as we hear them!

I love Diane's description of the male gold finches. She calls the Generals. I think that must be because of the black "hat" the males have on their heads. The female in the picture below looks regal enough to be a general's wife! It looks as if she is posing for me in the picture below!

Indigo Bunting

To my delight, I was able to get another few pictures of the Indigo Bunting. Each time I see him, I'm amazed at how blue he is. I haven't seen him since I took these pictures, but I look for him everyday!

The Barn Swallows & the Nuthatch

Last week, we noticed a lot of bird noise and activity at the front of our house. Birds were flying around and in between the houses, and they were landing on the edge of our roof. They were catching a breeze and gliding like kites. They must have been having a lot of fun! When they landed, it appeared that adult birds were feeding their babies. We were able to get several pictures, and we're pretty sure the birds were barn swallows.


We haven't seen any nests on the house, but I think nests might be close as the barn swallows prefer to nest in areas like roof lines. They also need mud to build their nests, and there are lots of places around here to have that.





















The little nuthatch also came back to the feeder, and I was able to get a picture. He is a brown-headed nuthatch. The pictures weren't wonderful, but I was excited to be able to identify what kind of nuthatch was have visiting us. I'm hopeful he'll get more use to our attention and that I'll be able to get a better picture!

Indigo Bunting

Dorie and Hanks's little birds took off for the great big world, and I didn't get to see it. I kept a watchful eye, but it was not watchful enough. I'm hoping we are lucky enough to have another pair of blue birds use our little nest box as they're nesting site.

A new bird came along just as I figured out that the babies were gone. It was salve to my wound. He has been here for several days, and I was able to get a picture. He is a beautiful Indigo Bunting! I also believe I saw a Nuthatch, but I didn't have any luck getting a picture. Maybe he'll be back, and I'll have my camera ready.