The chickadees are still in the bluebird nesting box, but were visited one morning this week by a bluebird! Mama Chickadee quickly ran off the intruder. I really wasn't expecting to see any more bluebirds this spring. I need to go buy another nesting box.
On Mother's Day, after the storm passed through, I took it upon myself to check on the Carolina wrens that are nesting in the basketball goal. I still wasn't sure if they were even in there. I had seen both male and female building the nest, but I hadn't seen any activity about the nest in a while. I thought it may have been a decoy nest. First, I tried looking from the ground, but I couldn't see anything. I climbed up on the picnic table and just as I was about to peek into the nest the mama flew out and almost flew right up my nose! She was mad as a wet hen! She flew up in a tree and scolded me over and over again. Dear husband was out working on the van and he said, "You had to do it, didn't you!"
Recently, the whole family was fortunate enough to see a mama robin feeding her fledgling. She only had one with her and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the rest of them. Mama robin was busy pulling up earthworms from the ground. The fledgling had a voracious appetite and spent most of the time with its mouth open. The baby robin's breast was red, but was covered in black spots. The robins at my Mom's house fledged without her ever getting to see them.
Since May 5th we have been having a song sparrow sit and peck on the kitchen window. He wakes me up almost every morning. At first, I thought he was seeing a reflection, but he pecks on the window at all hours of the day whether the sun is out or not and even when the shutters are closed. He will hop back and forth from the window to the roof of the pump house, taking time to grab a bite of suet and then back over to the window to peck, peck, peck. It's a good thing I like birds so well.
My last bird story for this week is about a little chickadee that oldest dear son was observing and called for me to come watch. Oldest dear son is also an avid bird watcher and it is so nice to have an extra pair of eyes on the look out for birding activity. We have a metal strainer on the roof for seeds. Originally, I bought it for a honey strainer, but it was too small. It has an oblong metal strainer in which we pour the seeds. Around the rim of the strainer are two sides which pull out for you to hang the strainer over the sink. We leave these out for the birds to use as a perch. On this day a little chickadee was trying to hold a seed between his feet and crack it open. He kept slipping and falling backwards, but he would not turn lose of the perch or the seed so he ended up hanging upside down! One second he would be upright trying to open the seed and the next second he would fall backwards and briefly hang before righting himself. It was like something you would see in a cartoon.
And finally, here is the turtle that oldest dear son called me out to see the day he was mowing grass. I think this little fellow has star quality. He seemed to be posing for me and didn't retreat into his shell.
1 comment:
These are wonderful little stories! I laughed about you bothering poor mama wren!! The upside bird had to be a sight!
Thanks for sharing. Mark and I sit and watch our birds and ducks when we have the time.
Lately, the ducks have been sitting outside the little fenced in area outside my back door where we keep our doxies. It's so funny. We have decided that they come everyday to visit with our dogs. The dogs never bark. They just go to the fence and sit with the ducks.
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