Adult Violet-green feeding Young

A female (top photo) and the male (bottom photo) feeding young at nest box.

A Violet-green returning to nest box

I have been monitoring violet-green swallows for many years. I have noticed that they like to re-enter their nest boxes after they have fledged. One swallow this year entered again and stayed to the next morning.

Great Horned Owl

Natural roost site adjacent to our home.

Sunbird Fight Large-Bill Gerygone In Nest

I was observing & photographing the Large-Bill Gerygone tend to their chicks when I captured this incident. A number of times I have seen both the Olive-Back Sunbird & Large-Bill Gerygone trying to chase each other away without actually coming into contact. It seems the Sunbird looked a bit better off in the fight as it flew off but the 2 L-B Gerygone slowly flew away from near the ground in the Heliconia plants.

The Large-Bill Gerygone & Sunbird has their nest about 2.5m apart.The sunbird nest was a meter from my door on a large fan. I push the fan a further meter away and placed boxes behind the nest so the mum could not see me & this allowed her to spend more time in the nest instead of flying off everytime I walked in and out.
The Sunbird came back a few days ago to lay in the same nest for the 3rd time this year.

Frolicking Robins

Migratory Robins frolicking in the stream in our front-yard, enjoying the warm, sunny day in November!

European Starling

Pine siskins at the tray feeder

White Breasted Nuthatch

Fall Birds Feast!

I refilled the feeder and ten minutes later . . they feast!

Fall Feeders Birds

Fall is probably my favorite season, the crisp fall air, bright yellow, orange, red leaves, and the migration of birds. Even though these birds are not migrating bird in our area, I still love to watch them peck at the feeder till it’s empty. I can remember the first time I saw a white, breasted nuthatch, I call them “Ninja Birds “, because they would run up our feeder post, then look from side to side, then grab a treat. And the sweet call of the chickadees calling. Every year I’ve tried and tried to hold sunflowers out and have a “chick” land on me.
And this fall I finally did it! The “chick” was so curious. So be it the fall air, the morning hikes, or the migrating birds, I love fall!

Eurasian golden oriole

Chickadee Threat Display

Tree Swallow arrives just in time for the next feeding.

Ready to Fledge

A Lone Mountain Bluebird

Thirsty Hummer!

Back at it again! In pic number 3 you can see her puffing up and looking so big and scary 😍

Greedy Hummers!

My hummers fight so much! With two feeders with atleast 12 ports to drink from each, these two bossy Female Ruby-Throated are very greedy! You can’t see her but this is the shot right before one comes in on Moe to fight. Even though it can be annoying at least at the end of the day all my baby hummers get food for everyone 🙂

Eurasian Nuthatch

Whiskered Tern juvenile

Late season American Robin eggs

While pruning I found nest in the center of 6 ft cherry laurel shrub/tree. Not sure if it’s active being so late in PNW season.

Cedar Waxwings nesting late!

This is the first nest ever where I live!

Mississippi kite

These Kits showed up this spring 2020. They courted and mated this spring. I was hoping to find the nest. I have discovered we have two pair here now. I am still trying to locate the nest. Very difficult due to all the large trees in the neighborhood.

Male Red-backed Shrike

Great Blue Heron

Eastern Bluebird

Young Tree Swallows

Red-bellied Woodpecker Flying Back to It’s Nest!

Cormorant Gathering Nesting Material!

Staring contest with Sandhill Crane

What do you think this Crane was thinking when we started our stare down? I don’t know who one though, I think it was a tie.

Barred Owls in our nest box

Once we put the predator guards on the nest box tree the Barred Owls had a successful brood. Our trail cameras caught hundreds of great pictures – her are a few.
The Barred Owl family is still around and we see and hear them quite often. We saw the fledglings a lot after they left the box. So exciting for us !

Sparrow Hawk Nest a Little Older

These photos are of the Sparrow Hawk babies when they were around 2 months old. I am only guessing because I don’t know their exact hatch date. By June they had all fledged.

Sparrow Hawk Nest

These photos were taken from my home which was across the street from the nest. This was on May 2, 2020. I watched this nest from the time the parents built it until the babies fledged. This Sparrow Haw pair I was told has been nesting in this Pine tree for at least the past 5 years. They are at least 50 feet above the home that the tree is in. As they got older I was able to get clearer photos of them as well as video.

4 little chicks

They return every year

Mourning Dove Nesting

Amazing breeding of pheasant tailed Jacana

I have observed complete amazing breeding of pheasant tailed Jacana. Floating nest made on water. Entire process is shown here in photographs.

Breeding of redwattled lapwing on ground

Lapwing is a ground living bird, this bird makes nest on ground. I have observed complete nesting process.

Nesting of streaked weaver

Streaked weavers are nesting at this place. there is a colony of nests

Nesting of purple heron

Purple heron is nesting at this location

Nesting of tailor bird

Tailor bird started nest building inside my house, I have noted down all its activity date wise. 4 days in nest building , 14 days in incubation and rearing of chicks.

Beauty of Songbirds

Beauty of Songbirds in northwestern Pennsylvania.

A day in a life of a breeding female American Robin

100 Grackles

This photo was taken out the kitchen window into the backyard.

Blue Bird Baby’s

Bluebird babies

Northern cardinal at feeder

House wren nestling waiting for his mum

Almost fledglings!

Junco baby about to Fledge

Junco baby about to fledge, it jumped from the nest basket (fuschia) into another basket (petunia) and then took off from here. Last baby Junco to fledge in 2020.

Pigeon nest box with fledglings

Carolina wrens nest

This is the second time they laid eggs this year.

What in the world is this?

Does anyone know what this feather belongs to?

It was about 2 1/2 inches long with light brown outer circumference

Mystery nest? HELP

The nest was built with straw and LOTS of feathers

Tree swallow nestling

It was peaceful that day, I was kayaking on one of my favorite lakes. While I was there I saw nest boxes and decided to check them out. As I approached an adult tree swallow came and then left, I lifted the box top and took a quick peek inside, and there were five or six swallow nestling all huddled together. I checked out other nest sites too that day, one had an egg and another had nestlings.

Water Pipit

Ruby-throated humming bird nest

We used a GoPro camera tethered to a pool pole to check out this humming bird nest. We had observed it being built, and estimate it was completed on/about 25-Jul when the bird’s activity slowed considerably and the bird appeared to “sit” more.

There’s something different about this Blue Jay, but I can’t seem to figure out what….

Young Birds at my Feeders

I’ve been seeing a lot of juvenile and immature Northern Cardinals lately, and now there’s also a juvenile Red-Bellied Woodpecker! How exciting!!!

Red Shouldered Hawks and two chicks

Red Shouldered Hawk nest 2020

52 minute video covering early discovery of the nest, through successfully raising two chicks who are seen hunting after leaving the nest.

Prothonotary Warbler

Cedar waxwing

Rose-breasted grosbeak

Mystery bird

UNKNOWN bird

Phoebe Nestlings – All Five Ready to Fly

Because the phoebe nest is located so close to my shed ceiling, I always had a difficult counting the nestlings during my nest watch.

At last, this photo captured all five nestlings – at the ready to fly. The photo was taken on 7-21. On 7-23, in the afternoon, I was lucky to see the last one fly out of the nest and up into a nearby trees and beyond. Its flight pattern was clearly not that of a skilled adult yet. I’m sure he or she will catch on quickly.

Our new neighbors

Bewick Wren Eggs

Wren Eggs, 4 total

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nest

One of the parents is always at the nest and is visible on the left. One of the chicks is on the branch near the parent while its four other sibling chicks are still in the nest. There are five chicks, total. The parents have been very attentive and small piles of regurgitated, reddish crayfish have been visible on the nest, where the parents have regurgitated food for the chicks.

White-eyed Vireo Chicks

Four White-eyed Vireo chicks a few days after hatching.

Baby Tree Swallows

Eastern Phoebe Nest

This nest is located above a light, next to a door on an enclosed porch. The house is located next to a large wooded area and a wide yard. Several bird feeders are available year round in this location.

HELP!!!

When I was biking, I saw this thrush-like bird on the side of the path. It froze for 30 seconds and then flew less than two feet away. It was extremely plump, and seemed to be a juvenile. What is it?

Juvenile Northern Cardinal at my Feeders

Sandhill Crane Family

These “Dino’s were wading in marsh, I was ecstatic with how close I could get to them.
There was a Mom,Dad, and a young sandhill crane, they were eating some kind of berry. We don’t have alligators, sharks, or any of those dangerous animals, but we have ” Dino’s.

Salt & Shark free!!

Who are you?

Juvenile Eastern Bluebird Feeds Nestlings

Juvenile Eastern Bluebird, presumably from first clutch, feeds sibling nestlings from second clutch. It was helping the adult pair (presumably its parents) feed the nestlings from the second clutch.

PLEASE HELP! What is this bird?

I’ve been searching far and wide for days now trying to figure out what this bird is. It’s yellow, with grayish patches on the tips of its wings, a little bigger than a sparrow, has a beak like a Cardinal, and is a frequent visitor at my feeder. (It’s been eating seeds.) Is it a female Summer Tanager?

Fly By

This baby has only been out of the nest for a few minutes with both parents fly by feeding.

Piggy-back Violet-green Swallow babies

Violet-green Swallow babies close to fledging. They spend lots of time taking turns hanging out of the nest box hole and being fly by fed by parents during the last few days before they fledge. I’ve never seen 2 babies manage to squeeze out of the nest box hole at the same time before.

Northern Cardinal Fledge Day

For a few days, I noticed a male and female N. Cardinal repeatedly flying near a small cedar tree. I checked the tree and could not find a nest. So, I gave up. Then, on another day, I just had to check for a nest again because I was still seeing the adult cardinals in the area. This time, I found the nest with the fully feathered three nestlings inside. The parents did a great job building this nest in the thickest and most difficult part to access (for me) section of the tree.

House Wren – From Eggs to Fully Feathered – All Seven!

Busy with a zillion other projects around our 8 acres and homestead, we had neglected a small nest box mounted on our electric pole years ago. It had not been used in years. This spring we cleaned it out and re-mounted it. It did not take long for a House Wren pair to claim it for their own. Not far from this family, a Northern Cardinal raised three nestlings successfully.

Barn Swallow nest

Unusual rings on eggs

Over 20 years of monitoring, I’ve never come across house wren eggs with brown rings around the shells. Usually they are cream colored with brown speckles.

Comana Delta

Loggerhead Shrike Fledgling!

This Loggerhead Shrike fledgling is mimicking adult hunting behavior by flying from branch to branch with a leaf!

Barred Owl Family

While Nest Watching, I have also been watching and hearing a barred owl family living in our 8 acres of mixed woods, with two small ponds. The nest was off our property. So, I could only barely see the large twig structure from the property line. But, once the babes were out of the nest (“branching”), I heard them calling mom or dad for food, day and night! (It is a one note call that is repeated continually till food arrives. It is easy to ID, as it is a soft high pitch and raspy.)

On May 1, I located the source of the sound I was hearing and took the photo of the feather ball babe seen in the first photo.

At that time, I thought there was only one owlet. However, as the months progressed, I realized that I was hearing two youngsters calling. So, I was very happy when I finally saw the twins at dusk, perched on a low tree limb near my house. Their calls were particularly loud and desperate sounding!

On June 9th, I followed the calls for the last time! I have not heard the twins since that day. I was thrilled to see this mature owlet. Its sibling was up higher in the tree, so I could not get a good photo of him or her.

Then, the next day, I happened to see one of the adults, checking me out as I walked in our woods. Fortunately, I had my camera handy. I’ve learned not to leave my house empty handed.

Red Shouldered Hawk Calling

Robin Nest

Loggerhead Shrike Fledgling Regurgitateing A Pellet!

Backyard birds

The first photo is a green heron. There was a nest in our blue spruce tree right next to our house. There were 3 babies, but one fell out of the nest and died. I had never seen a Green Heron before, so it was a real thrill to catch this fledgling as it was learning to fly. The 2nd photo is a nest of Barn Swallows. There are 5 babies in the nest.

Loggerhead Shrike Fledglng Learning To Hunt!

This Loggerhead Shrike fledgling was checking out a small lizard, not being sure if it could make a meal of it or not! In the end the fledgling let the lizard go!

5-4 day old Eastern Bluebirds

5-4 day old Eastern Bluebirds, follow up to previous images of eggs and just hatched

Help identifying nest preditor!!!

Chipping Sparrow in tiny bush

Tree Swallows

Eastern Bluebird hatchlings

Chickadee Nest In Rochester, MI April 8-May 26, 2020

Black capped chickadee nest in Rochester, MI April 9-May 26, 2020. Nest is located in wooden birdhouse attached to a pole on a second floor balcony in a condo subdivision.

chickadee nest in Rochester, MI April 8-May 26, 2020

Black capped chickadee nest in Rochester, MI April 9-May 26, 2020. Nest is located in wooden birdhouse attached to a pole on a second floor balcony in a condo subdivision.

Loggerhead Shrike Fledgling Trying To Wedge A Gecko Into The V Of A Small Branch!

House Wrens KILL

Tree Swallow nest