cardinal at a feeder

its cold and snowing and a cardinal is feeding

House finch

White-throated sparrow

I believe this is an adult white-throated sparrow.

Never seen a cardinal nest like this before!

I saw cardinals building this nest and have never seen a bird nest like this! I don’t want to use this door and destroy the nest. It is now November, so the little ones are gone. Should i leave the nest alone? Will they come back? It is a perfectly protected area for a nest – smart cardinals!

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Migration is here in the Michigan Mitten!

Osprey

I got this from a live cam but I wanted to share it.
Make sure to check out my other Osprey pictures.

Nene

Eagles

Osprey

Osprey

Northern Flicker Woodpecker

Northern Flicker visited today ~ handsome fella.

Northern Flicker woodpecker

The Northern Flicker and Red bellied woodpeckers are new visitors to my feeder within the last couple of days.

Red bellied woodpecker

This woodpecker has been visiting the feeder the last two evenings between 4-5pm. Took the shot through the window so I wouldn’t scare him off.

Hummingbird

Chipping sparrow

Think these might be chipping sparrows.

Mountain Bluebird

Female mountain bluebird busy building her nest.

Masked visitor

I like this shot of the cardinals face mask. It’s like he was posing!

Northern Cardinal

This is a young Northern Cardinal.

juvenile cardinal

Think this is a juvenile cardinal. Breast, tail red and red spot on head, black beak. Saw parent feeding the baby earlier this AM in the tree , but missed the shot.

Porchdoves

Third brood this year

Porch doves 3.0

Third brood this year

Hairy Woodpecker

I think this is a female Hairy Woodpecker ~ lacks red spot.

Grosbeaks?

Puffed up birdies hanging out on the forsynthia ~ my husband says they are Grosbeaks. I’m not sure.

Almost ready to fly

This is the fifth nesting cycle in this nest this year. There are videos on this site of earlier ones.

American Goldfinch

This is a breeding American Goldfinch. Of course it turned it’s head just as I took the shot, so I don’t know if it’s a male or female. My husband saw three goldfinches together ~ two pale ones and a bright one. I am excited to have them in my yard as they winter here in Vermont.

White ~ Red Nuthatches

White breasted nuthatch, red breasted nuthatch, & white throated sparrow on birdbath.

Snack time

Tufted Titmouse eyeing a tasty tidbit just before dusk.

Hummingbird

The hummingbirds visit this feeder fron dawn to dusk throughout the day. I also have several plants that they are fond of. I love these little birds!

Indigo Bunting Singing

A male Indigo Bunting with a beautiful song

Bluebird Fledgling Feeding Nestlings

Fledgling Eastern Bluebird is bringing a mealworm to the nest box to feed the nestlings while the adult male is also feeding the nestlings.

Small woodpecker

Downy or Hairy woodpecker at feeder. He visits everyday.

Large Hawk

Help with I.D., please?

Eastern Bluebird helpers

This is our first year with a bluebird house. We are in a suburban setting with no Tree Swallows to compete with bluebirds. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds has been nesting each spring at the home across the street so we added the bird house and put a cup feeders with meal worms. After the pair’s first brood fledged, the adults selected our birdhouse for the second brood. Sometime around July 21, I repeatedly saw what I believe is juvenile male perching near to adult, and both visiting nest box as seen it first image. I am sure female was in the box. (There are four chicks.) On August 19, I observed the juvenile male enter box with grasshopper (?) and minute later exit. Note in second image that the wings have male blue but shoulders are still dark. Isn’t this clearly a juvie? Today is 8/20. I observed three drab birds on the next box at the same time. Granted, one could be adult female but at least two are juveniles. I frequently see two of these drab birds at morning feeding frenzy with one entering box, and a second waiting. Are helpers all that rare and we are just lucky?

Porch doves

Porch doves

Porch doves

Porch Doves

Porch doves

Porch doves

7301 nest

Nest in exhaust fan

New Birdhouse Quickly Moved-Into

Around mid-July I put out three gourd birdhouses on our deck. A few weeks later (a few WEEKS!!!), a pair of Carolina Wrens moved into the top gourd. I was so surprised and excited that birds moved in so quickly!!!

Playing Hide and Seek

A flying squirrel jumped out of a bluebird box and landed on a nearby tree.

First flight out of the birdbox

Babies first flight! Fledging from the box.

Feeding time just before fledge

Feeding time just prior to fledge

Juvenile helper Eastern Bluebird Poop Sac Removal

I have observed a juvenile bluebird assisting with family duty during this breeding cycle. In the photo depicted, I captured the juvenile removing a poop sac. I had additional photographs of the juvenile feeding the babies.

Young House Wrens

Six house wren chicks over the course of about ten days.

Bluebird Juvenile Helper Feeding

This Bluebird Juvenile from first brood is helping mom and dad feed this second brood. This is the second day I’ve seen this Juvenile carrying food to nest to feed.

Red-Winged Birding/ Up close shots

I caught this beautiful shot in the neck of our woods just as the sun had reached its peak in the sunset. I believe its a Red-Winged Blackbird female.
If I’m wrong please post a comment below.

Front porch

Carlolina Wren was quick to create a moss nest in one of the hanging baskets at my front porch. This year her chosen roost was a New Guinea Impatiens. 3 eggs total were laid, but I only observed 2 live chicks that hatched several days apart. Mom was very attentive resulting in 2 successful fledges!

Fledging Bluebirds

Eastern Bluebirds fledge successfully.

Bewick’s wren babies! Oklahoma 2021

My first ever nest box! Two baby Bewick’s wrens and a surprise cow bird baby. One egg didn’t hatch. Best box was about 3 feet from my front door! I completely fell in love! ❤

Hard working dad

These 2 fledged 3 weeks ago. Momma’s fate is unknown as she vanished after laying 2 eggs of a 3rd brood, the nest box found open. I suspect a predator got her. This makes watching these parenting moments all the more touching. I’m thankful for the 2 successful broods this year.

Finally!

I finally caught this sucker on camera!
I stood, camera at the ready, behind a tree beside the feeder. Then came the buzzing sound of a hummingbird flying around my head. It soon landed on the feeder just waiting for its picture to be taken.
Perfect shot.

My first American Kestrels

My first pair of nesting Kestrels. I was hoping for Screech Owls or Kestrels. I’m thrilled!

Baltimore Orioles eating grape jelly

Northern Mockingbird momma & babies update

They are starting to move around so much. They will likely start leaving the nest over the next few days.

Northern Mocking Bird Parents & 5 Babies 07_05_21

Northern Mockingbird parents were trying to build under my back porch cover but, the twigs/sticks kept falling thru the vertical boards. I put in some long screws and tied twine to create a bottom and they built a great nest. They have 5 little babies.

Two plus two

This is the third clutch for this house finch mom. The nest is built into the top of a Christmas wreath.

Osprey chicks

Osprey chicks in the nest. about to fledge

Eastern Bluebird Eggs

Tree Swallow drama

Tree Swallows make for great entertainment. They are stubborn, boisterous, and fiercely protective of their brood.

Fledglings

Robins

Eastern Bluebird Fledglings

Bluebird fledglings ready to go

Watch Eastern Bluebird Egg Hatching!

This is the second brood this year for a young breeding pair of Eastern Bluebirds.

Juvenile Kingfishers on Martin house

We have juvenile Kingfishers that fledged 2 weeks ago—parents seem to have driven them away? They are hanging out with our Purple Martins.

Mom and a baby osprey in the nest platform. June 24 2021

Baby bluebirds hatching

Watch’bird’

This little guy was looking at his feeder, I believe making sure nobirdy else was using it..

Wren

Bluebird nest

Give that baby a worm!

8 day old Eastern Bluebirds in a nestbox in our pasture.

Chick of ground living bird

Black winged stilt is a ground living bird. who nests on ground. chicks grow on ground.

Cattle egret chicks on nest

cattle egret chicks on nest in a colony in a single tree

Cozy comfort

Four house finch eggs as of 6-19. Third clutch this year.

House Sparrow or something else?

Nest looks like a tree swallow, but these are not ts eggs.

Christmas all summer

This is the third clutch this season for the sweet house finch that has set up house in my Christmas wreath.
There have been 11 successful fledgings thus far. As of today ~ two eggs. First cluch was five, second was six.
She used the first nest twice and this time recycled bits and pieces of it and built a new nest in a new wreath
that my sister had left over from Christmas. She built the nest in the same exact place in the second wreath.

Egg shell

What the heck?

These eggs where in an eastern phoebe’s nest. They do no look like cowbird or cuckoo eggs so what are they?

Great Crested Flycatcher

This Great Crested Flycatcher flew into my yard, and perched less than 8 feet from where I was sitting. I was sitting outside on my deck my camera, as the Pileated Woodpeckers and their young were foraging along the perimeter of my yard. This is the first time I’ve ever had this species come this close to the house. I hear the bird calling several times a day, but it has never flown into my yard and sat on a relatively low exposed perch. It made my whole day!

Eurasian Collared Dove Nesting Cycle

This video is a series of video clips selected from a nest camera to represent various parts of the nesting cycle from empty nest to flying fledglings. At the beginning some Robins check over the nest site.

Nestlings

From the nest in my garage.

Baby robins

Parents made the nest in a bird feeder

Barn Owl Cam

This Barn Owl Box has been active for five years. Presently three chicks are growing fast. Watch them grow and learn how to be Mother Nature’s rodent control. Barn Owl’s a value-added community member. Please help protect them but eliminating all rodenticides. Thank you.

Purple Martin nests

Baby Chipping Sparrows!

ground nest by 1×2 stake

Camera recommendations for the avid birder

Ive had my Canon Powershot SX720 HS for about two years now. I originally bought this camera for its portable and lightweight features. There were some downsides though.
1: It did not/ does not come with zoom lenses. For a birder this can be tricky, especially when trying to take far away shots.
2: It does not have clear focus.

I would like my next choice to be lightweight, portable, have clear focus, to come with zoom lenses, and overall be in a price range of about $300- $500.
If you have any recommendations, please post a comment below.

Weirdest nest? I have ever seen

This was near fresh water on a log near a dock. What is it. Almost looked like bubble gum stretched over eggs

Great Crested Flycatcher

A Great Crested Flycatcher on a tomato plant cage. I’ve never spotted one of these in the 20 years I’ve lived at this address. A couple days in a row it landed on this metal cage for newly planted tomato plants. It hopped down and ate something on the ground each time.

Female Eastern Bluebird with Cicada

Female E. Bluebird preparing to feed fifth and final baby bluebird a Cicada

Female E. Bluebird with Cicada

After 4 baby bluebirds already left the box, this female bluebird is preparing to feed the final baby a molted Cicada.

We Claim This Box

I opened this wood duck nest box to find a neat Carolina wren nest inside. No eggs yet.

Ring of eggs

I found this nest box of a house wren that has a ring around each egg instead of just brown speckles. I have found this once before in 2021,on my daughter’s farm.

Getting Crowded

In a box at my daughter’s farm, I opened this box to count 8 eggs of tree swallow which is above the normal.

The End of a Tale

I opened this box located next to my daughter’s pond and found this shocking addition, a bunny’s tail. I’ve seen this in all my 20 years of monitoring. Well, it is white, which seems that what tree swallows like to add to their nest, i.e. white feathers.

Baby Owletts made their appearance !

Have been waiting to see if there were 1 or 2 babies ! So happy to see 2

Momma Bluebird on nest

Just a couple days before expected hatching

Migrating Birds

As the 2021 spring migration ends, these are a variety of the birds that I’ve seen migrating through Northern Illinois this spring.

Half a dozen tweets

Looks like half a dozen baby finches! Brood #2. I thought one egg was an infertile egg from a previous clutch. Appears I was mistaken ~ happily!