American Robin Nest #2

These photos are of the incomplete nest. The pictures of the complete nest will be posted later.
The nest fell down during a windstorm a couple of weeks after it was built and is on the ground (no evidence of eggs).

Unknown Species Nest in Birdhouse

American Gold Finches

Lucky day to spot the male & female American Goldfinches together. Hoping they are a mated pair. 8-14-23

Male House Finch

My House Finches had a tougher time this year with nesting and raising their young. Hope next year is better for them. I love their noisy cheerful chatter. 8-14-23

Red-Eyed Vireo

Wreath nest

Wren nest.

Laughing gulls? Ocean City, NJ.

Bluebird babies.

I am posting them today because I thought I wouldn’t have time.

Popular hangout

Sparrows hanging out in the bird bath 8-12-23

Immature Blue Jay

Juvenile Downy Woodpecker at the nestbox

When we put up this nestbox last winter, we thought that either a House Sparrow or starling would take it. (which would be nice, first come first serve) Since we put it up several birds have considered it, chickadees, starlings, and now a woodpecker. He would bang on the birdhouse, widen the opening, then go and collect wood chips from the fence, then he would return and put them in the birdhouse. I read that some birds have their oldest brood to help make the nest and take care of the new babies. This is the second time that a Downy has been in our backyard and now we might have a nest! We aren’t going to go near the box until they (hopefully) have a nest since birds can abandon their unfinished nests but are very unlikely to abandon eggs or young.

Barn Swallow

Red-Tailed Hawk

Great Egret

Hummingbirds.

Cute Cardinal

Yard full of Cardinals this morning. 8-10-23

Taking a dip

The Cardinals really enjoy the bird bath. 8-1-23

Hummingbird time.

8/8/2023

Titmice bathing

From the treetop

Male Cardinal chirpping loudly from the very top of my Lilac tree 8-9-23

Hanging in the rain

This Male Ruby-throaed hummert hung out long enough for me to get a dozen shots on this gloomy morning.
8-8-23

Breakfast

House sparrow feeding young ~ 8-8-23

Big splash

Big Blue Jay took a dive 8-6-23 Had to re-fill the birdbath!

Buffet of birds

Usual cast of characters that visit daily. 8-5-23

Red Head

Tthis Red-bellied Woodpecker looks like someone combed his cap feathers! The hummers remain quite active darting about. 8-3-23

Northern Cardinal Nest

I was outside gardening when I heard the northern cardinal chipping and I heard a high-pitched chipping to so I went over to a shrub where I heard the sound coming from. A female cardinal flew out. I looked up into the bush, and I saw a nest with three little baby Cardinals.

Berry birds(Part 6)

Titmouse/Chickadee

8/2/2023

Berry birds(Part 5)

Family of Robins.

Berry birds(Part 4)

Eastern Great Egret Busy Fishing On a Hot Summer Day

The beautifuil Eastern Great Egret is considered a subspecies of the great egret. In New Zealand it is known as the white heron or by its Māori name kōtuku.
The elegant Great Egret is a dazzling sight in many a North American wetland. Slightly smaller and more svelte than a Great Blue Heron, these are still large birds with impressive wingspans. They hunt in classic heron fashion, standing immobile or wading through wetlands to capture fish with a deadly jab of their yellow bill.

Berry birds(Part 3)

Berry birds(Part 2)

Eye to the sky

The hummingbird activity has picked up quite a bit. Multiple daily visits to the feeder from dusk to dawn. It was a very slow start though. 8-2-23

Great White Egret

The great egret, also known as the common egret, large egret, or great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Recently it is also spreading to more northern areas of Europe.

Chickadees and Titmouse.

Ruby-throated hummer

Lots of activity this morning. Hummers, Carolina Wren, Cardinals, WB Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Chipping Sparrow, Blue Jays! 8-1-23

Baby barred owls in my backyard

I built a barred owl house based on the NestWatch specs and put it in my backyard. First watched a raccoon size up the box. Then a few rounds of squirrels. Pretty exciting to then see barred owls investigate the box periodically in early morning hours. Then one day I saw “Beatrice” the barred owl looking out of the nest in the middle of day. She stayed continuously in the nest for over a months with regular food deliveries from “Barry”. Soon after that we noticed Beatrice leave the nest for brief moments maybe for a bit of reprieve or to help with hunting for the growing babies. I happened to be there to take video of the first fledge and of that fledgling climbing a nearby tree to safety. Once they both fledged it became difficult to find them but once a day I would seek them out and typically could find and photograph at least one fledgling and a parent. One highlight for me was a couple weeks after fledge when I found the two babies together one a single branch. Before my eyes I witnessed for the first time one successfully fly to another treetop and the sibling immediately follow. Another highlight was watching a parent deliver a short tailed shrew to a fledgling. I sent that picture to a local biologist for confirmation of the schrew identification. Fascinating stuff.

Berry birds(Part 1)

Adult Mockingbird Removing A Fecal Sac!

Adult Mockingbird Waiting For A Fecal Sac!

Most nesting birds expel a fecal sac which is a mucous membrane that surrounds the feces that helps keep the nest clean!

Swainson’s Thrush

Spotted once this year in May. Has speckled breast. Identified by fellow birder on project feeder watch.

Backyard Barred Owls

I built a barred owl house based on the NestWatch specs and put it in my backyard. First watched a raccoon size up the box. Then a few rounds of squirrels. Pretty exciting to then see barred owls investigate the box periodically in early morning hours. Then one day I saw “Beatrice” the barred owl looking out of the nest in the middle of day. She stayed continuously in the nest for over a months with regular food deliveries from “Barry”. Soon after that we noticed Beatrice leave the nest for brief moments maybe for a bit of reprieve or to help with hunting for the growing babies. I happened to be there to take video of the first fledge and of that fledgling climbing a nearby tree to safety. Once they both fledged it became difficult to find them but once a day I would seek them out and typically could find and photograph at least one fledgling and a parent. One highlight for me was a couple weeks after fledge when I found the two babies together one a single branch. Before my eyes I witnessed for the first time one successfully fly to another treetop and the sibling immediately follow. Another highlight was watching a parent deliver a short tailed shrew to a fledgling. I sent that picture to a local biologist for confirmation of the schrew identification. Fascinating stuff.

Feather ID

This feather was found on the ground on July 28 (2023).

Possible Identifications:
– Dark-eyed Junco (slate-coloured)
– Common Redpoll
– ……

Ruby throated- hummer

You can’t see his ruby throat in this pic but this little guy was just hanging out this morning~ 7-31-23

Male American Goldfinch

Handsome male AGF stopped by this morning ~ 7-3-23. The female AGF visited yesterday.

Barn Owl

Male Downy Woodpecker

Male Downy Woodpecker

Female American Kestrel

Female American Goldfinch

The female AGF has been a bit more elusive than the male ~ 7-29-23. This is the time of year they breed in VT.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker stopped by this morning. 7-28-23

Hungry Hummer

The hummers have been visiting more lately I’m happy to say. 7-27-23

Bald Eagle!

A Bald Eagle calling in response to it’s young begging.

First hummingbird nest found!

Male House Finch

Male House finch dining solo. 7-26-23

Cool Cardinal

Male Cardinal having a good time cooling off. 7-26-23

Chipping Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow cooling off on a muggy day. 7-26-23

White-breasted nuthatch

Good amount of Nuthatch activity today… white breasted and red breasted……7-22-23

American Goldfinch

Handsome American Goldfinch dropped by today~ 7-22-23

Red- Breasted Nuthatch

Been awhile since I’ve spotted a Red- Breasted Nuthatch. I had two and they were feeding each other. I also noted two White- Breasted Nuthatches feeding each other as well. 7-22-23

Hanging out

Lots of activity this morning (including Hummers) after yesterday’s downpour. 7-22-23

Cardinal Love

Male Cardinal feeding female….Woodpecker listening to Blue Jay overhead. 7-22-23

Tufted Titmouse

Tufted Titmouse helping himself to a peanu. 7-22-23t

Feed Me!

A Adult Blue Jay Resting Before Feeding It’s Fledglings

BC chickadee sipping

BC chickadee sipping the sweet stuff…7-20-23

Dangling Ruby-throated hummer

Fun shot of the underside of a Ruby-throated hummer. I had just changed the nectar and he was kind of dangling mid-air. 7-20-23

Feather ID needed

Blue feather found at Kleb Woods. Think either Eastern Bluebird or Blue Jay but leading towards Bluebird due to color. I’m not an expert on bluebirds but it looks nothing like a Blue Jay feather. https://ebird.org/checklist/S145097417

Ruby- throated Hummingbird

The Hummingbirds have been a bit elusive this year. This guy showed up the last couple of days and another followed trying to chase him off. 7-20-23.

Blue Jay

Beautiful Blue Jay just checking out the yard. 7-19-23

Should I ?

Looks like a young male Cardinal contemplating taking a dip. 7-19-23

Splish ~ Splash

Female Cardinal enjoying the water on a warm day. 7-19-23

Nest and Egg ID needed

This is from the Margaree Valley Maple strawberry fields. I have not seen the nest yet, but they are looking for ID. The nest looks like it is on the ground.

Possible IDs:
House Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird (rare in this area)

Fledging Day

Rufous Hummingbird Enjoying a Warm Summer Day

The Rufous Hummingbird makes one of the longest migratory journeys of any bird in the world, as measured by body size. At just over 3 inches long, its roughly 3,900-mile movement (one-way) from Alaska to Mexico is equivalent to 78,470,000 body lengths. In comparison, the 13-inch-long Arctic Tern’s one-way flight of about 11,185 mi is only 51,430,000 body lengths.
The Rufous Hummingbird has an excellent memory for location, no doubt helping it find flowers from day to day, or even year to year. Some birds have been seen returning from migration and investigating where a feeder had been the previous year, even though it had since been moved.
Rufous Hummingbirds, like most other hummingbirds, beat their wings extremely fast to be able to hover in place. The wingbeat frequency of Rufous Hummingbirds has been recorded at 52–62 wingbeats per second.

Caspian Tern Bringing Food for the baby

The regal Caspian Tern is the largest tern in the world, easily recognized by its brilliant red fish-knife of a bill and deep, raspy call. Found all over the world, the Caspian favors both freshwater and saltwater environments. It feeds mostly on fish, captured in nimble aerial dives. On the nesting grounds, paired Caspian Terns perform splendid displays in the air, rising up to great heights in tandem. They migrate nocturnally, and in autumn their rolling calls are sometimes heard overhead during the night.
Caspian Terns prey mostly on fish, supplementing their diet with crustaceans such as crayfish and occasionally large insects. To locate prey, they fly above water, between 10 and 100 feet high, and scan the water with bill pointed downward. When they spot prey they dive rapidly, usually submerging the body in the process but sometimes snatching the prey from the water without diving in.

Great Blue Heron On a Fireplace Chimney

The great blue heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands

Red-eyed Vireo???? Bird ID needed

American Robin Nest – 2023 (Day #9 & 10)

eBird Checklists:

July 8th: https://ebird.org/checklist/S143925808
July 9th: https://ebird.org/checklist/S144120114

(Robins fledged on July 13th).

Backyard visitors

Some the birds in the yards today ~ after the storms. 7-15-23

Nest ID

This nest photo is from July 23rd, 2019 in Gravenhurst, Ontario.

Still 3 eggs, I can’t wait for them to hatch

Growing Up

Canadian Geese

Canadian Geese on Lake Champlain in South Hero, VT 7-12-23

Unknown nest with damaged cowbird egg

Unknown nest with damaged cowbird egg. The nest is about 6 or 7 feet in an Oak tree.

Sleepy mockingbird babies

3 cute baby mockingbirds

The female mockingbird does a great job feeding the babies.

Northern Mockingbird nest still has 3 eggs

3 baby mockingbirds

Still 3 eggs

The Tree Swallows Fledged!

New baby mockingbirds

3 new baby mockingbirds at John Paul’s Landing Park. What’s weird is that there getting feathers but barely even have eyes!

3 new eggs!

Went to John Paul Landing today (the other nests were at Paul Rushing) and found a nest with 3 eggs and a nest with 3 babies! https://ebird.org/checklist/S144138424

About A Week From Fledging!

Bluebird wins

A bluebird gained control over a tree swallow nest and laid eggs, and here’s the nestlings at 7 days old.

American Robin Nestlings (Day #9)

eBird Profile: https://ebird.org/profile/MTQ4OTA3MQ/CA-NS-IN

House Finch Returns

Finally spotted this female HF and a male today. Had not seen them for couple of weeks since their nest with 3 eggs was raided. 7-7-23

Cooling off

93 here yesterday and the birds are feeling the heat. 7-7-23