Lone Birds at Gilbert Creek

I’ve managed to capture a few birds at Gilbert Creek. An Eastern Phoebe which is the first one that I’ve seen at Gilbert Creek.

A Bald Eagle has been hanging around.

A few Mallard Ducks can be found.

Shot of a Song Sparrow early in the morning.

Early Spring at Hoffman Hills

My wife and I drove out to Hoffman Hills for our first look around this spring.  We did hear some Sandhill Cranes and saw a couple of Mallard Ducks and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. This was the first Song Sparrow we have seen this spring.

The Pussy Willows are now in bloom although they seem to be much further along at Gilbert Creek Wildlife Area.

We encountered a Turkey Vulture flying over one of the lakes.

Pond Reflections of the Willow Trees.

Last years Flowers.

April Blizzard

It’s the second year in a row that we have had a blizzard in April. It started snowing on Wednesday afternoon and snowed into Thursday. Thursday brought very strong winds a blowing snow even though the snow was wet. We also had a reddish colored snow. When I went out for a walk I noticed the top inch of snow was a reddish color. Turns out it was dust blown in from New Mexico and Texas. We ended up with about a foot of snow.

I think I noted that about three weeks ago all of the Dark-eyed Juncos disappeared and I haven’t seen one since. However, on Wednesday a few of the turned up at my feeders. On Thursday morning I looked out and there were 30+ of them scattered over a wide area on the ground. The strong winds had blown bird seed over a wide area in the lawn. They were present all day in large numbers.

The other bird I’ve not seen for a while is the American Goldfinch. They also turned up in large numbers. I noticed that they had started to turn color since I had last seen them.

There were a variety of other birds at the feeders during the storm.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Song Sparrow

Northern Cardinal – female

Northern Cardinal – male

Downy Woodpecker

Black-capped Chickadee

First of the Spring Birds have Returned.

The first part of April the first Eastern Bluebirds returned for the summer. They have been searching for housing in the area.

Eastern Bluebird

They were followed by the Tree Swallows. The battle for nesting spots has begun.

Tree Swallow

The Chipping Sparrows have been frequenting my feeders.

Chipping Sparrow

The song Sparrows are back and singing up a storm.

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrows can be found at the Feeders.

White-throated Sparrow

The Dark-eyed Junco is a winter bird but a few of them are still hanging around. I expect they will all be gone in the next few weeks.

Dark-eyed Junco

 

Photos from around the Farm

A few photos taken around the farm.

Gloriosa daisy

Song Sparrow Feeding Brown-headed Cowbird

Gloriosa daisy

Splended Metallic Green Bee

Spring Birds

The Song Sparrows have returned. They arrived just in time for a nice big snow storm.

The Purple Finches have been hanging around the feeder.

The Tufted Titmice have been singing away now that it is spring.

Song Sparrows Return

A sign of spring I saw my first Song Sparrow today.

More Spring Birds

Most of the birds have been around for most of the winter. There are a few exceptions. A Brown Thrasher turned up for a couple of days. This is the first one that I’ve seen on the farm and the only one I’ve photographed.

The Eastern Bluebirds are back and occasionally stop at my feeding station. They mainly use it as a perch to look for insects and as a stopping off point on their way to the bird bath.

The Song Sparrows are back and are getting ready to nest in the pine trees by the house.

I’m amazed that the Dark-eyed Juncos are still around. Normally they have left by this time of year.

The Black-capped Chickadees are around although the numbers thin in the summer.

The Hairy Woodpeckers are around as long as I keep feeding them peanut butter suit.

Early Spring Birds at my Feeders

These are some of the birds at my feeder during the first few weeks of spring.

The Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers have been around all winter and they have been very active this spring. I see them a lot when I put out the Peanut Butter Suit. For some reason they really like it.

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

The Dark-eyed Juncos are around all winter but they seem to leave just about the time spring came. They were gone for a couple of weeks but are back again. I’m thinking the birds around now are migrants that are just stopping off to resupply.

A small number of Pine Siskins have been around all winter and they are still around.

The White-breasted Nuthatches have been around all winter. I still see them at the feeders. One in particular likes to grab a Black Sunflower seed and then fly over to the fence post and try and crack it open.

The one bird that has returned from the south is the Song Sparrow. A couple of them have been hanging around the feeders and the pines in front of the house. they usually nest in the pines.

It’s Time to Go

As summer draws to an end the birds of summer are starting to leave the farm.

As soon as the second clutch of babies hatched the Eastern Bluebirds disappeared from the farm. Usually they hang around for a short time but this year they didn’t. I miss them at my bird bath.

Eastern Bluebird

I also miss the Song Sparrows. They left early this year. While they were around they were also a frequent visitor to the bird bath.

Song Sparrow

The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are just about gone. A couple of weeks ago I notice this adult and fledgling at my feeders. I still see the stray Grosbeak around the feeder.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks

So far this year I gone through over 48 quarts of grape jelly feeding the birds. Just about everybody likes grape jelly but the Baltimore Orioles seem to like it the most. They turned up in early May in large numbers. After a few weeks they generally leave and for the second year in a row they have returned in early July with their young. There are a few of them still around.

Baltimore Orioles

The numbers of Ruby-throated Humming birds are declining. they are still going through a gallon of sugar water every few days but they should be heading south soon.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird