Tag Archives: yard
Kids today
Backyard beech tree birds
Wordless Wednesday
The orioles are back!
Historically the orioles (bright orange migrating birds) come back to my feeder from their winters in South America about (and almost always ON) May 5th.
This year people were reporting them returning to their yards in lower Michigan at the end of April. So I put my oriole feeder out then. And then I waited. Every day I thought “this will be the day.”
And suddenly it was. My first sighting was May 1st and I was very excited. He was extra hungry and between him and the house finches I started going through a lot of jelly. Of course I didn’t mind at all.
Today I figured out there are actually two males. And possibly two females now. Though today I saw a picture online by a bird photographer who does a lot of educating with her images. She said her photograph was probably a young male, perhaps last years youngster. She said they look like females but have more black on them, like a male.
So now I’m considering that the two ‘females’ I’ve had might just be last year baby boys. That would make sense, as the males always arrive first.
Either way the four of them have been at the feeder all day, every day since at least the 5th. AND I also get hummingbirds the next day (the 6th) of May, and a rose breasted gross beak!
The hummers and the gross beak arrived a day late, but I was just as happy to see them.
I don’t have an image of the male hummingbird yet, he’s very skittish. But the gross beak has always been something of a photo hog. He’s not skittish at all, as long as you move slowly. And your dog doesn’t bark.
The same day that the gross beak and the hummer arrived I saw a catbird, also a migrating bird that isn’t here in the winter.
And across the street in the pond was an egret. Though my pictures of that bird are just bad. I always have trouble with the bright white of egrets. I know I’ll have more opportunities so I’ll wait until I get a better image before I share.
BUT, I have to say that the 5th and 6th were very big bird days in and around my yard!
All the photos here were taken through a window, working through reflections and grime. But I didn’t care, I was just thrilled to see them all.
Experimenting with flight
No, not my flight, though when I was young I did think I’d like to fly a plane, and when I was even younger I used to dream that I could fly like a bird.
No, this morning I put some peanuts in the flat feeder, and that quickly brought in my merry band of noisy bluejays. I swear they sit up in the trees and wait for me to fill the feeders. They always arrive immediately and with great fanfare.
And while I was standing at the window, watching them come and go in the morning light, I realized I could try to capture their flight. They were much too busy hogging the peanuts to notice me.
You need a very short shutter speed to stop those wings in mid-flight, at least 1/2000 per second. If there is sunlight that’s easier to accomplish.
I took 84 images before the sun was hidden by the clouds of the latest incoming storm front. Out of that barely a handful are passable. But I learned a lot and some day I will try again.
I’m sharing them with you now, because bluejays, no matter the fact they are obnoxious, are truly beautiful.
Even if they are little pigs.
Visitor
I haven’t seen one of these in my yard in years. But yesterday afternoon she arrived.
And she wasn’t here very long, just checking out the stumps of trees we had to cut down.
And then she was gone.
It’s just pure luck I happened to look outside while she was here. And that my camera was next to me when I did.
Announcement
We interrupt our tour of magical Kensington to announce that spring has officially arrived here in Southeastern Michigan. OK, it’s 30 degrees out with a stiff wind and snow lightly falling.
But it’s spring. Trust me on this.
Wait. That’s the wrong image. One moment please…
…try now…
What? You don’t see anything? How about now?
Well yes, that IS a goldfinch who MIGHT have a yellow feather showing, but no, what about the big black blob? What do you see?
Maybe this is better?
Yes! It is indeed our very first red-winged blackbird scout of the season! Give that bird a gold medal, he’s arrived early and the weather is clearly not in his favor. In fact we had a hail storm only two days ago. I hope he managed to avoid it.
I saw him for the first time on Thursday (day before yesterday), but I was on the phone and not close to my camera. I got a very poor image of him with the phone. But I shared it extensively with my bird friends here. Almost all of them had seen one in their yards that day too!
Yesterday (Friday) he stopped by again. The images in this post are from Friday’s visit.
I had filled all six feeders for him in the hopes he’d eat something. It was a very windy day and he was very hesitant. He slowly worked his way out from the safety of the middle of the beech tree, watching all the other birds eating. Clearly he was interested.
And then he made his move.
I hope he’s here to stay. I haven’t even heard the distinctive red-winged blackbird call yet. But I hope he starts calling in all of his friends so we know he is more than a fluke!
And I’m glad we were able to give him some food and water if he’s headed further north. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if he stops by again.
Happy Spring everybody!
Edit: He’s here right now, eating at the flat feeder! So maybe he’s really going to stick around!
Change Is Hard 