6 May 2012 - Birding

Early this evening Jack and I were sitting on the porch, contemplating our day, when we heard bird song--long, melodious and a bit strident. We listened but couldn't decide who it was. The leaves are big enough now that we often can't find the birds in the trees. Then, to our amazement, this beauty landed on the feeder not even 15 feet from where we sat.

Jack had his camera on his belt, so I got some good pictures. I went inside for Sibley (my favorite bird guide--introduced to me by David Swan) and we rediscovered this bird--a black headed grosbeak. After living in Michigan for 30 some odd years, it takes some reorienting to remember what the local flora and fauna are. I grew up with a grosbeak, but I sure couldn't remember this guy. 

My grandmother had a grosbeak in the house for years. She found it in the yard, can't remember if it had fallen from a nest or if her cat had presented it to her. She raised it, hand fed it (worms and bugs in the summer - seeds and meal worms in the winter) and let it fly around the house every now and then. It also had fun bathing in a pan on the kitchen floor. Even though she was a female grosbeak, her name was Junior. She looked just like this lady that has been showing up in my yard.

The hummingbirds are starting to come back. Two weeks ago when the quince began to bloom I put the first feeder out.  We saw the first male last Wednesday, then this weekend a female showed up. So I promptly filled another feeder and hung it on the backside of the house. 

I am also having fun watching a pair of Cooper's Hawks. Two years ago they nested in the yard and raised three babies. This year, I don't know where they are nesting, but they soar overhead in lazy circles, then like a flash they dive after an unsuspecting victim. I read they need to eat the equivalent of two starling-sized birds a day.  

Our yard is full of birds, mostly because we have two birdbaths, suet feeders, three thistle feeders and two sunflower feeders. The air vibrates with bird calls. When it gets quiet, I know the hawks just flew over, and the little birds are all diving for cover. 

We have many, too many, house finches, but their songs are lovely and the males are showy. We already have parents bringing babies to the feeders. 

Wonder how many broods they will have this year.

I am also loving the quail. In the winter they flocked up in big groups. We saw as many as twenty at a time under the feeders. Now they have paired off and are getting territorial about the yard. Like most birds, they have a very distinctive danger call. Their danger call sounds like they are yelling escargo! escargo! I have to laugh: what? They are afraid of snails?