On Saturday, we returned to the wetland trail at Raccoon Creek park. It was quiet this time and we only encountered catbird fledglings, one warbler, two bluebirds and numerous Canada geese. The sound of bullfrogs frequently interrupted the silence. I had taken my camera along, but did not take many photos. The hot and humid weather (not to mention insects) soon diminished any idea of staking out birds.
At home, we are busy planting and watering flowers in our new native garden. It doesn’t look like much right now, but we’re hoping that the recent rain will spur on our seedlings to grow. We are still feeding birds and they are beginning to bring their fledglings to our feeder. They are as big as their parents and it is quite amusing to see such big birds begging for food. We are still seeing a male rose-breasted grosbeak and I hope it will stick around. If we could find a bird fountain, then we would be able to see our birds taking a refreshing bath on a hot summer’s day. Oh well, we’ll keep looking. Something will come up eventually.

One of the problems with hanging up bird feeders is that you’re also attracting less desirable creatures. At the moment, that would be cowbirds. For weeks now, they have descended on our feeders, eating everything in sight. Of course, the obvious solution would be to stop feeding birds. But then I wouldn’t be able to see the rose-breasted grosbeaks that are hanging around lately. They are big eaters too, but at least they don’t lay their eggs in other birds’ nests. We are on our last bag of birdseed now and when that’s gone, they’re on their own for the summer.
We are planning on adding another small native garden where birds and insects will be able to find natural food sources. And we’re trying to find a bird bath with flowing water, which is more difficult than we expected.
Last Saturday, we went to Sewickley Heights park hoping to see some warblers. We saw a few towhees and I commented that we had not seen any at home lately. Shortly after we returned home we looked out the window and there was a towhee. Ask and you shall receive.

Things are getting exciting in our backyard now. While we still see a white-throated sparrow around, the juncos seem to be gone. Unfortunately, we have a small flock of cowbirds around. I don’t like to see them because they put their eggs in other birds’ nests, but there isn’t much I can do about them except taking down the feeders. But then we would have missed out on a sight yesterday. First, we spotted one male rose-breasted grosbeak at our sunflower feeder. Soon, I noticed another male in our neighbor’s pear tree. A female was not far behind. They all came to our feeders and ate…and ate…and ate. Did I mention that they ate? They are beautiful birds and have a pretty song, so how can I complain?
Yesterday, we also hung up our hummingbird feeder. We usually see our first hummer around May 1, but it can’t hurt to be ready. The recent winds we had might carry them here earlier than normal. And what’s normal around here when we have 88 degree weather in April?

When the weather is agreeable I am out in the backyard photographing birds. Last Friday, I spotted a dark-eyed junco eating seeds underneath our feeder and a white-throated sparrow that landed on a branch. I had not seen any white-throated sparrows for a while and had wondered whether they had left yet. Winter is not officially over until these migrants have returned to Canada. Yet, the next day my husband spotted a sparrow with a particularly white breast. Apparently, I had seen the tan-triped variety. I have also seen (and heard) cowbirds in our yard recently. And let’s not forget the red-winged blackbirds that pass through every few days.
In a few days I’ll have to prepare the first mix of hummingbird syrup because these little flying machines show up around May 1 or 2. I wouldn’t want them to pass up our yard because I forgot to hang up a feeder. I am less fortunate with an oriole feeder. For a couple of years, I hung out an oriole feeder after spotting an oriole in our neighbor’s tree. But, none of them ever visited my feeder and it’s now collecting dust.