This morning my husband and I finally spotted the first ruby-throated hummingbird at our feeder. Usually they arrive here around May 1 and I was getting worried they may not show up.
On a whim I decided to participate in a guided bird walk today at Sewickley Heights park. I was hoping to get some tips on where to find birds. Highlights of our (very long) walk were: Blackburnian warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, hooded warbler, Kentucky warbler, American redstart, red-eyed vireo, scarlet tanager, indigo bunting, bluebird, and a Cooper’s hawk. Not bad for a couple of hours of birding. I also learned that the best way to see warblers is to search for them in sun-lit tall trees. All in all it was an enjoyable outing and I took away some great advice about the habitats of different species.

The “wild” turkeys in our neighborhood are getting pretty bold. The other day my husband observed a turkey in the front yard of a house down the street from us. It is pretty common for them to stroll through our backyard, but now they’re crossing the street?
Then on Sunday we spotted a male and a female turkey under our feeder for a short while. A little later my husband noticed a turkey taking a dust bath in our neighbor’s dirt. Perhaps there is some truth to the advice to give birds a place to take a dirt bath. After all, their feathers need to be in ship shape to take off when a predator is nearby. We never run out of new things to see in our backyard.

Last year, we planted a Smooth Serviceberry – Amelanchier laevis – in our backyard. It is also known as a shadbush or juneberry. When in doubt, always check the Latin name on a tag.
This particular serviceberry is a shrub and ideal for small yards. Its white flowers are blooming right now. The berries are popular with birds and the coppery red leaves add great color to any fall yard.

The nurseries are finally open and we made a trip to Reilly’s Summer Seat Farm to see what native plants we could find. We bought a spicebush, which had been on our wish list for several reasons: birds like to eat their red berries in the fall; they attract spicebush swallowtails; they are compact; and their yellow flowers add a new color to our yard in mid-spring. What’s not to like?
I plan on photographing this shrub in several seasons and will keep you posted how the birds and insects take to the spicebush.

After the snow receded I could finally test my new birdcam. I first put it on the ground to catch birds that don’t visit our feeders but rather forage among the spoils from above.
It is only appropriate that the first two photos the camera took were of a turkey (and the tail of another one). If it seems as if I’m blogging about turkeys a lot lately that’s because they are around so often. The camera also captured a mourning dove, a cardinal, and a song sparrow.