Saw my first babies of the season today and they were of the cutest variety!
Had a whole family of Black-capped Chickadees around today - one of the babies in the photo above - the best I managed! Even brought out the DSLR in an attempt to get pictures.
this was one of the parents with a juicy little caterpillar in its mouth - the parents must be run ragged as there were at least 4, maybe 5 fledglings - nice to see!
All of the activity was right in the complex today....was standing on the street talking to a neighbour when I was almost run over at knee height by....
this Red-breasted Sapsucker!
here is a closer look. Another neighbour said they've been seeing it in that general area for about a week now and suspect there is a nest somewhere close by.
back in my shady yard one of the pair of Red-breasted Nuthatch - I expect some baby nuthatches to show up one of these days.
it has been pretty quiet at the feeders but now I'm restocked with Black Oil Sunflower seeds a pair of American Goldfinch showed up. It is a little early yet for goldfinch to be nesting.
This Western Swallowtail Butterfly landed close by while I was on the hunt for fledgling Chickadees - so got it's picture as well.
Down by the water, the levels seem to have stayed pretty much the same.
Another nice day today, albeit a bit on the breezy side......
I think the water levels were up slightly today. While I was standing trying to decide if the water had come or not....
I managed to spot this male Yellow Warbler hiding behind some leaves - they are always hiding behind leaves these days! The reddish stripes on the breast are the for sure identifying features.
heading towards home I spotted this female Yellow-rump Warbler with a mouthful of nesting material. I hope she has better luck than the last Yellow-rump Warbler nest I knew of in our complex. That one had been built down low in a roadside shrub. It was decided the shrubs were in need of pruning. Now pruning carefully with hand held pruning shears is one thing - taking an electric hedging shear to them is another entirely! The nest and it's occupants went flying and even though the nest was put back, the parents were so traumatized they quit feeding the youngsters.
in the same vein....I was on my way to check on a friends Oriole feeders when I spotted this American Robin. You will note he only has one leg. The first time I spotted him was the day I was so upset with the massacre of the latest mature tree in here...whether the two were connected I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised. He does seem to be managing OK with his handicap....he is puffed up in the photo because he was drying off after a bath.
a first year male Bullock's Oriole was at the feeder....
and a visit to the garbage containers netted this female Black-headed Grosbeak. Again today I had people commenting on the lack of birds, especially swallows...but then we realized, there are no mosquitoes! Now this could fall into the 'be careful what you wish for' category but it does seem very strange that there are none yet and of course swallows (not to mention bats and a great many of our summer avian visitors) eat mosquitoes, so if there are none here, they are either going to have to go where there is food, or starve. Another factor is lack of nesting sites. The Barn Swallows especially are having a hard time of it. The other day I had noticed a pair building a nest on a home in here, today the owner of the home has destroyed the nest - what makes a human think they have more of a right than the birds that were here first!
A beautiful day today.....
those water levels still aren't budging....there were a number of Wilson's and Yellow Warblers down here today as well as a Bullock's Oriole, none co-operative for photos...
I did manage to spot and then actually get a picture of a Cedar Waxwing....I had thought I'd been hearing them for the last week or so, but didn't actually spot one until today.
Yesterday we took a day trip up to Manning Park - one of our favorite spots to head to - I don't think we've ever seen it quite so devoid of birds though. You could hear them but nothing much around except at the Beaver Pond where there were all sorts of warblers....so thought I'd post a few photos since it has been so non-eventful around here.
Lot's of Yellow-rump Warblers....should mention I did see a pair of these here in the park last week as well.
also Wilson's Warbler, like we've had down at the boat launch....
There was also a Spotted Sandpiper and I have been hearing them around here and actually saw one fly from our boat launch the other evening...
What we won't see here is one of these Clark's Nutcrackers.
one final picture from around here....some of the Wild Roses that are in flower - I'm getting desperate to find something to report on!
Woke up to what seemed like a hopeful day in the weather department, but that didn't last long....
it soon turned grey and showery. Water levels seem stuck....no difference one way or the other. That Loon was out there, way out and could hear some Canada Geese but nothing visible. Speaking of 'hearing' I heard the sweet call of the Swainson's Thrush today, coming from the direction of the park. That made we realize that I hadn't seen a Varied Thrush for sometime now. They are one of the species that just quietly disappear when it comes time for them to migrate to their nesting areas.
The only bird I actually saw at the boat launch today was this little female Wilson's Warbler. Noticed quite a few Robins today, strange that no young ones have shown up yet. I imagine that should change pretty soon....and speaking of strange....
while I was standing there, I happened to look up and saw this 'lace work' - it is one of our native Red-Osier Dogwood shrubs and I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this! especially this early in the season. I have no idea what is creating the lace work, a bug or a caterpillar but something has sure been busy!
Here is a closer look...
The last few days haven't been very conducive to bird watching....I did spot a female Wood Duck in our boat launch yesterday but she took off in alarm before I could get a camera out, and today I noticed the Common Loon out there but he too disappeared.
Being disgusted that yet another beautiful mature tree in our complex was coming down, for no good reason and at the height of nesting season....I couldn't stand the thought of walking around in here, so ventured over to the park. I had thought that the water had dropped enough to be able to walk the path.....
but I was wrong. Here is the path heading to the log bay....
and that is the way to the viewing platform. So with no way to get to the log bay other than through the subdivision with the 'keep out' signs on their gate - we just came back home. I could hear all sorts of bird chatter, including a lot of alarm chirps as a Turkey Vulture chose that moment to circle over head and although he would have no interest at all in little live birds, they don't know that and immediately go into alarm mode when ever a raptor shape is over head.
This male Bullock's Oriole had been down low when we went through the gate, but flew up to the top of this cedar tree before I got to where I had a clear line of sight. There were also some very noisy Raven, I don't know if they were a pair, they seemed to be gathering nesting materials or if they were young ones that didn't know the difference between sticks and food!
I also noticed that there are a couple of very sad, dead or dying Douglas Fir trees over there. It seems that a couple of years of a prolonged high water table is taking it's toll on this particular tree species. Our complex lost a beautiful one last year....which makes it even more annoying when a perfectly healthy tree is removed for no reason other than some humans don't want to have to occasionally clean up after it!
Not an exciting day for birds today - at least not like yesterday - but I did manage to spot a co-operative.....
Western Swallowtail Butterfly.
Before going back to yesterday's photos to bring us up to date....
will show that we had another lovely day, a bit on the cool side, especially near the water. Levels remained stable since yesterday.
so to get back to showing some of the species around right now...Brown Headed Cowbirds - LOTS of Brown Headed Cowbirds - in fact I swear 30 or 40 of them flew out from under the feeders yesterday evening. This is not necessarily a good thing as these are parasitic birds that lay their eggs in other birds nests, usually to the detriment of the other species. All birds in the photo are males.
Band-tail Pigeons are still with us as well.....
as are the Evening Grosbeaks.
I keep expecting to spot a young Spotted Towhee, but so far only adults are seen and they are very quiet and sneaky. Haven't seen a Song Sparrow for sometime, they are no doubt nesting as well.
I did spot a young American Robin yesterday but couldn't get a good picture, I think this is one of the parents. Also know where there is a nest with very vocal youngsters in it...I'll attempt a photo one of these days.
last, but by no means 'least' are the Bullock's Orioles, this one a young male (last years). A neighbour has the market cornered on Orioles. Yesterday I went and sat there for a while in hopes of getting pictures but this was the only one to appear while I was there and he wasn't happy with me. I will have to go sit there more often so they get as used to me as they are with my friend.
When you download 64 pictures for just one day you know it was a good day, bird wise!
a walk down to the water (which is still dropping), reveled a Common Loon just off from the boat launch.
It actually came in closer for a better look! I could hear Canada Geese and even a Mallard....most likely the Mallard had ducklings but I couldn't spot them. Right now with the water up in the bush there are all kinds of hiding places....which of course is the way nature designed things to be! While watching the loon I heard a scrabbling behind me and turned around to see this....
Red-breasted Sapsucker working over the tree trunks in the boat launch. I think there must be a pair breeding in the area as I've often seen or heard them while at the boat launch.
earlier in the morning, back in my own yard, I finally managed to get some decent photos of a female Black-headed Grosbeak.
The Evening Grosbeaks were busy on the other side of the park model.
The Band-tail Pigeon were out there too. There are more photos but I see my battery is just about dead, so will continue on tomorrow!
