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An immature male rose-breasted grosbeak was seen at the songbird feeder near the window on Monday. A goldfinch, a house finch, and a downy woodpecker were also seen at the tiny songbird feeder recently. Allowing each other to eat together and allowing a rare visual treat for my eyes. On Tuesday, while looking at the pond, an insect was seen to be making its way across one of the rocks when, suddenly, a very small hand reached out from a crevice between the rocks in an attempt to grab the insect. I thought the small hand might belong to one of the chipmunks, but didn't get a close enough look at it to be sure.
Backyard tip of the week: Rockpiles are good for more than just great rock n' roll. A little reference to an old Dave Edmunds & Nick Lowe band from the seventies for you there, here in the Backyard Report! Anyway, creating a rockpile or rock wall is a great way to provide habitat for small creatures which are beneficial to your backyard. Your rocks may add needed shelter for frogs, toads, chipmunks, salamanders, and more. Maybe you can arrange the rocks so as to add beauty to your yard. Try it, you're sure to love it!
Backyard sightings for last week: Including northern cardinals, American robins, northern flickers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, bluebirds and catbirds. Chipping sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, Carolina wrens, house wrens, eastern goldfinches, house finches. Red-bellied and downy woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, a ruby-throated hummingbird, the tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, blue-jays, American crows, a few grey squirrels, a mostly white skunk, and some bunnies. Also, common grackles, mourning doves, chipmunks, many different kinds of butterflies, several hummingbird moths, just a few fireflies, a huge katydid, and some frogs.
Cool sighting of the week: I was sitting at my desk, looking out the window, and just day-dreaming yesterday when I saw a most peculiar sight. There's a cage style of peanut feeder hanging there for the woodpeckers and other such birds, but hovering around it this time was the ruby-throated hummingbird! How very strange! It was as if the bird thought he might find some nectar and, so, the hummingbird continued to poke and prod at different parts of the peanut feeder for some time before deciding to look elsewhere for his meal. Immediate action was taken to refresh the hummingbird's own nectar feeder in the hope that he'd find it. It's a new feeder, you see, and it may be some time before the nectar drinking birds will use it. Mostly, they feed at natural sources of nectar in the backyard. Either way, seeing the ruby-throated hummingbird trying to eat from the peanut feeder yesterday was very cool!
This has been The Backyard Report for August 29th, heard only on WDVR FM and brought to you by BackyardTV.com - Opening... Soon...
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