March 28, 2008
Spring has barely begun and there's already plenty of action going on in the backyard.Backyard tip of the week:
Listen for your local birds as they sing for you in the mornings and evenings this time of year. You'll hear the characteristic "cheery-up, cheery-o" of the Robin red-breast, the red-winged blackbird's call of "okalee", a bluebird may greet you with his "cheer, cheerful, charmer" song, or, perhaps you'll hear the familiar "whoit, whoit, whoit, whoit - cheer, cheer, cheer, cheer" - and the common "chip" sounds made by northern cardinals. (there ya go!)
Take a moment today to hear what beautiful sounds are coming from your backyard. Invite a friend to join you and both of you are sure to love it!
Backyard sightings for last week:
Including northern cardinals, dark-eyed juncos, Carolina wrens and American robins. White-throated sparrows, eastern goldfinches and house finches. Red-bellied woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. The tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, blue-jays, American crows, a couple of grey squirrels and some bunnies. A few European starlings, common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, bronze-headed cowbirds and a bunch of mourning doves.
Cool sighting of the week:
Here we go, mating season has begun in the backyard and the birds are not coy about it at all! At least one amorous mourning dove was spotted, though his potential mate seemed somewhat less than enthusiastic in regard to his advances. A female goldfinch was also seen, as she made wildly erratic turns at blinding speeds in order to avoid her pursuer. I said erratic, I could've said erotic...
Well, I guess that's why they call it the birds and the bees. Either way, catching a glimpse of some spectacular avian acrobatics this week, that even a UFO would be envious of, was very cool!
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