Picture of the Day: Red-Winged Blackbirds in flight

A real sign of spring--a flock of red-winged blackbirds.

Do you see what I see?

Look up, Luke and Kim!! You will see the......
rose-breasted grosbeak!

Bald Eagle Sighting!!

Mark-my boy with the "eagle eyes"-spotted this immature bald eagle at the state park not ten minutes from our house. We are so excited!!
This may just start a unit study about eagles. I found this great site to positively identify "our" bird.

WE ARE PSYCHED!!

A New Sighting

I have decided that a need a new recurring blog title. "A New Sighting" as a title will mean that Mom is very excited because we have spotted something new.

It means that the kids think Mom is a little nuts taking picture after picture of the new wildlife.
It means that we will be studying all about this new wildlife (usually a bird) over the next several days.

It also means we will be revisiting the sight of the "spotting" at least 3 more times in the next 4 days.

(O.K.- maybe I am a little nuts!)

Today, on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's Memorial Day picnic (pictures to come) Daddy spotted this Green Heron. Way to go Dad! And I also have to thank Dad for taking me to my favorite bird spotting location even though I know he wanted to really get home.

This is a photo I googled to make an identification.

Backyard birdfeeder carnival

Marianne, over at Learning2Love had as idea.This is what she posted a week or so ago. " I have an idea! What if we watch our feeders for a week with our kids, keep a list of the species of birds that visit, and then send me your list, including what state you are in and maybe a picture or two, by Memorial Day, May 26th. I will post the carnival on May 27th. The official bird watching week can be from May 18th - May 24th. Post in the comment section if you're interested, and send me your links by May 27th and we'll see how this goes! This will be so interesting!"

Well, we had a very successful week, and more importantly, the kids had a wonderful time. They were constantly on alert for another bird sighting.

The highlight of our week had to be when Mark yelled, "I see a bluebird, a real bluebird in the backyard." Well, we hear bluebirds and occasionally see them out in the back woods, but this is the first time in the yard. The proof we have though, is just this very blurry photo, but Mark really wanted me to include it.

We have a real long list, and alot of photos. I guess I will post our list of birds that visited our backyard over the last week first.

bluebird

nuthatch

downy woodpeckers

chipping sparrows

house sparrows

gold finch

house finch

cardinals

mourning doves

starlings

yellow-eyed grackles

cowbirds

blue jays

chick-a-dees

American crows

robins

red-winged blackbirds

tree swallows

red tail hawk

northern flicker

A very respecticle 20 species, and that was during a very chilly, rainy week.

Now for the photos.

chipping sparrow
Mr. and Mrs. Goldfinch
starling
A pretty pair of mourning doves

Mr. Cardinal

Mrs. Cardinal

chick-a-dee
yellow eyed grackle
tree swallow

red-winged blackbird
nuthatch
Mr, and Mrs. Downy Woodpecker
cowbird
A robin with a worm.

And almost as exciting as our bluebird, was this Northern Flicker. They usually hang out farther into the woods.

We have to thank Grandma and Grandpa H. for their love of the birds and giving us alot of their knowledge.

Now, if I could have sat in their yard for a week, the bird list would have probably been twice as long.

And last but not least, the bane of every bird lover, the squirrel thief.

Daddy's Photo

We spotted this wood duck on the way home from Grandma's house yesterday. This is the first wood duck that we have seen in the wild. Yippee!!! (We are weird about stuff like this-ask Kim)

Nature in the backyard

A great big, dead old maple tree sits out in the empty field behind our house. I thought that I would sit watching the kids play and also keep an eye on any birds that might be living in this wonderful tree.

First, I spotted this tell-tale hole, way up in one of the many branches of this tree.
Then, I was pleased to spy this little female downy woodpecker looking for an evening meal of bugs. We will certainly keep an eye on the hole to see if there will be any babies peeking out of it soon.
Way up in the top of the same tree, in the evening sun, I caught a quick glimpse of an Eastern Bluebird.
We don't see these here very often, but on occasion, one will pass through.

It was a very busy birding evening, especially for the fact that a pair of White Throated Sparrows

were at the feeders. I have never had these at the feeders before, maybe they are nesting nearby.

Picture from the backyard

Red-tailed hawk with a fresh kill

A Little Bird Watching

Today my wonderful husband took me on my first outing since surgery. First, we had to go and have bloodwork done. That came out perfect. I am well on my way to recovery. A few more weeks of rest and I should be better than new.

After the doctor, we drove over to the Great Swamp Conservancy to do a little bird watching. We brought Luke with us to have an outing with us one on one. (He napped the whole time.)

We saw red-winged blackbirds, tree swallows, and numerous sparrows.

This turkey vulture scared me silly when I didn't notice it until it was 20 feet over head.

We were on the look-out for the great blue herons and we were not dissappointed. They were everywhere. The problem is that the heron nesting rookery is on private land, so we can only get so close, and my camera just doesn't do the beautiful birds justice.

I do love seeing the 50 or so nests up in the tops of the tallest trees. Pat got this one good picture of a heron on its nest.

My next bird to find here is a wood duck. They have had them nest here in the past and I am now determined to find one.