Look! A bird!

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Today I heard quite a ruckus. Crows were mobbing the hawk again, only this time there were TWO hawks, but one of them way much farther away. I could hear them calling to each other.

I wonder if both species are nesting and the crows know what hawks do to nestlings...

M.

Maybe, but crows have also been known to eat baby birds. Unfortunately, I witnessed this on campus once.

[apl68]

So...it's a contest to see who eats whose young first?  The natural world can be a harsh place.

I guess if they each play it defensively enough, nobody's chicks will get eaten.

[apl68]

On a happier note, got a close look at a beautiful bluebird while walking to work today.  I've been seeing them in my back yard as well, as noted above.  Thanks to my inability to get my yard mowed so far, I currently have what's euphemistically known as a "meadow lawn."  The birds love it.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

On a happier note, got a close look at a beautiful bluebird while walking to work today.  I've been seeing them in my back yard as well, as noted above.  Thanks to my inability to get my yard mowed so far, I currently have what's euphemistically known as a "meadow lawn."  The birds love it.

Bluebirds are awesome! We have several families in my neighborhood.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

So...it's a contest to see who eats whose young first?  The natural world can be a harsh place.

I guess if they each play it defensively enough, nobody's chicks will get eaten.

Yep, well, I doubt crows go after hawk chicks, but I could be wrong- I'm not an ornithologist. The crow I saw on campus took a mockingbird chick. :(

[apl68]

So...it's a contest to see who eats whose young first?  The natural world can be a harsh place.

I guess if they each play it defensively enough, nobody's chicks will get eaten.

Yep, well, I doubt crows go after hawk chicks, but I could be wrong- I'm not an ornithologist. The crow I saw on campus took a mockingbird chick. :(

That crow was living dangerously!  Mockingbirds are notoriously aggressive in protecting their young.  When I was a child I made the mistake of trying to grab a baby bird I saw perched on my dad's motorcycle outside.  Turned out it was a baby mockingbird.  The next thing I knew, I saw a beak with wings darting right at my head.  I fled inside.  I don't know how long it took for the birds outside to quiet down--or for my eyes to return to their normal size.

[Morden]

We had a beautiful sharp-shinned hawk perch on our fence for a while today. Two magpies watched him suspiciously for a while and then went back to building their nest.

[Thursday's_Child]

Yesterday was made more beautiful by a male Rose-breasted grosbeak trying to dominate the feeder - tanking up after a long migration, I guess.  I need to make more time to look for other migrants.

[namazu]

Ooh!  I've never seen a rose-breasted grosbeak, Thursday's_Child (though a range map suggests that they ought to at least pass through here, if not stay).  What a striking bird!


All three barred owlets on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Wild Birds Unlimited webcam have hatched!  They're still in the helpless, floppy fluffball stage.

I continue to be amazed at the diversity of the owls' diet -- fish, crustaceans, frogs, earthworms, various small birds, snakes, assorted rodents...

[Puget]

The House Finches have returned-- I've acquired a finch feeder and special finch food (they came fast, maybe Amazon thinks they are "essential household items"?), but so far have only seen them eating spilled seed from the regular bird feeder next to it. Fine, be that way.

[namazu]

The House Finches have returned-- I've acquired a finch feeder and special finch food (they came fast, maybe Amazon thinks they are "essential household items"?), but so far have only seen them eating spilled seed from the regular bird feeder next to it. Fine, be that way.

Such ingrates! 

Around here, they seem to really like coco-coir planter liners as nesting material.

[AmLitHist]

The House Finches have returned-- I've acquired a finch feeder and special finch food (they came fast, maybe Amazon thinks they are "essential household items"?), but so far have only seen them eating spilled seed from the regular bird feeder next to it. Fine, be that way.

Such ingrates! 

Around here, they seem to really like coco-coir planter liners as nesting material.

I just hung my baskets last week, and I've already seen three birds trying to dismantle the new liners in the basket closest to my desk. (Luckily, the ones I got at Lowes this year are really tightly pressed and don't lend themselves to being unraveled very easily. The ones I had last year looked pretty shaggy by mid-may, thanks to the finches, robins, and cardinals!)

[Thursday's_Child]

I've sort of gotten accustomed to birds ragging the coco-fiber baskets.  Squirrels doing that is another matter - they will shred them in a few days!

Sad news - something got the mockingbird nestlings last night.  I'm assuming it was a cat b/c the remains had puked up nearby.  My two are innocent - neither one is known to eat their kills and they were in all night.

[FishProf]

I intentionally put out the coco-fiber for nesting material and the birds won't touch it.

Maybe they need to thrill of illicit usage?  I'll plant stiff in them this weekend and see if it changes their behavior.

[Catherder]

6 baby Canada geese about the size of my fist on the lawn yesterday evening.  That cheers me up after the mourning dove chicks didn't survive.