Look! A bird!

[cathwen]

I was also going to suggest catbird.  Or perhaps a female cowbird?

Saturday my husband and I went on a trail walk with our daughter's family and came to a large pond with several great blue herons.  One suddenly flew up and swooped around, soon joined by a second one.  We stood transfixed, watching the dance of the great blue herons in awe—it was so beautiful and graceful! 

[mamselle]

Agreed. They are sooo cool.

They have a kind of prehistoric dignity as they step about, one minute, and then they swoop away as if precursors to transatlantic flight.

M.

[nebo113]

Seems like a number of birds have hatched around here recently.  And, unfortunately, I found a dead baby wren on the porch, near the nest.  Don't know if my canine or feline got it, though the canine pretty much ignored it and the feline is pretty old.  Yes, I would prefer to keep the feline inside, but the door is left ajar for the canine to roam inside the fenced yard.

[mamselle]

I took a much longer walk on Thursday and found "FamilyA" (I think) in a small pond on the opposite end of the brook from which I'd thought they were nesting.

It's far enough away, and blocked by a number of fallen limbs since the last 2 storms, that they probably just haven't bothered swimming up my way....their pond is definitely higher and probably has enough to forage on that they don't need to go further.

Family B remains in the same spot, they haven't built a nest, but they have been there each time I've gone by for the past 3 days. I've taken to just barely peeking and then walking on so as not to spook them, they have had enough to deal with.

No sign of Fanily A for two weeks now, but they could also be upstream, blocked by fallen limbs (and the river goes for a ways, so they could be fine, but I do miss them.)

The herons, however, have appeared in several new places, including one younger juvenile than I've ever seen before, about duck-sized, body-wise, but already well-schooled in the "stare-'em-down" frown and steady stance that made me look twice to be sure of what I was seeing.

On one jaunt, I saw 3 in succession, the baby, the older juvenile, and an adult flying downstream through an open tunnel of tree branches.

Bird-brained, I know...

M.

[cathwen]

That sounds like a lovely walk, mamselle! 

[mamselle]

Thanks! It is.

M.

[mamselle]

Double, two days later...

All of Family B were out, and the kids are nearly as big as their folks! They were tooling coolly upriver, hanging out in the water lilies under the shade of the oaks on the far side of the river.

Many pictures ensued...

M.

[AmLitHist]

I'm going to have to take on a second job pretty soon, to keep these hummingbirds fed.  We only have 3 feeders, all with lots of flowers in bloom around each, but the birdies are still swarming the feeders.

We filled the two quarts out front yesterday evening, and just now again.  They were swarming ALHS while he filled the feeders--"Hurry up, guy! We're hungry!"

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I'm going to have to take on a second job pretty soon, to keep these hummingbirds fed.  We only have 3 feeders, all with lots of flowers in bloom around each, but the birdies are still swarming the feeders.

We filled the two quarts out front yesterday evening, and just now again.  They were swarming ALHS while he filled the feeders--"Hurry up, guy! We're hungry!"

So cool! How many do you think you have and which type? We have just a couple of ruby-throated hummingbirds, but we also only have one feeder. I've thought about expanding the buffet for them. It's on my list of things to do in the backyard.

[Harlow2]

On a hike near the Jersey shore:  several nests of ospreys ready to head south. Adolescents looked big enough to have fledged but saw just one (parent?) flying.  Such majestic birds.

[AmLitHist]

I'm going to have to take on a second job pretty soon, to keep these hummingbirds fed.  We only have 3 feeders, all with lots of flowers in bloom around each, but the birdies are still swarming the feeders.

We filled the two quarts out front yesterday evening, and just now again.  They were swarming ALHS while he filled the feeders--"Hurry up, guy! We're hungry!"

So cool! How many do you think you have and which type? We have just a couple of ruby-throated hummingbirds, but we also only have one feeder. I've thought about expanding the buffet for them. It's on my list of things to do in the backyard.

They're all ruby-throated, with a lot more females than males at the feeders this summer.  I counted about 14 at one feeder this morning. and 8 at the other at the same time. I haven't been at the feeder in the back yard much this week, but ALHS says he sees about 10-12 around it in the early morning/evenings when he passes on his bike rides. 

He filled the front feeders again this morning, and he barely got them re-hung before the birds were back on them. He hoped they might perch while he was holding the feeder, but one or two did fly around his head!

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I'm going to have to take on a second job pretty soon, to keep these hummingbirds fed.  We only have 3 feeders, all with lots of flowers in bloom around each, but the birdies are still swarming the feeders.

We filled the two quarts out front yesterday evening, and just now again.  They were swarming ALHS while he filled the feeders--"Hurry up, guy! We're hungry!"

So cool! How many do you think you have and which type? We have just a couple of ruby-throated hummingbirds, but we also only have one feeder. I've thought about expanding the buffet for them. It's on my list of things to do in the backyard.

They're all ruby-throated, with a lot more females than males at the feeders this summer.  I counted about 14 at one feeder this morning. and 8 at the other at the same time. I haven't been at the feeder in the back yard much this week, but ALHS says he sees about 10-12 around it in the early morning/evenings when he passes on his bike rides. 

He filled the front feeders again this morning, and he barely got them re-hung before the birds were back on them. He hoped they might perch while he was holding the feeder, but one or two did fly around his head!

So cool. Have you found any of their nests? I seem to recall we found one years ago in the backyard. It was soooo tiny. I think it had some lichen in it.  I've also mentioned seeing the females gather spider webs near our windows to help 'glue' their nests together. Have you seen them do this?

[mamselle]

I'm suffering swan-heron-duck-goose-turtle withdrawal.

Unhappy ankle the other day curtailed the walk a bit; it's fine now, but I've had to run errands the past two AMs so no brooks or rivers for me.

Arwk! Arwk!!

M.

[Langue_doc]

Warning: the article and pictures of the heron dining on a rat in Central Park are not for the fainthearted.

https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/sometimes-youre-rat-sometimes-youre-great-blue-heron-swallowing-rat-whole

[mamselle]

Warning: the article and pictures of the heron dining on a rat in Central Park are not for the fainthearted.

https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/sometimes-youre-rat-sometimes-youre-great-blue-heron-swallowing-rat-whole

Yes, I did see that article.

Never seen one in the gustatory process, except maybe for a quick fish grab in the river before.

Nature red (or blue) in tooth and claw....

M