International Migratory Bird Day

[digitS']

It's

International Migratory Bird Day​

There is good reason to take a strong interest in our natural world. We are a part of it. Our food and ornamental plants, our livestock, and our pets are a part of Nature.

Birds do not know political boundaries. Some migrate great distances, some not so far.

One thing that surprises me is how inconsistent the arrival of some migrants is. During a recent January, thousands of Robins showed up, only to disappear a few days later. This year, I am still waiting for anywhere near our usual numbers of Robins. (I know that my Uncle Rob, if he was still living, would be too .)

I have yet to see a single Killdeer and here is @flowerbug with hatchlings running around in his backyard!

Are there migrants that you look forward to?

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

one pair of the killdeer are nesting again in a different location so they've likely lost all of their first hatchlings. the other pair have not returned so perhaps they have managed to keep a few of their children alive.

i do not know what kind of bird we have nesting in the old pot belly stove which is an ornament and often more of a hornet or bee nest than a bird nest, but i was sitting near there this morning while working on one of the gardens and tried to get a better view of the birds. they are definitely not cardinals, but i do not know my birds well enough to place it. it is grey, smaller than cardinals, male and female are grey. pretty song. not having any luck yet finding them. there's a lot of birds that call Michigan home for at least a part of their season.

 

[flowerbug]

the mystery birds might be tufted titmice. i'm still not sure, i haven't gotten a very good close enough look to be sure. if it really is this would be a new species to me as i know i've not seen them around before.

 

[digitS']

This may help:

Tufted Titmouse Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

A little gray bird with an echoing voice, the Tufted Titmouse is common in eastern deciduous forests and a frequent visitor to feeders. The large black eyes, small, round bill, and brushy crest gives these birds a quiet but eager expression that matches the way they flit through canopies, hang...

www.allaboutbirds.org

DW is no help to me for the songs. Of course, I can wear hearing aids and turn up the volume here on the computer but in the wild ... maybe i know that "a bird" is singing .

 

[flowerbug]

getting in the ballpark but not sure yet. cavity nester for sure and right size, not sure about markings and colors. i need better eyes to see them at a distance. my only set of binoculars don't work any more. my camera i don't take outside with me when i'm gardening because i don't want to drop it or have it get rained on or whatever. if i sit someplace long enough i can probably get a picture. just not had that kind of inclination or time lately. sitting isn't something my body wants to do much of if at all.

 

[ducks4you]

Dunno know if they Leave, but I love the barn swallows! During the summer evenings that dart around the sky eating mosquitoes. They nest in my barn, and another outbuilding. Nests don't last forever. I have seen one on the floor of my barn loft that outlived it's dried mud usefulness.
Some bird was hanging around last Spring with a song I had not ever heard before. I kinda memorized it, went online to identify it. Still don't know what it was.

 

[flowerbug]

still trying to figure this bird out, probably a tufted titmouse. not able to get a good close up view of it with my eyes and it being so busy a time that i can't sit with a camera and wait for it to land. because we have so many different birds around it is also hard to know if what i hear is their song or someone else's. there's a lot of variety in their calls when you listen on-line so i listened to all of them that i could find.

 

[digitS']

You are lucky having them nesting there, @flowerbug . Get your binoculars and try to stay focused on the nest, while you are busy out there. Maybe, think of them as groundhogs trying to sneak in and grab something out of the garden. But of course, they are just little birds .

They may be very disinclined to do any singing anywhere near the nest.

We were treated to a bird visit the last time we were in the garden. It was one that I don't remember ever seeing there - some kind of flycatcher doing his characteristic hovering. There is a wild rose bush nearby and he was checking that out rather closely. Before he left, he actually sat on a stack of the neighbor's boards and took a good look at us.

They aren't something that I see but very seldom so, since I had a few moments to look at him, maybe I can use some pictures and maps and figure out what he was. There are supposed to be a fair number of flycatchers and related phoebes/pewees/kingbirds that might show up here but I think of them as arid country, river-bank birds. Oh, who knows!? You would think that they would be okay carrying passports to make it easier for us stay @home do-nothings.

Steve
speaking only for myself, of course

 

[flowerbug]

i think they do sing but i'm standing 20-40ft away most of the time. no binoculars. my old cheapo ones broke years ago and i've not replaced them yet. always on my list but not done - mainly because i forget about them until the next time i need them.

haha, passports for sure would help! or a calling card for those who are not so easily identifiable...

 

[Sparrow]

There's a wren nest in the barn, the same nest that was used two years ago. The parents go in and out of the barn all day feeding the young ones. They're not afraid of me, as they see me all the time.