Fruits of the Bird Garden

We've had so much success spotting birds this past week that we've been getting up before dawn almost every day to see what we can find in the yard. The boys have enjoyed lots of birding, finding old favorites and spotting some new finds, as well. We continue to marvel at how many more birds we are seeing with our multi-purpose feeding station, built for us by a kind neighbor, Mr. S.

There is a platform feeder with black oil sunflower seeds, a hanging nut feeder, a mixed seed feeder with a roof on top and a hummingbird feeder. Looking out the window right now I can see a ruby throated hummingbird, two cardinals, a chickadee, an Eastern Towhee and two mourning doves, each perched on a different feeder or eating seeds from the ground.

Our bird garden, now 4 months old, is the perfect spot for these birds to take cover, and the feeding station gets even more visitors thanks to its perfect spot. The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks have continued to come back daily, along with mockingbirds and our other usual visitors. In fact, today we had two male Rose breasted Grosbeaks as well as the female. We've seen two woodpeckers this week as well, in or near the bird garden (not at the feeding station).

Tonight K and I heard a cerulean warbler and a hooded warbler in a wooded area down the street, but we could never spot either one.

Now that the weather has cooled, we are ready for phase two of our bird garden project. There are still several holes (dug in the spring) awaiting trees or shrubs, and we want to put a gravel path and some benches in, as well as a water feature. There is some discrepancy about that, as I want a simple bird bath whereas the boys want to dig a pond! I think birdbath will win out, and they can put a pond in later, when they are big enough to dig it and maintain it themselves!

The boys each built a birdhouse, aimed at attracting a particular bird, with the help of their grandfather. We have a purple martin house, a towhee house and a finch house. I hope to get those put up in the bird garden this month, as well.

I had also planned to transplant several butterfly bushes, but it looks like I may not need to. I can see where it looks like some have come up on their own, probably spreading from the butterfly garden in the backyard.

Rose breasted Grosbeaks

It is migration season! We've all been out birding in our yard this week. The bird garden with its feeding station has drawn a lot to our yard. We've added some new birds to our life list.

Yesterday we (K, C and I) all saw both male and female Rose breasted Grosbeaks. They spent a long time at the feeder and in a tree at the edge of the garden. We also saw a hummingbird which we could not identify. We spotted a gray catbird, which was new for me, though K had seen it before. It was exciting to pore over the bird guide, finally identifying the gray bird with a buffy underside to its tail.

Today K saw a white-eyed vireo, which was new for his life list. He was out at 7:30 to try and spot some early birds. K and C also both saw the female towhee two days in a row, also for the life list.

Other findings, not new for us, were the Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Cardinals, Chipping Sparrow, Ruby Throated Hummingbirds (a pair), Rose breasted Grosbeak was back today, male Eastern Towhee, Common Yellowthroat, Mourning Doves, male Purple Finch, Downy Woodpecker, Red headed Woodpecker, and Black Vultures (yesterday on our way to speak and today near the house...new for our neighborhood).