The phoebe juveniles have not been returning to the garage during the first week after leaving the nest as all the past clutches have, so I was getting worried.  Today I saw the 5 juveniles all lined up on our backyard fence wire looking to be fed by the parents.  Whew, I was getting worried about them!

The hummingbird pair seem to have divided our yard in half.  The female has the front yard, and the male has the backyard.  Anytime the boundaries are crossed, a noisy sqweeking fight erupts.  They are very territorial.

In accordance with directions from our local wildlife rehabilitator, we have been putting wet and dry dog food out for the young fox to help him get through the period where he is too young to get enough food on his own.  When we saw him the other day, we noticed that he is growing taller and had a bounce in his step.  Since we rarely see him during the day now, he must be getting enough food with our assistance. 

We now have the following juveniles being fed in our yard by their parents: chickadees, chipping sparrows, song sparrows, bluejays, redwing blackbirds, baltimore oriole.  The hummingbirds are making regular runs to a dense tree area below our riding arena, there must be a nest down there somewhere. 

The 5 phoebe chicks all left the garage nest 2 days ago.  I rescued one yesterday morning that was trying desperately to get through the garage window.  I scooped it gently with my hand, what a neat feeling.

We have been feeding the young fox for the past 2 weeks to get it through a challenging period.  We believe it was pre-maturely separated from the adults and is struggling a bit to find its own food.  It had been out during the day looking for food until we started feeding it.  Now the dog food is disappearing, but we have not seen it during the day.  We hope it is OK.

The male indigo bunting is now a regular visitor getting thistle seed.  Three male rose-breasted grosbeaks were at the feeder together yesterday.  We have babies galore: chipping sparrows, bluebirds, house finches, song sparrows, cowbirds, grackles, bluejays, hairy woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, crows, catbirds, and house sparrows.  Lots of begging to be fed going on.

I thought all our first arrivals were finished for the year, but today a 2nd year male indigo bunting showed up along with a pine siskin.

Also for the first time I saw flicker chicks sticking their heads out of a nest and dad feeding them.  I did not stay long as I could see the parents were disturbed by my presence.  I plan to return briefly each day over the next week to get more shots before they leave the nest.

A pair of cedar waxwings showed up for the first time yesterday.  They were in our beech tree along with the male oriole.

I checked the phoebe nest yeaterday with a mirror - there are at least 3 chicks tucked way down in the nest - still too small to peek out over the edge of the nest.

The male oriole attracted the newly arrived female in one day.  They are busily gathering nest material in our backyard.  I drape unraveled lengths of bailing twine on tree limbs - the orioles really go for that.  Photos coming soon.

A female baltimore oriole showed up for the first time this morning.  It perched on the vine right outside my kitchen window while I was getting breakfast.

While at a neighbor's house this evening, I helped rescue 2 hummingbirds that were stuck in their garage and couldn't find their way out.  We held a lacrosse stick up next to them as they flew against the garage ceiling.  As they tired, they would rest on the stick and then we were able to move them out past the door.

New arrival today:  Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

I have kept a log of first arrival dates for the past 9 years.  Amazingly the male ruby-throated hummingbird has arrived here on  either May 15th, 16th, or 17th for 9 straight years - fascinating regularity.

This morning when I went to put seed out at the feeders, there were a pair of catbirds perched in the holly bushes in front of our house.  One of them has been chatting away all day long.  This is the first time a pair has been near the house.

Mama phoebe is still sitting on eggs.  Bluebird pair still making regular runs to the nestbox.  Tree swallow pair was mating on the fence wire (sorry no photos - I respect their privacy).  Up to 12 goldfinches now.  As I expected 2 baltimore orioles are now vying for territory - fortunately they were at a distance early this morning.

The best thing this morning was that I discovered a flicker nest in an old tree trunk along the road where I walk my dog.  I saw the flicker fly out of the hole.  Should be some potential photo ops ahead. 

Two new arrivals today: Male Bobolink and Male Common Yellowthroat.  While walking my dog this morning, I heard the common yellowthroat in the woods along the road.  I made my best attempt at its call to see if I could lure it out and it worked.  He came to a bush right next to me.  The boblink was in a shrub by the road a half mile away right were it hung out all last summer.  

A male baltimore oriole arrived this morning at 5:15 and began singing LOUDLY to stake out our yard as his territory and call for a female.  If things develop like last year, a second male will show up and we will have 2 of them start singing back and forth each morning at 5AM for about 3 weeks or until one moves on.  Guess I'll be going to bed early for awhile so I can get some sleep. 

Three more new arrivals today:  The female rose-breasted grosbeak arrived 2 days after the males just like she always does.  While on our horseback ride in the woods early this morning, we heard about 4 wood thrushes calling from different parts of the woods.  Their call is so melodious.  We also heard 2 red-eyed vireos calling back and forth.  They seemed to be following us as we rode along.

The ruby-throated hummingbird should be arriving by next week if he holds true to past years.

New Arrival:  The male indigo bunting was ground feeding outside our dining room this afternoon.  He's difficult to get a shot of, so it might be awhile on him.  The pair hangout in the thickets on the corner below our house, that's usually where I have my best opportunities. 

Phoebe saga continues:  Today as I was coming into the garage, a phoebe flew out but the female was still on the nest.  So the male is back too.  I still can't explain their sudden disappearance for 4 days and now reappearance after eggs were laid.  I'm glad to have them back!

 It is fun watching the nest building going on by the tree swallows at 4 different nestboxes.  I am planning a slide show of this activity. 

Another new arrival today was an Eastern Kingbird.  It was perched on one of our fence wires by our horse pasture.

Phoebe update:  The phoebes have me totally baffled this year.  After 4 days without seeing them and noone on the nest, today one was on the nest most of the day.  I hope they know what they are doing, I wouldn't think the eggs would hatch after being left cold for so long.  Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

 The catbird was in the bush by our kitchen several times today.  This is the first time one has ventured into our yard.  I guess things are starting to look more grown up and safer for the birds who like lots of cover.

The bluebirds are grabbing mouthfuls of mealworms and making flights to the nestbox, so that could only mean one thing - the chicks have hatched already.

New arrival today - white crowned sparrow.  I saw it twice but couldn't get a photo, will keep trying.

A phoebe is again singing in front of our garage.  I don't know if it is one of the original pair that disappeared or not.  I hope it finds a mate and reactivates the nest in the garage.

 I have determined which nestbox the bluebirds selected, so I will be keeping an eye on progress there.  I'm looking forward to seeing bluebird fledgling in early June.

Another new arrival today - heard a gray catbird while walking my dog this morning.  I talked to it to try and lure it out into the open, no success yet.

On a sad note, the phoebes have abandoned their nest in the garage with 3 eggs in it.  That is baffling - I can't think of a reason they would do that.

Two more new arrivals today:  Eastern Towhee and Field Sparrow.  I could hear the Towhee in the woods across the road calling for a mate, but haven't seen it yet.  The field sparrow was in feeding multiple times.  I'll be posting its photo soon.

I thought the number of blackbirds would taper off as the birds started spreading out around the area, but we seem to have become the local diner.  Daily we have about 24 redwings, 18 cowbirds, 6 grackles and 10 starlings.  They go through lots of seed.

Two new arrivals this morning: a mockingbird and a female purple finch.  Four male purple finches showed up last week, so she has some real handsome choices.  The mockingbird was singing like crazy all morning long in the top of just about every tree in our yard.

Three new arrivals showed up today:  a white-throated sparrow, a killdeer, and a chipping sparrow.  The fox sparrow, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow, chipping sparrow and juncos were all grounding feeding within a 10 feet area at one point.

I woke up this morning to the sound of 12 grosbeaks chattering in the birch tree right outside our bedroom window.  I thought for sure they had left when I hadn't seen them for 3 days.  Maybe they plan on staying around for the summer - that would be very unusual.

Today's new arrival was a male purple finch.  It wasn't hard to pick him out in a perimeter tree, he is so bright.  The lone male goldfinch was in at the feeder area again today, I'll post a shot of him tomorrow.  He looks like he's had a rough migration trip and needs a bit of rest and recovery.  The cowbirds are starting to strut around with their beaks in the air with wings flared trying to look tough and impress the females (sound familiar?).

Another new arrival yesterday - one male goldfinch was perched in our crabapple tree.  He was fluffed quite a bit, but appeared to have most of his mating season bright yellow color.

A few new species have arrived over the past week:  a woodcock, an eastern phoebe, and today several tree swallows.

I saw the woodcock while walking my dog this morning, it was in the thick brush along the road.  The phoebe is calling like mad for a mate (phoeeeebe, phoeeeebe).  The tree swallows are zooming around like little jet fighters.

I haven't managed photos of any of them yet, but I'll be working on that.

Yesterday 250+ blackbirds (mostly red-wings plus a few starlings, grackles and cowbirds) descended on our backyard like a huge black cloud around 5PM.  I have never seen anything like it before except in the Hitchcock movie.  I got some photos of small groups, but no way to capture that crowd.  They cleaned up all the seed laying around on the ground after the snow melt. Today about 100 of them were back again, coming in as a wave numerous times during the day.  They are perching in the evergreen trees acoss the road when they are not in our yard; lots of noisy chatter.

Additional new arrivals:  Four robins have also arrived and are feasting on the holly berries along the front of our house.  There was also a single song sparrow ground feeding several times during the day (unusually early this year).

 I have taken 400+ photos over the past 3 days, so I have alot of editing to catch up on and of course posting to do.  Standby............  My retirement is off to a splendid start.  

One pair of bluebirds have picked each other and the other 3 who were here all winter have disappeared.  Today, the remaining pair were checking out the 2 nestboxes in our backyard.  I am hoping they pick the one we can see from our kitchen.

Today was one of those magical birding days.  The following species showed up for the first time all in the span of about 30 minutes: grackles (12), red-winged blackbirds (3), a cedar waxwing, and a fox sparrow.  The number of evening grosbeaks has increased to 40 - they must be spreading the word.  They perched high up in two different sets of trees and carried on long conversations. 

The cardinal pair have started their courtship behavior.  They hang out in the bush right outside our kitchen window, so I have a front row seat.  The female was fluttering her wings in front of the male with her beak pointed upward.  Then the male brought her a seed and passed it to her beak to beak.  The female is still attacking the windows.  They take turns singing their territory call.  I wouldn't be surprised if they build a nest in that bush.

Some people have asked me when the birds start returning north.  Based on my log for southern NY over the past 8 years, you can expect to see the following species showing up over the next 3 weeks in this area:

House Finches, Bluebirds, Robins (flocks), Red-winged Blackbirds (flocks), Tree Swallows, and Mockingbirds. 

Mostly they will show up toward the middle of March and get blasted with wintry weather for a few weeks - but they always seem to get through it OK.

Sleet came down steadily most of the day, so the birds were a bit frantic at times trying to peck through the ice layer to get seed.  I went out 3 times during the day to replenish seed and suet as the ice covered it up.  It paid off as we had a very high bird count. 

About 150 redpolls swooped in periodically in two large groups to feed at 2 different thistle perches.  14 evening grosbeaks dropped in unexpectedly early this afternoon and chowed down on sunflower seeds (6 males were in the bunch this time).  The female red-bellied woodpecker is getting very tame - she waited in a tree 12 feet away while I smeared some fresh suet into her favorite log.

It was bitter cold again this morning - we had more bluejays in than usual (about 24) all looking to fill up on peanuts.  While they were all jocking for position among trees and perches, a goup of 8 evening grosbeaks (3 males & 5 females) showed up unfazed in the middle of the bluejays. 

This is a different mix than previous times (normally 1 male & 7 females), so it appears there is a larger group around the area and different birds from that group visit on different days. I'll post some photos as soon as I get them edited.

I heard several flickers making a racket in the woods this morning.  Must be a pair beginning to discuss a nesting location for the spring.  I don't remember them starting this behavior quite this early in past years though.

I also saw a pileated woodpecker just up the road as I was driving to the store this afternoon.  That is a species I hope to post some shots of this year.  I only seem to see them when I don't have my camera with me.

Two robins showed up briefly in our crabapple tree this morning.  They seem to think it is spring also.  The evening grosbeaks lined up on the electric wires by the road but did not venture into the feeders, not sure why.  Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird were checking out a different nesbox today, happily chirping to each other.

It was quite a day for variety of species (17) and quantity (214)!!!  

20 bluejays, 14 juncos, 4 tree sparrows, 12 chickadees, 4 red-breasted nuthatches, 2 white-breasted nuthatches, 2 hairy woodpeckers, 4 downy woodpeckers, 6 starlings, 4 mourning doves, 2 crows, 2 titmice, 2 house finches, 120 redpolls (yes they are all back again), 8 evening grosbeaks (7 female and 1 male), 3 cardinals (2 male and 1 female), and last but not least 5 bluebirds (4 male and 1 female).  Whew. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

To ring in the new year here at Sugar Run Farm, Lynn and I took a ride in the woods on our horses this morning.  Both were feeling rather frisky and were anxious to hit the trail.  There was a fresh 2 inches of snow over night with only a few deer tracks crossing our path.  A few rays of sunlight broke through the clouds now and then to bring out the sparkle on the snow laden trees.

Very lively day today.  The redpolls must be spreading the word, because we now have 20 coming in as a flock all day long (photos to come).  They swoop in and all perch in the same tree and then make their way to the thistle feeder perches a few at a time.  Three evening grosbeaks were also in briefly this morning.  Then just before sunset I heard birds slamming against the windows and went to see what was going on.  The shrike was sitting on a perch 2 feet outside the kitchen window.  He moved around to several trees searching diligently for a songbird meal, but they had all successfully scrambled out of range.

 On a lighter note, I finally netted the final goldfish out of the upper pool and plopped it into the main pond with the other 150 of them.  They all winter over just fine in the 4 foot deep water.