Well, it turns out they are titmouse not the bluebirds I was hoping for. We still have plenty of bluebirds to enjoy though. Going by the frequency the mom and dad are feeding I'm guessing they will be leaving the nest any day now which is good because I've been waiting to take that tree down to help my solar production a little.
We have a few Eastern Phoebe chicks under the deck this year. Yesterday, their beaks were barely out of the nest. Today, their entire heads are popping out when they hear a noise or think mom is around.
This was really cool! My wife came with me to a conference I had in Orlando in late April. While sitting by the pool a falconer came by with a pair of Harris Hawks to work on bird control. I came out at lunch to see the action. We ended up talking to the falconer for a bit. She said the pool area was having some issues with Grackles; flying around, stealing food and just being difficult. She went on to say they started with the hawks back in March and saw a really significant decrease in the amount of Grackles since then. She was in the area the next few days and at one point, had 3 hawks with her. She said they do a lot of work in the Orlando area. One of their jobs involved controlling some crows that had caused a lot of vehicle damage in a business’s parking lot. She went on to say how smart they were. She said by day 3, the crows recognized her vehicle. Really cool to see these hawks in action!
Happened to be by the kitchen window earlier when this showed up. Rather unnerving to see one during the day as they could be rabid. Behavior seemed okay though. I opened the back door to spook it.
Not my photo but one from a fellow bird club member here in East Texas. A scissor tailed fly catcher in flight, a few miles from my house.
You can tell what a bird eats by looking at its face for one second. The bill is the tool. The shape is the job description. The cardinal's thick conical bill is a seed crusher — built to crack sunflower shells with force. The chickadee's thin pointed bill is a pair of precision tweezers — picking caterpillars and spiders off leaves one at a time. Same feeder. Completely different equipment. The nighthawk is the one that stops people. Her mouth opens wider than her head — a scoop that catches moths in mid-flight. She's not pecking. She's flying with her mouth open and filtering the air. The heron's bill is a dagger. She stands still for twenty minutes, then strikes faster than you can track — spearing fish, frogs, and mice from the shallows. The woodpecker's bill is a chisel, hammering into bark to extract larvae hidden inside. The crow's bill does everything adequately and nothing perfectly — seeds, fruit, insects, garbage. The generalist tool for the generalist bird. Eight bill shapes. Eight diets.
Im taking a break at my cut this afternoon when I hear the distinctive "mew" of a catbird real close. It had landed on the log deck and was eating ants. I watched it for a bit and was able to get pics. Zoomed pic not very sharp. The mewing and random singing a fond reminder its warm out.
Just watched a redtail hawk fly by out in the ravine at about 50 yards away and head height with what looked like a black squirrel in it's clutches.
We have had 2 pair of red breasted grosbeaks at the feeders. This guy has been drumming non-stop. His favorite drumming log is right by my garden, and on his breaks to feed, he walks around me while I am working.
Yesterday my sister had a pterodactyl visit her suet feeder and got a picture. Rats!! She's catching up on me with yard bird sightings.
