For the birds!

There's always quite a bit of bird activity in the backyard, something I'm really grateful for. Who knew you could be so entertained by all the different varieties of birds you can attract just in your backyard (granted, location's big factor here). So, without any further ado...let's move on to the stars of this entry!

These male brown-headed cowbirds were really strutting their stuff.


Female bluebird in the backyard red bud earlier this spring, before it bloomed and then leafed out.


Male bluebird sitting on a fence post, checking out the female bluebird.


Here's what the blue jay nest looked like back in the spring.


I do believe this is a white-crowned sparrow - check out the funky "crown"!


This was one of those "first sitings" - at first I thought it was an odd rose-breasted grosbeak, but it turns out it's an Eastern towhee instead. Neat! I don't think I've seen once since!?


These Canadian geese were strutting around making a lot of noise in the backyard...


...and this one's just plain ol' showing off!


Ok bird people - I need your help. This guy is always sitting along the tree line, getting chased out/attacked by the other birds (especially the bluejays and red-winged blackbirds), and I *think* it's the one I've seen fly over our house from the wetland across the street, once with a frog in it's talons, and another time a snake.

Thanks to the description I gave a former Biology prof of mine, Dr Waller, who's now retired and working at Donzell's, it sounds like this might be a red-shouldered hawk rather than the Cooper's hawk I was initially guessing.


The bird was very helpful - here's the backside. So - what do you think?


Ok, this is not a bird. This picture's placement here sort of represents how I feel about this chickmunk in with my plants - how did it get here, and what am I going to do about it?

Eh, it's too cute, and the harm is minimal. I guess I'll leave him.


Female rose-breasted grosbeak just chilling out and looking pretty.


Annnd here's a male rose-breasted grosbeak. I wish these guys would feel more comfortable in my yard and spend more time visiting!


Blue jays strutting along the fence in the backyard. Man, they sure get noisy!


One of the Eastern bluebirds checking out the nesting box my brother and niece made for me a couple years ago. He must've liked what he saw - now there's a nest with four eggs in it! (Oh, and that pole? I thought it was a fun way to re-use the old umbrella post after a wind storm launched the umbrella off the deck in the back, up over the house, and smashed it on the front sidewalk.)


And I saw this one the other day. At first I assumed I was seeing the bluebirds again, and then realized it was a little TOO blue, both in color, and in cover... Nope, not a bluebird - this is an indigo bunting - not something I often see in my yard!


Well, that's it for the latest bird posting. If you catch me on any errors (especially that hawk), let me know!!