The morning after my “Baby robins” post I saw the young birds, but by afternoon the nest was empty. I was surprised at how much I missed them and wondered if something had gone wrong. However, in a few days a young robin that would have been about the right age appeared in the backyard. It was frequently begging for food and being fed by an adult male.
Category: Birds
Baby robins
The scene of the robins’ nest has changed considerably since the previous post. Instead of four beautiful blue eggs there are now two nestlings – we have no idea what happened to the other two eggs. Now the adults are kept busy looking for insects and worms.
A backyard secret
This wooden planter was made by our son about thirty years ago. It’s hanging on the fence near our patio and from a distance it looks empty. However it contains a special surprise.
Backyard bird bonanza
The migratory birds in the backyard have been a special treat lately. The first to arrive were the rose-breasted grosbeaks (Pheucticus ludovicianus). The name is obvious when you see the strikingly-marked male, while the female reminds me of a large sparrow. We often see these birds for a few days each spring and fall as they migrate through.
We also saw black-and-white (Mniotilta varia), yellow-rumped (Setophaga coronata), and Nashville warblers (Oreothlypis ruficapilla) and a Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula). We were especially surprised to see an indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) and a scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea) – the first time we’ve seen either one in our backyard.
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March snow and dribbled suet
We woke yesterday morning to find four inches of snow and a beautiful winter wonderland. This was the view from our dining room window.
The cedar tree is this year’s annual Christmas tree for the birds. I’ve recently discovered a new way of using it as a bird feeder.