Here is another photo from late April. Our summer birds were starting to come back in quite a rush by then.
We were still putting out the deer fix mix at this point. The deer were already coming by less frequently. Now that we’re in May, we hardly see them at all. There is still evidence that they are coming by – and sometimes I see them going through the driveway gate, on the trail cam. Right now, we are getting massive crowds of these fox sparrows.
I saw a couple of birds on the platform feeder that were behaving a bit differently, so I decided to start getting some pictures.
They were hopping back and forth quite a bit, but I managed to get a good shot of this little one.
Then I realized what was going on.
It was a baby, being shown how to eat at the feeder…
While also being fed.
So adorable!
The Re-Farmer
With the fires in the area, it’s no surprise that we aren’t seeing any deer, at all. It has, however, been a day full of birds outside our window.
Mr. Blue Jay allowed me to take his photograph today, though they certainly did make me work for a good shot!
In amongst the masses of bark eyed juncos, this bird went off into the flower garden and started digging like mad into the dried leaves.
I’ve had two strong suggestions as to what this bird is. Either a fox sparrow, or a type of thrush. I spent some time looking and comparing photos online to ones I’d taken myself.
Bird identification sites often have really unhelpful photos, I’ve come to notice.
Ultimately, it was the markings on the head that made the ID for me. These are fox sparrows, of the “red” variety.
Speaking of red.
I had taken so many pictures of these red birds before the snow fell, but it never occurred to me to try and identify them. I think I may have just lumped them in as another type of bird in my mind. While looking up local bird species online, however, I found photos of these guys, and it turns out they are purple finches. In the above photo, you see both the bright red males, and the less showy females.
As I was zooming in to get photos of what I though might have been the thrush/fox sparrow I wanted to identify, the bird turned and I realized I was looking at a new visitor!
This is a male white throated sparrow. Love that distinctive patterning on the head. It made it much easier to identify it, though it wasn’t any easier to find online. My bird book doesn’t have it at all, though it does have several other types of sparrows.
Just look at the face! :-D
Looks like some females were in the crowd, too.
Weather willing, I will soon be raking near this area, to get some of the leaves out of the flower bed and clean up dead branches. We are finally starting to see some green forcing its way through the dead leaves. Not too much longer, and we’ll be able to start trying to identify the plants around here, as well as the birds! :-)
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 