Bird Wildlife at Shore Side Farm House

We are entranced birders here. We sit on the porch and get swept into all the activity in the trees and bushes. The teeming life is all very entertaining. There is the usual cadre of woodland birds, and a sprinkling of shorebirds.  The population grows and wains throughout the spring and summer.

The Red Wing Blackbirds arrived way too early, before the blizzards this spring. They lived to regret that decision. The poor things were covered with snow and fighting for access to the birdfeeder, their only source of food when there was three feet of snow on the ground. At that time there was also a huge flock of about 40 American Goldfinche. They too were relying on the feeder to sustain them in the snow. As spring approached both flocks of birds acclimated to the surroundings and found their natural food sources. As spring progressed, the male Goldfinches turned yellow from the winter brown-gray color, and the females lightened up to a green tone with an orange beak. Other varieties of birds arrived making the birdwatching much more interesting. One of my favorites is the House Wren. I don't have a picture of them to share, but they are quite entertaining. A male adopted our clay birdhouse and then proceeded to customize it and furnish the nest. In spite of all of his efforts he could not find a female to move in with him. I had a lot of sympathy for the fellow. He put a lot of work into the nest, and he rebuilt it several times..completely destroying the first two nests in the process...but still no female was interested in cohabitation.  He finally did show up with a female mate, but they did not fully occupy the nest. They seemed to have another residence. They would check in and make changes, but they didn't seem to spend a lot of time in there.   As it stands to today it has been customized, and made comfortable, but it has not been occupied. It looks very comfy... here is a picture of the house and below it is a close up of the furnishings. They are very precise and neat, but there are no residents. This has happened before that the bird usually destroys the nest when it is not going to occupy it, but not this time.  It is just sitting waiting for a resident.

The Goldfinches just launched their new family. All of the babies were at the feeders with their father yesterday. They were so cute and funny. They were peeping and never stopped. They followed him everywhere, and everything he did they did. It just goes to show how many behaviors are universal across species.  You can tell the babies because they don't have the body dexterity of the adults and they flap their wings in an effort to create control. It doesn't always work. Their feathers are puffed up and they  miss their mark when attempting to jump onto another branch or fly onto the feeder. Their lack of body control is endearing. Last year I had the joy of watching a family of house wrens fledge the nest. The fledglings came out one at a time and filled the tree with peeping little ones who were very unsure and anxious. They left when their mother was out of the nest and she was dismayed to come home and find them gone. She then located them all over the tree, and she coached each in flying, jumping, and eating. It was a joy to watch them. I was very disappointed that they did not move into the house again.  We did have some great times watching this years visitors. Yesterday we had our first Waterthrush. I saw it again this morning. It is a small brown bird that looks very sleek.  We also had some Kingfishers this year. Boy, do they have a shrill call. I knew I was going to see a new bird before I saw it, because I heard their call in the yard before I ever saw the bird.

Well enough for today. Feel free to comment and share!