Sunday Stroll: Birding

Yesterday the Chap and I participated in an all-day Diocesan event. It fired me up in ways I didn't expect.

A couple of minutes after we returned home, the rose-breasted grosbeak landed on one of our feeders. He's as handsome as ever.

I was glad to see him again this morning.



My Sunday Stroll took me no farther than my kitchen and dining room windows. It was a terrific morning for birdwatching.

The orioles are frequent visitors.



I spotted two males, and at one point they were both chasing a female.

Sometimes this guy drinks from the hummingbird feeder.



Other times he knows he should be using this one.



The hummingbirds use both feeders, too. But they were too fast for my camera this morning.

Here's the head-banging robin. I took this shot immediately after he stopped attacking the window glass.



A red-breasted nuthatch. They love the suet. He's eyeing it hungrily.



The woodpeckers are all over the suet. This is a downy, but the hairy eats it, too. Often.



Our state bird, the purple finch. (Camera shy.)



This mourning dove was gathering straw for nesting materials.



Possibly the nest might be in this location. The birds keep flying over there, together and separately.



But I've been wrong about nest sites before.

The phoebes are nesting somewhere now, and not where I hoped. The cardinals have been scarce lately, I suspect they're starting a family, too. There's a huge robin's nest beside high eave of our garage, and the parents fly in and out of it to gather food in the front yard.

In other nature news...while the Chap and I were having a drink on the porch last evening--watching the rainstorm approach--Ruth was stalking a critter in the backyard. Jewel wasn't at all interested, so I knew it wasn't a rodent. I suspected it was a snake, Ruth's body language was a clue. So I went into the yard and found a good-sized garter snake. There was a big, big bulge in its middle, evidence that it had recently consumed a frog. Which, if you've not seen it, is a most fascinating operation. I picked up a stick and scooted him between the pickets of the fence, so he could digest his supper in peace, without any interference from my inquisitive little dog.

Usually I attend the NH Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend. Life has been so packed with activities, with more to come, that I stayed home. If I don't think about it too much, I won't regret not going.

Thanks for stopping by. To keep strolling, head over to Aisling's site.

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. And their children.