Birds sighted

[Mike Nolan]

Among the visitors to our feeders this year is a small group of rose breasted grosbeaks, at least two males and we saw a female this morning. They like safflower seed and fruit.

They're more common along the east coast than in the great plains.

Their song is similar to a robin's, but IMHO a bit more melodious.

We also saw an oriole this evening, probably a Baltimore oriole rather than an orchard oriole, which also show up in Nebraska.

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[BakerAunt]

That is a nice selection of birds, Mike. We have a crow that is hanging around that we keep scaring away. A rabbit made a nest and had at least three babies. We are not sure if the crow went after the next, or if our dog was curious and started digging. My husband noticed the fur that the momma had used in the next spread around and found it. The crow got one that seemed already to have died we saw two tiny ones in the nest. While I stood guard, my husband used an old Styrofoam cooler, in which he cut an entrance hole to cover it. Meanwhile, Momma was watching but ran off when she saw us. He weighted it down with a piece of wood. The crow came back and was pecking around the edges, so he put bricks there. A second baby rabbit died last week. My husband saw it outside the little hut, but it was gone when he returned, and the crow was poking around. We angled a screen across the front, and the crow seems not to want to go into there, although we still scare it away. It should keep the crow from being able to swoop down. It is week three now, and there is one little bunny in the nest. We hope it survives.

[Mike Nolan]

I got a good shot of one with my telephoto lens today, definitely a Baltimore oriole. We had both Baltimore orioles and orchard orioles a year or two ago, though.

I've seen at least two adult rabbits in the yard, but I haven't spotted a nest anywhere. Last summer we had a younger rabbit that discovered the water on the deck for the birds and was there for a drink frequently.

[Mike Nolan]

My wife has participated in several of the feeder bird counts, she usually gets 20-25 species in about 4 hours, although the last one was on a cold rainy day and she got very few birds at all. (I think her year-long list is closer to 50 species.)

We have a number of woodpeckers in the yard, they were calling at each other this afternoon. We have some flickers as well--similar to woodpeckers but somewhat larger, they can eat from the suet feeder but not from the thistle feeders, their claws won't let them grab hold. Some of the starlings and grackles were able to figure out how to hold on to the suet feeder.

[chocomouse]

Our Baltimore Orioles eat the oranges faster than I can get to the store to buy more! The rose breasted Grosbeaks also like them. Soon, I start giving them cheap grape jelly, and once they taste those, they won't eat the oranges. The bluebirds in the bird house closest to my studio window either have eggs or are feeding babies. We don't have rabbits, but today I planted a SuperSweet100 cherry tomato; our resident chipmunks love to pick and eat the tomatoes, but peel them first and leave the peels in various plant pots.

[Mike Nolan]

Maybe I should start with oranges before putting out the grape jelly, but both disappear here, to a variety of birds. Squirrels like grape jelly, too, and I've even seen a raccoon try to get up the pole. (It bent, so I had to straighten it out.)

Something's been nibbling at the dill plants I put out, but so far they're rebounding. I'd like to put in a dill patch but haven't found a good place for one.

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