Monday, April 13, 2009

The Yardbirds

With all of my birding adventures, I have not paid much attention on what has been going on in my own back yard. Oh sure, I keep up with the feeding stations, making sure they are filled and clean, but once I have done my daily chore, I am off and running looking for the daily migrants. I wave goodbye as I go and leave them on their own to eat in peace. I still love these birds, but forget to appreciate them from time to time because they are a daily part of my life. I guess it's kind of like your family, you see them everyday as they are the daily fabric of your life, but you sometimes neglect to appreciate it until something happens to snap you back to reality.

Here is my lovely male cardinal. This little guy here is my alarm clock. I wake up and can hear him singing his heart out while the sound of brewing coffee competes for my first morning sound. My senses are awakened by the sound of his beautiful voice and the smell of coffee filling the air. My mood has gone from groggy to invigorated in just 30 seconds.

The beloved male Mockingbird who has taken over my yard. I watch him as he stands on his perch making sure no other birds dare to step foot on his territory. He is there every morning waiting for me to put out raisins and fill up the bird bath. I whislte a little tune for him while I am doing this and he stares at me in complete silence. We make eye contact for a brief moment and I smile at his wonderous face that is full of curiousity and micheif.



The comedian in my yard the Tufted Titmouse. He is a little puff of adrenelyn that only sits still for a moment to grab a peanut or a seed before he dissapears to eat it in peace. Sometimes all is not well in the bird world and he is the first to notify me something is amiss by his high pitched call that makes my indoor cats fight for the window to catch a glimpse of offender who woke them from their nap.






The House Finches who dissapeared for the winter but are back in full force now taking advantage of the squirrel who has raised the top to the feeder. Here they perch while searching for their favorite seeds to sample and share.



Sometimes the male will perch on a branch and sing his beloved a tune. The air is filled with joyous song that fills my yard with promises of spring and nestlings.



And finally one of my numerous Juncos. I love these birds but wince a little when I see them in my yard every morning. I watch them eat and want to ask them when they are heading up North. I want to let them know that it can't be oficially sping until they are gone but decide not to as I watch them eating their breakfast with vigor. They must have a full stomach for the journey I think to myself and decide to keep the feeders up until the end of May.


Yes these are the birds that share my yard with me. They are there to greet me each morning and bid me a goodnight just before dusk. These are the birds that first introduced me to the joys of birding last summer and it is something I could never payback even with birdseed and fresh water. I tell myself that I have to stop feeding soon as the squirrels are becoming a pain. I have 6 of them in my yard every morning and they are eating me out of house and home. The House Sparrows are back too, and while they are behaving like boy scouts right now, I know its only a matter of time before they take over my yard and scare the others away. Hmmmm. Maybe I will keep the thistle filled up this summer for the finches I think to myself. A handful of raisins for the mocker won't hurt I add. Maybe some safflower for the Candinals I think......After all, they are kind of like my family even if they are wild birds. I watch the cardinals fly away knowing they will wake me in the morning and I smile.




24 comments:

Jayne said...

I tend to take many of them for granted too Kim. Like we just know we can always expect them to be there to sing and make us smile. A sweet tribute to the ones who we can always count on.

Dawn Fine said...

Howdee Kim,
You have been one busy birdie blogger lately..having a hard time getting to your posts before you have another one up..I think thats great!
I on the other had have only had a few posts lately..I cant keep up with you..
Where do you find all this blogging birding energy?

Anonymous said...

Very sweet pictures this morning. There is comfort in waking each morning and hearing the birds sing, isn't there? Little, feather puff blessings right in our own back yard! Have a great day.

Shelley said...

This was a very sweet post! I love all your birdy friends! I have to remember to get some raisens - another blogger said that their Robin eats them!

Kim said...

Dawn, I am addicted to my camera so take hundreds of pictures each week. Once I get the pics, the words are easy! LOL! Don't feel bad if you miss a few posts here and there, I will always be here and always be blogging. HA! ;o)

Ginnymo said...

Hi Kim. I guess that is all I have to rely on is my yard birds, since I can't go anywhere else. But I get enough for entertainment. You have all the same ones I do except for the Mockingbird. The woodpeckers and Bluejays are the first ones I hear in the mornings usually. Those jays are so loud!! I sure do enjoy all your ventures and looking at the birds I'd never see otherwise.. Have a great day and happy birding!!

troutbirder said...

How very nice. I feel exactly the same way about my regular yard bird friends.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

While I certainly love birding adventures, it's my yard birds that I love most. I think I saw my last Redpoll last Friday. I'll really miss those guys.

NCmountainwoman said...

Nice assortment of kitchen-window birds! I do hope the house sparrows don't try to take over. I would love to have a mockingbird, pushy as they are.

ShySongbird said...

I have the same problem as dAwN with keeping up, not that we want any less posts Kim! I just wish I could get more posts out myself, of course it might help if I could stop myself writing such long comments and replies!!
What lovely birds you have in your garden many of them so different from ours and such lovely photos!

Deborah Godin said...

I love the male cardinals, and have wonderful childhood memories of my dad teaching me how to whistle by immitating one - what what what what-cheer!

Anonymous said...

I think the tufted titmouse has a mournful call. I like to hear it too. I like your photos. I wonder why I never have had a mockingbird?

Gobsmacks

Steve said...

Get the coffee on , I'm flying over. Your yardbirds are much better than anything we have over this side of the pond!

Mary said...

You have the same homebirds that I do :-) I think we tend to take them for granted as too "ordinary". It was the home birds that first got me into loving all the birds, so I should give them more respect. The fact that I've photographed them hundreds of times each, should not make me get tired of them! I do love them all and notice the ones that seem to be missing from year to year.

Helen said...

I like all the above birds but the mocking birds here are bad to keep the bluebirds away. We once had a finch build a nest under the roll out window in our camper. Everytime she layed an egg she would sing a beautiful little song. Helen

Nick S said...

Lovely collection !

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Kim, I love all of my backyard birds and so far, haven't taken them for granted for the most part. I still love my Cardinals the best--although the yellow male Goldfinch come in as a close 2nd.

Great photos.
Hugs,
Betsy

Allison said...

I just mentioned House Finches today! GREAT PIC! I wish I could have gotten a pic when I saw mine for the VERY BRIEF 2 seconds when he landed on my deck.

FAB said...

I agree Kim that it easy to take ones garden visitors for granted when there is so many other birding opportunties going on elsewhere. I've just spent a few days at home & enjoyed every visit by my few regulars, however common. At least you manage to get plenty of pics. Lol FAB

MaineBirder said...

Superb series Kim! I love the birds that visit our yard and sometimes remind myself that maybe spending time with them is sometimes better than running all over the county looking for birds.

Rick (Ratty) said...

I like the story you tell of these birds even more than the birds themselves, and the birds are very cool. I had a few cardinal pictures a little while back, but mine were only a little more than flashes of red. This is great to see one so close.

Unknown said...

Great collection of images, can't get enough of the Tufted Titmouse, I can just imagine them darting about.

Leedra said...

Like the Cardinal in the bright yellow of the forsythia bush.

Leedra’s Photos For FunLeedra’s Greeting CardsPhotography By Leedra

Mary said...

The best thing about having yardirds is that they know us...

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