Fiacré's spade: Summer birds and spring flowers

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Summer birds and spring flowers

May 15 is supposed to be our frost-free date. This year, Jack Frost got one in just under the wire. The grass was white with ice crystals when I got up Sunday. Some of Terry's trees were damaged. It remains to be seen if they will recover. The regional experts are cautioning gardeners to hold off planting until May 25.

I moved the fence to the chicken run back to its usual position. It didn’t take long for the girls to start tearing up the grass. By afternoon, they were hard at work making a dust bath between the sun shelters. We’ve had some trouble with Isabel pecking at the other chickens. My research suggests that this can happen because of crowding, boredom, or plain spitefulness. It is my hope that the fresh grass and bigger area will cure the problem by giving Isabel something to do. If not, she could be in freezer heaven before her time.

Chickens eating the re-grown grass

All of our wild feathered friends are back. We seem to have more pairs Baltimore orioles than ever. When I hung up the hummingbird feeder, I grabbed a hanger to create a hook where I could reach it. I meant it as a temporary fix, but the hanger has turned out to be a favorite perch.

One male eating grape jelly; one on deck

We also have both male and female orchard orioles. The females have all yellow bellies. The first-year males are yellow with a black bib, strikingly dissimilar to the rusty-colored mature males.

First-year male orchard oriole

Mature male orchard oriole

Mrs. Cardinal is a newcomer to our feeder. I hear cardinals quite often, but I have not seen them by the house much.

Female cardinal foraging for dropped sunflower seeds

We have several pairs of rose-breasted grosbeaks.

Male rose-breasted grosbeak

The goldfinch males are in full summer plumage, including their little black berets.

Goldfinches plus a downey woodpecker (or is it a hairy?)

Before the last mowing, the lawn was full of dandelion seed heads. Terry thought that something surely must eat dandelion seeds, but what? A: Yellow-shafted flickers. This one came right up to the patio.

Yellow shafted flicker eating dandelion seeds

I got all excited when I saw this bird, thinking it was something new. I think, however, that it is either a female red-winged blackbird or an immature male.

Female or immature male red-winged blackbird

Three chipping sparrows have been showing up in the early hours. Mostly they feed on the ground. Here is one on the bird feeder.

We saw the indigo bunting once. It was a brief visit—no time to get the camera.
I checked up on the tadpoles. I saw more in the pond than I had before, perhaps because the shrinking pond is concentrating them. No sign of legs yet. I am worried that they won't reach metamorphosis before the water dries up.