March Questions

[galadhir]

5. How many local birds can you name?

• Robin
• Blue tit
• Great tit
• Crows
• Rooks
• Jackdaws
• Magpies
• Pigeon
• Wood dove
• Collared dove
• Blackbird
• Starling
• Wren
• Red kite (a kind of hawk)
• Buzzard

A tiny little wren lives in our garden and scurries around our fences. He is my favourite. But the family of blackbirds, and the robin who comes down to greet me when I go out are also my favourites. The rest of them are passing through, but the wren, robin and blackbirds live here with me.

Comments

[lucy_roman]

How lovely. I sometimes see a wren in my garden but mostly it's sparrows. They make a racket but they're quite cute little birds.

[katuah]

You probably see me rambling regularly about the birds of my area.

It's been a busy month at the feeder just outside the window near my desk. I've seen goldfinches, house finches, yellow-rumped warblers, black-capped chickadees, Carolina wrens, tufted titmice, eastern bluebirds, cardinals, the sparrow with the striped head (possibly a yeallow-throated? unsure of the correct designation), a white-breasted nuthatch, a brown-headed nuthatch, juncos (although I think they left last week, probably heading more northerly), the one attitudinal mockingbird, and a pair of mourning doves. Last month a red-bellied woodpecker came by a few times.

In the general area, I regularly see blue jays, rufous-sided towhees, brown thrashers, robins, other random sparrows, crows, black and turkey vultures, Canada geese, great blue herons, and several different hawks, mainly Cooper's and red-shouldered.

There's an excellent birdwatching area just a few miles away, where I have seen indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, flocks of cedar waxwings, a prothonotary warbler, a great crested flycatcher, several vireos, and a very industrious mama hummingbird who raised two babies in a nest barely bigger than a thimble.

In the mountains around my mom's house, a few of the regular feeder birds from NC aren't as common, while others are moreso. I regularly see chimney swifts in the yard, while a country drive offers red-winged blackbirds, kingfisher, mallards, bald eagles, kestrel, and even a few pileated woodpecker.

I like birds :-)

[galadhir]

It sounds like you live in a great country for birds :) I like to watch the birds in my garden, but my son is the one who knows all about them and actually goes out bird spotting. I was like 'why do they eat me out of house and home all spring and then stop coming to the garden at all in the summer? Why don't they come in the winter when it's cold and there is no food in the wild?' and he gave me an explanation that I don't now remember. Something to do with us having summer birds and winter birds because of migration, and also them moving into the surrounding countryside when there are better pickings out there.

Ooh, but you do remind me that we get housemartins and swifts in the summer. I had forgotten them :)

[galadhir]

I miss sparrows! We had them a lot when I was growing up in the North, but I hardly ever see them in my garden. I don't know why. They really are cute, and I like their chattering.

[lucy_roman]

They are chattering right now outside my window!

[pattrose]

I forgot to say buzzard on mine. I've only seen two. Great list.

[galadhir]

Thank you!

[kazzy_cee]

We have wrens nearby, but I rarely see them, just hear them as they are so loud!

[galadhir]

I'm not good with recognizing bird calls, so I don't know if I could say what wrens sound like. Mine seems to be silent, so that's strange!