First hummer and oriole

We had two new arrivals today - a gorgeous male Baltimore Oriole and a female hummingbird. I guess that means summer's really on its way! :)

Yard Bird species #67 & 68

Two more yard birds for our list this week! An Eastern Meadowlark singing at the top of one of the trees out in our field, and a field sparrow. Our list is growing! :)

Yard Bird species #65 & 66

I know, I know, I've been really bad about updating. I'll try to do better, I promise. :)

Anyway, we had two new yard birds over the past month - a Northern Shrike and a small flock of Tundra Swans. Our list is slowly growing!

Yard Bird Species #64

I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've updated this blog, but this - THIS - sighting called for it. Because tonight we got the coolest yard bird yet: a Snowy Owl. The hubby saw it on his way home tonight, then I saw it when I got home two-some-odd hours later. Hopefully it'll stick around for a while and I'll have a chance to get some pictures of it. :)

First hummingbird of 2013

Finally - FINALLY - had our first hummer of the year show up at the feeders this morning. It was a gorgeous little male, and he visited the Oriole feeder for a while before finding one of the feeders actually meant for him. This is 5 days later than last year, so I was starting to get a little worried.

In 2012, our first Baltimore Oriole showed up on May 2, and the hummers on May 3. We had our first Oriole on May 5 this year. So yeah, they all seem a bit delayed, but they're finally here! :)

Yard Bird Species #63

I know I've been really slacking at keeping this blog going lately, but I really haven't had a whole lot to report. That changed this morning with the arrival of Yard Bird Species #63 - a Brown Thrasher. Hopefully this is just the beginning of new birds stopping by our yard as they migrate through the area. :)

Summer visitor in January

I'm home sick with the flu, which really sucks. I'm feeling quite sorry for myself, actually, since this is Day 5 of feeling like crud. The good thing, though, is that I was sitting on the couch and I heard a strange bird call outside, so I decided to check it out. There, in our hopper feeder, sat a male Northern Flicker.

It's so strange. We've got winter birds everywhere - Redpolls (yes, still), Juncos, American Tree Sparrows, as well as year-round visitors like Goldfinches, Blue Jays, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpeckers, and far too many Mourning Doves (seriously, they're pretty birds, but they're horrible feeder hogs). And all of a sudden this Flicker shows up. I know it's not completely out of the ordinary for them to stick around for some of the winter, but this is the first I've seen outside of April - September.