Backyard Birdwatching Reboot

Not a bird, but our boarder; shed bunny out for early morning stretch. (4/14/20)

With extra time this spring, for the first time in 10+ years, I have the opportunity to get a pre-Memorial Day weekend head start on yard work. While taking a breaks from school work, I'll spend some time in the yard with Bertie, our dog, raking up dead grass, cleaning out gardens of excess clippings and trimming back shrubs. Of course, I also have plenty of time to get off task so after a few years of not putting out bird feed, I recently added seed to our every-10-days shopping list. Fortunately, our quarantine ravaged of seed so I could fill our cylindrical feeder, sit back and take in the sights.

At first glance this visitor seemed unusual. Online research revealed the Purple Grackle is
really another type of Common Grackle; while the species of bird very common here, this
male though is new t. (4/16/20)

Common Grackles thrive, in among other places, city parks, which are
numerous in our community. (4/16/20)

This this female Common Grackle is the "version" I am much more familiar with,
though usually more colorful under sunnier conditions.(4/16/20)

“Robin egg blue, also called eggshell blue, or lost egg blue, is the shade of
the eggs laid by the American robin."
(Info source: Wikipedia; pic by me 4/16/20)

"The quintessential early bird, American Robins are common sights on lawns
across North America, where you often see them tugging earthworms
out of the ground.'" (Info source: Allaboutbirds.org; pic by me on 4/14/20)

In some ways this return to keeping a keener eye on my own backyard (literally) is me getting back on some old b.s., but it seems a much better way to spend time than flipping through Netflix.