Backyard Birding

Male Blue Jay keeping an eye on American Tree Sparrow. (7/30/15)

I spend many hours a day during the summer watching the aviary (and rabbit) activity in our backyard from either the large windows in the kitchen or from our recently reconstructed open back porch. My wife, who is much more observant (and knowledgeable of bird-types), will often call me to the window if I am elsewhere in the house to tell me that "there is a Gold Finch on the feeder!" or "the rabbits are playing in the backyard!" Contrary to popular misinformation, despite living in a city, there is quite a bit of beauty to observe in the natural world daily. You do, however, need to look for it.

Blue Jays and squirrel vie for position. (7/30/15)

Over the course of the past week or so, I am happy to report a slight uptick in activity around our backyard bird feeders, of which we have three: one cylindrical feeder with traditional variety mix of seed, a second smaller cylinder with Nyjer seed and a third suet feeder. While a personal goal is to lure the more "exotic" (i.e. colorful) birds into range of my shaky lens, it is quite relaxing to observe any birds (yes, even the Sparrow mobs) stop by to interact with one another and the environment.

Female Northern Cardinal glides past squirrel on way to feeder. (7/22/15)

The uppity recreational backyard birder in me would LOVE to see more Woodpeckers and Gold Finches, but the truth is that all birds "gotta eat." As much as I love seeing rabbits in the yard (and they are often within the field of vision of the frames shared here), it would be unfair for me to begrudge the squirrels their due too. This of course, doesn't deter me from attempting to minimize their gorging by using peppered feed and suet (which works better than you'd expect).

Tree Sparrow rests amid conifer branches. (7/23/15)

Downy Woodpecker makes an appearance! (7/31/15)

Downy Woodpecker observes... (7/31/15)

... a mob of gorging Tree Sparrows, which chase him 
from the feeder! (7/31/15)

Male (upper) and Female (lower) Northern Cardinals assess the situation 
from electrical wires. (7/22/15)

Common Male Grackle stops by for a set. (7/17/15)

Female Northern Cardinal, striking in a subdued, earthy way. (7/22/15)

From coloring to call, nothing subtle about the Male Northern Cardinal.(7/22/15)

Gray Catbird--the angler minimizes the generally longer , 
narrow beak.(7/25/15)

The ubiquitous but sharp American Robin. (7/22/15)

Omnipresent visitors: Tree Sparrows and squirrels. (7/22/15)

In a few short weeks, I will return to coaching and school, and with the change of scenery will come a shift in lens. Rather than staring out into our backyard, I will have the parks the girls team and I train at, as well as the courtyard my second-floor classroom window looks out into. There I will attempt to sneak peaks into the trees during the day. Whether at home or t school I look very forward to catching a glimpse of an uncommonly, beautiful bird or the beautiful in the common bird.

Dog Walkin'

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."~Roger Caras

Being on a somewhat constricted timeline this morning, I could not decide what i wanted to do (exercise-wise) with the roughly hour-and-a-half I had to play with before taking my dog, Gracie, to the veterinarian's for her annual check-up. I have little desire to rush through an ill-planned for run, or get twenty miles out of town on my bicycle with the need to hurry back, so by default, I go with my secret third alternative... Although I have not posted about it here recently, I have tried to make a practice of taking her for a walk every day, either in the morning before going running or in the evening with my wife.

Gracie brings me great joy, and I can sit and watch her interact with her surroundings, be it in the backyard or while on a walk around the neighborhood, and never tire of observing how she engages the animals, birds and people she encounters. (I used to post pics and anecdotes on her blog, Gracie's Crate.) As an English Springer Spaniel, Gracie loves to "play" with the birds and squirrels that frequent our nieghborhood, and being a "city-slicker" like moi, Gracie has plenty of friends to select from when she's looking for a game--although she does heel and stay when directed to (a necessity for walking the streets)!

With these thougths capture Grace and I set out for a brief morning walk (three plastic bas firmly entrenched in my pocket in case of an potential clean-ups) together... and then maybe we'll come home after the doc's and freshen-up her Crate.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!

Bird-a-palooza: 'Ello You NAG!

Date: July 5, 2007
Time: 7:00-7:20 a.m.

Weather Report: Fog, 64°F, 88% Humidity, Winds: From SSW @ 4 mph; feels like 64°F.

Location: The backyard of our home in the upstate New York city of Rochester.

Bird Species/Markings/Features: One male American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis), one Purple Finches (Carpodacus purpureus).

Sights/Sounds/Activities: While there is quite a bit of chatter emanating from around me, it is hard to visually verify that much of it is happening within our yard; it almost seems like the birds are "hiding" high up in the trees or in the neighboring yards. Due to the fog and dense low-lyng clouds, much of the auto noise from the nearby expressway is clearly audible--it sounds like I'm sitting in the middle of the street at times.

Notes: Often, when I'm in the kitchen which overlooks our backyard, I can see many birds flitting among the feeders and playing with one another, but what increasingly seems to happen is when I come outside to watch or document, I scare the birds away. While there was little to see today, I am confident that later this morning when I go to make lunch, there will be more meaningful bird behavior to observe. (Don't get me wrong--I enjoy watching the Purple and Gold finches, but its frustrating when one just knows there are more just beyond the cover of branches, to see!)

The picture at the top of the post is of the small area just outside the backdoor on which we "leave" our birding supplies: jugs with nyjer and black sunflower seed, as ell as gardening gloves for mixing in Squirrel Away, a product we purchased in an effort to minimize the amount of seed being eaten by the rather large population of North American Grey Squirrels, or NAGS, which inhabit our community.

The product has been considerably more effective, for our needs, than "guards" or other feeder add-ons, but (as evidenced by the pic to the left) the squirrels do still come around and pick at the shells and seeds which drop to the ground, or are not completely covered in the products active ingredient, capsaicin.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!