This beautiful lady
was new at the feeders today. She is a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and I find it funny how she had a fabulous portrait on her first day while the male was messing up, being not properly in the frame. I love these birds, they have a calming and badass presence at the same time. I have seen them sitting on the feeder through tunderstorms, gobbling away calmly. Welcome back, beauties!
Pond season!
I have been rather busy last week, so there have not been many photos, but things are more relaxed now. I put the pond back together too, and while it is not finished yet, the birds seem to be happy, and the livestream is back too. My prediction of Orioles and Hummingbirds last week did not turn out to be true but sighting reports are becoming more frequent, and historically, the last week of April and first week of May have been THE time for the first ones to arrive in my yard. Here’s to spring, it truly has sprung now!
A Grack appreciation post.
Because I love them and the week should always end on a good note. If my gut feeling is right, we have a great week ahead. I compared photos of my peach, plum and cherry trees from last year to today, and it turns out that last year, they only started barely blooming by April 27th. But today, they are already blooming. You can see the Serviceberry in the background here a bit too. I think we might see Orioles, Hummingbirds and maybe even Grosbeaks this week! It is just a feeling, don’t take my word for it. But get your feeders ready!
1 part sugar, 4 parts water is the recipe for Hummingbird nectar. Don’t waste your money on the storebought stuff, the red dye is suspected to be harmful to the birds.
Dr. Clara and Mandrake nesting 2021
I will collect the photos and info I gather for this first nesting here.
April 1, 2021: Little did I know… Dr. Clara spent the night in the box but not for the reasons I thought. She is clearly a weather expert and knew that it was going to be frosty. So in order to protect her eggs, she kept them warm during the night. And added one more this morning. That should be it now. Six would be crazy!
March 31, 2021: Dr. Clara laid her fourth egg this morning and seems to be spending a lot of time in the box. So it could be that she is done and starting to incubate. Incubation means that she sits on her eggs, warming them with a bald patch on her belly and moving and turning them regularly so they stay evenly warm. Bluebirds incubate fpr about two weeks. I keep track with the nest via the Nestwatch app and notes in my calendar. This way I can see if everything is happening according to schedule.
March 30th, 2021: As of today, there are three eggs in the nest. Now it is going to be an interesting guessing game to see how many more she will lay. If she lays more, which looks likely because she is not sitting on the eggs permanently yet.
