Our family has long enjoyed backyard birding. It is an activity that the whole family follows. I love that my boys are growing up enjoying this activity with us. They are getting better and better about being able to identify the birds that are regular visitors in our backyard and common birds in our area.
Brett has built a number of bird houses over the years, and always cleans them out, fixes them up, or replaces them as necessary each spring. This year Brett was surprised to find that two of our houses were already inhabited by flying squirrels. Though not birds, we do enjoy watching the flying squirrels when they visit our feeders. Brett is always the one to discover when they come. He will hear them when he is out working in the garage after work. It is fun to take a few quiet minutes watching them glide from one tree to another and find their way to the feeder.
We have three tray feeders, one of which is on the outside window sill of our kitchen window. We also have two hanging feeders right outside the kitchen window. The boys are looking forward to putting up the hummingbird feeder. In the middle of the summer they are pretty much guaranteed to see the hummingbirds come to the feeder while they are eating breakfast--and lunch or dinner, for that matter. We always see the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, but I'm pretty sure I saw an Allen's Hummingbird last year!
This winter/early spring has been one of the best backyard bird-watching seasons for our family. It started with a brown-headed nuthatch who came to our feeders before Christmas. We have been thrilled that a pair of them stuck around all winter and are still here this spring.
We have had our usual visitors: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Eastern Bluebird (a few times this year--we'll see them more regularly soon), American Robin (they've moved on already), Mocking Bird, Brown Thrasher (at the feeder, even!), Northern Cardinal (or a "Red Jay" as one of my students called it, much to our amusement), Chipping Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch (more this winter than ever before), and House Finch.
We had a surprise visitor during a rainstorm this weekend. We have heard the Northern Bobwhite before, but this was the first time what we actually saw one--and on our back porch, no less, around 5:00pm. We assume he was trying to get out of the rain. I had to leave the house, but Brett said he hung out for at least an hour before moving on. We also saw him the next morning in and out of the bushes in the front of the house.
One of the most exciting visitors for me has been a pair of Indigo Buntings that showed up last weekend, and have been back to visit every day since. They are a beautiful blue.
We have also had some occasional sightings of a Mississippi Kite, Belted Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpecker, and a Rufous-sided Towhee (also this weekend).
Around town we regularly see: Osprey, Herons/Egrets (I especially love seeing a roost of Snowy Egrets in the middle of town off the main highway), and Wild Turkey (especially in the spray field).
Bonus sightings around town within the last month: a great view of a beautiful Swallow-tailed Kite (in Creekside), two Bald Eagles (White Point Rd. and Mossy Head), and a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers (Bluewater marina).
Post Note: Immediately after publishing this post, I walked over to the kitchen sink and saw a Mississippi Kite perched on the corner of my neighbor's chain link fence. Awesome!
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