Birds of the mid-Atlantic (and other critters too)

I'm staying over in Ridgely Maryland this week with my almost 90 year old aunt. This morning she woke me up saying there were buzzards in the yard(a superstition of hers, someone dies when buzzards show up). She was quite upset. I got up to check them out and was able to reassure her, it was a flock of wild turkeys, adults and youngsters. Really pretty neat, I didn't realize how big/tall they get.

Holly---
Nice and cozy nest there...with all the electrical cords.

Of ALL places!!!

silly wrens!

Wow, that must have been really neat, Catbird!

I'm glad for your Aunt's sake that they weren't Buzzards, Catbird.

Holly, that Wren lucked out when it spied that gap!

Jeff called me to look out the window this morning. There were three...THREE fawns roaming our yard. No sign of mama deer. The fawns seemed to be different sizes. Wonder if they were related or what the situation was.

Did they look old enough to be on their own?

I'm starting to see rabbits more often, as in, I've seen 2 recently whereas normally I can go a year without seeing one. This one was just eating grass; it's welcome to that!

I went out just now to spritz some repellent on a fern that bunnies eat to the ground, and I saw my little flying squirrel scamper to the other side of the tree. It beat the raccoon to the leftover peanuts tonight!

Muddy--

I have a couple rabbits as well--of different generations. Mama--and babies of
different sizes. That is how I can count how many generations are running around...
Sp far--I see 2 generations....with just one rabbit representing each.

Amazingly--in the last 2 years--I have seen only a couple rabbits.
I believe the mama rabbit makes nests under my back-yard neighbor's
huge shed-garage which sits off the ground on 6" x 6" treated beams.
Me thinks--the snake likes to live under this garage too.....

I have also seen a black snake on a couple of occasions this year. LOVE having one
on my premises!! Saw one in my shed--curled up in a tray--and one disappearing
inside the shed as i opened the door.
That may be why I do not see baby rabbits running around. I hope this snake hangs around!

Of course--if my Pakistani neighbor sees one--she will kill it on sight. Ignorance!
To her--ALL snakes are poisonous. She will cut one up with a knife--if she has to.

UGH! Gita

That's too bad.

I saw Hummingbirds on my Monarda and Jewel Weed today; I've also seen them on my Cardinal Flowers. I can't get a photo with my phone because they fly off when I get close enough, so I think I'll just enjoy watching them!

I heard that Humm around my peanut butter shrub. Which is loaded with bloom and perfumes half the yard

One of my Blue Jays was a total brat today! I noticed it perching on some seedling pots when I went outside this morning, and thought that was odd. I couldn't figure out what it was doing. I thought it might have been trying to bury a peanut, but everything looked normal to my pre-morning-coffee eyes. When I was watering about an hour later, though, I saw 2 Baptisia australis seedlings on the ground beside their pots! It hadn't broken them, so I repotted them.

My daughter said the Blue Jay must have been trying to tell me I was late in giving it its morning peanuts.

What a brat!

I keep hearing the goldfinches darting out of the sunflowers, I'm forgetting to stop and watch them.

Nice view of a bunch of marsh birds at Assateague yesterday not great pic tho

We went to Assateague last weekend, and saw more birds there than in previous years, thanks to the above average rainfall which kept the marsh from drying up. It was so lush, green and full of Marsh Mallows! We've just done beach vacations, but I've heard it's a great place for bird watching.

Karen, (VAWild Rose) has visited and posted pix from there too, I thought about her while there. It's a nice park (the national) long boardwalks into the marsh and access to beach and bay. We saw a couple ponies, and a lot of pony poo!

Sally--

That "sea" of BES in my front bed are visited, now and then, by Golf Finches.
I seldom look for them--or forget to--They blend in perfectly, but when I open my front door
to go outside-two brightly yellow birdies fly away to across the street.
Very bright yellow! I need to quietly look out my door for them.

I didn't think the seeds were dry yet??? but--they are dining on them anyway.
g.

Yes, the finches seem to start in on Sunflowers too, before they look fully ripe. Or maybe they pick out just the ripest in the centers. They are so pretty! One flew off and perched on an as-yet not blooming Goldenrod, and gave me a good view.

So the baby Bunny that visited me the other day must have been talking to the baby Squirrel. Yesterday we had a baby Squirrel sitting on the step looking in the door, right where the baby Bunny was last week. I can just hear the conversion now " You should see the inside of that place. Lots of floor space, a nice little fountain where we can drink. You should go and check it out."

I'm telling you, Holly, they know where the food is! You and Ric are probably being watched by hopeful eyes every time you come outside; they know how those feeders get filled : - )

I saw this seemingly headless fledgling sitting on my bird bath today. It took quite a long time before it finally came out of "hiding". I guess it thought that if it didn't see me; I couldn't see it !!
It stayed in that spot for almost an hour. I was worried about it and was about to take a video to send to the bird rehab people when I heard the reassuring "chickadee-dee-dee" of nearby parents and looked up to see them in the Japanese Maple up above. It was about time that those slacker parents came to retrieve their quivering baby LOL.

I've been seeing very large birds of prey, flying right over my house.

What could they be? They have giant wingspans and perch on top of tall oak trees. I'm afraid I have no other description. They seem to have no distinctive colors. Just kind of brownish all around.

Btw, finches LOVE my coneflower heads. And they seem to really, really love Golden Jubilee agastache seed heads as well. I'm impressed with Gita's picture. I can't seem to get close enough before scaring away the birds.

And now that my viburnum berries are ripening, the birds are all over it!

turkey vultures, maybe? Their wings are distinctive in flight, although I'm not sure I know how to describe the difference other than when soaring they nearly always have a couple feathers splayed, finger-like, near the wingtips

That was my idea as well especially if you have several of them. The splayed wing tips are a good indicator.

I'll make sure to look for the "fingers" next time!

SS--
I have a new door as well as a new Storm door. They have this double glass on them

I keep the inside door open-to see outside--but i don't think birds would see
inside thorough that glass too easily. besides--I moved VERY slowly to get to the
screen door.
The finches also had their backs to me--so--I am glad I got the picture.

Will try again--but make sure I am not in the macro setting and then zoom.
Don't think i was....

OK! back to cooking..... g.

On my way home this evening I spied a small group of wild turkeys. Couple of shots, one zoomed.

Those sure are big birds!

thanks for sharing!

Do you see me now......

I haven't seen one of those for awhile.

Neither have I but I do see them around here from time to time.

I saw one just other day, but had not seen one in years. "must be the season of the stick!'

haha, yeah, we find one maybe every five years. One time was soon after a hurricane so I wondered if it got blown in from FAR away

What is this insect?

Gita -it is a walking stick, also known as a stick insect. See http://a-z-animals.com/animals/stick-insect/ or google 'stick insect' for other sites.

Thanks--I thought so....are they that rare around here?

Well I am not sure if they are that rare or just that hard to find. In the woods or bushes they almost completely disappear. I see them from time to time but not often.

I have seen a lot of Dragonflies this summer. They are on everything...

But--all the ones I have seen here have that dark band on their wings.
Is this a particular kind?
I thought most D-Flies have clear wings???--Or bluish--or just "mesh" looking.

This picture was clip-art--but that is what they look like....

g-

Judging from the image you posted, you may be seeing Plathemis lydia, the Common Whitetail Skimmer.

I think you're right, greenthumb.

Here's a photo of one, Gita: http://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/viewSpecies.php?species=748

Muddy--your link did not open.

I am sure what I have seen is a Dragonfly...Do they and Skimmers look alike?

I will have to try and get a picture. Not a good one--I am sure--due to my stupid camera.

g.

Skimmers are a grouping in dragonflies, just like skippers and swallowtails in butterflies.