Spring has really arrived here and bird numbers are down in our yards.
The most numerous visitors are House Finches, of which we have 7-8. There are usually several White-winged Doves around and two are building a nest in our mulberry tree. It's a typically flimsy dove nest - a few twigs crisscrossed in the fork where a branch grows out from the trunk. We had a solitary Mourning Dove yesterday, too; we don't see them much since White-winged Doves moved into our area. Blue Jays, Downy Woodpeckers and Red-bellied Woodpeckers pop in now and then. Common Grackles are coming to feed in the yard behind ours.
Male Northern Mockingbirds are singing up and down the street, hoping for mates, and a Carolina Wren sings quite ofte as it patrols its territory in the morning.
I thought the only winter residents left were a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers but yesterday a single Chipping Sparrow appeared and my wife heard Cedar Waxwings. I assume the Warblers and Sparrows will leave soon, while the Waxwings will hang around in smaller numbers until as late as May.
Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com
The most numerous visitors are House Finches, of which we have 7-8. There are usually several White-winged Doves around and two are building a nest in our mulberry tree. It's a typically flimsy dove nest - a few twigs crisscrossed in the fork where a branch grows out from the trunk. We had a solitary Mourning Dove yesterday, too; we don't see them much since White-winged Doves moved into our area. Blue Jays, Downy Woodpeckers and Red-bellied Woodpeckers pop in now and then. Common Grackles are coming to feed in the yard behind ours.
Male Northern Mockingbirds are singing up and down the street, hoping for mates, and a Carolina Wren sings quite ofte as it patrols its territory in the morning.
I thought the only winter residents left were a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers but yesterday a single Chipping Sparrow appeared and my wife heard Cedar Waxwings. I assume the Warblers and Sparrows will leave soon, while the Waxwings will hang around in smaller numbers until as late as May.
Jeff
www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com