Is Spring Almost Here?
 

I looked out onto my back yard this afternoon and saw a flock of Robins eating the ground feed.

I will have to refer to my Peterson's, but I thought the Robin was a Spring bird in the Eastern States.

Just thought I would share... perhaps Spring is on its way. :)

Mere

We've had robins all winter. I have several bushes with berries on them, and they flock thru in a group and move on. I just looked and the berries are indeed finally gone. But I have seen Robins in winter quite a bit lately.

I have Blue Jays in my suet feeders too. I now gauge winter by the Juncos. When they move in, that is really winter for us. When they leave, then that is our spring.
I have seen as many as 5 of them under our feeders this year.

http://wild-birds.suite101.com/artic...darkeyed_junco

I have a bald eagle looking for an open spot in the river to fish....no luck. It be frozen solid, still. We have to get to St. Patty's day to see a break. Unless we are very lucky!

I love watching the birds - we feed them along with the squirrels. All kinds of wildlife to watch including a group of deer that also participate in the feeding.

We still have the junkos... never have noticed the robins before...I would suspect that your Spring arrives a bit later than ours here in the Mid-Atlantic.

Thank you for the link and happy birdwatching,

Mere

Check out the Hummingbird cam:

http://cam.dellwo.com/

one surviving chick of two..

And this is the Norfolk Botanical Gardens Eagle cam for this season:
http://www.wvec.com/marketplace/micr...eagle-cam.html

They are getting ready to lay the first egg. Camera is nicer and in a better position this year! When they zoom in you can see detail in the nest. Should be wonderful!

Bald eagle, lordy. how beautiful. We have a line that runs between the trees and holds some birdfeeders. Last season, a blue heron tried to fly through and got caught up in the line... It was incredible site and I felt so sorry for the bird, but it was fine and uninjured. Flew away no problem.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it was scoping-out the fish in our pond. Well, after the line episode, the heron never returned to my knowledge...

Mere

How incredibly neat-o the hummingbird cam is...

We had a nest outside our bedroom upNorth, one season.

It was fascinating. But she did not return. She was very shy around people. If anyone went out there she'd fly up to the top of the tree. She really chased the little red squirrels too! 2 fledged out of that nest. I have some hummer pics in my album on my profile here, after I got a better camera.

I always put up feeders.

I had the itsy bitsiest little hummingbird nest in a small pine in my yard. We had hummers at my feeder all summer. If anyone says, 'hummer' we all freeze to watch them. When I lived further north, we had them fight over the feeders...we had tons of them. Saw a pilated woodpecker several times too.

Here we have orioles, many cranes, and herons, besides the every day birds. One day out on the bike trail, I saw 5 herons in the river...blue herons. Of course they are all gone now. I feel bad when they leave.

I always have a half dozen turkey vultures circling over me when I am outside...darn buzzards are waiting to have me for lunch.

I had a friend a while back, who was chased by a crane and bitten on the calf, lol. They are dangerous birds if disturbed.

We have regular bird watching hikes here and a very knowledgeable man who knows 800 bird calls. I have gone on a few. This Christmas I got new binocs and a bird book.

We get eagles here in the off season, by summer they are all north. Robins arrive back in the early part of March...by the 17th for sure.

Mrs. D and Cyclelops, it sounds like you all have a nice birdwatching area... We really enjoy the hummers in the Summer and have a feeder at the kitchen window. I love watching them and getting 'buzzed' by them when I am gardening.

We used to have wild turkeys when we first moved here, but over the years more houses have been built and you don't see them as frequently. The turkey vultures I have seen, especially near the farms. They are UGLY grounded but beautiful in flight.

A few lovelies I have seen in our back yard over the years that are somewhat unusual are:
Spotted Western Race (a pair comes every spring), Blue grosebeak, Brown Thrasher, Indigo Buntings and Pileated woodpeckers. The Indigo Buntings are especially beautiful.

When I was young and lived with my parents, we lived near a bird sanctuary in Ipswich, Massachusettes. It was on the Cape (Anne) and there were loads of year-round and migratory birds. It was my job to keep the feeders filled, LOL. That is when I developed an interest in watching birds and keeping track of them in the Peterson Field Guide.

Cyclelops, you will definitely enjoy your binoculars. I can be found on my deck in the spring and summer for hours watching the woods with my binoculars...:winky:

Mere

It's probably not too funny, but Cyclelops, I had to laugh when you said you friend got attacked by the Crane. I did not know that they were so territorial...

We have piliated woodpeckers that nest upNorth.

I have a picture of them in my album and also in the photo blog that is separate. It is very hard to get a picture of THEM.

We saw Sandhill Cranes whooping it up across the bay one summer. Their noises were amazing. We thought they were teaching their nestlings how to catch food. whoop whoop.
Could only watch thru Binos.

We have had eagles now for about 6 yrs. I saw a young one trying to manage a snake it had plucked off a rock, one day. A large garter. We also have Great Blue Herons, and also Night herons, up there. Last year the little birds were scarce. But the large ones were plentiful. I have to admit it is difficult now watching the eagles catch the ducks and mergansers. It is noisey and not always a quick catch. I watched one family get decimated 2 summers ago. The resulting chicks took a week to find new parents. The mergansers will adopt, and that is fortunate!

OH yes! Days ARE getting longer! YES
 

Bit by bit, but longer...YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Croci out in our front are little green threads about 2" high and potential Daffs are about the same. No sign of new and different birds tho except for the crows and or starlings. The few squirrells I'm able to see and track are definitely BUSY! Must be that 'time of year'? Nor yet, have I seen any real sign of buds swelling on any of the trees...they must know something we don't?
Blue cranes are soo beautiful and graceful? But deserve respect and DISTANCE, as do GEESE! Don't ever mess with a Canada Goose-they KNOW somehow they are protected and assert that knowledge!
I'd encountered a Golden Eagle 5 years ago about 30miles from here sitting on a fence post. I was on a country road and just watched IT in awe! IT watched me with disdain, I believe. Took about fifteen minutes? I stayed until it took off - such majesty and power in this creature!
Love hummers tho rarely have them where I live. I still like to offer them a 'stop' along their way.
Don't know about you all? I LOVE SPRING! I hate the allergies tho that come with it...but that is what good meds are for! Hugs for more WARM to all! -j

hi
 

I just loved all of the beauty you showed us today Mrs. D,I kept saying wow
and smiling,thank you.

Dahlek watching those birds by your front dooor grow was pretty and just plain awsome. We have had Bald Egles all over saw some bue Jays ,
Robins,but I love seeing the first Cardinal. :):)Thanks for this hugs,Sue

Well guys I got the call to go down south. Going to be gramma, again..number 3. So if ya don't see me for a few days, I did not croak! Maybe I will see a robin.

Scratch that last post....uh, I just checked the weather and that storm is in my way.....10-15 inches in Nashville??? Paducah KY 6 to 10?? Jeepers. What is wrong with this picture! Not to mention the ice. I can not believe it is THAT bad down there....holy cow! Well good thing I found this before I attempted to drive 8 hours in the middle of the night, and hit that crud in the wee hours...That would put me in a bad mood, or a psych hospital. Foooooo. Well guess you have to put up with me. What a disappointment. I am so tired an exhausted, it is probably insane to think I could keep my foot on a gas pedal for 9 hours anyway....sometimes fate intervenes.

On Sandhill Cranes, we get these huge flocks up to 100 of them during migration, it is an unbelievable cacophony of sound...it's beautiful. Usually the huge flocks are in Fall. In Spring, we get smaller flocks... every field has at least one pair, and they have one to two babies and they are so protective. 20 years ago, we had no Cranes...none. They have made a fabulous comeback. First time I saw them in the wild, I did not expect them and I thought they were loose domestic emus.

Today, we had a high of 9, actual temp. I can't wait for Spring and Cranes.

Cy, dear, I know that we don't all have the same expectations in life, but I have never expected loose domestic emus. But hey, aim your sights high girl--we're rooting for ya!

(or do you live in Autralia and I missed that part?)

No, we have a few people who have emus for eggs....kind of left over from the emu egg craze from a decade or more...also emu meat. Emus are quite a bit bigger, but if you are not familiar with Cranes, you don't know what the heck they are the first time you see them running across the road! We have them everywhere now.

A Sandhill is quite large if you get close. Once we had a wounded one and I called the DNR and they told me to stay away because they can peck you in the head and fracture your skull and kill you. Our state has had 4 deaths from Crane attacks.

No, not in Australia...in the western Great Lakes.

It is amazing what people keep as domestic animals. We have lots of llamas, alpacas, bison, elk, emus, ostrich, peacocks etc on farms here in the midwest.

Ahh, harbingers of Spring
 

Once had a bird-loving fiance years ago. I still can identify many and impress my new(ish) wife. We have pairs of bald eagles on the Columbia River. Great Blue herons. Big birds up close are impressive.

This weekend we saw pink blooming camillias. Yes, on the south side and up close to a house, but they were new blooms!

I love it when the days get longer -- feels like I made it through another year.

Nice topic...

Wow, the Midwest is so exotic and dangerous! Who knew? I'm gonna go pack my pith helmet and jungle boots right now! Safari!!!!!

If you want danger, hit the bars around here.:D With your helmet and boots, you would be a big hit. You could probably bag a farmer with a baseball cap, carhart jacket and smelly boots....and, oh, I won't say what else he has....

I have been thinking of taking up bee keeping. I imagine a swarm is exciting. If I get stung enough it may cure my neuropathy....or at least confound what is causing my pain.

Hey, some one cut the ear of my puking emoticon!!

Hey I have my own agribusiness venture right here--I'm running a dust bunny farm right out of my house. I still have to figure out how to make them a cash crop, but I have the growing part down really well.

Hmm, I have one of those too! If you find any use for them let me know....I have a few ideas....biodegradable insulation? Dust mites for research purposes? budget hair replacements? With three labradors, we have quite a few dust bunnies and they seem to breed, quite fast! I am chasing them with the Swiffer all the time. As fast as I get them 'adopted' out, I have more!

You know Cy, I think we're bad influences on each other. Give us enough time and we will have every thread here on OT hijack. And then they'll separate us.

Yeah, and I almost got kicked out of English class in high school, too. Can you imagine that? I get on a roll and can't help myself.

Well, I am up for discussion about Spring...Aren't bunnies Spring like?? And eggs, even if from emus? And love, even if you find it at the local bar...."lookin' for love in all the wrong places....':Crazy 2::sing::sing::sing: Soon it will be Valentine's Day. I should make my Valentine's Day list for hubby.

Spring, where's spring. It's way too cold here. Only 13 here right now, and a high of 25 if it gets there. This is very unusual for Long Island. With the winds, it feels like -2..I moved here from Michigan, but I didn't bring the weather with me.:(

The eagles at Norfolk are having a blizzard today.

(good thing the eggs have not started to be laid yet! )

Spring haz sprung
De grass is riz
I wonders where
De flowerz is?