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That's maybe a possibility, though it's not out during the "day" per se, it's come out around sunset. Not sure if that counts. Next time I see it I'll try to see if there's any foaming of the mouth, but as it's usually getting dark it might be hard to tell.
Good thing I don't let my cat out late anymore, mostly just before noon. Though I've also gotten her rabies shots.
In a bit of GOOD news in my backyard, right now I have not one, but TWO male Indigo buntings! They're not going to my bird feeders (though no doubt they were attracted by all the birds) but are exploring around the little "wild" area I have back there. I've been waiting 7 years since I moved here to see one! A couple summers ago I saw what I think was a female that was hanging out around my backyard, but I never saw any males. Now I've got TWO!
This must be my jackpot bird day! Not a half hour after I saw the buntings, I just saw a male Rose-breasted grosbeak at my feeders! It was trying to go on my thistle feeder but it was too big, LOL! I had already seen a female a couple days ago. Last year I had 1 female but never saw any males. The year before that I had 2 males and 2 females, which was the first time I had ever seen one of them at all. I think they just pass through my area on their northward migration because I see them for maybe a couple weeks and then they disappear. Which is too bad since KC is in the southern part of their breeding range. Would be nice if they could decide to stick around here instead of going farther north after a short while.
The owlet is looking more owl-like with ear tufts now. I hadn’t seen the him/her for a while and was happy to spot him in the nesting box this evening.
That's a hard thing to watch. Birds can be such dedicated mates.
When that happens hereabouts what amuses and puzzles me is how absent of birds our yard will be for several days. I'm so curious what newspaper they all read that they all seem to know. Do they all recognize a common cry of danger? And danger where and when? Does one species warn other species?
They can't all have witnessed it although I know they have sentinels watching here and there. But how does the word get spread after the fact.?
And how do they know when it's safe to come back?
Been watching birds all my life and it's amazing how much I still don't know about them.
Animals communicate with each other. They may not know what each other are saying but distress calls are universal.
Watched a red shouldered hawk swoop down and grab a good sized bluegill out the pond. Really caught me by surprise as I'd never seen that kind of behavior from a hawk before.
I was away for almost seven weeks visiting family and while I was gone Mr. and Mrs. Robin had a baby!
Edit to add: the people across the street have ducks and geese yesterday we woke up and found a goose egg in our front yard. There's a brown spot without any grass and that's where she laid it. Strange because the ducks and geese never come across the road into our yard, but overnight one of them finally did!
Last edited by pathrunner; 05-05-2022 at 06:10 AM..
The back yard has been colorful this week. Cardinals, brown thrashers, goldfinches and blue jays.
pathrunner, do you suppose the goose was rejecting her baby or was she expecting you to take care of it? Seems like odd behavior. Do they usually lay eggs hither and yon? I thought they prepared a nest to put them in.
My oriole feeder is a huge success this year. I put oriole jelly out in it which they love. This morning I saw three of the birds in my tree next to the feeder.
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Looks like I have a pair of Cardinals in my neighborhood again. I wonder if they return to the same area every year?
Funny thing is I grew up in NJ and the only time I'd see Cardinals was in the Winter and now in NC I see them in the warmer months. Somehow I would have expected the opposite.
The wren chicks are out.
Mr and Mrs Wren built their nest in a flower pot next to where I often sit and read. They gradually learned to tolerate me being so close.
After the chicks hatched, the parents would occasionally try to shoo me away, but in the end they just ignored me. I wasn't there all the time anyway. The chicks were obviously hungry; parents worked nearly continuously.
Then one day it was quiet. No wrens. I gave it a few hours and cautiously peered into the nest.
Empty.
Then, yesterday, I saw them all. Three of them. They had moved into the shrubbery next to the house where they would be protected and insects were plentiful. They didn't line up like ducks are anything, but they did stay together. The chicks were eating ants as fast as they could!
Life goes on.....
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Which is too bad since KC is in the southern part of their breeding range. Would be nice if they could decide to stick around here instead of going farther north after a short while.
Strange because the ducks and geese never come across the road into our yard, but overnight one of them finally did!
