The Mourning Doves have taken over!

Let me tell you a true story about two Mourning Doves that have taken over my yard. Their names are Bob and Mary - and they may seem like ordinary birds with ordinary names...but do not be deceived. They own my yard.



Here we have them sitting on the telephone wire waiting for me to fill my bird feeders. They will sit there all day cooing - waiting for me to come out. They know I'm in the house...










They keep having babies to help their army grow stronger. They have had two broods so far this year. And they invited some friends to nest nearby as well.










They hog the birdbath and make the Robin mad. They defiantly poop in it because it's "their" birdbath and I'm just the person who cleans it.











They own the bird feeder too. They have a hard time with the two of them sitting in it at the same time so one will watch from the roof to make sure no else has a shot at "their" seeds.








A warning to all...they look like sweet little birds especially with their soft cooing...but make no mistake - they will own your yard!

Another Grosbeak photo

I just can't stop taking photos of the rose-breasted grosbeak. They just have such sweet faces - and I love their large beak. Their songs are so pretty - sometimes I think I'm hearing a Robin and then the grosbeak magically appears. The females that visit my feeder seem pretty unafraid of me.

Who lives here?

Last year the red-bellied woodpecker lived here. This year - I don't know yet. I'm monitoring the hole - it looks pretty big. An owl would be great.....

Dirty Birds

I think my birds are looking a little "rough" lately.

Case# 1 - doesn't this chickadee looked like someone "mussed" him up?





















Case #2 - My dirty Robin diving headfirst into the birdbath. At least he's cleaning himself off.

Drying off

"I'm just trying to dry off after my bird bath, do you mind?"

Is this a Pine Siskin?

There were 4 of these little guys dominating the thistle sock yesterday. They seemed pretty tame as I snapped their photos. I checked the Cornell site and I think they are Pine Siskins http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Pine_Siskin.html . What do you think?

A Loony Sunday

After my husband and our neighbor reported seeing loons on a small, no wake lake (Emerald Lake) nearby to our log cabin, I was racing out the door today with my camera bag. My friend and I paddled a canoe (well really she did most of the paddling)through every nook on the 50 acre lake until finally we saw the mating pair of Common Loons. Of course as soon as they saw us, they immediately dove underwater and swam at the speed of lightening ahead of us. Then they swam in opposite directions almost like they were trying to trick us. We circled the entire lake while I was trying to get a "few nice shots." I am just Loon crazy!