Blue Jay versus the Hawk

I know the pictures aren't so good but I thought the story was worth telling. Today I observed the Blue Jay eating dandelions in my backyard (do Blue Jays eat dandelions?!). A Red tailed Hawk (thank you to birdgirl for correcting my previous assumption that it was a sharp shinned) flew overhead and perched himself in my neighbor's tree. The Blue Jay immediately flew over to him and landed in the same tree shrieking very loudly. The hawk shrieked back. Meanwhile, the Robin and 2 finches that were in my yard - flew into a nearby bush and took cover. The Blue Jay was relentless and I kept wondering why the hawk didn't make a meal out of him. Too big? Too loud? After a few more minutes, the hawk took off. Then the Blue Jay flew back into my yard after a job well done. What a brave bird!
*P.S. If you look very carefully in the photo, you can see the Blue Jay to the right of the Hawk in the same tree.

Busy Monday

Purple and gold do go together!

I'm just hanging around...

No your honor, I did not eat Shelley's birdseed!

Dinner for two.

The beauty of a Turkey Vulture

As my husband and I were driving back downstate from Northern Michigan, I thought I had spotted a juvenile Bald Eagle. My husband turned the car around and we did a second pass and found it to be a Turkey Vulture. He was disappointed but I was actually thrilled. He was quite interesting to watch. He kept spreading his wings out like a peacock. As I contemplated his face - bare and not very attractive, he took off into the sky. And then I thought - look how beautiful the Turkey Vulture is in flight.

Enjoying a Sunny Day

Grackle's Ingenuity

I have a true appreciation for the Common Grackle's ingenuity. I watched this handsome fellow take a peanut off the feeder and then fly to the birdbath to dip it in the water. He dunked it three times, and then it was soft enough for him to gulp it down. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Let me show you how to take a bath!

Goldfinch Glory

I truly believe spring has arrived when I see my goldfinches in their full glory color. Today I had 2 females and a male goldfinch. In the first photo, you can see the female scolding another female trying to fly onto the feeder. Now I'm trying to figure out what they were fighting about -the food or the man?!

Baby Mourning Doves!

I cannot believe how fast these baby mourning doves hatched! It seemed like just a couple weeks ago the mother dove was laying on her nest in my house gutters. It was nice to see these 2 little babies running around my yard. These pictures aren't as good as I would've liked but the babies and their mother seemed nervous and I didn't want to upset them further.

Mama dove trying to distract me with her wings.

Saturday morning

I woke up to birds chirping. It was driving me crazy, I had to get out of bed and get my camera ready. I'm always looking for good photo opportunities. This Saturday morning is not turning out so well for me. The house finch couple I tried to take photos of were not good - I realized I need to move one of my feeders to an area of the yard that gets more light. I was trying to snap pictures of the starling going into a woodpecker hole - it was too dark. The sparrows were running from me again - which I didn't really want photos of them anyways but they were my desperate shots if the lighting and setting were right. I'm going to rearrange some feeders and pick up a few more today. Hopefully Saturday afternoon is better! Until then, here's a picture of my second birdbath - just waiting for a little visitor.

Blue Jay enjoying the bird bath

After an extremely noisy entrance into the yard which caused the sparrows, finches and mourning doves to scatter - my outgoing Blue Jay enjoyed the bird bath.

This is my birdbath!

Time for a little bath!


This is great!

What are you doing here Mr. Mourning Dove? This is my bath.

I'm a little upset and going to turn my back on you Mr. Mourning Dove.

He's a little sensitive but now I have the birdbath all to myself!

Just a Mourning Dove today

This afternoon was a slow birding day for me. It seemed like all the birds had taken a vacation from my yard. I even tried taking a photo of the mama Mourning Dove who is laying on some eggs in my house gutters. No luck - she was keeping her head down. Finally this sweet little Mourning Dove showed up.

A Cardinal's search

I waited and watched for my little cardinal friend to find a seed on the ground. He was intimidated off the feeder by the Grackle. The cardinal walked around the wood chips searching and shortly thereafter he did find himself a big sunflower seed to crunch on.

Last years baby Mourning Dove

I mentioned a couple posts ago that I think I'm going to be blessed with another Mourning Dove baby. The parents have already built the nest in my house gutter and definitely getting their fare share of my bird seed! Here is what last year's baby looked like. Isn't he (or she) adorable?

My Robin is looking for a mate

This handsome Robin was singing in the same tree for close to an hour today. He was the only one in the cabin vicinity up north. I think he was trying to attract a mate??

Mourning Dove babies coming soon...

I am expecting Mourning Dove babies! believe this is the same Mourning Dove couple that builds a nest in my gutters every year for the past 3 years. I was happy to see the nest in the same place with mama bird peeking out at me. (I'm going to have to get a step ladder to snap a photo of her in there.) Last year it was a thrill watching their 2 babies learn how to fly. Stay tuned for the baby pics...

Common Loon Video

Chicago Nature Lady inspired me with her recent sighting of a Loon. This video was taken last summer on Big Bradford Lake in Gaylord.