where natural history meets art
By July, the birds get pretty busy with nestlings, fledglings, and juveniles. A few juveniles of one kind of another come to the feeders, and fuss at their parents to keep on feeding them.
Here are the species seen at the feeders over the last month. Sometimes we can even tell when the bird is a juvenile!
Summer is in full swing around here! every day we fill and watch the feeders, learning new bird identifications, or watching behavior subtleties in birds species we know .It’s amazing to start to pick up on tiny differences in the bibs of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, or behaviors of one Blue Jay and another.
![[Great Crested Flycatcher on office window netting. May 2019]](https://cpanel3.neonova.net/~wwwbirdsofvt/wpsite2017/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Great-crested-flycatcher-office-window-kjt-May2109-e1560095402160-188x300.jpg)
It seems to be nesting nearby, as it has returned to the window several times—for nesting material? Territory? Foraging? We don’t know yet…
As for other May birds, seen by more people through the bigger window: read on!
April sometimes make me think of the distant rumble of a storm, long before it gets here. Instead of a rumble though, it’s the first waves of migratory birds coming north, reminding us spring is about to crash over us.
Yes, yes, some places have spring earlier, say March, or even February (such a thought) . Or September, if that’s your hemisphere!
But that sense of impended gloriousness? That perhaps happens for you too. I hope it does!
April is upon us! You know what that means: hiccuping weather. Winter today, spring tomorrow, and a whole lotta mud, especially on the roads. Drive with care, especially if you’re birding at the same time. (We recommend pulling over. I mean, really.)
What? It also means returning species? You better believe it. What’s your favorite harbinger of spring?
We hope you are enjoying the turning of the year, by light and by calendar. We often find winter refreshing, an opportunity for useful reflection and a chance to plan and prepare.
Can’t do that all day though, so we turn to our feeders and see who else is here. In December, that included… Continue reading “Through the Window: December 2018”
October is great, because it’s the month of the Big Sit!. That’s a day when we sit around with Team Loonatics and look for birds. They do all the hard work: cooking, listing, watching, identifying. We host them and are happy. Their list of birds this year doesn’t quite match our viewing window list (below), since we can’t always see from inside what they see from outside. It’s great to see and hear them all.
Some of the more northerly species are returning! Continue reading “Through the Window: October 2018”
Let’s get ready to… MIGRATE! Every body is stocking up, either because they’re getting ready to launch themselves south or preparing for winter. Who’s getting ready? These birds! Continue reading “Through the Window: September 2018”
It was a bit of a quiet month, but we might also have been so busy that we didn’t take enough notes while indoors? Outdoors was fantastic…
Seen from the Viewing Window (or nearby) and recorded:
Holy mackerel, May is intense! Not to detract from our month-long-we-all-add-to-it Viewing Window list, but did you get to see the eBird lists too, from what has been seen and heard here? Did you see or hear some of the rich migrations? Enjoyed the predictions on Birdcast? What a month!
OK, back to our corner of Vermont: Continue reading “Through the Window: May 2018”