Migrations - the waves of birds

Two or so weeks ago, I was inundated with red-wing black birds and the following week with starlings joining the red wings. This past few days the grackles have arrived en masse - unlike the first few pairs of males that showed up with the other smaller black birds.

They have managed to devour half a 15K bag of mixed seed so far... in a short time. Because the weather has turned cold again, as it does in March and April in Central Ontario, I've been feeding them regularly. It's fun to watch them stretching their necks up and calling, sounding like rusty clotheslines.

Two large crows have joined this pack? herd? flock? of black birds. Not a murder, but a pair that regularly arrive in the morning and let the world know they are here. Two mated ravens who are also regulars float by occasionally though appear to be much more interested in the act of reproduction, (what a short burst of energy that is in mid-air) than in joining their black feathered pals.

I know that some people don't like crows and ravens and go out with their shotguns and try to remove them. They must be appalled at the number of birds that congregate in my trees and lawns, well over 150 I figure.

But it is fun to watch the flights, the restless manoevering and the search or patient waiting for food. They do hang about in the trees waiting for me to spread a container of food for the. And I get to watch the show... Quite a treat don't you think?

Enjoy your day today.  Hope you had a happy Easter or Passover if you celebrate either, and that this new month brings you interesting bits of nature to watch, to wonder about and to make your day brighter.

Daily visitors

Year round I leave out one or two small sunflower seed feeders and a niger seed feeder. There are some birds that continue to visit regularly.

This female downy woodpecker is one of the daily visitors. There seem to be two pairs of downies that come. This one is hiding a seed in a crevice in the bark of the Siberian elm tree that holds the feeder.

Others come only while their young still are following around begging to be fed, blue jays and grackles in particular.

One of the reasons I keep the feeders up, though there is usually lots of natural food available for all the birds in summer, is that I get such amusement from the antics of the babies. It strikes me as very funny watching the huge baby blue jays - bigger and fatter than their beleaguered parents, following around, wings fluttering, bleating pitifully. Grackles seem to be even longer in their maturation...it was well into August when I watched one optimistic baby follow its parent who hopped up to a larger feeder, brought down a seed, gave it to the baby and then moved off. The baby cried out, dropping the seed and flew after its parent.

Goodness I thought - that's patience. Even though grackles in a horde, don't endear themselves to me... this little one-act play really caught my fancy and made me laugh. There are so many little things like that every day to watch and enjoy in nature... even watching this industrious woodpecker was fun. She took several seeds and stuck them in cracks in the bark. Now I wonder if she'll remember where they are in a blizzard?

Grackles love 'em or hate 'em, they don't care

It started with the extremely warm weather we had. Birds migrating early, including a huge flock of about 30 or more grackles which was like a bunch of pirates showing up to predate my feeders.

Few little birds could get near the seed when this flock arrived. There were three large elm and maple trees full of these huge black birds with their whistles, buzzing and fluffing of feathers when they call.

Many have finally moved on - it was after all, about two or more weeks ago that the warm spell began. But nearly a dozen grackles have remained. This morning these two glared at me for daring to interrupt their morning repast. The seeds I place along the deck railing are just way too enticing for many of these birds and while they don't often feel comfortable enough to feed this close to the house, there they were. Temptation was just too strong. I chuckled when I enlarged this photo to see the obvious glare in their eyes. What was I doing bothering them while they ate?

And yet this fellow seemed much more excited about gobbling up the seeds not stopping simply because I had the camera pointed in its direction. And here I didn't know that birds had these kinds of facial expressions... so much to learn. I do know that many of the ones that hang around here regularly recognize me. When I go outside to fill or replace the feeders, the blue jays scream that I've finally arrived and suddenly the air is filled with little birds singing and blue jays calling to one another, quite the flurry of excitement. Two ravens will always call when they pass by the property early in the mornings. We have quite the conversation though I have no clue what they are saying, I call "good morning raven," or "hello raven" and always get a throaty response...one from one bird that sounds like an ambulance horn trying to go through a stop light and the other more like a loud purr.

With the cold we're experiencing these past few days, there are lots more birds hanging around the feeders than were here when it was warm. Hopefully they'll manage the sudden ups and downs. So far so good. Hopefully too, others like me will make sure feeders remain full and suet is available for the little ones who certainly need it.

Strange weather this spring.

Grackle baby breakfast

Not a bird kiss, but breakfast of sunflower seeds... the parent grackle on the right feeds the baby whose wings are fluttering with anticipation. (This was a hard photo to catch because the grackles usually take off if they see me near the door, it's a tad blurry because I took it through a window in the kitchen.)

This whole spring/summer ritual is so funny - babies as big as their parents begging to be fed. The grackles have obviously just fledged and are one of the species of bird that will receive parental care for several days maybe even a couple of weeks following their leaving the nest.

Wikipedia calls these birds fledglings and says that some ducks leave the nest even before they can fly... cormorants being one species that do this. Amazing to me... however once on the water I imagine they are safer.

There is at least one grackle family that has made a nest nearby... plentiful seeds from the several feeders around. The babies call piteously to the parent for seeds and flutter their wings - as the house finch babies do. However the house finches, except for one, are now foraging for themselves though they still travel together in a group arriving and leaving together, cadging seeds and drinking water from the pond.

Speaking of the pond, I've placed some more flat rocks just under the water along the edge in a couple of spots so that the smaller birds can bathe. I noticed a red wing blackbird bathing the other day and a small sparrow jumped into water about an inch deep and had a little bath. The babies however, still hang onto the stones on the edge. One nearly fell in the other day, recovered itself quickly and I could almost hear the "Whew!" from its companions. Too funny.

As usual, the sun is out today and all seems right with my wee world... hope it is in your world as well and that you find something to have a belly laugh about. Enjoy!