Backyard Birdies

Remember when I was whining a couple of months ago about

the lack of birds in our back yard?  

Fortunately, things have changed lately...

American Robin

Cedar Waxwing

Northern Mockingbird

Blue Jay

Chipping Sparrows

Pileated Woodpecker (sooner or later, I'll get a better shot of this one)

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Another Red-bellied Woodpecker...see him peeping from the hole?

Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers (there are 3 in this photo)

Female Northern Flicker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker again

Because my back yard is so shady, I need to practice shooting 

in lower lighting conditions.  It would also be great to have

the 400 mm lens I've been dreaming of for those close ups ;)

Linked with Stewart at Wild Bird Wednesday

Mockingbirds at Angel Place

I've sorted through my image files and gathered the remaining photos of Northern Mockingbirds which resided near our previous residence, Angel Place in Poplarville.  I surely miss their presence and, most of all, their beautiful songs.   Although it's certain that Mockingbirds are in this area as well, I've yet to actually see one in my yard.  

It was such a pleasure to sit on my front porch at Angel Place and listen to the melodies of the Mockingbirds while I sipped on morning coffee.  

Such amazing birds they are-

February Mockingbird

He looked so peaceful as he perched upon

the winter vines...

February 2014

I Love Mockingbirds

I love Mockingbirds.  Even when they're having a bad hair feather day.

"Every day can't be a GOOD hair day!"
~

"You want WHAT?!!!"  This is me sometimes :)
~

"If I stay low and quiet, maybe no one else will notice my fly-away hairs"
~

I've learned to listen to and observe Mockingbirds.  I've learned their danger calls and when I hear them I check out what's going on...often they'll fuss when there's another animal in the yard, but more importantly, they get really loud when a large bird, like a hawk, is around.  I've watched them group up and chase hawks and falcons away.  

Mockingbirds are courageous protectors of their territory, 

which benefits all the other small birds around here.  

Mockingbirds sometimes get a bad rap.   They don't carry that reputation at our house. We love to hear them sing, watch them eat on the various fruit we give them, stand guard on the fences and power lines and hop across the yard in search of insects.  It's also been a great pleasure to observe them care for their offspring this year.  Indeed, they are some of my favorite birds :)

Nestlings Near My Window

This will probably be my last post featuring young Mockingbirds this season.  It has been a busy Spring/Summer for the two Mockingbird couples that reside near our home.  The pair in our front yard has raised two broods and the pair in our back yard has raised three broods of chicks this breeding season.

I was surprised when I realized the back yard Mockingbird couple re-used their nest for their third, and probably final, brood.  According to what I've read about them, Mockingbirds rarely re-use a nest. The location of their nest, in a sweet olive tree near my bathroom window, provided me with a fairly good view of the nestlings.  It was a little difficult to capture good photos of them because the small twigs surrounding the nest were in the way.  

On this particular day, the two nestlings were fussy- I could hear their little squeals from inside my bedroom. As I was taking photos, they sometimes stood up and climbed to the inside edge of the nest.  I knew that soon they would leave the nest and move on to their next stage of growth as fledglings.  

Sure enough, the day after these photos were taken, the nestlings were gone.  They remain close, probably in nearby trees, because I sometimes hear their squeals.  Mom and Dad Mockingbird will watch over them and feed them for another two to three weeks as these young ones learn to adapt to life outside the nest.  Soon they will take wing and fly away...and become the beautiful songbirds they were created to be.

Good luck to them all...

Fledgling Mockingbird on Our Shepard's Hook

I'm very fond of the Northern Mockingbirds that reside near my home.  This summer I've been blessed to watch several of them with their young. Mom and Dad Mockingbird each contribute to feeding and caring for their young.  

This baby is the same one I wrote about yesterday.   

He followed Mom to our feeders then perched upon one of my Shepard's hooks. 

There he waited for Mom to return with food.  

Sometimes the wait took several minutes.

"Is that Mom coming?"

"It is Mom, yayyyyy!"

"Mom knows what it takes to make me happy" :)

The fledgling briefly became impatient while again waiting for Mom to return.  

It moved from one area to another on the Shepard's hook, 

probably to get a better view and scope out Mom.

He tasted a few sips of water from the bird bath-

"This is pretty good stuff".

When Mom approached, the fledgling excitedly returned 

to his place on the Shepard's hook.

"There she comes, there's Mom!"

How sweet those moments spent watching this young one and its Mother :)

Enjoy your weekend, Peeps...

Thank you for stopping in!