The Aviary

Bufflehead Duck

Bufflehead Duck

Chickadee

Sparrow

Yellow Finch

Female Woodpecker

Wren

Male Bluebird

Male Bluebird

Male Cardinal

Canadian Geese

Yellow Finch

Tufted Titmouse

Blue Heron

With the arrival of warmer weather (today is cool and drizzly, yuck), the Puddle Pond and our backyard are visited often by a variety of birds.  The pictures show just some of those that visit on a regular basis.  Soon, the hummingbird feeders will be set up in anticipation of their arrival for this season.  The little bufflehead duck spent about a week at the Puddle Pond and was not seen out of the water.  This led Mr P to voice concern that the cute little duck might not be able to fly because every time he would go down to the pond, the little duck would paddle to the other side of the pond but not fly away.  Surprise, about a week after the duck arrived, it departed whether by flying or on webbed feet is unknown.   Guessing it could fly after all since we didn't see any signs of "fowl" play.  The Canadian geese weren't there long either which was good.  We tend to discourage them setting up housekeeping since they leave a lot of poop all around which means dodging the piles if you want to walk around the pond.

One of my favorite things to do since my retirement is to take a cup of hot tea or hot coffee outside at daybreak and sit on the deck listening to the birds singing.  It's a lovely calming way to prepare emotionally for the day ahead. 

There are some birds that visit our yard that I haven't yet captured with the camera. Turkeys are often heard and seen in the field behind our house, noisy crows have a nest high in a jack pine out front, red winged blackbirds might have a nest in the cat-o-nine reeds at the puddle, and red tail hawks have a nest in the woods next to the house and are often seen being chased by a crow which is hilarious - you're bigger so just turn around and nail that crow!  There are others I know I haven't mentioned but suffice to say that even though this is very quiet rural area, the cacophony raised by the birds in the morning could stand in for an alarm clock. 

I'll try to get back soon with an update on the gardening progress.  The weather forecast is for more cool drizzly weather the remainder of this week but you know you can never trust the weatherman.  Until next time....