Reassurance

In these troubled environmental times, it is with particular delight that I am witnessing the next generation of local birds exhibiting "feed me" behavior. Especially satisfying are the Evening Grosbeaks , whose presence I am honored to witness, as they have apparently declined approx. 50% in the least decade.
Also newly minted are a Hairy Woodpecker and I think , some Purple Finches and Tufted Titmice. 

New to my property today, for the first time in perhaps 10 years, a female Baltimore Oriole-quite a shock as we do not have much open land. They used to be abundant before a nearby orchard got grown over.

To see some young Evening Grosbeak, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Hairy Woodpecker photos, go to: Vermont Birds and their Fledglings

Creatures at home

Today a fox trotted through my property-checking out the bird feeder. Nobody got caught, but the Titmice were very agitated.  Here's a foxy photo. I also have a camera in the woods that takes photos of wildlife.  Three weeks of viewing yielded 2 deer videos, 2 raccoon videos and one bear video!

On another note, the resident birds are starting to bring their "kids" to the feeders, including an Evening Grosbeak, and Tufted Titmice.  The Phoebes are still sitting on their eggs on a ledge on my house, and mama Mallard had 10 ducklings last I checked at the beaver pond.

There is so much going on in these woods that I don't see too!

New Bird songs

I've posted some new bird songs on my "Birds" page incliding a Winter Wren and a new Mystery Bird.  Enjoy!

Can you tell what bird this is from the sound?

Here's a Vireo singing.  It is either a Red-eyed Vireo or a Blue-headed Vireo. Can you tell which?
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~cindy/bird.songs/vireo.mp3

BIRDING

It's Springtime!! (More or less- we did have a snowstorm the other day. ) I've been out "birding"- checking on new arrivals, delighting in feather and song. We also have a thriving local year-round population-Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Red and White- Breasted Nuthatches, Purple Finches......

So this winter, a flock of Evening Grosbeaks arrived and are still here. We used to get 30+ birds. Now I'm happy to see our little flock of 7-10 birds.

Other than looking for birds, one of my greatest joys (and frustrations), is to take photographs of them and record them. I hope to be posting some photos soon, and maybe even some recordings.