Baby birds
I have been remiss in not posting some of my musings here. We have a garden across the front of the house here above Sulfur Creek. When I asked for it in the design of the house, I envisioned being able to have hollyhocks and other tall flowers grow inside the protected walls. HA! The wind had other ideas. It roars over the stone walls and batters the plants that grow in the flowerbeds. But that is not to say that the garden has not been a delight.
When we put the rainwater collection system on the house, I had to move my large bird feeder to a post on the fence. I noticed that many birds visited the front garden and moved a bird feeder to the oak outside the dining room window. It was soon followed by two more feeders and a suet block. The squirrels and birds keep us entertained. I even got my husband to move his traditional seat with his back to the window to the end of the table so he could see all the antics of the birds.
This time of year, it is the baby birds that are the more enjoyable. Some of them are very noticeable, as in the fledgling northern cardinals. The males and females have very different feather, and the brightly colored feather grow out slowly. There is also a habit of the baby birds, no matter what type, that makes them obvious. They spread their wings just a little away from their bodies and tremble. It is as if they are trying to understand how these two parts of their bodies work. It is very funny to watch.
The ongoing battle between parents and offspring over feeding also entertains. These baby birds have been fed by the parents since they hatched. Now they are flying and following the parents to source of the food. They are supposed to feed themselves. HA, as you watch them chase the parents and sit with beaks open you can imagine the call: “Mom, here I am, feed me!” As they begin to figure out how to find the seeds in the feeders, you also see the next step.
Now you need to find your own territory. The male cardinals are very aggressive with their young. Each nesting pair has an area they claim as their own. The young are expected to move out and find their own. Since a pair of cardinals may have two or three clutches of eggs in a season, there are lots of fledgling cardinals being chased.
This year has been a banner year. We have gold finch, painted buntings, house wrens, cardinals, blue jays, and sadly cow birds. The white winged doves and mourning doves don’t eat from the birdfeeders because they have big feet, but my husband puts birdseed out on the picnic table, and they eat with the squirrels. I have a column over in the Above Sulfur Creek columns about the cow birds. There are several other stories about the birds we see here. Enjoy.
