H.J. Ruiz – Avian101 – Page 605 – "My Backyard Visitors" – All about birds

Memory Lane

Blue Grosbeak (Juvenile) – April 2010

Tags: birds, Blue Grosbeak, Memory Lane, nature, photography, photos of birds

La Dolce Vita

This particular post has two parts which are somehow related and I believe belong in the same post.

Part 1

It’s a sunny and hot day, it has not rained for a few days, the humidity is so high that makes anyone feel uncomfortable… even birds! I understand it perfectly that’s why I have a large clay dish filled with water for any birds that wish to drink or take a lavish bath. I know, it’s not an italian fontana but it serves the purpose It did for Anita Ekberg, remember her? (Fellini’s movie) You can see this juvenile Northern Mockingbird enjoying it’s bath, splashing water everywhere and not being shy about it!

Just watching this carefree bird having fun in the water it makes me feel so good that it takes so little as a bit of water to make a bird happy!

Photo Gallery

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Part 2

My son Tyler is 5 years old, he’s on vacation from school but he’s attending a daily playing camp for four days from 5 pm to 8:30 pm. my wife helps with the activities during that time too. From being sunny, bright and hot, around 8:00pm it got dark and a tremendous storm began, local TV weather alert was announced for our areas with warnings for tornados and hail. Then hell broke loose! I’m reading the information from the Weather Alert by order of locations, out there is raining buckets and the flashing and thunders are extremely noisy, when I hear the front door open, my wife and Tyler walked in I look outside and is raining sideways with help of the wind. I try hard in order to shut the front door because the wind. Then my wife told me that coming home a branch from a tree fell on her SUV and they got both very scared, the branch apparently bounced from her car to the road and another car had to brake not get hit. I examined the vehicle and had no damage at all. Tyler and my wife got scared but were well. Thank G-d for that!

Tags: birds, nature, Northern Mockingbird, photos of birds

Sweet Birds of Youth

There are things that you see happening when observing birds and never cease to get a heart warming feeling, I’m referring to the times when I see young birds learning the ropes of living independently.

The crucial moment when they confront the wild world on their own and face other species without the help of their parents, those moment are critical for their survival and the perpetuating of their species.

Of course, part of their skills have been genetically inherited and they have to follow their instincts then apply what is natural to them. It’s a new and fascinating beginning for them!

Photo Gallery

Northern Cardinal (M) juvenile 1 of 2

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Eastern Towhee Juvenile 1 of 2

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Northern Mockingbird Juvenile 1 of 2

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Northern Cardinal (F) Juvenile 1 of 2

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Savannah Sparrow Juvenile 1 of 2

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Tags: birds, Eastern Towhee, nature, Northern Cardinal, Northern Mockingbird, photography, photos of birds, Savannah Sparrow

Bird’s On Fire

The birds featured on my post for today are the Red-winged Blackbirds. Good looking birds which have been frequent visitors in my backyard this year. I’ve seen more of them than previous years. Our temperatures are still over 90º F everyday with high humidity that makes it feel over 100º!

I’ve noticed that larger birds are more likely to endure more under this weather conditions. Red-winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, European Starlings, Common Grackles, Northern Mockingbird, Mourning Dove are some of them. The smaller birds rather venture open air sun exposure and wait for cooler moments when the sun is not directly above which is when the heat peaks or choose shady areas where heat is less.

It hasn’t rained for almost a week, no break from the intense heat, our lawns aren’t so bad because at early morning there’s a heavy dew, condensation of humidity over everything that looks like if it just rained.

Note: If you didn’t know, the male Red-winged Blackbird is very different than the female (sexual dimorphism).

Photo Gallery