Bird Update

Posted on 22 May 2008 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

"So, how are things at the feeder these days?"

Glad you asked.

Here are a few of the latest pix.

We know him very well now.  This is Mr. Indigo Bunting.  We saw the Missus the other day, but she is rarely spotted.  Actually, there are quite a few males.  I believe the females are nesting. 

Probably our Purple Finch, Mister.

The Hummingbirds are around, now that I have put out feeders for them.

There is one immediately outside my window next to the desk where I am working.

On my way to get mail yesterday I caught Mr. Red-Breasted Grosbeak in flight, in both senses of the word.

Mr. Pewee likes to supervise, with much tail bobbing.  He never seems to eat, oddly.

Again, Mr. Ruby Throated Hummingbird or Archilochus colubris.

He is quite festively iridescent.  I’ll try to catch his bright red throat band in the sunlight.

A feeder thug is the Blue Jay or Cyanocitta cristata.  Very aggressive.

I have seen a couple Orioles today, but they are elusive and seem to no when the camera is out of reach.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in My View, SESSIUNCULA. Bookmark the permalink.

9 Comments

  1. Timothy Clint says:
    22 May 2008 at 10:01 AM

    Father,

    I truly enjoy the pictures of your fine feathered friends. What type of food
    do you put out to attract the Indigo Buntings and what type of habitat do they
    prefer?

    Thanks,

    Tim

  2. KK says:
    22 May 2008 at 10:22 AM

    What? No squirrel pics??? :-)

  3. Lynne says:
    22 May 2008 at 10:53 AM

    Father Zuhlsdorf,

    That is a terrific photo of Mr. Indigo Bunting. Nice Hummer too.
    I believe you have the makings of a seriously hard-core bider!

  4. Ohio Annie says:
    22 May 2008 at 12:58 PM

    Mr. Pewee probably eats insects.

  5. Bob Ronau says:
    22 May 2008 at 1:10 PM

    Tail-bobbing means Mr. Pewee is more likely Mr. Eastern Phoebe, but I am not an expert. Also, you won’t see this bird eat at the feeder; it eats insects on the wing. Note the thin bill.

  6. semperficatholic says:
    22 May 2008 at 5:12 PM

    Thanks for the pic of the hummingbird. So beautiful! It looks like a Broad-billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris)

    All the birds are just beautiful where you live

  7. wit of ego says:
    22 May 2008 at 10:45 PM

    this blog is really for the birds!

  8. Lou says:
    23 May 2008 at 1:10 AM

    Hi, Father, thank you so much for the wonderful close-up shots of the birds – I just love being able to see these ! I used to have bird feeders out-side a window here for cat-tv, but with such a tiny space around the house…..the seed droppings led to a lot of unfortunet piles of debris & bugs, too. Wish you also could post (?) the songs to each little guy. Often close to dawn, like now, I begin to hear the birds – God even gave us music every day…L

  9. Rich Freeman says:
    23 May 2008 at 9:33 AM

    If you cut an orange in half and put the halves out in the yard or even on the window sill the orioles will not be shy in feeding from them…..they are attracted to the color orange and are absolute sugar addicts. It is not uncommon to see them drinking the sugar water from the hummingbird feeder. Here in Illinois we just see them for a few days in the spring and again in the fall as they migrate through…flash of orange and black, “See you when we get back!” I’m still waiting for the first hummer spotting here in Park Forest, Illinois….got the feeder out and loaded but winter just doesn’t seem to want to quite give up here even so late in May.

Comments are closed.