Bluebirds of Happiness

Bluebird

Well, I couldn't wait to get to the park this morning after reading that Haynes had spotted the bluebirds. And who greeted me right away in the parking lot? The bluebirds! I saw them several times. They made a foray into the upper gardens and they were also exploring the boxes down near the parking lot. At one point I saw three birds, making me think that they were here all along, successfully had young but didn't use our boxes this spring. It looks like they might be considering a second brood…

Cedar Waxwing

It was overcast and in the upper 60's this morning and the lower gardens were so active that I spent most of my time there. House wrens were singing away as well as song sparrows, yellow warblers and a common yellow throat that I had a great view of  - surprisingly high up in a tree. He was very active and I saw him chase a large robin around! As I rounded the corner near the golf course side, I heard a lot of baby begging noises. I tried to get a closer look and suddenly there were cedar waxwings and then I remembered there high pitched chittering noises. One couple is building a nest not far from the wren box. I watched her with plant material in her beak as she placed it and then tried out the nest to see if it was coming along to her satisfaction. It looks as though the yellow warblers are considering another family as I spotted this one (pictured left) with nesting material in it's beak as well.

Warbler with nesting material

The upper gardens were filled with catbird families and a house wren family in one of the boxes. The poor parents were taking turns finding insects and bringing them back to their noisy crew. Saw a pair of mourning doves and a female cowbird. Baltimore orioles were out in full force and I saw some young ones as their black hoods were rather spotty.

Peewee

Then I ran into Mary Lou and we saw a peewee (feel free to correct me if you think we were wrong) sitting on a fence right in front of us. She tried to get it to vocalize by whistling but it wasn't the least bit interested.

The pond was quiet except for some mallards diving in the middle. Could hear the wood thrush, but didn't have the luxury of seeing him today. The phoebe is still on her nest at the Nature Center and I heard the great crested flycatcher in the woods near the JCC.

Ran into some walkers at the park who saw a beautiful blue bird. After we looked at pictures of the bluebirds and the tree swallows they were almost certain it looked most like an indigo bunting. I certainly didn't see it,but I know they've been seen at the park. Who knows… That would be cool though.