Family Day & Eastern Kingbird!

Mourning Dove and two babies

It was 66 degrees at 7:30 a.m. A few wispy clouds and the moon still out, but a nice sunny, summer day.

It was definitely bird family day at the park. A few birds are still in the nest, but mostly the young are out with their parents, learning the ropes.

Yellow Warbler baby

In the lower gardens, there were still a few tree swallows, but their numbers are vastly reduced. As I may have mentioned in a previous post, the house wrens have taken over most of the boxes and are feeding their nestlings, scolding mightily if you get too close to the box. There were plenty of robins to go around and song sparrows. Catbirds are in pretty good numbers too. An oriole family was in evidence - the young ones just gaining color. I saw a young peewee looking like it only left the nest recently, but it was singing it's song already! 

Day Lily

In the upper gardens, I came across a mourning dove. I know their nests are casually placed, but this one seemed to take the cake (pictured above, left). At first, I thought the dove was just resting on the ground. It wasn't until I took the picture, that I realized it's nest was on a compost heap and it was surrounded by two adoring and camouflaged young. 

The yellow warbler baby (pictured above, right), was perched in someone's garden looking very much in transition. A very bad feather day from the looks of it and quite comical, but soon it will be beautiful. Talk about "look what the cat dragged in"...

Song Sparrow with Caterpillar

The bright orange day lilies were in bloom - right on schedule (at least this is when they bloom in my garden). Also foraging around in the gardens were cardinals, house wrens, goldfinches and song sparrows. Unfortunately, several house sparrows are now in evidence at our park. Several in the upper gardens and a few in the lower gardens. It looks like they have taken up residence here over the last few years. What a shame.

Eastern Kingbird

As I headed towards the soccer field and river, I was surprised to see an Eastern Kingbird (pictured at left) hanging out on a rock near the parking lot.

The pond is still in the process of drying up, but the red-winged blackbirds seem to be having a blast in there. In addition to checking things out at ground level, they were also dive bombing insects from above. It was entertaining to watch. It's funny how fast the time goes by. Seems like the birds were just arriving and now their young are leaving the nests and growing up.

We're headed for the dog days of July soon. It's been so pleasant with the cool sleeping nights and comfortable days. Please don't let the summer go too quickly.  I want to savor it and enjoy it but life these days seems to be going at a whirlwind pace. That's one of the things I love about Nahanton. It forces me to slow down and enjoy the moment and put aside all the requirements of our society for an hour or two.

Thank you Nahanton!!