Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Birds on the Move
But first, what's up with Blogger? I posted a reply to a comment yesterday, and it shows up when I click the Post a Comment link, but doesn't show up as part of the Post page. No time to investigate right now, unfortunately.
Back to the topic I started with. Over the holiday weekend and after Friday's soaking rain (courtesy of Tropical Storm Ernesto) I added four birds to the all-time yard list. I've lately seen them reported on the local bird lists (VA-Bird and MDOsprey), so they're not unique to my backyard. I wish that just once some amazingly rare critter would come visit. Bird, butterfly, mammal, whatever - I'm not particular. I'll probably get a plague of African locusts or something for publicly wishing.
I also wish I had some documenting photos, but no, you'll have to settle for other peoples' photos and just trust me. The new additions to my yard list are:
3 Comments:
I'm currently enjoying the yearly Goldfinch invasion, stopping by every morning and evening to snack on yarrow seed and thistle seed. Also seem to be a lot more wrens then most years in recent memory. One "good" side effect that I've seen around here (central NJ) of all the development is that the more rural areas, such as where I live, seem to have become a haven for displaced wildlife, especially songbirds. I was lamenting their decline a few years ago, now they seem to be on the upswing again, at least in my yard. I think I might sow a wild flower garden where my woodland garden is now and see if that attracts even more.
I'm jealous of the Oriole. Since their name is "Baltimore" oriole, I thought they might be a little more common here than they seem to be. But I've never seen one in this area. I was also thinking about Scarlet Tanagers as well.
Gregor, I was wondering the same thing about development driving wildlife into the remaining natural areas. Our backyard is mostly wooded, and we live near a small patch of woods on a "protected" stream valley. The developers used to leave some trees (as they did with out lot), but now they just bulldoze everything.
The goldfinches have deserted me in the last few days. They were eating the Rudbeckia seeds, but maybe they've finished them. I don't have my winter feeders up yet.
Rob, that was the first time I ever saw a Baltimore Oriole. I almost gasped when I saw how bright it was. The other one was a femaile or juvenile male. Same body style, different paint job. They were picking caterpillars off the treetops for just a few minutes and then they were gone.
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