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Post-Tax Backyard Birding (long)



MY FIRST DAY OFF after tax season was Tuesday.  I had just completed an
84+hr week, including a Sunday that ended at 1 AM on Monday (still had
to be at work on time for the true Monday, and worked eight hours).
Okay, no more violins.  In spite of my promises to sleep all day
Tuesday, I was up at 7:30 and parked on the back porch with a cup of
coffee.
A pair of white-breasted nuthatches are busily building a nest in a
bluebird box on the mulberry tree.  I watched as they made multiple
trips carrying strips of bark to stuff in the small hole - several
strips were as big as the birds carrying them, and never made it through
the hole!  A cheeky squirrel chose to climb the tree, and the nuthatch
made himself VERY big and furious, spreading his wings and weaving from
side to side.  The squirrel continued on his way, but the poor nuthatch
had another trial to contend with - on one of his flights to the oak
tree, he managed to irritate the ruby-throat who was keeping vigil on
the sweetgum.  The ruby-throat chased the nuthatch all the way to the
oak.  What a trip!
The Carolina wrens are fully nested in a box on one corner of the fence,
and come regularly to the deck to ask for mealworms, which of course,
they get.  The chickadees are quite happy in the "lighthouse" birdhouse
on another corner of the fence.
Along with our normal residents, I got to see some "firsts" of this
summer.  The indigo bunting was first heard, then seen at the feeder
right by my rocker.  A yellow-rumped warbler spent some time in the
sweetberry tree.  The towhees, which I had heard but not yet seen,
finally emerged from the edge of the woods.  An eastern phoebe landed on
the top of the big oak long enough to call emphatically for a positive
ID.  The blue-gray gnatcatchers are not plentiful yet, but there were a
few making appearances.  And the RE vireo sang clearly, but stayed out
of sight.  I wonder why the white-throated sparrows are still here; the
juncos disappeared within the past few days.
All of the regulars were evident and VERY plentiful - the chippies,
cardinals, titmice, RB woodpeckers, goldfinches, house finches (of
course), RW blackbirds, bluejays, bluebirds, plus one song sparrow
(haven't seen the fox sparrow in a while).  I heard one three-noted song
that didn't sound quite like the C. wrens and wondered if a Tennessee
warbler was visiting the woods.  Every time I started to get up and go
inside, someone else would start a show in the birdbath or water garden
that was too entertaining to ignore.  What a great way to unwind!
The last "first" didn't happen until evening, when we heard the first
wood thrush of our summer!

Sherri Carpenter
Roxboro, NC