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Fantastic weekend in the backyard



This weekend I was treated to quite a
show in my backyard.  It began on Friday
afternoon with the first spotting of a
male summer tanager in my backyard (this
is my 3rd spring at this location).  He
occasionally sat atop a feeder pole but
wasn't really interested in the food.
He sang from various vantage points
throughout the weekend, in hopes of
finding a mate I presume, since there
was no female following him about.  It
gave me a great opportunity to
familiarize myself with his song and
call.  I figured that was the highlight
of the weekend until, while working in
my flower garden, I happened to turn
around just in time to see a gorgeous
male rose-breasted grosbeak sitting on
the sunflower feeder.  He was there just
for a few seconds, then he and his
female companion flew into the woods.  I
figured he didn't care for my particular
kind of feeder and they were moving on
to find something more to their liking
and I'd never see them again.  I nearly
stopped breathing at the site of
them...well it WAS a breath-taking site
'cause I'd yet to see one EVER.  A
neighbor had one in her backyard last
year but even though I'm in my yard much
more than she I never saw one.  I'd been
reading all the notes here lately about
this person and that person seeing one
and I have to tell you I was quite
envious.  So...I've been on the
lookout.  Well I thought sure THAT was
the highlight of the weekend until about
15 minutes later I was poised with my
binoculars and began seeing not one, but
two, no three, no there's a whole darn
flock of 'em!  There were at least 4
males and 2 females and I was able to
study them for quite some time.  What a
delight!  and now I'm the envy of my
neighbors.  I decided to hang out in my
'hiding' spot for a while and during
that time a) watched a female r-b
grosbeak give a male cardinal all kinds
of heck at the sunflower feeder (it
turns out they liked it after all); in
fact when this particular grosbeak was
at the feeder she pretty much hogged it
for herself; b) watched Mr. Cardinal
demonstrate all kinds of protective
behavior since his fledgings were also
trying to eat (off the ground mostly);
c) spotted the first blue-gray
gnatcatcher I've seen so far this spring
flitting about in the bottom of a fringe
tree; and d) excitedly watched as Mr.
and Mr.Brown-Headed Nuthatch nervously
went in and out of their nestbox amidst
all this activity.  This is my first B-H
nuthatch pair to nest successfully in my
yard if in fact all goes well.  I've
only had a pair nest once in my yard in
my 10 yrs as a homeowner and they wound
up abandoning the nest. I was elated to
have W-B nuthatches nesting in another
box earlier this spring (also a first
for me) but, alas, my irresponsible
neighbor's cat got a hold of the
nestlings a couple of weeks ago and they
haven't rebuilt.  When I found the nest
all torn up, I finally put up those
stove pipe fittings I've been meaning to
put up for yrs.  Also put some on the
cedar trees where a chickadee pair have
started a second brood in my most
popular chickadee box. The cats have
been harassing those poor birds every
since they started building.  I also
installed a Cat-Scram in that area (as
well as mouse traps, but they didn't
help much) and another one where a 2nd
box is currently with chickadee
nestlings.

On a sad note, my daughter discovered
that the wren nest in our garage that we
thought was empty actually had one egg
in it.  After being harassed by these
same cats I think they gave up - they
REALLY wanted to nest in my garage but
hopefully they've succeeded elsewhere.
btw, one of these wrens roosted on a
small ledge on my front porch for about
10 days while all this nest-building
activity was going on.  he was there
just before sunset most every night.
that was neat, too.  everyone was so
quiet and careful not to disturb
him(her?) when they came thru the door.
We were sad to know they'd left.  In the
world of nature everything doesn't
always turn out how we'd like.  Even so,
it's been an exciting spring so far.

Happy Birding,
Jo Anne

Jo Anne Stokes
southeast Durham, NC
jarlstokes@msn.com