Migrants are still part of the scene!
10-2-23 Tennessee Warbler and Northern Cardinal female 10-2-23 Tennessee Warbler and Northern Cardinal female 10-2-23 Tennessee Warbler and Northern Cardinal female
Some birds, like this Tennessee Warbler, have to claim space to refresh before moving on. The body language of the female Northern Cardinal says it all! The local birds don't always share amicably.
10-4-23 Bay-breasted and Black-throated Green Warblers
The Bay-breasted and Black-throated Green Warblers can manage bathing together.
10-6-23 Northern Parula 10-6-23 Northern Parula
A Northern Parula is one of the smallest warblers, and it looked but did not take the plunge.
10-7-23 Black-and-white Warbler female
There have been several female Black-and White Warblers this month.
10-3-23 E. Wood-Pewee
10-4-23 Eastern Phoebe
Two often confused flycatchers nest in our yard. The first is the Eastern Wood-Pewee and this is an immature bird. The second is the Eastern Phoebe, which has the distinct habit of pumping its tail. That's one clue in telling them apart.
10-5-23 American Robin after Spicebush berries
10-5-23 Spicebush Berries (Lindera benzoin)
American Robins discovered the berries on the Spicebush (Lindera benzoin). We have probably a dozen plants and some had lots of fruit this year. These plants also host the Spicebush Swallowtail butterflies, feeding their caterpillars.
10-5-23 American Robins
There have been several days with a large influx of robins which always means competition at the Bubbler.
10-7-23 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10-7-23 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
On 10/6/23, the first of the season (FOS) Ruby-crowned Kinglets were seen. It's rare to catch them staying still for a second!
10-10-23 Brown Creeper
Finally saw our FOS Brown Creeper on 10/10/23, it had been detected by our HaikuBox for several days. This one went straight to the bubble for a well-earned bath!
10-12-23 Winter Wren
10-12-23 Winter Wren 10-12-23 Winter Wren 10-12-23 Winter Wren
Another tiny favorite, the FOS Winter Wren came in yesterday, 10/12/23. I saw it early in the morning, and it came back again later in much better light. Thank goodness! How many speckles can a little bird have?
10-11-23 Red-shouldered Hawk immature
The day before, a young Red-shouldered Hawk took a turn in the basin. Notice the light colored crescents near the wing tips. In flight, these look like 'windows in the wings'. From the tiny to the mighty, the Bubbler serves them all!
NEWS FLASH!
Back in March, I gave a program for the Partners in Native Landscaping event coordinated with the St. Louis County Library. Dan Pearson, Bring Conservation Home Program Director, wrote to me to saying there were 521 views of my webinar. It received a very high average rating of 4.9 out of 5, second highest for the series. I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity! It's a real honor to be able to share that "Our Garden is for the Birds!" is now available to view on the BCH YouTube channel, and to further educate the public. So, if you are interested and would like to view it or share it with friends, here's the link.
Tanagers will be featured next time, in discussing our early "Trick or Treater" from the last post.
Check back on 10-28-23 for the final consensus on that mystery bird!