Spring!

Today at 4:24 pm CDT. Officially.

3-1-23 FOY#42 Eastern Phoebe

An Eastern Phoebe arrived earlier than usual, on February 28, picked up by our Haikubox bird call detector. I saw the pair the next day.They went AWOL for a while but returned on March 15. Time will tell if they choose the same nesting spot again. 

3-2-23 Carolina Chickadee nest box 3-4-23 Carolina Chickadee

We put up the chickadee nest box on Thursday, March 2 in the afternoon. The next day we had 2.8" of rain which put a damper on activity. But on Saturday morning, March 4, a Carolina Chickadee got pretty excited and began preparations!

Big hugs and thank you's to D.A.W. and L.A.W., two of my favorite comic (and comical) consultants,

for helping with descriptive bird language for the Chickadee video! 

3-7-23 First winter Chipping Sparrow 3-7-23 First winter Chipping Sparrow

The first winter Chipping Sparrow has been seen regularly through Monday, March 13. Here it was taking a bit of a nap on a breezy day.

3-9-23 N. Mockingbird

3-9-23 N. Mockingbird

3-10-23 N. Mockingbird

For many of you, a Northern Mockingbird may be a regular in your yard. Here, I'm lucky to have one each year. This bird arrived as FOY #44 on March 8 and has been seen 11 days in a row, a record!

3-18-23 Fox Sparrow Bubbler Bird #126

3-18-23 Fox Sparrow 3-18-23 Fox Sparrow 3-18-23 Fox Sparrow -3 3-18-23 Fox Sparrow -3

Another infrequent winter visitor/migrant is the Fox Sparrow, FOY #46. This year, one to three birds have been around and it was new bubbler bird #126 on St. Patrick's Day. They are often in the leaves, looking for small insects and under the feeders for seed.

3-18-23 Fox Sparrow
 

Another beautiful sparrow that is quite at home foraging in the leaves is the Swamp Sparrow. This one certainly has great camouflage.

3-12-23 Red-breasted Nuthatch 3-12-23 Red-breasted Nuthatch 3-12-23 Red-breasted Nuthatch 3-12-23 Red-breasted Nuthatch

A Red-breasted Nuthatch is still here, caching food and on this day, it checked out the new bubbler perches, bathed and preened.

3-11-23 Eastern Bluebird 3-11-23 Eastern Bluebird 3-17-23 Eastern Bluebird at Chickadee box 3-17-23 Eastern Bluebird female

Eastern Bluebirds are seen daily, still visiting the birdbath and window box for a quick tidbit or most often flying down to catch insects in the leaves. They are still checking out every box option, even one with an entrance hole that is not quite their size!

3-17-23 Red-shouldered Hawk

"Pale Male", our resident Red-shouldered Hawk, was in the woodland a couple days ago, hunting hopefully.

3-20-23 Carolina Chickadee with moss for nest

Just moments ago, one of the Carolina Chickadees carried moss into the nest box. We are hopeful for a successful breeding season!

3-6-23 Carolina Wren

It has been a busy few weeks of watching webinars on different topics and preparing new programs, so I'm a bit behind schedule. But every day, it's important for each of us to spend some time in Nature, time to look, listen and breathe it in. I saw something in the photo of this Carolina Wren that I'd never noticed before. Can you spot it?

The details of Life are exquisite! Happy Spring!