Greensboro Birds

Here it is, my other favorite bird-photo element: the mixed group. American goldfinches are busy deseeding this conjoined sunflower bloom (we don’t say Siamese twins anymore, right?). I didn’t plant this sunflower; it’s the result of a seed dropping from the feeder. I got a few blooms this way. Next summer I might actually try [...]

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The scene through the window screen at my desk: Ruby-throated hummingbirds recently started visiting this Jacob Kline (or Cline?) monarda (aka bee balm). It’s cool to see them only a couple feet away. I hear their buzzy wings as they descend on these bright red blooms—that’s how I know when to look up from my [...]

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Josh brought home more trees yesterday. His new job in the plant business is doing wonders for our yard. On Tuesday, he toted home a yoshino cherry in full bloom and this eastern redbud. We planted the redbud in the front-yard space formerly occupied by my feeder, with the goal of hanging a feeder in [...]

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I like the swirly look of the male goldfinches when they’re in mid-molt, don’t you?

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Yesterday brought more than just the first day of spring. It also brought a minor invasion of purple finches. I spent the bulk of the sunlight hours assembling a gigantic Mantis ComposTwin compost tumbler, which Josh’s parents generously gave us (they’re excellent boosters of our gardening efforts). At one point, as I was researching a [...]

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Pine warblers do love the suet and will defend it mightily against interlopers. The warbler returned yesterday afternoon to both the front and backyard suet, alternating between the two every few minutes. Because the American goldfinches are becoming so yellow again, from a distance (and because I lost my glasses for real this time) I [...]

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This weekend is the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. Birders around the United States are busy listing the birds they see in their neighborhoods. Not only the birds at their feeders, but also any birds that fly overhead (vultures and seagulls count!) and birds that can be spotted on the street or on the neighbors’ [...]

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Red maples bloom early in the season. Here in the Piedmont, they bloom right about the time our American goldfinch males start molting into their brighter breeding plumage. The blooms weren’t out yesterday, but they sure are today, and the ones outside my office are filled with bloom-snacking finches. Goldfinches LOVE maple blossoms!

I sat on [...]

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