Bird Feeder Report
Posted at 4:33 AM on March 18, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(51 Comments)
Yesterday and Monday, Radio Heartland listeners had some "bird feeder reports" that were especially cheerful.
It appears the Redwing Blackbirds are showing up in large numbers.
There was also a report of a robin or two. Any other bird sightings?
How about alternative signs of spring?
Birds carry so much of the harbinger duty, perhaps they'd like a little help.
Among the signs of spring that I have seen in the past few days:
- Christmas lights being taken down
- Soggy 2008 newspapers re-appearing with the snow melt
- The year's first Pink Bicycle (with streamers)
- Road weight limit signs are going up.
- And of course, the migrating goats have returned to our backyard
Any others?
Comments (51)
Morning Heartlanders!
Spring has certainly returned at our house. The mop, which usually lives in the stairwell to the basement, has taken up permanent residence in the kitchen. For a few weeks every spring, until the back yard dries up a bit, we mop two or three times a day, because the dogs track their dirty paw prints all over the kitchen!
Hope everybody enjoys their day!
Hiya Dale,
Thanks for keeping on with the good work.
My bird story is thus: My (20+) chickens and (3) turkeys were out in the yard enjoying their new-found freedom in the 45 degree day. I happened to glance out the window and observe my Tom Turkey (actually named Larry) strutting and puffing mightily at the very romantic (to him) vision of the propane tank out back. He gave a go at, umm, standing atop it, but evidently the tank would have no part and Larry slid off it 3 times before taking himself back to the flock.
I told my son Hoang this, and he said,"Tanks, but no tanks?"
Happy day,
Sheila
Thanks for the Bluebird of Happiness. Fabulous! That's why I love this show...
oh my, TWO Mockingbird Hills. Thanks, Dale and Mike! i had never heard Leo Kottke's version of Les Paul's MBH - really beautiful.
and a really great story, Sheila! thanks for the great story and gut laugh.
and sherrilee, i love that seeing your mop is a good and happy sign that spring is coming.
for the goats, a sure sign of spring is that they get to have "summer doors" at night - sturdy, yet see-through barricades over the two doors at night. more fresh air, plenty to see, but safety.
Dear Dale, thank you for the photos that made me laugh out loud!
Signs of spring around here: blocking off the driveway so no vehicles can make big ruts in the mud. Attempts to remove huge chunks of horse hair from a couple mares, usually with the wind and hair in my face and all over my clothes.
I SHOULD have a ready mop in my kitchen like Sherrilee, but I'm not that organized and so live with muddy dog prints, confident I will get it cleaned as soon as the ground dries up.
Cats that want to go in and out in and out in and out. (What is that Garrison Keillor song about that very thing?)
Chickens out and about, but haven't seen the coyote patrol yet....
Being sweatshirt-free after sunset announces the arrival of Spring here!
Parents will see the return of "Peeps" to the shelves of grocery stores.
Morning, all!
Thanks for the stories and comments.
I'll never see a propane tank the same way again.
Lee - the thought of a sweatshirt-free evening is tantalizing, but here in Minnesota that means it's the Fourth of July! Enjoy your fine weather today!
I'm thinking that Cat Stevens' "Morning Has Broken" would be a nice addition to this mix of tunes.
i want to become a Tree Swallow when i die.
Good Morning!
Great pictures this morning Dale! I parked under that tree the other day and boy, I thought a tree full of pigeons was the worst thing to park under.
I had the bike on the deck on Monday taking off the studded tires which is the sign of spring I most look for since riding on studded tires is both noisy and lots of extra work. A Cardinal serenaded me during my effort and while that's not so much of a spring bird, the singing was quite welcome.
Sherrilee - perhaps your Tom named Larry had heard of efforts to use manure to make fuel and was trying to jump start the process!
Ummm, Sheila, I meant Sheila; note to self - coffee first, then post.
But while I'm here what about Bobby McFerrin's version of Blackbird if we're not all birded out...
Now time to make that coffee!
Signs of spring here in SE Minnesota/Western WI (on the Mississippi) include the return of eagles and gulls. The geese are passing through, and my mother saw a heron in the bay and has had goldfinches at the feeder. We expect the first barges on the river very soon. And the surest sign of spring: the opening of Rudy's Drive-In in LaCrosse!
Just thought of a good song referencing birds (after I had already posted my comment)... "Blue Bird Blues" by Sonny Boy Williamson!
Good Morning Heartlanders!
Dale, thank you for the Van Morrison-a little leftover Irish, mentions birds, and greets the dawn-what more could we ask for!
Greetings Heartlanders!
POTHOLES! Either that or I have bad springs/shocks on my van which is very possible. My husband is in a consistently good, happy mood with the arrival of spring (he hates winter).
Just seeing the sun for longer periods of time and watching all the snow melt is a sure harbinger of spring as well. Ordered my transplants and thinking about what I need to do to get the garden ready (and I'm really not a gardener, but I try hard). LOVE SPRING!
Sure sign of spring - being able to come home on Monday and open the front door to let in the wonderful fresh air. This is very special for my two cockatiels. There are certain weather related rules they dislike. One is that the curtains do not get opened if the temperature is not above zero. The other is that the windows can't be open if the temperature is not at least 65. To have the thermometer read 65 was wonderful so I could give Feisty and Shadow a great surprise. They were thinking that their Mama was freaking out until they smelled the fresh air.
Have seen robins, woodpeckers, cardinals, junkos, sparrows, finches, oh just about everyone out and about, flitting in amongst the branches of our maples. Occasionally they stop in the tree and start tweeting, much to the delight of my birds. Then we get a tweet and screech fest going! I've tried to teach my birds that an "indoor" voice is sufficient, but Shadow especially thinks he need to yell at the foreigners outside.
Unfortunately, the windows and doors will not be open again for a while, but we all enjoyed that fresh air. And the days of open doors and windows are coming soon.
Have a great day, Heartlanders. Spring is almost here officially!
Lindi
Good morning RH,
A sound of spring I hear daily, "Aww, do we hafta wear our coats?"
Larry the Turkey story made my day.
So Dale, how many times were you asked yesterday about not wearing green?
ooops! Vaughn Horton actually wrote the version Les Paul made famous - published 1951 and the first song i remember hearing on the radio
Mockin' Bird Hill
When the sun in the morning peeps over the hill,
And kisses the roses 'round my window sill,
Then my heart fills with gladness when I hear the trill Of the birds in the treetops on Mockin' Bird Hill.
chorus:
Tra la la, tweedle dee dee dee It gives me a thrill,
To wake up in the morning To the mockin' bird's trill. Tra la la tweedle dee dee dee There's peace and good will;
You're welcome as the flowers On Mockin' Bird Hill
Got a three-cornered plow and an acre to till
And a mule that I bought for a ten-dollar bill
There's a tumble-down shack and a rusty ol' mill
But it's my Home Sweet Home up on Mockin' Bird Hill.
Chorus
When it's late in the evening I climb up the hill
And survey all my kingdom while everything's still. Only me and the sky and an ol' whippoorwill
Singin' songs in the twilight on Mockin' Bird Hill.
Chorus
Donna, believe it or not, I was not asked about the absence of green in my outfit yesterday.
Not at all.
If I had visited a first grade classroom, I'm sure it would have been noticed, but here in the public radio office, people are wardrobe color blind.
Good morning All….
Yesterday I heard a song that I think would fit perfectly for today’s topic.
And I must have been psychic because I even thought that would be perfect for Dale’s show……
Dale, here’s hoping you feel the same way about it….the song is, Maybe Sparrow by Neko Case.
Thanks, Dale, for the bird songs this morning! I tuned in just before 7, and nearly fell over laughing at what must be the penultimate bird song: "Tern, Tern, Tern" by The Byrds. Loved it!
We had a Great Horned Owl a couple days ago (audio only, confirmed by a recording found on Web) in a pine tree in our yard. It woke my daughter and my wife is concerned about letting our small terrier in the back yard. No more sitings -- I mean "hearings" -- so I assume it has migrated on.
Beatles -- And Your Bird Can Sing
Beatles -- Blackbird -- oh you are playing Bobby McFarin's version as I type. That's better.
S.
The eagle has landed in White Bear Lake.
The bald eagle returned to its nest near Manitou Island in White Bear Lake last week. Before it got too soupy, i trekked across the frozen lake last Saturday to take a closer look.
Not sure what it is eating with 2 or 3 feet of ice yet in the lake. Neighbors who own a toy poodle are advised to keep it indoors.
Consider the act of faith required to all invest ones nest eggs, one's entire future and that of one's progeny in a lake that is frozen and lifeless on the surface. The credit markets may be frozen and the predators like Madoff and AIG executives may be raiding our nests, but we too, like that eagle, soar in faith, waiting for the spring that... someday... is bound to come.
How about an Edith Piaf number since she was known as "the little sparrow"?
I'm starting my yearly Spring routine- which is mainly getting my summer home all spruced up and ready for the hot weather to come. Of course, since my summer home is just my one room with an air conditioner, it doesn't really take very long.
I've also started to take long walks at noon instead of plodding away on the treadmill.
Hello Again! I just love this blog and all the astute, intelligent, witty and perceptive folks who post (or just read) this site. Turkeys & Tanks, Goats in Trees, Eagles Landing, Happy Cockatiels, Owls and all sorts of birds arriving -- and more songs about birds than I could have imagined! Turkeys, Tanks and Goats -- Oh My!
Such fun to read this every morning and share my morning with all of you with Dale & Mike at the helm. Happy Spring and Good Day to all of you!
Your friend, Joanne J
I do so love cheesy Photoshopping. Watching 'The Birds' as a kid is forever seared in my memory.
My backyard bird report signaling spring is the increased activity of Barred Owls. We have some that nest in the trees behind our house. Their call is characterized by the "Who cooks for you?" series of hoots. Occasionally I'll go have a stare-down with one sitting in a pine tree. We love having them as backyard neighbors.
I haven't seen it yet, but had a very reliable sighting of our Bald Eagles returning to Bob Lake up here in Mahtowa township. Three of them. We too have a pair who begin nesting in March on the edge of the lake. REmember, Scott, Bald Eagles are scavangers as well as fishers...should be plenty of dead deer along the roads as the snow banks disappear...ah, ugh, another sign of spring.
S - don't think GH Owls migrate! they go where the food is, so do please keep an eye out for your little doggie. i'm pretty sure they hunt mostly at night, but many other birds of prey hunt by day.... but probably woulnd't go for a terrier. i've seen pictures of a GH Owl trying to carry off a cat (a very indignant cat)
i haven't seen a bear yet, but expect that soon - another sign of spring.
Dale, any calls from Bart?
Jesse Winchester's "My Songbird" is one of my favorites. Emmylou Harris does it too.
It's always great to see the larger birds in action. (Will the culture ever get over "The March of the Penguins"?) I've loved the several times Patti and I wallowed in the pleasures of Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida, all those wintering shore birds: roseate spoonbills, herons, ducks and geese, ospreys too, more than we could count--all the more enjoyable because it was February. Unforgettable.
But the natural world presents itself in tiny moments too. I once marveled, on a way-below-zero Grand Forks, North Dakota morning, when I realized I was watching the tiny puffs of breath expelled by a chickadee at our feeder. I thought I was imagining it, but careful watching, unaided by magnification, made me certain that was indeed what I was seeing. Has anyone else ever witnessed chickadee breath on a winter morning, or was I nuts? (Wait a minute, that last is a separate question, isn't it?)
Ooh, Deb, you are lucky to have the herons return so early there! That's my sign of spring in Mpls, when the egrets and herons are back, and it's usually mid-april -- anyone seen any?
Query for those with bird feeders -- how late in the spring do you put out seed? (It's my first year...)
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.
I've had a hard time finding some - including the Neko Case disc, which is strangely MISSING from the library. Drat.
I'm having difficulty finding a decent song about eagles. Any suggestions?
Hi,
Cynthia's post reminded me of something I saw last Saturday afternoon in the open field across from the entrance to Willow River State Park north of Hudson. A bald eagle was feeding on a deer carcass just 10 yards or so off the roadway. Several cars had pulled over to watch.
Oh yeah -- another funky Michael Doucet song to add to my favorites -- Awesome!
we think of those Michael Doucet "funky" songs as YOUR songs, Joanne! have you your feather boa around your neck?
I was trying to conveniently forget that the background of the first photo was from that movie. I remember watching it at my neighbors, having to cross their backyard, the alley, and our backyard before I was safe in my own home. I've recovered to the point that I don't duck when a crow flies over my head, but that is one of those traumatic movie encounters. The others were "Deliverance", which my eldest sister let us watch when I was only 8, and "Jaws", where I literally jumped behind a couch when the shark jumped out of the water to attack the boat.
Thanks for the bird stories today. Spring is just around the corner, and even if we get more of winter, we know it will end soon.
Have a marvelous day, folks!
Lindi
Hi Barb in Robbinsdale,
I feed well into spring, sometimes all summer, depending on my pocketbook and how much seed the Red Wings consume.
I participate in the Cornell Ornithology Lab's Project FeederWatch from November to April...counting species/numbers for their continuing monitoring of bird popultions. I encourage everyone who feeds birds to join...it's inexpensive and easy...Google Project Feederwatch for more info.
Thanks, Barb! That kind of music gets me grooving -- don't have time to get the accessories, though. Guess I should haunt some garage sales and actually get me some feather boas, sequins and -- the crowning touch -- a tiara! Although I do have a fox stole my mother-in-law gave me before she died. She knew my secret dramatic flair.
Sherilee and all -- If you want a really funny story about turkeys trying to figure out mating, read the last couple of chapters of B. Kingsolver's "Animal Vegetabe Miracle" -- can't recall when I've laughed so hard at a book.
Morning, fellow Heartlanders! Love the photos and all the funny comments this morning ("tanks, but no tanks"!!!). A sign of spring on the UW-River Falls campus last week was students in shorts and flip flops, playing frisbie and catch.
At home, the ground has thawed enough for the squirrels to start digging up the flower bulbs I planted last fall. And the cat went out, rolled on the cement a couple times, then went in again. Now she's at the door every time I come home from work, ready to go out, roll, then in...
...almost forgot -- other favorite sign of spring here is the First Hanging Out of the Laundry, which happened YESTERDAY -- must be a record early date.
Lindi -- I was also scared out of my wits by "The Birds". I was 8 or 9 when it ran on TV and I was completely traumatized. I haven't had the nerve to ever watch it again as an adult. Also "Jagged Edge" with Glenn Close. I had to find another route to work when it was showing at The Boulevard Theatre, because driving by the marquis made me think about it.
Thanks Heartlanders for all the great stories this morning of approaching spring and bird cards and squirrels and Peeps and turkeys!
This morning, while getting Bear ready for his walk, I looked out the 2nd floor landing window. On the house next to me was perched a Red-Tail hawk.
Although we are only a mile or so from the Missiskippy in St Paul, I don't remember ever seeing a hawk in the neighborhood before. Usually, once the ground thaws, you will see ducks on the improvised lake that tends to form on the field in the park near my house.
Every so often, you will see a wild turkeyskittering, or a heron in someone's yard... And of course, out on horseback, you will see all sorts of birds and critters.
Earlier this week, I saw a bicycle-bird in a tree here on campus. How it got there, I have no idea.
OK, I'll bite.
A bicycle-bird? Complete with wheels and a chain?
And streamers?
Gus,
Are you positive you don't know how that bike got put in the tree?
Donna,
Although I wouldn't put something like that past me, I'm really not sure about this one =] I took some pictures of it, and I'm working on figuring out how to get them somewhere where people can view them. Stay 'tooned...
Here are some pictures of the rare bicycle-bird:
http://gallery.me.com/ghconnelly/100043
Great pictures Gus. That was some feat!
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