Waiting for the birds

Since moving from south Florida to Connecticut in late December and putting up bird feeders in early January, I assembled a yard list of species seen on the property. The total number of species seen (or heard in a few cases) had climbed to 46 by the end of April. Mostly were resident or winter visitors until northbound migrants began arriving in late April. 

During May, I counted 13 additional neotropical migrants. Nearly all of Connecticut experienced a very poor spring migration. Unusual weather patterns and low temperatures were said to have shunted the birds away from the state or caused them to pass through very quickly.

So far in June, my only new entry has been a beautiful male Prairie Warbler which eluded my camera. To date, my backyard total is stalled at 60 bird species, 36 of which I have been able to photograph. Right now the only photo opportunities are provided by locally nesting species.

This Great Crested Flycatcher is nesting in a kitchen exhaust pipe which has lost its protective baffle:

 

Fledgling House Finches, still topped with natal down, waiting to be fed:

Adult male House Finch:

Male Scarlet Tanager from quite a distance, breaking into song:

Chipping Sparrow on the back fence:

Among the mammals, a White-tailed Doe showed up in the clearing in the valley back of the house...

...accompanied by her yearling fawn, a "button buck:"

A Gray Squirrel balanced on the shepherds hook over the bird feeder:

There were several cute baby Cottontails in the lawn:

This white flower was blooming on a vine along the fence which was either a wild specimen or an escape from the garden. I could not identify it:

On an unusually calm morning, Diamond Lake provided nice reflections:

Fog enveloped the valleys on the morning of May 29, resembling a seascape with downtown Hartford at the edge of the ocean:

The fickle weather was responsible for some luscious sunset displays:

We celebrated our older granddaughter's graduation from Glastonbury High School. She is somewhere in this image of the nearly 500 members of the Senior Class:

They are still coming!

B

Because I mentioned that cardinals might get divorced, my recent blog about the "Kissin' Cardinals" drew a few humorous comments on social media:

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Linking to:

Garden Affair

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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