Spring is Here?

Date: April 9, 2007
Time: 3:00-3:15 p.m.

Weather Report: Mostly Cloudy, 38°F, 59% Humidity, Winds: WSW @ 13 mph; feels like 30°F.

Location: The backyard of my home in the upstate New York City of Rochester. This was a totally impromptu bird watching experience, which was begun as I was on the telephone, looking out our kitchen window into the backyard... glorious!

Bird Species/Markings/Features: 2 adult male Blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata), 2 adult Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis)--1 male/1 female, 3-4 Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis)!

Sights/Sounds/Activities: Unfortunately, I was in the house, on the telephone, while observing the aviary activity (including a male Cardinal, like the one pictured to the left) today! As soon as I could get my friend off of the phone (sorry to be impolite--but there has been zero action until today!), and get to my digital camera, they had flown the "coop."

Notes:I was surprised to see so much happening in the backyard, especially since I hadn't loaded up the feeders since Spring had supposedly sprung. In an unusual turn of events, all of these birds appeared one after another within the backyard. The Jays were beneath the emptied feeder picking at shells, while both Cardinals jumped from the fence which runs behind the shed and then entered the area under the cylindrical feeder immediately after it had been vacated by the Jays.

Once again, my handy-dandy copy of Stan Tekiela's Birds of New York Field Guide offered some interesting info about the birds.

It was nice to reconnect with the aviary nature of our backyard... it allows some perspective about our relationship to the "wild," even as it exists alongside us in our backyards! I'm looking forward to a Spring and Summer of increased aviary activity.