The Backyard Birdman

Burrowing Owl with Sunset In Its Eyes photo by David Roach

 I was very fortunate and extremely pleased to be invited to spend a day with my friend Steve on a 16,000 acre cattle ranch in Central California where he is in charge of monitoring over 400 nestboxes.  That’s right, I said over 400 nestboxes.  And that is only on the ranch I visited that day.  Steve (with a little help from his friends) monitors nearly 900 nestboxes of different bird species in several locations.

I will be posting more stories of my trip with Steve coming up but I really wanted to share my Burrowing Owl story with you today.  When Brigitte and I moved to northern California back in 1980, we were amazed at the abundant wildlife and beauty of this area.  One of our first observations was the abundance and variety of birds we were seeing everyday.  This is the reason I began building bird houses and putting them up all over our new property.

One of the many new birds we would see all the time was the Burrowing Owl.  They would be standing in the middle of the road when we came home from town at night.  I remember the first time we saw this little owl, just standing there, in the middle of our gravel road.  He just stood there for quite a long time.  We studied him so we could get home and look him up in our field guide.  We had no idea what kind of owl it could be with those long legs, just standing there.

Burrowing Owl Standing Guard photo by David Roach

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Tree Swallow Chick 13 Days Old photo by Larry Jordan

I had an incredible day on the bluebird trail the other day.  Three pairs of nesting Tree Swallows and more Western Bluebirds on the way!  This little guy was hanging out at the entrance hole waiting for mom and dad to bring lunch.  In a few days he will be out there in the real world looking for insects to eat.  And someday he will look something like this handsome fellow.

Tree Swallow Male photo by Steve Berliner

Steve has some incredible bird and wildlife photos here: Steve’s Photo Gallery .  The Tree Swallow is a cavity nesting bird that will nest in natural or man-made cavities.  They will compete with Bluebirds for nesting cavities anywhere their habitats overlap.  Tree Swallows build a nest of mostly grasses with many feathers from other species.  See the following photos.     (more…)

House Finch Chicks at about 13 days photo by Larry Jordan

As you can see these chicks are fully feathered and nearly ready to fledge.  House Finches usually fledge at day 16.  In most songbird species, the parents carry the fecal sacs out of the nest and dispose of them but the House Finch doesn’t do this.  That is why you see the fecal material accumulated around the rim of the nest.

These chicks are literally overflowing the nest as you can tell by comparing the photo above with this one when they were only a couple of days old.

Enjoy all the nesting songbirds in your yard while you can.  Make sure you offer them plenty of food and water so their babies can grow up strong and healthy. 

Happy Birding!

My Mom, The Number One Mom In The World (all photos by me)

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!  We love you with all our heart.  I want to extend this greeting to Moms all over the world.  Thank you for everything you do, Mom.

This beautiful lady in her 90’s is the best mom in the world!  She not only brought me into the world, she has supported me my entire life with unconditional love and wisdom.  I feel like one of the luckiest people on the planet and I want her to know that I love her with all my heart.

A few months ago I put up a bluebird house in her backyard, along with a bird bath.  My mom has always loved birds and I thought it would be nice to try to attract some birds to her yard.  Even as I returned home from her house the following day, she had birds visiting her backyard.

Now, I want you to know that her backyard is in a senior community, near a golf course.  She has no lawn, only some small bushes and immature trees in her small backyard.  However, she now has a pair of Western Bluebirds building a nest in her birdhouse!

Female Bluebird with Nesting Material

I took a few photos of the Western Bluebirds while we were sitting on the back porch.  My mom told me that she was spending a lot of time watching the birds and felt like she wasn’t getting anything done (smile).  I know what that’s like!  She also told me that she had been watching the birds from inside the house because she was afraid she would scare them away.

This is a very important point: when you put up birdhouses in your yard, get out there and do all your normal yard work and activities.  This way your birds will get used to you being there and you can observe them from much closer without the birds being alarmed.  You can even teach them to eat out of your hand or come to a special treat when you give them a certain whistle or sound a bell!

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House Finch Nestlings photo by Larry Jordan

Here is a photo of the young House Finches no more than a couple of days old.  I will try to get more photos as they grow.  These were taken Sunday, May 4th in my neighbors planter on their back porch.  These little finches make a variety of calls and will keep your backyard full of song.  Click on the button below to hear there sounds:

It is so exciting to watch birds as they raise their young.  Open your eyes to a whole new world of bird watching every spring during mating and nesting season and you will be amazed at what you will discover.

In the next few weeks I will be posting some stories of the birds I have watched nesting this spring including the Western Bluebird, Oak Titmouse, Red-shouldered Hawk,  Red-tailed Hawk, Tree Swallow, American Kestrel, Burrowing Owl, Barn Owl, Wood Duck and coming soon, one of my favorites, the Ash-throated Flycatcher!  Until then…

Happy Birding!