Signs of Spring

oh, but they are just too darn cute.

LOL, well I definitely wouldn't want them in the house. Luckily we don't have a crawl space. I have heard the neighbors saying that they get in their garages. Maybe my 3 cats are the reason they don't come in mine. They are cute though.

Oh yeah.....I have a fantastic Chippie Romper Room System here. Into the crawl space... out one vent...back in thru another vent... back into crawl space...into garage..back into crawl space...Just cute as a button! LOL :0)

Nanny...I haven't seen my chipmunks yet but it should be anytime. They reside in my shed and make quite a mess at times. There are some things that I can't store in there as a result. :(

They don't come into my house because of my superior border patrol:

Stopped by the marsh for a quick 20min. walk...the Tufted Titmice were singing away.

I couldn't get on the DG site last night, anyone else have problem's?

Yes I think we all have had problems last night and this morning.

*** I guess you all know the site will be down for 3 hours starting at 1 pm EST***

Sacar, That is one gorgeous kitty!!

Thanks, Pelle. He is a Ragdoll. His fluffy appearance is a ruse....he is quite the hunter/protecter. The neighborhood dogs are afraid of him!

Gorgeous cat!

Glad you have that pretty kitty one post away from the birds. We need a barrier.

Not a bird sign of spring, but my Iris reticulata are blooming. I almost didn't see them because of leaves. I am seeing more yellow on the goldfinches.

About chipmunks, they don't hibernate at all here. I see one almost every day on the ground under the feeder.

This may a good place to nest...

Cute shot of the Titmouse Kim!

They (chippies) are fun to watch.

oh Nanny, that's quite the Chipnasium you have.

Here's my Chippie story. At least I think it is a Chippie story.

My mom had a vacation house in Wisconsin. Nearby there was a lovely shagbark hickory tree. She went and collected nuts, hulled them and left them in a plastic bucket in the three-season porch. The nest time they were there, she noticed that most of the nuts were missing. There was no evidence of any critter being there. No droppings, nothing tipped over, no shells, nothing.

So one day she is changing the sheets on the bed, when she finds a big pile of nuts UNDER the mattress. That means the stinkers somehow got from the outdoor room (sliding glass door) to the upstairs and into that bedroom. Pretty amazing to me.

Migrating Sandhill Cranes! These are from a group that flew over today.

and the first Red-winged Blackbird showed up in the yard today!

Neat sights Nanny!

I had a pet chipmunk once...his name was Charlie.

I would love to see a Sandhill Crane! Nice shots.

Yay spring birds!

Hey, on the Illinois bird listserv, there are a whole bunch of people posting about the Sandhills! I've never seen one though. We must not be on a migration route.

My husband's friend says to me today "after this storm coming through this weekend, we'll have the red-winged blackbirds and then the robins." We'll see.

I don't know if Horned Lark's are a sign of spring but I see double the amount of HL's compared to a couple of weeks ago. I can see and easy 50 just on the way to work, but now the snow is melting and you really can't see them unless you have already driven by them...they just do a wide loop around you and land back along the side of the road. lol

ALL the Blackbirds have arrived and the Red-wings are noisier than noisy!! The Kildeer are back and Sandhill Cranes are in the northern part of the state. Every bird seems to be singing and I saw a bee yesterday and a few gnats!!

I wasn't able to get a photo, but this evening, I saw a male Cardinal take a peanut over to a female and feed it to her. A little while later, he cracked open a sunflower seed & gave her his heart. Sorry, I know that was corny, but true:) It was so sweet.

A sign of spring for sure! I always try to get the "kiss shot".

I love the sound of the RW blackbirds. A real sign of spring.

I also love to watch the corny mating rituals. So sweet.

Looking forward to seeing the sandhill cranes. They are so loud. I swear if a jet engine and a sandhill got into a contest to see which was louder, the sandhills would win.

Sign of spring for me has been "Tax Season" I do taxes so am busy. I have not been able to get out much...but I went out yesterday to the tune of 59*...woohooo.

I watched the leucistic dove and a Eurasian doing a little kissing routine, then mating. I'm hoping for some white doves in a few weeks.

The Goldfinches are beginning to get their breeding colors as well.

My crows are pairing now and beginning to groom each other.

awww…

Well, I saw my first of the season Robin and Red-winged blackbirds. Possibly some grackles mixed in with starlings. Hard to tell at 68 MPH!



Going to be warm, but rainy most of the week so I don't think I'll get out to photograph much.

It's a Bluebird Day in OK this morning after a day of rain, fog and thunderstorms yesterday. Every day the sun shines the bluebirds are all over the nest box. I have yet to see them carrying any nesting material, but today might be the day. They check out the flower every morning now for mealworms. I have discovered that they will eat blueberries, too. But they worms are eaten first.

Daddy BB.

Daddy BB with a worm.

Mama BB.

I was so happy to see a bluebird pair taking straw into my nestbox on Sunday, then a Hawk or something scared all of the birds out of the yard and I haven't seen them since. I checked the box last night and there are still only a few pieces of straw. I hope they come back, so I put some mealworms on top of the nestbox trying to coax them back. They used the next box last summer shortly after I put it out, so I don't think there is any problem with it.

Nice Missy!

I heard Chipping Sparrows today. did not see them though.

I saw a male Cardinal feeding a female yesterday!!

A mourning dove was cooing in my yard this morning.

I just heard one coo too. I thought, gee they have been around, but this is the first time I have heard them.

We have had a crazy 3 days of 60° weather. I saw a barn swallow and one turtle sunning itself on a log.

Hi cpart, Be sure to report your Barn Swallow here: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/spring2010.html?layers=bswallow

The momentum is building! Mrs Ed, I love chippers! Too cute.

Here's a pic from last summer of a Bluebird that I think is so precious.

BTW, I checked the nest tonight and there is more nesting material!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo! I guess they took the mealworm bait:)

TBM, your Blue Bird makes me smile. Agreed, too cute. Sings of spring; everyone pair- up. Here are couples of Pekin and Mallards.

So cute Missy! Glad things are going well!

Beautiful scene Lily!

Saw this squirrel munching some nice leaf buds on this tree!