Bird Central

This weekend has been fun for watching birds. The swallows are soaring and swirling around the property - for the third year in a row they are nesting in the birdhouse I made that is on the potting shed. A little later in the season, when the babies are inside, the parents scream and swirl around when you come close to turn on the hose. Robins, stellar's jays, varied thrushes, black-capped chickadees, goldfinches, rufous towhees, and hummingbirds are part of our usual crowd of backyard birds. Occasionally there are great blue herons, hawks, bald eagles, and a pair of doves. Of course we always have our group of red-headed sapsuckers that love to peck grids of small holes in the walnut tree. I'm expecting to see cedar waxwings soon since the red-hot pokers are in bloom and they love those when they are starting to go to seed. That's a cedar waxwing in the "my profile" picture. We were out on the deck on Saturday and were startled by a BIG bird swooping within 15 feet of us on to the telephone pole. It was huge - probably 20 inches - and we immediately recognized it as a pileated woodpecker. I think they are wonderful birds - very strange and prehistoric looking. I have always wanted to have one nest nearby, and I am hoping it will choose one of the dead trees in the area. I noticed it swooping about later the same day but haven't seen it since. We are also pretty sure the wood ducks are nesting near the pond. I see them down there pretty much every day, and they seem to be coexisting fine with our Rouens. I expect we'll see some babies pretty soon.