Got the birds part, no bees seen yet
Tuesday February 21st 2012, 11:52 pm
Filed under: Wildlife

The first on-camera red peregrine falcon egg of the season arrived in San Francisco yesterday, to much celebration and hope.  San Jose’s Clara and EC have been getting their nestbox ready, scooping out depressions in the gravel just so, and EC has been bringing prey to his mate.

But nope, no synchronized laying this year between the two cities. (They did last year.)

I’ve been watching the male house finches’ feathers growing in a deeper and brighter red, changing quickly from the drab of winter to the intensity of courtship.

A goldfinch facing me today caught the sunlight just so across its chest: vivid yellow, with a slightly green sheen to it.

A woodpecker, I think a Hairy, has been tapping the tree outside my window, testing, testing, one two three days now. The more noise he can make the better his chances.

The little Bewick’s wrens are showing up in pairs frequently now and sharing the peanut-suet mix together as they skitter and flit by flick of tail. One is slightly rounder of belly and seems to occasionally get lost in a daydream, as expectant mothers do.  I dare not touch the old lawnmower they seem to have claimed for their coming chicks, darting underneath it: they are gone from so much of their part of the Earth now, but we have them here.

And the season begins anew.


6 Comments so far
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I saw my first red-headed woodpecker Saturday. I’m sure he hated the snow, and I worried about the sweet little chickadees I’d seen last week too. Luckily it has warmed up nicely and the snow is all but gone.

Comment by Channon 02.22.12 @ 7:44 am

Phx area–I got to see the little finches this week. Made me happy.

Comment by Sherry in Idaho 02.22.12 @ 8:06 am

lovely — spring is coming (I’ll watch yours while I impatiently wait for it to arrive here — a few weeks away still — we’ll have snow again this week)

Comment by Bev 02.22.12 @ 9:25 am

Although we’re still having winter weather here in Oregon, the red-winged blackbirds greeted me with their singing when I went outside to get the newspaper this morning. I love to hear the birds sing.

Comment by Elaine Boston 02.22.12 @ 2:02 pm

Sunday, when my great-granddaughter came home, we came in the door where I had left a light on instead of the one we usually use. As I was unlocking the door, she said, “Oh!” I asked what was wrong. “A bird just flew out of your wreath.”
I wasn’t expecting that this early. I guess it’s a little wren that’s had a nest in that wreath for years. I never really see her – just a flash as she flies by when I startle her. The daffodils (often called March flowers in this area)have bloomed about two weeks early, so I guess we can expect the birds to return early, too.

Comment by Adele Marano 02.23.12 @ 6:40 pm

Our goldfinches are still wearing drab, but I know it won’t be long now before they start putting on courting colors. It’s nice to hear that it is coming.

Comment by twinsetellen 02.23.12 @ 9:10 pm



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