More Summer Property News

The old pond continues to lose water. From Saturday evening to Sunday evening, the level went down about 3". There is still life at the old pond, though. A Yellow-crowned Night-heron is nesting alongside a Green Heron. A Little Blue Heron comes to feed at the edge of the water. I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo down there this morning. I found six baby alligators about 12" long on Saturday evening, but they weren't there on Sunday. A female hummingbird was gathering nesting material from a willow tree this morning. I couldn't see where she went when she flew off.

Little Blue Heron hunting at the old pond

My birdbath in the woods developed a larger crack than it had before, so I brought it to the house to fix it. When I pulled it off the four-wheeler, it had broken into two pieces. I'll have to replace it with a plastic one soon!

I still hear Red-eyed Vireos singing in the woods regularly when I go down there. Hopefully I'll get a new birdbath and be able to see some of the juvenile birds that come to it.

Nesting Birds and Low Water

The second brood of Eastern Bluebirds has hatched right on schedule! As of the evening of 6/5, three out of four eggs had hatched. They should fledge probably on the 22nd or 23rd.

Baby bluebirds on hatching day.

Mom and Dad bluebirds checking on their babies.

The Chimney Swifts have begun laying eggs. I couldn't see very clearly when I was checking, but I think they have laid one or two eggs as of 6/5. I'll take my binoculars and check soon. I'm glad to help them because they are heading toward threatened status with the changeover to metal flues, people capping their chimneys and not as many abandoned industrial smokestacks standing any longer.

In other property news, the old pond is lower than I have ever seen it. The water is easily four feet lower than normal. I'm thinking I need to take the boys down there and do a little fishing and transfer some of the fish to the new pond which is holding water pretty well, although it's down about three feet. The new pond doesn't have nearly as many trees and plants around it taking the water more quickly. I think if we don't get rain in the next two to three weeks, the pond will be completely dry. If that happens, I'm going to get down there and clear out some of the fallen tree branches and other debris.

Pond on 6/5 with the normal water level drawn on the right.

Several birds have had successful nestings already this season. I have seen juvenile cardinals, Blue Jays, chickadees, titmice, woodpeckers and doves at the feeders. The Carolina Wrens that are nesting in a box on my aunt's carport are within a week of fledging. It's a fun time of year to see the young birds at the feeders figuring them out and begging for the parents to give them some food.

Summer Birding and BirdCam

Summer is here! It is hot and dry to begin the summer months. The birds are eating a lot at the feeders these days. It must be harder to find food with many of the plants being dead. I have seen fledgling Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays and Red-bellied Woodpeckers at the feeders so far this year. There is a pair of Carolina Wrens with a nest in a box I built for my aunt on her carport. The Eastern Bluebirds are on their second brood and the eggs should hatch on 6/5. The mosquitoes are thick down in the woods making walking around to see what birds are around nesting uncomfortable. Any insect repellent is sweated off within a few minutes! So, I let my BirdCam do the birdwatching for me. Water is hard to come by these days, so my birdbaths are extremely popular! I have to fill the one down in the woods nearly every day due to evaporation and the birds splashing it out of the bath when they are bathing. I've got a dripper on the one in my backyard and it stays full.

I have had my BirdCam for about a year now. I have really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. So far I have photographed 51 different species of birds with it. I just recently tried the video function on it and have been pleased with the results. There have been two new property birds that I probably never would have seen had it not been for my BirdCam. Just after I got it in June 2010, a juvenile Hairy Woodpecker showed up at my feeders. This winter a female Purple Finch showed up with the American Goldfinches at the feeders in the woods. I was able to "see" a few spring migrants that I missed when I was out birding, but they came to my birdbath where I had my BirdCam set up - Golden-winged Warbler, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Scarlet Tanager and Wood Thrush. I'm hoping that the weather patterns are more normal next spring and we don't have the strong south winds we had this year so more of the migrants drop in as they complete their flight across the Gulf of Mexico. I am going to put the BirdCam on the bluebird house on Sunday morning to see if I can get some pictures of the adults taking the eggshells out of the nest, and then I'll put it on it again the day the chicks are supposed to fledge and hopefully get some video of them leaving the nest.