building a nest

Get a plastic owl. Or better yet you can borrow my inflatable rattlesnake. No I'm not kidding, I bought a gin-u-wine plastic fake rattlesnake to try and deter the squirrels from eating our patio furniture. It worked too......they started chewing on the snake.

It is spring! It's spring even here in the Northeast and long overdue at that. A little too early for bird-like creatures to start building, though.

The chipmunks living in the garage haven't come out of hibernation, either.

Spring in Ohio, too!

"Our" bluebirds - who stayed around all winter this year - started building their nest again this past week. (In the nestbox. Out on the fence. Where it's OK.)
They're so much fun to watch .. the male has started feeding the female, as he does every spring. They'll both come to the feeder, he'll grab a beakful of mealworms and carry them over to her. She eats them from his beak. Terribly cute to watch.

Based on the materials they're using to build the nest, it looks like a new female this year.

Wallace, while I appreciate your offer of the fake snake, I'm holding out for the real thing.

Mr. Freen, I assume that your garage is detached from your house and thus the chipmunks don't pose a wiring-gnawing problem...at least not in the crucial circuitry of your home. I've heard a lot of horror stories locally about squirrels getting into home attics and wreaking havoc.

Brian, I'm envious of your well-behaved birds. My neighbor across the alley has a very nice multi-family birdhouse, but I guess the nesting is greener on the other side of the alley because it sits vacant while the little vagabonds try to start their own ghetto on my patio. Bluebirds are cool, too. I don't think we have 'em around here. I'd love to see a photo.

Birds are evil, demonic beings.

That is all.

Michele, your "issues" with birds are well-documented, and the trauma that you've suffered at their, um, hands is outrageous.

But, still, hawks are pretty cool. And road runners.

Bird on the Bose: sounds like a Carolina Wren, that's the kind of spot they like. See: http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpecies_LI.asp?imageID=17168

Other bird stuff: For anybody interested (which will probably be a small group), there was an Opsrey circling the Wadley-Barron duckpond at noon today. The ducks looked mighty nervous, although the fish probably had more reason to be.

Oops, didn't catch the typo. That was Osprey, not Opsrey (AKA a fish hawk)

Greg, I'll have to be more observant before I run the little beggars off next time. The Carolina wren has some pretty distinctive markings, but I really haven't paid close attention.

I, for one, think the osprey sighting is fascinating. Midland isn't exactly on the Osprey Superhighway, at least not according to this migration tracking site or this overview site. The "Interesting Facts" on that latter page are, indeed, quite interesting!

Yeah, ospreys are not a commoner in these here parts, first one I've seen in Texas. Definately him, though, it was flying low and slow, and circled for about 15 minutes. Wish I'd had me trusty digital camera. I'll get 'im next time.

Lots of odd sightings in mid-town for the observant nature lovers. My son and I saw a porcupine walking south on I street at about Stanolind at 10 pm a few years ago. Nature is all around us, sometimes digging our tulip bulbs in the back yard.

Lots of odd sightings in mid-town for the observant nature lovers.

Yeah, along those lines I swear I saw a hawk perched on a telephone pole in our neighborhood last week. He took off and flew into a thick group of oak trees, and the dove exploded outward in all directions like confetti. I'd love to see a raptor take up residence in the area and give our out-of-control squirrel population a natural predator to deal with. (And if he wants to take out a few hundred doves while he's at it, more power to him!)