wingedthoughts: Mother's Day weekend

The yard was full of colourful birds this weekend! Here's a recap:

The female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak has turned up. We saw a total of two females and up to six males at one point late on Sunday.

Unfortunately the male grosbeak with the yellow breast was not in that group as we'd love to see him again. Dave submitted that pic to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on Friday and we're hoping to hear back. We also had a request from another poster on the whatbird.com forum for permission to use the photo on his site (http://www.birdspix.com)

Below is one male with an interesting colour pattern. In the second pic below you can see the red on the wing as well. Here's a link to a nice article about the grosbeaks: http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/default.aspx?c=a&id=1292
and here's a quote from the article:

"Once bonded, a pair has an affectionate courtship, often touching bills and exchanging food. It is during courtship fluttering that the male reveals the pink linings of his underwings. He shows off his white wing patches, spreads his tail, and flaps his wing with shallow beats. And when he flies away, his wings seem to be twirling, which is an illusion caused by the rapid movement of the black wings with large white spots."

The tree swallows are busy in the nest and have been interacting quite a bit, so we expect to see eggs on the nest within the next little while.

The robin has been vigilant on her nest as well. We haven't done an egg count on that nest yet. We were just relieved her nest survived Saturday's terrible wind and storm.

Saturday also brought back the Indigo Bunting for the first time this year (three days later than when we saw it for the first time last year). We saw one male. These guys only hang out for a very brief time (maybe two weeks at most I think), so we'll enjoy watching him while we get the chance. Such a little guy with great vibrant blue colour. Definitely a treat to see.

The Goldfinches are still out and about and I'm posting about them just because their yellows are so bright and beautiful. They blend in with the dandelions on the lawn :) My niece took some pics of them last week and there were about 20 or so eating spilt seed.

We also saw a first year (juvenile) Mourning Dove. I know these are not rare or unusual at all, but I liked the almost scaly look of his/her feathers.

On Sunday morning, we saw our first male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird at the feeder out our bedroom window. We placed it in our flower garden that is designed specifically for birds and butterflies. We've had the feeder ready for about a week or so just in case. I was worried about the colder temperatures last night, but Dave saw him again this morning back at the feeder.

Later on Sunday morning we saw our first Eastern Towhee (ever!). He was working his way through the front lawn and gardens. I was reading up on this bird after and learned that their numbers have gone down by about 90%!! It's for all the usual terrible reasons (basically humankind). I'm not sure if this is a year-round resident or if we'll just see him as he passes through. Another one added to the life list!!