Covid Journal, Day 46: Bird Life

55 and it feels warmer. Sunny early, but rain expected this afternoon.

We should have got busy to take advantage of the dry before the rain, but instead we sat on the porch with our coffee and watched the birds. Here's some of the activity around us. No photos as today I am content to just be a spectator:

• The Carolina wren has settled into the same nest she had last year, a little birdhouse that hangs on the porch just feet from where we sit. 
• The rose-breasted grosbeaks are back, visiting our feeders on their way north
• A few hummingbirds have arrived too. Little Mister sits on his usual perch, guarding the feeders.
• Mr. Noisy, the woodpecker is pleased that my order of seedcakes finally arrived. He is another one of the birds that have been here for several years. 
• Eastern Bluebirds have returned and taken up residence in the posts that support the grapevines, just as they have for years. 
• The goldfinches are quickly getting their summer colors, and the towhees are busy on the ground under the shrubs. 
• Sparrows (chipping and house) are back at the feeders
• Doves coo in the trees and wait for spilled seeds
• Robins are stalking worms in the garden
• Phoebe is alertly scanning for bugs. 
• Blue jays raise a ruckus every morning
• Titmouse, chickadee, nuthatch and downy woodpeckers vie with many cardinals for the sunflower seeds in the feeders.
• The despised cowbirds are back and we scare them off as best we can
• A red-tailed hawk, also a long-term resident, circles with his mate high above us
• Tiny pine siskens have to wait their turn at the feeders when the larger birds are absent
• A lone brown thrasher visits daily, keeping to hedges and brushy places
• And one little brown-striped ground bird whose name I have forgotten...Northern something. It has a habit of running along and picking at whatever it finds.

I am sure I've missed someone, but these are the ones visiting this morning.

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