Tying Up Loose Ends

   Before our vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we need to mention the birding that we have done in the yard this spring. I saw the Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) again, poking around our bird bath and looking for things underneath the monkeygrass in our backyard. Berry has never seen it; at this point, I have seen it twice.

   We have offspring of several species. The two juvenile Bluejays (Cyanocitta cristata) are the noisiest. There are juvenile Downy Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens) at our suet. The orange crest on the Red Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) does not meet yet on the juvenile. The Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufum) are nesting in the holly bushes at the end of the yard. Our Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) occupies the birdhouse in the magnolia tree. There are English Sparrows (Passer domesticus) in the birdhouse in the sideyard.

Raccoon

   In other animal news, we have a Raccoon (Procyon lotor) residing in our neighbor's tree. It uses our powerline as a high-wire highway to avoid our dog while moving around the neighborhood.

Robert

photo courtesy of mwanner