For this Earth Day I continue on with my Flower Hill Farm 'Bird Parade' . . . featuring birds that I have photographed here at our farm. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), a medium sized woodpecker, of the Picidae Family is the perfect bird to share, for the one day we set aside to honor our planet and educate each other as to how we can all be better stewards. I wish we would have one day a week, as well, when we say . . . "This is what I did this week to help curb my … [Read more...] about Birds in Review Part XXXV ‘A Bird Parade’ For ‘Earth Day’ Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Birds in Review Part XXXIV ‘A Bird Parade’ Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco
Did you know that Juncos are actually Sparrows? I confess I did not or I should have included them in my Sparrow post. Here in the northeast we have the Slate-colored Junco (J. hyemalis hyemalis) or Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco. We all see these tidy grey and white birds flitting about on the ground in our gardens. Out west you will notice different coloration in the Juncos. Juncos spend the late fall, winter and early spring all throughout the United States and mostly fly up to Canada to … [Read more...] about Birds in Review Part XXXIV ‘A Bird Parade’ Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco
Birds in Review Part XXXIII ‘A Bird Parade’ Indigo Bunting
Our bird parade continues on with songbirds and the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) is one of the most beautiful of songbirds. Indigo Buntings harvest seeds and insects from the gardens and abandoned fields. They prefer a habitat with less inhabitants, but somehow do not mind my company now and then. Indigo Buntings can be seen foraging for food along the ground, as well as high in the trees and shrubs. The male Indigo Bunting will often choose the same few … [Read more...] about Birds in Review Part XXXIII ‘A Bird Parade’ Indigo Bunting
Birds in Review Part XXXII ‘A Bird Parade’ Humming Jewels
In honor of the beginning of April and because they have been migrating back from Central America to many North American gardens east of the Mississippi for awhile now, I am allowing Flower Hill Farm's Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) to get in line with the songbirds. There will be a few more songbirds featured in this parade later on. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are precious, precise, flying jewels, weighing only as much as a penny or less. They are tiny wizards of flight able … [Read more...] about Birds in Review Part XXXII ‘A Bird Parade’ Humming Jewels
Birds in Review Part XXXI ‘A Bird Parade’ Thrilling Thrushes
The word thrilling is not exaggerated in relation to the thrushes I encounter here at Flower Hill Farm during each spring, summer and fall. With every new days beginning and later its ending, I go outside or stand by the doors and windows and listen for the songs of the Veery . . . along with the trills of the Hermit and Wood Thrushes. Their otherworldly songs reach up from deep within the forest and along its edges, filling the time around daybreak and twilight with enchanting … [Read more...] about Birds in Review Part XXXI ‘A Bird Parade’ Thrilling Thrushes
