I know I started this as primarily a quilt blog, but the birds have been so active lately, and it’s so much fun when the trees aren’t all leafed out yet and you can still see what’s going on in the trees! So springtime, it’s a quilting/birding/knitting blog!
We have a lot of red-winged blackbirds around the pond, and they tend to stay around the pond. We see them sitting on a cattail or a reed, and they are watching guard over a nest nearby. They will station themselves like soldiers, all around the pond. Today we saw some actually perch in a tree by the house. I think this guy is a youngster (probably a year-old male), as his wing patch color isn’t fully developed, and looked pretty light yellow-red when he flew by. He was surprisingly pretty up close.
Then the goldfinches started grazing on the seeds of the wild flowers (expensive weeds) that are planted on the edge of the park area as it comes up to our lawn. First there was one:
They are so tiny and quick. Here is a photo of one with a plant full of seeds that they seemed to favor.
Yes, I said “they”. The next thing I knew . . .
there was quite a group (I counted 5 3/4) at this seedy smorgasbord. I was surprised when I saw this photo on the computer, because by the naked eye (and through the lens) I could only see the bright yellow males. (That’s why I cut off one of the females.) The females do a good job of blending into their surroundings. It always seemed unfair to me that the males get the beautifully colored feathers and the females are boring and drab. But I guess it beats being somebody else’s smorgasbord!
Sue
