Birds

I’ve had some fun with birds this weekend.

Birding at the vineyards

Let’s start with the last first: I joined a Warblers and Wine special event at Hunt Country Vineyards late this morning, led by naturalist Alyssa Johnson. We wandered through the vineyard as well as some recently reclaimed land that they’ll be using for natural pollen production. The grassland and meadows bordered by forest were perfect for our viewing. I recorded a few firsts-for-me (recording, not seeing): indigo bunting, great crested flycatcher, and eastern kingbird to name a few.

Really enjoyed chatting with Suzanne Hunt and Matt Kelly (co-owners). Matt and I have been in touch before as he is a local game designer and we’ve been meaning to get together for a few years. Hoping to pull together a game night with them soon.

Baby grackles

This morning as I was doing some routine yard work, I checked out the three grackle nests and the mourning dove nest. One of grackle nests has fledglings! Good news for the birds, and good news for us as this gets us closer to removing these annoying nests.

The dove cares not

The dove did not care that I was present and taking a photo. This is the more urgent nest to remove as it is sitting on top of the screens that we need to install on our porch. They will keep re-using the nest for future broods so we need to take care of it as soon as the young ones depart.