American Robins are in town. They seem to like the fruit of the banyan trees.
Such a familiar sight up north, I rarely see them here… and only in winter. They were flying from tree to tree in large flocks a few days ago. Hello, old friends.
Animatronic robin.
Just kidding.
We went for a walk at Arnold Arboretum in Boston on Saturday and so did this big old snapping turtle.
It crossed the paved pathway, traveling from one pond to another, while about 15 people stopped to observe and wonder.
“That is the prettiest color,” said my daughter Laura. We were in town to celebrate her graduation from MassArt, BFA in Painting.
The nest, featuring robin’s-egg-blue eggs, was down low right next to the path.
This Red-winged Blackbird has a distinguished and distinguishing shoulder patch of red and yellow.
Tree Swallow on a nest box.
Yellow Warbler in a thicket by a pond.
Close-up of the Tree Swallow. Such a nice deep blue iridescence on its back and head.
Over by the bonsai collection, a Common Grackle feeds its kid.
Is that a potato chip or a moth?
Ahhh!
Chipping Sparrow hopping around in front of us, sort of camouflaged yet not.
So this is where some of my winter friends have flown to!
In the artist’s palette of bird colors, this bird is Catbird Gray.
Maple leaf by the pond.
Frosty raspberries in the garden.
These raspberries fruit in June too.
American Robin in the winterberry.
Bittersweet.
This winterberry grew wild here by the garden.
White-throated sparrow.
I saw a flock of these sparrows mixed with lots of juncos yesterday on a walk along the old rail line in town.
Radar carries a small log across the frosted grass, back field.
A bit of color left by the pond house.
Today is the day the ginkgo out front will start dropping all its leaves, dramatically. We can stand at the window now and watch them fall. Nothing gold can stay, right?
Rare sight: American Robin at a feeder. I thank the earth(worm)-covering white stuff.
Chance of light snow was in the forecast, then it started to snow and kept at it all day. The feeders were very busy. The ground is snow-covered again.
A male Goldfinch and female Purple Finch at the nyjer feeder.
It is meteorological Spring (March, April, May) though astronomical Spring is not until March 20. The weathermen say it was the warmest winter for at least the last 60 years in New Hampshire and many other places.
Weather.com: Record Warm Winter for Many in New England; Record Wet in South Florida and Seattle
Flocks of fat American Robins perching to face the sunrise, then moving through the trees, high and low, plucking winterberries from gray branches, leaving birdy footprints in the last white patches of melting snow as they pursue the fallen berries.
It is much easier to notice robins in winter. There are more of them, in their foraging flocks, and they are not down in the dirt, devoted to pulling worms. The ground is mostly frozen and the worms are… sleeping? What happens to earthworms in winter, I wonder.
I’m not dead… I’ve been spring cleaning! Birdy blog posts to resume shortly.
Photo take yesterday evening at Little River Cemetery, North Hampton, N.H.
May 26, the first robin hatched.
Mrs. Robin located her nest in an odd place this year…
Accident or on purpose that the hose and egg color matches?
May 29, all the eggs have hatched and baby robins are ready for some tasty worms.
American Robin, one of hundreds on the move through our backyard and the Seacoast right now.
Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. the dog and I took a walk way out back, to the edge of the red maple swamp.
Nice to see the creek flowing freely, ice all gone. Snow is patchy, which is a vast improvement over three feet deep.
Moon, white pine, red maple.
Robins are year-rounders here, but only in small flocks. This spring I’m seeing more robins than I have ever noticed before. Maybe the hard, late winter held them back and they are all migrating at once.
The dog sniffs the tracks of a Great Blue Heron that stalked between swamp and pond edge earlier in the morning.
It’s nice to have a companion and fellow explorer of the morning.
The quintessential early bird, American Robins are common sights on lawns across North America, where you often see them tugging earthworms out of the ground. Robins are popular birds for their warm orange breast, cheery song, and early appearance at the end of winter.
American Robin on a bleak day.
Small flocks of robins have been criss-crossing our back field and woods. They don’t come close to the house this time of year. They prefer the red maple swamp.
Winterberry grows wild and abundant there. Bluebirds like it too.
Ilex verticillata is our only native deciduous holly. It is attractive not only to birds but to otherwise nice ladies who like to decorate their homes with branches of “wild” winterberry … cut from other peoples’ yards. You start to see them stopping along the roads just before Thanksgiving and up until Christmas, stepping out of their cars with pruning shears in hand.
We have some winterberry planted (by my husband) near our mailbox. When I see a car slow down by our eye-catching red berry bushes, I open the front door and release my Tibetan mastiffs Fang and Claw. Just kidding.
The red maple swamp is good for wildlife… and good for owning land without paying a lot in property tax.
I’d like to see the drive-by winterberry harvesters try to get some of those decorations. Pruning shears and hip waders required.
Amy's Bird Blog 