Wonderful Spring Beginnings

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

My son captured this picture for me at the Chaplin Nature Center. This beautiful piece of earth is located just a few miles from town.

House Finch Nest

I was so pleased and excited when I took the Boston Fern down to water it and found this Finch nest with a little speckled egg in it. The nest is about 3" across and the egg a little over 1/2" long.

This is the fern I was talking about. It sat out the Winter inside and was looking like a pretty sorry plant.

Another view of the nest to give perspective.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

This little guy just arrived! He's still sort of shy.
Here is a link to post your Hummer's arrival:

http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

"Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails"

A snail,

in the hand,

of a grandson.


"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue"


Flora & fauna at the Chaplin Nature Center.

Thoughtless Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

House Finches

House Finches arrived in the middle of March.
This is the female.



Male House Finch




I'm not sure where the House Finches Winter...probably in the SW part of the state. The KS field guide says they are a permanent resident, but we only see them in the Spring & Summer. They like to nest in hanging plants so I put my Boston Fern out hoping to get a nesting family. One year we had a Finch family that successfully raised 2 chicks :-)

Wordless Wednesday

Spring Lifers in My Backyard

Spotted Towhee

A Spring blizzard brought numerous birds to the feeder. We were so excited to get some new Spring migrants that we have never seen before. These Spotted Towhee photos were captured by my husband, Ken. I got out my Kansas Bird Guide to study up on Towhees. They nest in the Northwestern part of the state near the Nebraska border during the Summer. Migrants are seen during April and October. This guy must be an early bird ;-)
Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Eurasion Collared-Dove

Chipping Sparrow

This little guy arrived on the day of the Spring snowstorm. He makes the House Sparrows look huge. He was out there feeding today. Chipping Sparrows are Spring migrants that fly through on their way to the Northeastern part of the state where they nest. He must like it here...we've seen him the last 10 days.

Chipping Sparrow

"Oops...I lost my lunch!"

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Another Spring snowstorm arrival. It was as plump as a little partridge. It was bigger than the Harris's Sparrows. I got out the field guide, pored over it, trying to figure out what we had here. I came up with the Female Red-winged Blackbird.

Female, Red-winged Blackbird

Wordless Wednesday

Mammals on Monday

Cedar Waxwings: Buds & Birds

My first views of Cedar Waxwings in my part of the the world!

I was taking a walk around the neighborhood today...and because it's Spring...I decided to bring my camera along just in case. I was barely 3 blocks into the walk when this flock of little birds flew out of an evergreen-ish bush. I almost kept walking...but, their color caught my eye. I stopped and looked up...I could not believe my eyes!! I was so excited!! Those were Cedar Waxwings!! These are "lifers" for me! Also, it was my goal this Winter to see a Cedar Waxwing and here they were just 3 blocks away. Can you tell I'm excited ;-D

These birds are so small, I visualized them to be as large as a Cardinal. They were a little larger than a House Sparrow.

The Kansas Field Guide says they commonly nest in NE Kansas. I'm located in SC Kansas, so I'm assuming they are Spring migrants. They like to eat tree buds and there are "plenty to be had of them, I assure you".


I counted 54 Waxwings in this photo.

Eurasian Collared-Dove

This is another lifer for me :-)) There was a beautiful pair, but they flew off as I tried to get closer.

Carolina Wrens

We found out what the Wrens like...this fruit & nut seed bell. It was overcast getting ready to rain.

Female Cardinal

She was also grabbing a quick snack before the rains.

Black-capped Chickadee

He just wanted some suet, but the Starling's voracious appetites chomped the suet block down in a couple of days. Another great day of backyard birding!

Cindy's Nature Sketchbook: Downy Woodpecker

A pair of Downy Woodpeckers began to appear at the suet feeder. I captured a few photos before they flew off. I've since learned that the male has the red mark on the back of the head. I haven't been able to capture a photo of the female...she was a bit more cautious :-) but, a very pretty bird as well! Oh, before I decided it was a Downy, I did some arm chair study, Googled several sites, and conferred with my husband. We decided they were a pair of Downys. The Hairy Woodpecker has similar looks except for a longer beak and larger size.

Regarding the sketch, I sketched using a graphite #2 pencil. I used the photo below as my reference. After completing the sketch, I colored it in with watercolor pencils.

photo by cindyzlogic

Cindy's Nature Sketchbook

I decided to start a Nature Sketchbook. I was inspired after reading and viewing some blogs focusing on nature and keeping a sketchbook. I think it's going to be a lot of fun!

This young man stopped by yesterday to say Hi!

We are looking forward to Spring around here. The Robins have arrived and the forecast is for snow tomorrow. Driving up to Wichita we saw a beautiful Cooper's Hawk and several Red-tailed Hawks. In the backyard, we're still being visited by Juncos, Harris's Sparrows, male & female Cardinals, House Sparrows, an occasional Chickadee, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a bunch of most unwanted birds...the Eastern Starling. A "lifer" bird spotted this month was the Red-headed Woodpecker. We haven't seen our pair of Carolina Wrens for awhile. I think they were attracted to the fruit and nut seed bell and it's all gone. So, we'll need to get another and see what happens. I am not sure what happened to the Tufted Titmice? We haven't seen them for a couple of months. The Kansas Bird Guide says they are permanent residents...hmmm...they must have found better "eats" somewhere else :-(

That's all for this post...back at ya'!

by cindyzlogic

Snow Birds

Dark-eyed Junco
all photos by cindyzlogic

Male House Finch and Junco

Female Cardinal

Dark-eyed Junco

White-crowned Sparrow

Male House Finch

Dark-eyed Junco

American Goldfinch

Harris's Sparrow and Male Cardinal

Carolina Wren

Male Cardinal



Red-bellied Woodpecker

Male Housefinch

Juncos watching it come down.

Mourning Dove