My monthly post is up at Birding is Fun site. I posted on birds of prey seen in Vermont. While over there click on older posts to see a plethora of wonderful posts and images by some very talented folks.

I wanted to share some shots of spring around the yard. Above is an absolutely gorgeous tree in full bloom – I believe a crabapple – where the Kingbirds nested last summer – here’s hoping they come back. Our Lilac bloomed nicely as well, and smells wonderful. This is the bush the birds like to nosh on seed from the feeders.

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From 2-13

We have 2 pairs of Tree Swallows in our nesting box – they outcompeted the Eastern bluebirds, sadly, but they are still very nice birds to watch, glinting in the sun.

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The Cedars have their mixing it up as well – not sure which is male and female parts:

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Our Shagbark Hickory (have lots of these – a new tree for us) flowering and budding.

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Amazing how much has changed in the course of a year.  In that time we decided to pursue our dreams of moving north, finding land and giving the kids and us more opportunities for the things we wanted.  We recently became owners of a 2nd horse – Ty – is his nickname from previous owners, a young horse (what type?  I say brown – my daughter has a more specific answer).  My daughter has given his formal name (when showing) as Time Bandit. He is young at 8 years old, not fully trained and has a lot of bad habits from the previous owners, which my daughter is working on fixing. She is learning how to teach lessons on riding and learning natural horseman(woman)ship skills to boot. Due to his poor fitness, she is only jumping the small stuff so far.

Dynamic Duo – From 2-13

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Amazing how in a year, my girl who didn’t want to grow up has become a young lady who is and charging ahead in life full steam ahead. She came to Vermont as a sophomore, which is tough to do, she has made some friends, and has joined track as it looks like fun and gives her competitive nature some workout. Running the 100, the 200 and soon the 400 yard races, doing high jump and the 4 x 100 meter relay, she is quickly getting the hang of the track world. Recently she placed 15th out of 70 in the 200. Wow.

4 x 100 meter relay – From 2-13

From 2-13

My son at 12 has amazed me at how easily he has developed a cadre of close friends at school, involving himself in his community and pushing himself athletically in Lacrosse, his love. To prepare himself, over the winter he worked out with his sister doing the insanity workouts, push-ups and sit-ups every morning as well. From a small town new team in CT, he has joined a team with coaches and the community are no stranger to lacross, working the kids hard with a lot of drills and positive re-inforcement, I see him working hard to achieve success in something he loves. It’s also cool when they get to play on the college turf field.

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From the stadium – that is Mike # 64  From 2-13

Among the birds in the yard and at the feeders are several Song Sparrows. Along with their wonderful spring song, I find them a lot of fun to watch. They have a lot of attitude, peeping noisily from close by if I get too near them, and as soon as I spot them, they flit to another hidden location. Like the Red-Wing Blackbird, if you watch a bird long enough you can get a sense of it’s territorial borders as it perches from tree to tree singing it’s song trying to impress the ladies and bully off the other males.

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Ugh, the paparazi – From 2-13

fine, how’s this pose? From 2-13

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Impression of a Meercat – From 2-13

We have three or four Nuthatches that frequent the feeders and they have become more comfortable feeding and hanging out while we sit on the deck where the feeders are. This is such a gorgeous bird, wonderful contrasting colors and a really interesting eye.

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Incoming search terms:

• white breasted nuthatch sketches

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Our view from our new home in Vermont has never failed to disappoint, as this sunset from the weekend shows, from a walk down the driveway , my wife and I.  Heaven on Earth.

Our starter plants for the garden are doing well, we have flowers on our cucumbers and peas, and flowers and small beans on our green beans. We have lettuce, spinach and onions growing in the greenhouse and soon will have tomato plants in the greenhouse. Our single laying hen is molting which means no eggs for a week and she likely will not want to brood the eggs we have coming in; our other 3 young hens should start laying in the next 3 weeks and we have a rooster pictured above; he is young and he only manages a weak but improving cockle doodle. We know he will get better and louder. The mud season is over and I was able to get out and mow the lawn with the tractor without making deep tracks – it’s fun to tool around in. We will be planting more apple trees, blueberry and rasberry bushes this spring as well.

2 of the young hens From 2-13

This young hen likes to follow me around as I do chores then – anyone else see puppy dog eyes? From 2-13

Greenhouse (roof to be remastered soon) From 2-13

20x 45′ garden with young trees behind it From 2-13

Merry & Pippin before their bath – thinning their fat and coats for spring – From 2-13

From 2-13

Hanging out at my office is an American Robin, partially leucistic , not albino, that I wanted to get a picture of and share. Not a bad couple shots consider I am taking it through a screened window. I wondered if this bird is about to molt and the feathers are worn vs. truly leucistic. any thoughts from those more knowledgable always welcome.

Incoming search terms:

• leucistic robin
• partial leucism robins
• bitly leucistic dark-eyed junco
• osprey leucistic plumage
• partial white robin birds
• robin leucism how rare?

I have been blessed by having a lot of different birds come to the feeder, so I thought to split the post. Still no Goldfinch or decent Brown-headed Cowbird shots (their are 2 males and a female frequenting the feeders now). Above still a few occasional Redpolls come to the feeder, and below a few Chipping Sparrows have been regular visitors.

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Still around are a few Dark Eyed Juncos. Now that I am further north, I wonder if they will stick around all summer or eventually go north. They would disappear in CT by May usually, and pop up in the fall. Did you know they have red eyes? (Or at least very light brown.) I didn’t either but find it pretty cool to get this close to a bird.

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The birds seen at the feeders have changed up a little, partly in part to me switching from sunflower seeds to a mix, and partly to arrivals in spring. I have yet to get a good shot of the American Goldfinch in breeding colors, so that will be another post. I know these are “common” birds, but I really enjoy them and how close I can get and watch them do their things.
Below a Tufted Titmouse enjoys a sunflower seed, cracking it open on a branch – although by the last picture , I think a bit sick of the paparazzi.

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The same Lilac bush is also used as a nosh spot by Black-Capped Chickadees.

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This is one of the two pairs of Northern Cardinals frequenting the feeders. The male seems a bit impish, you think? The female is much less shy and feeds, while the male sits back on a tree branch watching.

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• birds frequenting feeders