Old And New Tenants

It’s only the second week of May but five bird families have already settled down in our garden, as far as I can see.  Two pairs of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) have decided to build their nests here: one has taken a nest box in the front yard and one at the corner of the vegetable garden.  The same spots they nested in last year, actually.  The Eastern Blue Birds (Sialia sialis) have also taken the same nest box as last year.  The American Robin (Turdus migratorius) has built their own nest in a Rhododendron.  We will have to wait for the chicks to fledge before we can prune the shrub.  We can see the female sitting on her eggs from the bay window.  The Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) took one of the nest boxes in the front.  The Chickadees seem to move around the garden very year.  The Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) have been checking our patio ceiling for a perfect spot, but we try our best to discourage them.  Our experience with the Robins nested there one year, wasn’t pleasant.  Those are the ones whose nests I can see.

We have plenty of American Goldfinches (Carduelis trisis) who stay with us year round.  Most of the males have already shed their winter coats.  The Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are still courting and claiming territory.  We also have more visitors from the North, Pine Siskin (Carduelis pinus), this year.  Not counting the other residents like three or four different kinds of sparrows and woodpeckers, our garden needs air traffic control.

This year we also have an infrequent visitor, Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus).  They come around once in a while.  At this moment I ‘m waiting for the Columbine to bloom so I can put the Hummingbird feeders up to welcome the Ruby-throated hummingbirds back from Central America.