Backyard Scene

 A female Mallard returned to my backyard.

"Today I decided to stop over  by myself.  My kids are growing up fast."

"I am a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird."

"I am Anna's Hummingbird.  I am drinking the blueberry nectar."

Hot and Dry

  Oregon has been dry this season.   At the wetland, many birds are nesting.

Brown-headed Cowbird: "I am worried about the water supply here.  

We need a lot of bugs to feed the babies."

House Finch:  "So far it is ok for my family.  Look my kid(left) is growing up."

Eurasian Collard-dove "I do not come here often, but is it a good place to stay?"

Friends at the Wetland

  A week ago, a couple of Cedar Waxwings and an American Goldfinch were looking far from the top of the fir tree.

"A nice day to look far away."👍

"A nice day to munch the delicious berries."🤩

Cowbird, male: "A nice day for me, too."🌞

Every bird seems to enjoy being in the wild place."

Summer Birds

 A couple weeks ago, at the wetland, I saw a male Brown-headed Cowbird.  They nest around the reservoirs.

"Hi, I thought I could hide from you behind the leaves."

Halfway around the pond, I saw a Green Heron dashing out toward the right.

"As usual,  I am on a quick errand."

Purple Martins were busy and noisy around the top of  bushes.

"Ealy morning air is always nice for flying around."

Early Summer

My red columbine is in bloom.

I saw a male Brown-headed Cowbird stopped by a few times.  Now that he felt safe in my backyard, he decided to use a birdbath.

Brown-headed Cowbird:  "I came here first."

American Robin:  "I am bigger than you."

"A nice, warm bath!  I am getting clean today."

At the End of Summer

Lately a flock of American Goldfinches stopped over.  They are changing their color from the bright yellow to dull yellow getting ready for winter.  The right bottom one is a male with the changes taking place.  The left top is a mom teaching the young one (left bottom)  to feed on its own.

Aha, here is another young one who is still being fed from a step mom, who is a Oregon Junco.   The young one looks like a Cowbird.   This summer, just like last summer, this junco raises a cowbird young since mother Cowbird must have laid her egg in the junco's nest again.  God bless the mother Junco for her devotion.

"No wonder you are always hungry.  You are now twice as big as me."

Cowbird's Strange Habit

More summer birds are back.  

A recent sighting is the Cowbird.  They are known to lay an egg at someone else's nest.  One of the bird journals reported that, unless the cowbird egg was duly taken care of,  the cowbird will return for its revenge of the egg being neglected.

"I'm thinking about where to lay an egg pretty 

soon.  Do you know any kind bird?"

Sometimes a male Cowbird comes together.

"I am a male Cowbird.  I am brown headed."

The rain is back before the real summer settles.  The wisteria looks gorgeous with sweet scent in my backyard.

A Summer Bird #2

A pink rhododendron began to bloom here.

Another summer bird stopped over.

"Hi, I am a male Brown-headed Cowbird."

A little after the male visit, a female also came to eat at a feeder."

"I remember I came here last summer."

Happy to See You Back #2

A happy surprise!!  I have not seen this summer bird for a couple of years, but one morning she showed up.

"Hi, I am a female Brown-headed Cowbird.  I am good at 

laying eggs at someone else's  nest."

The next day both he and she came over to munch my seeds.

"My partner told me this is a place to be. 

With your fresh seeds, I am full to the gills."

A Tiny Mom

Last year I tried to grow a dill but to no avail.  So, this year I bought a larger starter plant which grew well.

Now I have used it a few times to sprinkle on potato salads or to dry for winter use.


The other morning I found a young bird begging for food.

A young one:  "Mom, I need more food."

A tiny Mom:  "You are old enough to find your own food."

This mom is less than half the size of the kid!  The real mom, Brown-headed Cowbird, lays eggs in someone else' nests and forfeits the duty of raising her own young.  So, whoever gets the egg ends up raising the young.  In this case an Oregon Junco did.

From this day on, without any help the Cowbird finds food by herself in my garden.

"I like your garden 'cause I can find lots of seeds."

Brown-headed Cowbird

Another summer bird for my backyard is a member of the blackbird family, Brown-headed Cowbird.  Last summer I first saw a female and could not figure out who it was.  After a while, I noticed a male bird with her, then I finally figured out they are called Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Here are Mr. and Mrs. Cowbird.  

During the winter months, they were gone to the coast or a warmer southern area.  This month I found this couple returned to this area and checking on food in the backyard.

They look like the last year's pair, don't they?

 

Their favorite weeds are dandelions.  Also they like to eat the seeds of many other garden weeds in addition to insects such as grasshoppers and other pests.  

They have one unique, but troublesome characteristic. When laying an egg, she does it at someone else's nest so that the nest owner ends up raising the Cowbird's chick. Sometimes even a smaller bird ends up raising a larger Cowbird.  So if you ever see a young Cowbird being fed by a small mother, you will know why.  

My veggie patch is slowly getting crowded with the young plants of volunteer potatoes, Chinese peas, tomato, green pepper, Japanese eggplant, green beans, etc.   Blueberry bushes are getting berries on.  Lavender bush is getting new stems.  Real summer is almost here.

Blueberries