The house wren has a mate

 

 

The house wrens have been courting and singing. This morning, there was a flurry of activity and they consummated the relationship on the ground before our very eyes. For the rest of the day, there has been quite a bit of carrying twigs to the nest, some too big to fit.

We are thrilled to have a third nest (after the robin and oriole) on the property and this is quite a fun bird to watch and a great singer for such a small bird.

Carolina Wren & Male Bluebird: Photos by Donna in Denville NJ

Male bluebird taken this spring in Tourne County Park

Carolina Wren taken in my backyard in Denville, NJ

A partly sunny bird day

Cardinal

Wild Turkey

Tufted Titmouse

Robin feeding

We went for a walk this morning and when we got to a clearing, Chris paused to soak up some sun, a rarity of late. We walked a little further and came across a like-minded turkey. Later in the day, we got a nice picture of a cardinal at the platform feeder, saw a tufted titmouse also eating a seed taken from the platform feeder, and saw our robin fledglings demanding to be fed from their parents.

The Beave

Beavers have been nightly visitors. Mike put some fallen branches on the lake side of the fence. At dusk, two beavers came by for a snack.

Geese on Parade: Photos by Jeff

A gaggle of combined Canada Geese families.

Closter Nature Center

Grey Catbird

 

We visited the Closter Nature Center early on Memorial Day. We saw a few birds, a few chipmunks and a few deer, but the highlight was encountering two wolves chasing a deer. We decided that another birding spot would be more relaxing and went to the Meadowlands. (Edited for correction:) We are more familiar with the coyotes in California, which are smaller than what we saw here. We have since found out that the coyotes on the East Coast are larger, so we're sure it was not wolves now. I guess we could have continued on the trail after all.

A quick trip to the meadowlands

We took a quick drive to Richard W. DeKorte Park in the meadowlands.
It was a nice day for a walk in the sun and we enjoyed the few birds we saw. However, we also like having a bottle of wine on our dock and waiting for the birds to come to us.

Tree Swallow

Gadwall

White Doves

 

 

This was an odd sighting. Two white doves were flying around. Perhaps they were released from a graduation or wedding? They landed right in the lake and on the railing a foot from our cat who behaved himself nicely.

Male Baltimore Oriole

 

 

The male oriole watches over the nest area and spends much of the day maintaining his striking plumage.

House Wren

 

 

We almost missed this little wren because we were so preoccupied with watching the orioles. The duck house is only a few feet from our chairs on the dock, and Chris looked over (instead of up at the orioles), and told Mike there is a tiny bird in the duck house. It was throwing out all the wood shavings that we placed in there for ducks. We read that the male house wren will select several nesting places and start them with some twigs, and then the female will select which one she likes and finish it. We're not sure which part of the process this was, but it was fun to watch.

Juvenile Swallows

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow

The swallows have been out in full force this spring. The juveniles in these pictures were part of groups that seemed to be honing their flying skills. The immature tree swallow made several aborted attempts at entering the duck house, coming within inches of our heads a couple times. It's possible its nest was in the duck house since we also had swallows frequenting it last month. The swallow interrupted the house wren and rested on the duck house. We saw an adult come to feed it, but the feeding was broken up when they were chased away by the orange avenger, aka the Baltimore Oriole, enforcing the no-fly zone within 50 feet of their nest.

Who knew? A red-bellied woodpecker eating an orange.

 

We've had to adjust our feeders due to the arrival of the Baltimore Orioles. The male oriole, also known as the orange avenger, is very protective of the nest area and chases away the blue jays. The jays had been feeding with the woodpeckers on our suet feeder. We decided not to contribute to the problem and stopped the suet feeding. We did put up oranges for the orioles, but they haven't bothered with them. Chris was surprised this morning to find a red-bellied woodpecker at an orange half. He even ate a seed.

Mrs. Oriole putting the finishing touches on the nest

 

Goldfinch at the feeder

 

Fledgling Robin

 

 

 

 

Our robins have flown the nest, but we think they are still in the area. Of course, it's hard to tell becuase they look like all the other robins.

Male Oriole

 

 

 

 

The Baltimore Oriole family has been a source of entertainment this week.
I bet we have been entertaining them by putting out all sorts of jelly and oranges which they are ignoring. Here are a few photos of the male. Both the male and female have been singing so much that their beaks are open in many photos.

Birds at Feeders: House Finch and Hairy Woodpecker

 

 

 

The male house finch was looking so so colorful that we thought for a minute it might be a purple finch. A quick check of our bird guide showed he is the house finch at the nyjer feeder with a less colorful female.

The hairy woodpecker has not been around much this year. Today he came when the suet feeder was empty but found some crumbs. He may not have wanted his photo taken since he stuck his tongue out at us.

Two Herons

We took the boat out and encountered a night heron and a blue heron.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Blue Heron

Mrs. Oriole building a nest

 

 

We are so honored that a pair of Baltimore Orioles has decided to make a nest in one of our trees. It has taken close to a week, but the nest is now taking shape. We got a much better view yesterday, but someone forget to put the memory back in the camera. I'm sure there will be many more opportunities.

More Photos by Nina

Great Egret with Dinner

Great Blue Heron in Flight

Glossy Ibis with Dinner

Glossy Ibis in Flight

Photos by Nina

Peregrine Falcon. Taken at E. B. Forysthe.

Juvenile Mute Swans. Photo taken at Silver Lake, Belmar NJ

Redtail Hawk with a meal This photo was taken on Mapleton Road in Princeton next to the Carnegie Lake.

Wild Turkeys at Lake Nelson