Time: 3:30 p.m.
Conditions: Mostly sunny and 78 degrees
Observed from: the screen porch and the backyard
Notes: There are baby animals everywhere right now (like the baby chipmunk pictured above). The chickadees that nested in my birdhouse have fledged and they are flying above in the oak trees accompanied by nervous parents. There are also young Downy Woodpeckers (more on that tomorrow). I was thrilled that the squirrel population seemed lower than last year, but suddenly there are baby squirrels everywhere too. The worst is the crows. They are nesting in the neighbor’s pine tree and two days ago something must’ve tried to attack the nest. The parents screamed for 8 hours. Later in the afternoon, an entire crow clan joined them (at least several dozen birds) and they cawed at the top of their lungs for over an hour. It was so loud that you couldn’t carry on a conversation outside without shouting.
Today’s Count:
- 2 singing House Wrens
- 3 Mourning Doves
- a family of Black-capped Chickadees
- 1 House Sparrow
- 3 Goldfinches
- 2 Crows
- 2 Downy Woodpeckers (mother and baby)
- 2 Gray Squirrels (mother and baby)
- 2 Chipmunks (mother and baby)
- 1 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
- a dozen or so bumblebees and several honeybees