No longish trips up north this week.
Here’s what I saw closer to home.
This Week in the Backyard
Once again, this isn’t technically in my backyard, but it was only about 5 blocks away. On the way back home on a walk to the store with my wife, we noticed some bigger birds up ahead on the sidewalk. At first, we thought, “Turkeys?”
But a few steps closer made us realize: Cranes! Sandhill Cranes.
I’m almost certain this is as close as I’ve been - maybe a little more than 5 yards - to a crane that wasn’t behind a fence.
What to Watch For This Week
Sandhill Cranes aren’t regular visitors to our (official) backyard. Only once that I recall. We see them fairly often on walks.
This week, keep an eye out for non-regular visitors to your backyard.
Tell me what you see, if you like.
Backyard Moment
You know what a hummingbird feeder looks like, right? In general, it’s bright red and possibly flower-shaped to attract hummingbirds.
Why then would a House Finch find it useful to perch herself on one of these feeders?
Apparently she found something tasty under the upper rim of this feeder this day!
I went to look there later but couldn’t see anything interesting. I guess she may have eaten everything I might have otherwise seen.
It will remain a one-of-a-kind puzzle to me.
Journal Prompt
Who’s the “owner” of your backyard?
For me, I’d have to give the honor to 3 species (in no particular order) - Mourning Dove, House Finch, and House Sparrow.
From the Backyard Bird Tracker
The Backyard Bird Tracker app has a handy section called Recent Sightings that you can jump to from the top of the page to easily see which species you’ve added today.
I use it quite often to update the count of a particular bird after seeing more of them on a given day. For example, if I saw 2 Mourning Doves early in the morning and then saw 5 at once in the afternoon, I’d change today’s total from 2 to 5. (I don’t count that as two separate sightings, though you can if you prefer.)
Never the Same Twice
If you don’t think about it much, you might assume that every day will look about the same in your backyard.
‘Tain’t so.
You might see many of the same birds day in and day out. (Though how can you really be sure about that either?) But there’s always a chance - a fairly good chance - that you’ll see something new today.
I did yesterday. More on that next time.