Wildlife in Your Life

Dadpad--

People with rabbits don't need squirrels.

As for bumblebees:

http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/b002.html

Does anyone know this bird? It's bigger than a sparrow. Likes to dig in the mulch by hopping back and forth, finding worms to eat. I can't find it in my bird book. I'm thinking it might be migrating. I live in Maryland. Any ideas?

Do you have any other pictures?

Judging from the beak and colors it looks like a sparrow. There are lots of species of sparrows in Maryland. Maybe there's a large one?

The only odd thing is that I don't know of any sparrows that eat worms. Could this bird be searching for seeds on the ground?

Could it be a female whooperwill/bobwhite?

It spent all weekend on the ground hopping and digging. And I definitely saw it eating a worm.

whippoorwill


bobwhite


I had been thinking bobwhite at one time too....
Sorry I didn't get a better shot.
Size-wise, it's bigger than the rest of my sparrows by almost twice... and it's rounder.
Hmm, maybe I'll go see where it is now...

wait! I think I found it! Let me get a photo...
I was looking through sparrow images on Google....
Fox Sparrow


Now I gotta read...

Winters in my area.

"A large, boldly striped sparrow of scrubby boreal forest and mountain chaparral, the Fox Sparrow is most familiar as a migrant or wintering bird. Its vigorous "double-scratching," kicking backward in ground litter with both feet to uncover food, often draws attention to its presence under a bird feeder."

"The Fox Sparrow is much larger than other sparrows and might at first be mistaken for a thrush but note the thick, conical bill."

6-7 1/2"
I saw the word "chubby" used,

They are digging for seeds and insects. I guess they like worms on occasion too

Thank you for getting me Googling....

Caribu - that second photo you posted definitely looked more like a sparrow! I think you found your match.

Crows have moved in to my neighborhood. I've seen them before but not in such numbers. It's like having a biker gang -- they dress all in black and bully the little birds. If there are more than two hanging around at a time even I'm intimidated.

This morning I went out to hang laundry and this monster-sized crow was hanging out in the birdbath. He kept dipping his beak in but wasn't tipping his head back to swallow. When he realized I wasn't going away he glared at me and took off. Turns out he was using the birdbath to rinse and dismember a frog! Ewwwww. No way did I want to clean that up so I beat a hasty retreat.

So now I'm back from running errands and a quick peek tells me Mr. Crow came back to finish the job. Now I just have to rinse the red-tinged water out of the birdbath. Ah, the beauty of nature...

Tai Chi, they are also like a biker gang as they are very loud when they fly by.

I was out walking with Dasha along the Charles River when a little bird started making a ruckus and throwing herself on the ground. We could tell when we were getting closer to her nest by the way she was acting. She was a riot. But, we couldn't find the nest. So we obligingly followed her away from the nesting grounds (no we didn't step on the eggs) and waited until she returned to her nest. Then we made the poor dear leave again, all flopping and broken-wing-looking so we could have a peek at the eggs. Came home to find she was a killdeer (or they, there were two of them).

Videos HERE

Ah, killdeer are great, aren't they? They're the drama queens of the bird world

mockingbirds will not be intimidated -- i've seen them chase crows.

they dive-bomb and make a menacing raspy sound, which scares the crow away...

I saw a poor, dumb housecat whose hindquarters had been plucked half bald by a mischevious mocking bird.

Kitty Cat wasn't threatening the mockers nest--in fact, the fur may have been lining the nest. If not, then the mockingbird was simply a feathered bully.

Well, no birdbath in my backyard this summer. We found more bits of "mystery meat" in the birdbath and flies hanging around. We've scrubbed it out and put it away for the moment. Meanwhile, the giant biker crow is perched on the eavestrough over the kitchen window and peering in at me Help!

Tai Chi

Nature red in tooth and claw.

You're right, Noddy. It's not all cuddly lambs gamboling in the sunshine!

Tai Chai--

The lambs are in the sunshine, the wolves are in the shadows and the crows are circling, waiting....

Tai - you should feel blessed! Crows are smart and sort of funny, too. I bet they are considered good luck. Somewhere.

I watched a starling pluck a catmint in the garden. He or she snipped off 6 or 7 tender shoots at about the third leaf down the stem. Then, after making a neat pile, he hastily flew off with only two or three sprigs when some disturbance roused him. Nesting, I guess.

I guess a murder of crows is quite appropriate.

It is probably appropriate to remove the bird bath as its a non naturalistic water source and would become contaminated and a health hazard, but the interaction of wild life in an urban seting deserves more thoughtfull and long term introspection.