Just to show you that we have more going on at our bird feeder than parakeets, here are a couple of little critters that came by yesterday. That baby looks just about big enough to find its own food, but mom is still taking care of it. They're great tits, I believe. (I'm going to resist all the juvenile jokes I could make here, but I suggest if you search for them on Google you use their scientific name, Parus major. Otherwise you're likely to get some surprises.)
We also see blue tits (likewise on the Google search -- Cyanistes caeruleus), including one who pecks through all the bird seed on the seed feeder, throwing it to the ground. I think it's looking for a certain type of seed and discarding the rest. Or it's just having fun and being messy. All of these birds seem to have new chicks, which is encouraging.
Also at the feeder yesterday, this madhouse of starlings:
If "madhouse" isn't the proper collective name for a flock of starlings, it should be. Look at that chaos! It really gets going at about the 30-second mark, and look at all the ones in the bird bath! It's like a water aerobics class that's too big for the pool.
Starling flocks are really known as "murmurations," but I think that's only when they're flying. They sure aren't murmuring while they're on the ground.
There are lots of babies in that group, too -- the grayish ones.
On the flower front, our Rachel de Thame lupine is finally blooming. It's a couple of weeks behind the Beefeater and the Persian Slipper lupines -- their flowers are already fading. Our yellow lupine hasn't bloomed at all this year.
We had some rain in the morning but then the day was sunny and bright. Olga and I took a slow, leisurely walk through the Maygrove Peace Park (near where Friday's barbecue was held) and along the path by the railroad tracks that leads to Mill Lane. Somehow she got herself up on that little mound and didn't seem sure how to get down. She figured it out eventually and took the steps.
About 4 a.m. this morning I woke to more rain, a wonderful sound. I was afraid I wouldn't fall asleep again, but the next thing I knew it was 7:30! I am SO ready for summer vacation.
So nice to see different happy birds in your garden. Nice pair of tits, by the way.
ReplyDeleteThat rain woke me in the night several times too! Hoping that the water butts will have filled a bit. ...though shouldn't actually need to water for a while!
ReplyDeleteIt is such fun watching birds and the starlings look very entertaining.
ReplyDeleteJuvenile jokes about tits on the internet? Whatever do you mean? It is incredibly sexist and offensive to women to make joke references to their breasts. Honestly, I am surprised at you Steve for encouraging such seedy research.
ReplyDeleteThose birds are tiny winged monsters.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of starlings! Nice to see them all taking a dip in the bath too. My birds are more polite and take turns one at a time. I remember a family of magpies several years ago, parents with three babies, they were teaching them to search for grubs in the lawn and one baby wouldn't, just stood there with his mouth open squawking to be fed, until one adult walked over and rapped him on the head with its beak.
ReplyDeleteI think a murmuration is only when the group of birds is flying in formation all swooping and turning together, like a sky ballet.
That's a great video. What a wonderful garden you have cultivated. Hard to believe it's in the city. All the birds, too, nesting happily.
ReplyDeleteThat's crazy- look at all those starlings! You need a bigger bird bath. Or a few more to accommodate your guests.
ReplyDeleteGreat video! Gosh, your bird feeder is a popular gathering spot! You and Dave have created such a lovely oasis in your busy city! Did you watch the Queen's concert? Looked like fun!
ReplyDeleteSo, a gay man writing about great tits. Oh, the irony:)
ReplyDeleteThe birds are lovely. I know not all people like starlings but I find them amazing. They're so gregarious and noisy and can mimic noises they've only heard once. Your flowers and your garden in general, are gorgeous.
I loved watching that video. You do get a lot of starlings there.
ReplyDeleteWe got a quick shower yesterday early evening too though I wish we had gotten more. Burn ban is back on. We have a lot of starlings around here but they don't come to the bird feeder or birdbath. Those tits are sweet little birds. We don't have them down here. At least I don't think we do.
ReplyDeleteIt's starlings gone wild at your house. What a busy, frantic crowd.
ReplyDeleteAudubon says it is OK to dislike some birds, Starlings would be that. Rats in the sky, destructive to crops all other birds and are disease spreaders.
ReplyDeleteThey were introduce into the states in the late 1800's by Englishmen , Shakespeare enthusiasts, and have replaced many native birds due to their ill mannered existence. Yours are frightening but since that is their homeland I suppose nature has modified the horror that they are.
I love your bird feeder and you lupine is so pretty!!
The rain here is not so wonderful, more like record breaking for this time of year. Love that lupine! Thanks to you I learned what they were instead of just calling them "those stickly things." Great tits make for great jokes. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe starlings are obnoxious, but they are entertaining. I love the photo of the Parus major feeding the baby that is the size of an adult.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wild party they're having! In their defense, it's not exactly an olympic sized pool (bath), so there's bound to be some overcrowding.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Olga found the easiest way down.
Reminds me of a project when I was checking out various ring clamps to solve a problem. There was a long list of sites in my search results and I was clicking through them one at a time. Just as my boss walked up I clicked on nipple ring and a picture of a large female breast with a nipple ring filled my screen. My boss got a good laugh from that incident.
ReplyDeleteStarling Palooza was quite the Bird Rockfest wasn't it? We have Grackles here that are very noisy and animated, the din they make can be deafening when they gather in hoards... or whatever a flock of them is called, very Alfred Hitchcock anyway.
ReplyDeleteAnd your neighbors thought the parakeets were loud!
ReplyDeleteStarlings are such a hoot. That photo of Olga reminds me of the time when I was a wee thing - I climbed up on the concrete block that my grandfathers gas pump was on (he had a farm). I got "stuck" and could NOT get down. Kids (and Olga) do silly things sometimes.
ReplyDeleteBirds are very active in your garden. They can rally put on a show.
ReplyDeleteIt must be fun to sit and watch them, especially in the bird bath.
ReplyDeleteCarl loves your bird photos, and that lupine! Oh my gosh!
ReplyDeleteMitchell: It had to be said.
ReplyDeleteFrances: This is the ideal rain, too -- slow and soaking.
Andrew: Entertaining but LOUD!
YP: As a librarian, it's my responsibility to help people conduct their internet searches in targeted ways that will not produce unintended results.
Bob: Dinosaurs!
River: I've seen birds do that, too. Sometimes the babies just have to be FORCED to fend for themselves! Yes, I think you're right about the murmuration.
Boud: We are very lucky to have such a large garden space. (If only we owned it!)
Ms Moon: That bird bath takes a surprising amount of maintenance. I have to clean it out and refill it a couple of times a day in summer.
Ellen D: I didn't watch the concert! I didn't even know it was going to happen until afterwards. I suppose I could catch up with it on YouTube.
Pixie: I like starlings too! And here in Europe, where they're native, there's not the ecological concern about them being invasive (unlike in North America).
Robin: It's a little crazy, to be honest.
Ellen: I believe tits are related to North American chickadees.
Sharon: "Starlings Gone Wild" -- LOL!
Linda Sue: They don't bother me at all, especially since they're native here and not introduced. I rather like them, actually.
Margaret: Lupines are one of my favorite flowers, although they smell sort of sharp and insecticidal.
Allison: Yeah, that "baby" is a baby in name only.
Kelly: Yeah, more like a hot tub!
Ed: Ha! At least your boss had a sense of humor about it! Searching the internet is always a minefield.
Bohemian: Yes! I've seen those noisy flocks of grackles. They are very Hitchcockian.
Wilma: LOL! I told Dave the same thing -- that Mrs. Russia was probably sitting upstairs pulling her hair out.
Bug: I've never seen Olga get herself into a place where she felt stuck, but she did seem genuinely stuck there.
Red: They really can! The more the merrier!
Haddock: I get such a kick out of the bird feeders and the avian shows they produce.
Elizabeth: Say hi to Carl! As he probably knows, it takes about 500 bird shots to get one really good one. :)
I don't know if madhouse is correct or not but it certainly makes a lot of sense! They're very vocal! I keep waiting to see if my chickadees have fledged but I may have missed them. I hope not!
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