I think the chickadees, titmice and downies have had a bumper crop this year! I've never seen (or heard) so many dee-dee-dee's before, it's so fun! So far I've only seen one young red-bellied but they maybe only bringing one at a time to the feeder. And just one young cardinal - which really is not a bad thing, I can only imagine what it will be like if all 70 cardinals from last winter bring all there babies to the feeders - I'll have to take out a loan for birdseed. I've also seen house wren, phoebe and catbird fledglings. This evening I was following a spread-wing damselfly through the woods and I heard a bobwhite! We haven't had any in several years so I was really thrilled to hear it. I thought about trying to track it down but the mosquitos were eating me up alive! And the buck was stomping and snorting at me since I was standing in his bed :^)

Thanks, y'all!! hummersteve, As you well know, it's impossible to count them when you have a large group. I separate the hummer sugar from my household sugar so I can keep track of it, and the usage does go up each year. I suppose that means the population increases annually, too.

Hi Kids, Well, it has happened again...another PFW season has come to an end. I for one was happy to see April 3rd arrive, I had run out of steam. My data has been entered and I am surprised to see how different this season was from last. I had a few birds last season that I did not see this season: white-throated sparrow tree sparrow golden crowned kinglet pine warbler I saw the brown creeper on several occations but never on a count day. I had only one bird this season that was new and that was the pine siskin. Friday the 3rd was my last count day for the season. On Saturday the 4th I had a Mama turkey sitting on my deck for the longest time. That was a first for me. Yesterday, I saw my first pine warbler. I've also noticed more pine siskin this week than in weeks past. How long with they stay around? Beautiful flicker, Claire. I find that the flicker does not like me to be around while s/he is at the suet feeder. When I see them, I know I need to stay away from the window/slider. Such a beautiful bird with such a beautiful tail. sooey who is now happy to enjoy the birds without feeling like it's homework... ;) but who will very soon get excited about a bird and wish she has someone to report it to... :(

Very cute little merganser there! I don't know much about duck migration but I checked Birds of North America Online (Cornell subscription site) and they say "Spring A late migrant and breeder. First migratory movement in Mar, intensifies in Apr; most breeders arrive on breeding grounds mid-to late May." and "At Cape May, NJ, overall numbers begin to decline mid-Apr; few observed after late May (Sibley 1993). In Massachusetts, movements late Mar–May with peak of 15,000 observed in Cape Cod Bay, 31 Mar 1984 (Veit and Petersen 1993). Winter birds depart Boston Harbor, MA, late Mar (Miller 1996). In Vermont, move mid-Mar–mid-May (Laughlin and Kibbe 1985)" It sounds like they all should be gone from CT soon and are unlikely to breed in your area. That said, I saw the first Brown Thrasher of the season today - they do breed here. Here with a Red-winged Blackbird: One of my favorite birds (I have a whole lot of favorite birds). Claire