Birding in the 515 – The Simple Voice

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

pokemon Pokemon is not for just kids. My son got into this again the last few months. It’s mindless fun and can make some of my endless dog walks more interesting.

—Namaste

Mysterious

There have been strange things happening around here.

I live in an apartment with a door to a small outside but covered courtyard. An outside entrance, I’m sure, so they can say it is a townhome and charge me more rent. But anyway. . .

I keep finding grass all over my doormat.

grassOnWelcome

Took me a few days to look up and find a barn swallow nest above my door.

Now what do I do? It’s a bit ewwwee — not sanitary at all. If I call the landlord they will remove the nest and I will feel bad. Like I’ve ruined this middle-class bird couple’s chance for a new home, in a nice neighborhood, with dry, protected surroundings. hmmm.

On another bird note (see what I did right there? 🙂

On another bird note, my hummingbirds are back. I was slow to get my feeder up. To my delight, there were many flying around my deck looking for the feeder. They came back. How cool is that? Enjoy your day,

— Namaste

Fly Away Hummingbirds

This summer, like all great things, will be coming to an end soon. With the start of school and the cooler nights, everything takes the cue to move to the next stage. My hummingbirds will be leaving soon. I’ve heard the Baltimore Orioles are already out of areas in our region.

According to Wired.com, forty percent of all North American waterfowl, and up to 50% of all migratory bird species use the Mississippi River as a navigational aid. Enough birds follow the Mississippi Flyway that they are picked up by radar on calm evenings.

I use BirdCast to get an idea of what is flying through my area. It helps me decide if I need to make an effort to get outside and what habitat to visit to see the birds I want.

So fly away. Bring on Fall. (…. and no, there will not be an obnoxious pumpkin spiced reference in this post.)

— Namaste