Bird Houses | the Intown Hawk

June was hot and dry. Everybody’s looking for shade and water. As a follow up to our last post, Bruce Hallett sent us three great photos of one of the juvenile Cooper’s Hawks enjoying his birdbath, which are below. There is still nesting going on and the birdhouse on the Nature Trail closest to the garden area has a brood of Carolina Wren chicks. They are keeping their parents busy and making so much noise you can hear them 25 feet away. Remember there are those who are just beginning to nest, such as American Goldfinches ( see our blog from July last year Late Starters).

Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk in Mr. Hallett’s Bird Bath

Carolina Wrens with a brood in one of the Nature Trail birdhouses

Dragonfly

America Goldfinch female

American Goldfinches – 2 males and a female

Gray Catbird – Dumetella carolinensis

Gray Catbird eating blueberries

Native Bee

Northern Flicker – Colaptes auratus

Rock Pigeon – Columba livia

Turtle on the Nature Trail

There’s been much nesting activity in April, as there should be. Three of the four houses on the Peachtree Park Nature Trail have occupants and there is a Red-bellied Woodpecker pair nesting in a snag on the trail: (see the recent post Nesters on the Nature Trail). The bluebird house in the Darlington Road triangle is occupied, and Bluebirds are competing with Brown-headed Nuthatches for a box three houses down. Birds are nesting in shrubbery in multiple locations in our yard and Carolina Wrens in the oven vent. This is occurring all over the neighborhood, and most likely in your yard.

Also, Goldfinches descended in mass in the trees inback of us for several days and emptied the thistle feeders every day for a few days. The morning chorus at sunrise continues to be quite loud; some singers go on almost all day, like the Brown Thrasher below. It’s a great time of year.