For the Birds!

Cedar Waxwing

It is sometimes a little sad living in a city area that used to be considered rural.  I've seen our area go from just about being in the middle of nowhere, at least it seemed that way, to having Target, Starbucks and just about any other big retail outfit practically in our backyard.  And believe me, I do take advantage of the convenience.  But I also enjoy the natural state of things, probably more than the convenience.  So I guess in many ways I'm able to have it both ways.  

We are blessed to live in a fairly quiet neighborhood and our house backs up to a field that belongs to a lady who own 10 or so acres.  There is also a good amount of trees lining the railroad tracks nearby.  We see coyotes from time to time that live in the thick, but never mind that the Hawks choose the cell tower to nest!  Anyway, it's a nice set up for us to be able to do a little bird watching or at least enjoy them, not sure if we are true birdwatchers or not.    

I've been really surprised the last few years how many different birds are in our little neighborhood. A few we've recently seen:

English Sparrow
Scissor-tail
Mockingbird
Cardinal
Blue Jay
Purple Martin
Dove
Crow
Grackle
Barn Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

We've been keeping an eye on the Red-tailed Hawks here lately.  We were able to look inside the tower and see the young ones heads bobbing around; and now we can see at least one of the juveniles perched on the tower, not quite ready to make his first attempts at flight.

In attempts to draw in some hummingbirds, which we've seen from time to time, I made up some sugar water and put it in a feeder.  Haven't seen any yet.

We saw the cedar waxwings for the first time this year.  That was quite exciting.  Pretty little birdies.

Oh, and I saw a few bats the other day.  I know they aren't birds but it was a neat sighting.

Now if I could just see an owl, I would be beside myself!


Photos from Wikipedia