The Yardbirds was a 1960s rock group; the
word “yardbird” began as a slang term for an inept soldier who was restricted
to a small area, from there the term became slang for someone confined as a
prisoner.
But those aren’t the kinds of yard birds that we see here. Our yard birds are the winged kind that, in winter, repeatedly
visit our feeders, in spring and summer nest here, and often spend the night in the trees and shrubs around the house
or in tree cavities or nest boxes.
This past winter was an odd one, cold at times, although
with a low temperature that never reached 0°F
it wasn’t as cold as it was almost every winter several decades ago. This winter's lows
alternated with record-setting warmth in excess of 50°. Days of high wind and
days of dead calm; days of snow, days of rain, sometimes freezing rain, and days with a crystal clear
blue sky.
Along with the weird weather we had a
distinct dearth of birds in the yard. There wasn't much wild food in forest and
field last winter so it would be logical to assume that birds would have been flocking
to the feeders. But that wasn't the case, there weren't even as many of the ordinary
species.
In any case, here they are – some at the feeders some not,
but all interesting and beautiful –
Spring is here now and with it more species of birds, some just passing through, others to stay and nest.
