Maybe with the warmer weather we had early caused them to mate earlier than usual, and yes, that would be pretty ugly to see them fight like that.

I have no idea when their normal breeding time would be, but I have seen a lot more babies than last year at this time. Some of them are really large, too.

Maybe they will have a second brood this year.

Could be. I looked it up, and it is usually from February through April, so I guess it isn't early. 2013 was a brutal winter, so maybe they were just late then. With the mild winter we just had, it doesn't surprise me that they've been busy. I love it when there are 3 or 4 hens walking around with 20 or more babies with them! I also think that we have Merriam's turkeys, though they could also be Rio Grande turkeys. I can't tell one from the other, but the map I looked at seems to think that the Rio Grande's know where the Washington state line is (35 or so miles from here) and they don't cross the line.

And NO WAY I would want to see a fight to the death. Nuh uh!

Enjoyed the videos, Natalie. Turkeys sure are pretty birds. That's a mess of cute little finches!

Enjoyed those videos very much Natalie. Think I will encourage my flower eating Gold Finches to come visit yours.

Saw this female Cardinal sitting in a tree today at MOSI and figured I should take a picture. I thought she looked kind of cute. I felt bad though because I kept scaring the male all day long. Everywhere I walked it seemed like he would come flying out of a nearby tree and go to a different one. I wasn't trying to annoy him, I swear!




Also, Dad talked to Grandma in WV today and she said she has lots of finches. I think they're mostly Goldfinches that she gets. Also, she said her neighbor saw a hummingbird. So I hope everyone north of me (which is almost all of you) are starting to see some of your favorite birds return.

Female Cardinals look so sweet.

Lovely little lady Cardinal!

Well, I just went outside to see how much rain we'd gotten while I was asleep and the answer was "not enough". But I did see a Red-Bellied Woodpecker and managed to get some pics. He was pretty high up in an oak tree and the sun was behind him so not the best photos. I did a loop around the house and when I came back he was in a slightly better spot so I got a pretty good look at his back.



There's a lot of chirping going on outside. I managed to catch one of the culprits in my Florida Anise bush. Isn't this one of those Warblers we talked about before? They're super small.

Melanie, that's a handsome Red-bellied WP and the cute little one looks like a Carolina Wren: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

it's a Carolina Wren. They can make some NOISE. Cute little things though.

Nice photos of the RB Woodpecker Melanie! They really have cool backs don't they?

Carolina Wren...hmm. They are indeed loud. One of them landed on our patio screen for a few seconds while I was inside the house and I wondered what the tiny bird was. I think there was more than one because there was a lot of chirping going on.

I always enjoy seeing the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. Sometimes I see just one but I've also seen 3-4 climbing the trees between me and my neighbor's yard. They always seem to start at one spot and move steadily upward. Makes sense for a bird, I suppose. I just hate when they attack the telephone pole because that is so loud! I was out there once gardening and was like, "What is that terrible noise!" And that's what it was. Thank goodness he moved to a living tree where he didn't make quite so much noise.

Melanie, I bet there's a Carolina Wren nest somewhere near your front door, March and April is when I usually see baby wrens and they are so adorable! These pictures are from April, 2011:

Adult Carolina Wren and .................... Juvenile Carolina Wren

Nice woodpecker, Melanie! And Carolina Wren is one of my favorites! When I turn on sprinklers, one will usually turn up and just have a ball playing in the water!

Glad everyone enjoyed the pics! I was actually surprised at how close I got to the Wren. My Anise bush is fairly tall and somewhat dense so maybe it felt protected. But I was only a few feet away from it and I thought surely the bird was going to fly away. Maybe I'm getting better at looking non-threatening. Or maybe I just move so slow they know I'm not a threat.

Listening to the Master's yesterday I noticed a lot of very loud chirping going on in the background and I believe it was a Carolina Wren. There were times when the commentators were almost drowned out.