You made me laugh Lin. Cheeseburger in Paradise.....
Video, video, video sounds right for the wrens. I just came in from outside where one of the wrens was singing Chim-i-nee, chim-i-nee.
That's what I never understand about when the ornithologists write what the birds call sounds like. I can never get diddly out of those "written sounds". Why don't they write it like human words so we really get an idea of what the heck the calls sound like? One I have seen written in plain english is the Carolina Wren. They say the Carolina wren sings teakettle, teakettle but I'll be darned if I've ever heard one singing teakettle & I've listened real hard to try to get teakettle out of it. Of course, now, with the internet & sights like All About Birds; we can actually listen to the different calls. Makes thing much easier.

mcash70 said:The little Mountain Chickadees spring song is "pretty bird, pretty bird, pretty birdie', sung very sweetly.

It does sound like pretty bird Margaret! I just went & listened.

Just now listening to the cardinal family out at the feeder, saying their names "chip, chip" and "tip, tip, tip". (I call the mama and papa cardinal Chip and Tip). Then when papa goes up to the top of the bamboo to declare his territory he does the "Cheeseburger" call. Sometimes it sounds like "Cheer, Cheer, Cheer, Cheeseburger" but he doesn't do that after the chicks hatch. I'm guessing that's when he doesn't want to attract the attention of the hawks.

Sometimes think the Blue Jays might be drinkers - their feeding calls sound like glass bottles clinking together to me.

I'm lucky that there is such good 'cover' for my little birdies because we always have hawks around here. The big stand of bamboo is 10ft. away from my birdfeeders and all the little birds flit out and back in there, where the space between the bamboo culms is too narrow for the hawks to get in. So while I know the hawks probably get some of the songbirds, at least I don't have to be a witness to the carnage.

The bamboo is also on the north side of my garden, so it provides a really nice windbreak in the winter. Birds seem to love it in the warm sun, on the coldest days I always have lots of them staying around.

Need a little help here. I got home from MOSI this morning and was feeding my own caterpillars. It's been raining all day and it's quite miserable outside. I noticed something hop up into my Jatropha and saw it was a bird. I chased it around to the neighbor's yard and managed to get a picture of it sitting on the fence. I think I've seen this one before, but I can't remember what it is and I'm too tired to look through my book. So let me know, and I'll thank you when I wake up from my nap.

Carolina Wren Melanie. The ones with the BIG voice. You'd think they were 5 times the size they are when you hear their voice. Only the male sings. The female makes noises but does not sing.
Listen to them here:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

Melanie, I agree with Ann ... that pretty little one is a Carolina Wren!

I"ve never heard the cardinals singing "cheeseburger cheeseburger cheeseburger" but now I fear that I might.

You know, I was thinking Carolina Wren. This one didn't make any noise; it was probably busy trying to evade me. I remember the last one I took a picture of was in my Florida Anise bush and let me get really close but that one was loud. I think I'm starting to learn stuff here.

wildflowers said:I"ve never heard the cardinals singing "cheeseburger cheeseburger cheeseburger" but now I fear that I might.

I think from now on, every time I hear a Cardinal singing .... I'm going to want a cheeseburger!

Maybe I'm food obsessed. To me, the goldfinches say Eeeeeeeeat!

Melanie, the wrens can be very quiet but when they want to be loud they can really wail! Sometimes you just hear little sounds & if you look you can see them on the ground turning over leaves & flipping mulch or organic matter to find bugs beneath. We have big sycamore leaves here & we'll just hear this little rustling sound & then we'll see where they are turning leaves over.

I think I found another one! Carolina Wren, that is. Ok, it may be the same one. After my nap, I was checking out the dinner situation and I walked by our sliding glass door. I saw this little bird hopping around in Mom's Meyer Lemon pot.

Yup, it was looking for buggies.

Carolina Wren digging through leaf debris and a Northern Mockingbird:

Juvenile White Ibis standing on the fence in my backyard:

Perfect example of the wren Lin and that Mockingbird photo is A-MAY-ZING!!!! You should frame that & put it on the wall.

Oh that 2nd photo of the ibis where it's tilting it's head is adorable.

Thanks Ann! The Mockingbird picture I took peeking through the leaves of a Plumeria so as not to scare him off. I'm not sure but I think the Ibis was cocking his head as he heard the beep of the camera. I was across the yard near the door, quite a distance from him but I was still making him nervous; he'd take a few steps along the fence, turn and look at me and cock his when I took a couple of pictures.

Yep, I'm sure they can hear that beep. That's usually when I see birds or even butterflies freak out & fly away -- when that camera noise spooks them. I don't know why camera makers don't leave off the beep sound. We could so do without that. Your viewfinder tells you when you're ready to take a photo so why do they have to put that beep in there?

@plantladylin I second that motion...... mockingbird photo should framed.... FANTASTIC!!

Mid morning was alive with a cacophony of bird calls! Mockingbirds. Blue Jays, RS hawks, Carolina Wrens, Bluebirds, Crows, Cardinals, Great Crested Flycatchers and more. Birds were zipping everywhere like they were playing a game of musical branches. And then, and then, and then..... I spied some bright color on a shape that was not "the usual". I looked. Up high, high in one of the oak trees. Watching, watching, grab the binoculars, mark the spot, get the binoculars up, find the sweet spot & focus them. Oooooooooooo, look what we have here! A female Baltimore Oriole!!! Didn't know I was seeing one at first until I looked at the top of the tree & saw a GORGEOUS male!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SINGING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woooooooooooooo Hooooooooooooo!!!!!

At first I thought it was an orchard oriole as the odds for that would be greater but no, it was undoubtably Baltimores!

The only sadness was my camera does not have enough zoom capability to reach far enough to capture the sight. On the other hand, that allowed me to relax & just revel in the moment & enjoy watching them with no pressures of getting a perfect shot.