Meet mommy grosbeak.
She is not as flashy,
as her hubby.
But she has a subtle, more delicate beauty.
Here is her dashing Romeo.
You have to admit he is, quite the looker, and eater!
He is shy, hesitant around humans,
smart birdie.
Cheers to you from the happy Holler honeys~
Look who showed up, the Hooded Orioles!
It is cause for celebration when these raucous, rackety, bickering-beauties show up each spring to spend the summer.
I so look forward to another season of their antics. They make scrub jays seem shy, quiet and retiring by comparison!
The Black Headed Grosbeaks arrived with the Orioles.
They are much shyer birds but hopefully they will assert themselves a bit more with the orioles this season.
These birds have such powerful beaks they can crack sunflower seeds in one chomp!
They seem to be arriving in greater numbers which is encouraging.
The Bullocks Orioles are new arrivals at The Holler this year. They are less assertive than their hooded cousins and can be identified by the black stripe across their eyes.
The California Thrashers live at The Holler year round, and stay mostly on the ground where they run around in such a hysterical, late-for-a-date-state, they are hard to photograph.
I think this one was stunned into temporary paralysis by the sudden arrival of all the spring competition which enabled me to finally get a few clicks of him!
Cheers to you from the still arriving Holler Birdies~
Some of your might like to listen to these birdies vocalizations:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Oriole/sounds
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-headed_Grosbeak/sounds
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bullocks_Oriole/id
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Thrasher/id
The Holler really is ‘for the birds,’
but, then, as you’ve probably noticed by now, so am I!
They make the nicest neighbors,
greeting us in the mornings, and flocking in droves to the feeders at sunset.
Our son calls the roadrunners our “pets.”
But they are wild creatures, who choose to live inside the refuge of our fences, which protect them from the Holler Wiley E’s.
We also have found our refuge here, amongst this wild family.
Cheers to you from wild creatures great & small because they are your family too, after all~
