Jabberwocky of Jays

Blog Life List #8 - Northern Cardinal

Sammie July 23rd, 2008

Northern Cardinal by Birdfreak

The Northern Cardinal likes to visit bird baths and feeders which makes it easy to see. They like to eat sunflower seeds and love to take baths.

I see them often and they can be found in trees, on wires, and on the ground. The Northern Cardinal male is bright and the female is not as bright but very pretty. She looks a lot like a Cedar Waxwing to me.

Female Northern Cardinal by Birdfreak

Baby cardinals look different than both parents, so none of them look alike. They nest at my Grandparents house but I haven’t seen a baby yet myself.

Baby Northern Cardinal by Birdfreak
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Blog Life List #7 - House Wren

Sammie July 16th, 2008

Singing House Wren by Birdfreak

House Wrens common and sing a lot. They are a pretty backyard bird that can be also be found in forest preserves. I see them only in the summer and then they migrate south.

They might be called House Wrens because they nest in birdhouses. I don’t know where they nest in the forest preserves, but I read that they nest in tree cavities.

I have observed House Wrens carrying sticks back and forth as they build their nest. They move quickly. I have also seen a Carolina Wren. They sound very different but both are fun to watch.

House Wren by Birdfreak

Blog Life List #6 - Brown Pelican

Sammie July 10th, 2008

On our Virginia trip, we saw Brown Pelicans. We saw them from our cabin, from the canoe, and at Virginia Beach. We also saw non-wild Brown Pelicans at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center.

We saw the pelicans flying around and diving for fish. They were very pretty and big. They were mostly by themselves, but at Virginia Beach there were in groups of four or five. A Laughing Gull was following one Brown Pelican and landed right on top of him! The pelican didn’t seem to mind.

I really think they are beautiful and feel lucky to have seen so many of them on the Virginia trip.

Camping in Virginia

Sammie July 9th, 2008

On our trip to Virginia we stayed by Chesapeake Bay. We stayed in a cabin and saw a Carolina wren. Every day we heard the wren singing. It annoyed my Mom because she didn’t know what kind it was until we finally figured it out. It was hard to identify because we couldn’t see it at first. Another cool bird we saw at the campsite was a Tufted Titmouse.

Tufted Titmouse

It was very peaceful at the cabin. We could see a small part of Chesapeake bay. There was a grill to cook and a fire pit that we roasted marshmallows on. We could see stars at night and the moon. The bay was really pretty at night.

Our Campsite

Bird List at the Campsite

Carolina Wren
Brown Pelican
Ring-billed Gull
Laughing Gull
Northern Cardinal
Black-capped Chickadee
American Crow
Fish Crow
Osprey
Tufted Titmouse

We also saw squirrels that would beg for food. It was a peaceful, great place to camp.

A Friendly Squirrel

Blog Life List #5 - Osprey

Sammie July 8th, 2008

We went to Virginia for our summer vacation. In Virginia, we took a canoe close to Chesapeake Bay and saw lots of Ospreys. My Dad took the Osprey photos.

Osprey in a Nest
Osprey Nest

We were really close to their nests and could see some baby birds. The nests were on sign posts showing the speed for boats and on other posts. There were around ten to twenty nests and too many Ospreys to count.

Osprey Flying

We didn’t see them catch any fish, but we saw some carrying fish and some carrying crabs. Ospreys are beautiful when they stretch out their wings and fly. If we floated too close to their nest, they would make noises to tell us to back away a bit. They didn’t really seem to mind us canoing past them.