Birds visiting my mother’s farm (in her own words):
Killdeer – stays the summer in the pasture
Bobwhite – year round
Scaled Quail – year round
Great Horned Owl – year round, catches all the mice
Long Eared Owl – year round, catches all the mice
Snowy Owl – passes thru
Red Tailed Hawk – year round, catches rabbits & ground squirrels & mice
American Kestrel – year round
Mourning Dove – year round
Ringed Turtle Dove – year round
Barn Swallow – stay thru summer, catches all insects
Common Red Shafted Flicker – passes thru, eats ants
Common Yellow Shafted Flicker – passes thru, eats ants
Red Naped Sapsucker – passes thru
Calliope Hummingbird – stays the summer
American Gold Finch – passes thru
Yellow-Rumped Warbler – passes thru
Hermit Warbler – passes thru
Kingbird – stays the summer
Meadow Lark – stays the summer
Fly Catcher – stays all summer
Scots Oriole – passing thru
Rufus-Sided Towhee – spending the summer
Black-headed Grosbeak – passing thru
Robin – all year, takes all the worms out of my garden
Hooded Oriole – passing thru
Northern Bullock’s Oriole – passing thru
Western Tanager – passing thru
House Finch – all year
Purple Finch – all year
Some Wrens – passing thru
Mocking Bird – all summer
Red-winged Blackbird – passing thru
All kinds of Sparrows – year round, a pest
Starlings – year round, eat my chicken feed
Common Grackle – all summer, eat all baby song birds
Brewers Blackbird – all summer, eat the baby birds
Besides birds, I also have:
Skunks, Badgers, Coyotes, Pronghorns, Swift Foxes, Cotton Tails and Jackrabbits – mainly in the pasture
And Bull Snakes
Today, I could water my vegetable garden without the wind blowing 40 mph. I sat down with my beloved Saint Bernard dog beside me and watched all the birds. As soon as the water flows, the swallows are there. They pick up the wet soil with some straw and fly into my barn to build their nests. I have, at least, 15 pairs here. These fragile little birds have to be the most acrobatic flyers on the wing. It is also amazing to me, to understand how they can catch their meal in flight.
Then there is the Robin, trying to pull all the worms out of my garden. I know they have to eat, but why the worms that I need for my garden soil? Oh, well!!
…and then there is this pair of Mocking Birds. The male starts to sing by my bedroom window hours before the sun comes up and he does sing pretty. It is also fascinating to watch these Mocking Birds catch their meal on the ground. They open and close their wings while their tail whips up and down.
I love to hear the cooing of the Mourning and Turtle Doves. All night long, I hear the Great Horned Owl hooting. The little Finches also sing pretty all day.
It is amazing to watch all these little critters in my place, considering that I live in the prairie.
Some folks call us Flatlanders, but I did plant hundreds of Rocky Mt. Junipers, some Pinon Pines, Aspen, Lilacs, Roses, lots of different types of shrubs, berry bushes, etc. No wonder everyone feels here at home.
Question: Have you noticed how many birds you have around your place?
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