Feeder Watch 5-16-10

Hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) at the suet feeder.
Hairy Woodpecker

Black-headed grosbeak - male (Pheucticus melanocephalus) at the sunfloer seed feeder.
Black-headed Grosbeak

Black-headed grosbeak - female (Pheucticus melanocephalus)

Grilling Steaks and Learning Things

A tri-tip steak takes about 20 minutes or so to grill.  Setting up the grill and taking a few sips of beer brings your outdoor time to somewhere over a half an hour.  Here's what I learned in that half hour:

• The chestnut-backed chickadees are back in their bird box for almost 20 years straight, except for the season I didn't clean it out and a bumblebee colony occupied it.
• I learned the song of the black-headed grosbeak by patiently listening, then finally observing the singer.
• I think I know the general area of a robin's nest by seeing them fly into the woods in exactly the same spot several times.

Black-headed Grosbeak - First of 2010 at the Feeder

Spotted the first Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) at our feeder.  Summer is very close.  Maybe I can find the nest this year. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-headed_Grosbeak/lifehistory