ROYGBIV

[Harker]

I'm very much enjoying my first Spring in rural upstate New York.

In the past couple of hours spent sipping tea and looking out through a large glass sliding door, I've seen a rainbow...

Red - Cardinals and Rose Breasted Grosbeaks.
Orange - a small flock of Baltimore Orioles, and Robins.
Yellow - American Goldfinches and Evening Grosbeaks.
Green - females of the above.
Blue - Eastern Bluebirds.
Indigo - I'll cheat a little - the deeper shades of Blue Jays.
Violet - throngs of Purple Finches.

I'll always remember the beauty of Colorado, and I do miss Mountain Chickadees, Pygmy Nuthatches, and Magpies. Haven't spotted any Pelicans here, either.

I've been won over, though, by the beauty of the mountains and the rich diversity of the migrating songbirds and visiting Turkeys under a canopy of Eagles, various Hawks and Falcons, and the gracefully circling Turkey Vultures.

I think I'm going to fit in here.

[5X]

1. I'll cover your Indigo with a Bunting. n/t

[Harker]

2. Nice!

I hope to get lucky and catch sight of one blowing through.

[Walleye]

3. Here in Delaware. My feeders have been visited by a male and female hummingbird. Makes me so happy

[Harker]

4. Great!

Just this morning, my wife said it's time to get the feeders out for the Hummingbirds.

It's dazzling here - and I didn't even get started on the grays and browns... there's been a Brown Thrasher here for several days that sings scat like Ella Fitzgerald.

Happy Spring!

[Walleye]

5. I do envy your great variety of species there. Happy spring to you!

I do get the colorful finches and amazing woodpeckers and flickers

[Harker]

6. I hope I never take a single one for granted

Still plenty of first sightings ahead, too.

[multigraincracker]

7. About once a month our bird feeder attracts

a hawk or two feeding on birds. We see them once in a while and sometimes it's just a pile of Morning Dove feather on the ground.

[Harker]

8. We're feeding the raptors, too.

We've had a female Merlin here occasionally. I saw her surprise a Blue Jay and drag him off in thirty foot hops... nothing left but feathers and a beak.

Merlin's might eat close to a thousand birds a year, so they're tactically highly skilled, flushing prey down low, then catching them while they labor to gain altitude.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

9. I got some eagles nesting in a huge tree out my window

It's beautiful to watch them.

[Harker]

10. That's terrific.

I enjoy seeing them soaring around the hills, but having a nest view must be superb!

May they return every Spring.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

11. They have returned since I have been living here

Glad I have a really good pair of binoculars!