I saw my first Eastern Kingbird at Fort Hill on Cape Cod the other day! I heard some rustling in the trees and thought it was a Cedar Waxwing. But, out flew this bird which I learned later was an Eastern Kingbird.
Eastern Kingbirds are about 8″ with slate colored wings and back, a white throat and underparts and a black head. Its tail is black with a white terminal band. My bird book says it perches on the tips of trees near fields which is exactly where I saw it.
We awoke this morning at dawn to the Crows squawking outside our bedroom window. I thought it must be the little Red-tailed Hawk nearby. The other morning it was in our birdbath at dawn, splashing away.
I went out on the deck and looked all around in the pine trees for the hawk, but could not find him. And then… I saw these golden eyes looking down at me. Wow!
There was a Great Horned Owl in the tree right outside our bedroom window. How cool is that?!
I ran in and got the binoculars while Phil clicked away with the camera. Unbelievable! I knew there are Great Horned Owls here on Cape Cod, but I had no idea we would ever see one in our backyard!
This Northern Flicker has been hanging around the bird feeders at my home here on Cape Cod. I think he might be a juvenile in that he didn’t quite know what to do.
He hopped across my yard and kept looking up at the bird feeder. Then he flew up there and tried to get on, but he is much too big to stand on that little peg. So he went up to the top of the pole and stared at me (2nd photograph). He looked so funny. I was able to click the first photograph as he was looking around.
After he saw a Hairy Woodpecker maneuver the suet, he latched on and comes quite frequently now.
Beautiful bird, don’t you think? Love the yellow under his wings and tail!
This Hairy Woodpecker just loves the suet feeder in our yard, once he figured it out. We had so many Starlings that would come and eat all of the suet, Phil came up with this brilliant idea!
You know how suet comes in a plastic container where you pull the paper cover off and insert it in the suet feeder? Well, he kept the plastic container with the suet still inside it, peeled off the paper cover and put it upside down in the suet feeder. The woodpeckers are used to eating upside down, so they mastered the technique of finding the suet on the bottom of the feeder in no time. The Starlings…have had a much more difficult time trying to figure out how to get the suet through the plastic on the top and sides.
We knew there was a nest of Red-Tailed Hawks high in a tree in our yard here on Cape Cod. It has been so much fun watching the parents fly in and build the nest and then tend to the young, bringing them food.
Finally this little one fledged and spends most of its time in our yard, flying from tree to tree. It will sit there on a branch and cry for hours until the mom comes and feeds it. It is just adorable.
Well, the other Day I came home from a bike ride and Phil said, “Come in very quietly.” And the little guy was sitting in our bird bath, splashing away, first his head, then one wing and then the other wing. He would then take a nice drink, gargling away. Phil said he’d been there for over 30 minutes already. He entertained us for at least another 10 minutes and then flew away.
We feel like we have a bird nursery in our yard. So many little ones, but this is definitely the cutest!
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
