CIRCLE WITH A DOT

With spring arriving, birds will start looking for nesting cavities. If you want to provide some, please make sure to make it as safe as possible for them. That means predator guards (add a baffle that keeps climbing preds out) as well as monitoring to make sure that they're not being overrun by invasive species. If you cannot make sure to keep House Sparrows out your Bluebird box, consider adding a hole restrictor so that only smaller native birds like Chickadees or Wrens can enter. sialis.org is a fantastic resource with plans, info and management advice. #birds

I am amazed at the stamina of this Swallowtail chrysalis. It's been sitting out there, enjoying fresh air and sometimes even sunshine and lots of cold temperatures in the last few months, and it is alive. This is from the last two days, today it wiggled sideways! I know you don't see that much but I am all excited for it to emerge #bugs

Things are still a bit slow here, and we got some snow yesterday too, but migration is underway! Here you can see some female Redwinged Blackbirds that are finally starting to arrive. Some in the beginning may also be immature males, they look similar. This is with that Ceyomur 4G camera again, I zoomed in to hide the info bar, ha! May temperatures be splendid where you are! We got some sun today #birds

It's World Sparrow Day, and what a nice chance to show this guy again, a favorite from this winter - the Fox Sparrow! I love it when the native Sparrows pop up, they are always a surprise because they barely ever visit feeders. Spring is a good time to look out for them and learn how to ID them, they are migrating. #birds

And here is a Redwinged Blackbird showing what he's got. For the time being, it's males only, the females arrive a bit later. #birds

It's a busy work week for me and nothing much is happening in the yard, so here is another blast from the past, some of the tiny winged jewels that will soon arrive here again - the Rubythroated Hummingbirds. I feel like I say that will all the birds but they also have a special spot in my heart. I remember how surprised I was when I heard we have them here. My European heart was and still is delighted #birds

There are still plenty of Juncos around, I usually see them up until April. I loved how proudly this one presented itself. Then there's the most interesting Cardi man in the yard, with a really unique patchy look (he's with a Goldfinch), and then a Woodpecker takes a snacky shower. More rain tomorrow but things are waking up! #birds

There have been a couple of Aurora Borealis mentions recently, but the Michigan winter perma cloud has prevented me from seeing any. I put the camera out last night because the forecast showed no snow or rain, and while there were no dancing lights in the sky, there was still a lot going on and the stars were pretty as always. #sky #timelapse