Despite the generally bad weather recently in the greater Erie, PA area (e.g., wind, rain, cold, snow), the tide of spring marches on. Does spring have a tide? Anyway, doesn’t matter. The point is, with spring comes nest building, and nest building requires nest-building materials. Always fun to see our fellow earthly inhabitants, here, birds, gathering roots, twigs, etc., for secreting away in nearby shrubbery (or wherever) for doing the needful.
Here’s some very nice shots of a pair of Blue Jays taking advantage of a patch of disturbed soil to gather up some structurally sound and easily manipulable root fragments. Plus, credit where credit’s due – Blue Jays are absolutely lovely.
Moving on, here’s a male House Sparrow lending a helping hand. Or maybe taking the lead. Don’t want to stereotype.
This may be a female House Finch:
Guess it helps to have at least one image of the final product, here, a Mourning Dove nest against a building:
The male and female were very busy gathering the materials for this nest over several+ days.
To wrap it up, we’ll move to some more general shots from recent days in Millcreek Twp (“Gateway to Presque Isle State Park”). First, the first sighting of American Goldfinch this season! Very exciting.
Next, a lovely American Robin:
Couple nice shots of male Northern Cardinal:
And finally, the picture below is sadly partially blocked, but (if we say so ourselves), what a great shot of a pair of Northern Flicker! Amazing to see the displayed/fanned wings with that lovely yellow shaft color!
