Happenings in the Heart of Wine Country

Last week I took my camera into the backyard to chronicle all the new plant growth. Before I could even focus my camera on the first flower I was overwhelmed by the many diverse birdsongs that seemed meld together to form a sort of  symphony.  I switched my lens to a telephoto and managed to capture some of the divas in action. I have tried to identify them and include a brief recording of each one of their songs

To my surprise the first bird I saw passing overhead was this Osprey. I thought it was a hawk since we have a few of those, but when I downloaded the picture and saw the detail I realized it was an osprey.

And I had to include this picture of a Robin I spotted, the bird that everyone most closely associates with spring. This is the Robin that is featured in the picture below.Click on this link to hear  the robin’s song.
americanrobin.mp3

Here is the same Robin in the cherry tree. The flowers are not out yet, but the buds are full and ready to burst. This picture reminds me of a Japanese print.

I am 85% sure this is an American Tree Sparrow. Any bird experts out there can feel free to correct me. I am almost positive it is a Sparrow in any case. Click on this link if you want to hear his song: songsprw1.mp3

These are two pictures of the same Red Winged Blackbird, one at rest and one in mid song. If you want to hear what he was singing, click here:  rw_blackbird.mp3

I am least sure of what type of bird this is, but I have caught him in song as well. I am about 60% sure it is a Cowbird and if I am correct, he should sound like this: cowbird.wav

Here is a murder of crows. Their song is not one of my favorites, so I have not included it. Here a few are sitting on the cherry tree and a few more come to join them.

And finally a lone bird flies over the vineyards. I was too far away to figure out what kind of bird this was. If I manage to catch any good pictures of more backyard birds I will be sure to post them.