May 1st - May 7th - Chipmunks, Deer and Birds

Lots of deer and chipmunks around this week. There is new growth almost everywhere and lots of animals are making good use of it. They've made it through another long, cold, snowy winter and now things will start to get a little easier. 

The male deer are starting to grow their antlers back. I love when they look fuzzy like this!

There are so many chipmunk around the woods! It seems everywhere I look there is one scurrying around. 

The number of squirrels could compete with the chipmunks! They seem to be everywhere!

Black Squirrel with the last of the daffodils

Fox Squirrel enjoying a treat while hiding safely against a tree trunk in case a predator comes near.

Nearby in the trees some robins were looking for food or perhaps a place to build a nest. These are birds that can be seen all year round, even in the dead of winter. 

A more unusual visitor that I don't see too often - mostly during migration - is the Veery. These are lovely little birds. It's of the Thrush species. Apparently, they can fly up to 160 per night and up to 1.2 miles in altitude! They are really beautiful and such a treat to see. 

I'm not entirely sure what this next bird is. It's a lovely little bird, with a chest of white and really light yellow colouring. I'm looking him up and will (hopefully) add a note when I find out what it is. I must admit that I'm not an experienced birder. I take their photos and look them up later! 

These birds I definitely recognise! They are some of the most common warblers I see during the summer months. They especially like to stay up in the back meadow and can be seen there amongst the tall grasses. 

Common Yellowthroat - the male is the more colourful of the two. I always call them the masked ones, as the males have the distinctive black mask across the eyes. 

The female is a lot duller in colour but still has a lovely mixture of soft shades of yellows and browns. 

Most female birds are duller in colour than their male counterparts. It doesn't make them any less beautiful. Look at this lovely female Towhee. 

Some birds are more difficult to distinguish between male and females such as Tree Swallows. 

I think this one is a male as his feathers look bright and more iridescent. 

They are so wonderful to watch flying near the birdhouses over the field.