Are the birds looking for nesting spots? I noticed a bluebird checking out the newspaper box under the mailbox. They often make their nests there.

Bluebirds like to checkk out several locations before building a nest. I would suggest that you block off your newspaper box somehow and build or buy a couple of bluebird boxes to put out. If the birds nest in the newspaper box they could get hurt by something/someone that goes by on the road or someone could inadvertently toss a paper into it not realizing that the baby birds are three. Just because a bluebird is checking out a spot doesn't mean that they are definitely going to nest there and I wouldn't suggest letting them. Put some boxes in good places around the yard so you can watch them from afar and enjoy their brooding. By the way, today March 6 at 8am I opened my front door and was pleasently greeted by the spring songs of many birds. I look forward to this day every year. Happy birdwatching.

I have had boxes out but they never seem to settle in my yard. As I am driving through the neighborhood, I have seen them fly out of the paper boxes. We had a bluebird a number of years ago. He sat in front of the side view mirror and looked at himself and was so excited. He left dropping on the side of the car. We had to cover the mirror so that he wouldn't sit and look at himself.

Angie, That is so funny about the bluebird looking at himself. He must have been a 'fine catch' because he was so intimidated by himself that he pooped to show his dominance. How aggravating to have a rival do exactly the same poses at exactly the same time!

Yes, I guess he was aggravated - it was funny and messy and I was glad when he moved on. We do have a lot of bluebirds in this area. My subdivision is a bird sanctuary so between the ducks on the pond, the geese, swans, and all the birds, it can be very interesting. In fact, it is so windy today that few birds have been around - a crow, mourning dove, blue bird, white throated sparrow, chickadee. That's it.

I wish I could say 'Spring's coming'. I live very close to the begining of the Red River of the North. Since that's been in the news so much lately and will continue to be for the next week or so, you know what kind of weather we're still having. {I only have a small amount of water in the basement - not real flooding.} Because we got another healthy 'white' covering today, I went out and ground-fed. My yard is less than 100 feet wide and I must have had 100 birds feeding. I always have more Grackles than Robins and that was the case today. I also have sparrows (at least 3 varities) and finches (mostly House). My Blue Jay couple are also here. This year I have added 4 Nuthatches. But today, I had at least a dozen of a bird I can't seen to identified yet. The coloring is similar to the White-breasted Nuthatch, but only the very bottom of the belly is white (the entire head and neck is black/gray), and it is much smaller. My field guide is "Birds of Minnesota" and this bird doesn't appear in it.

Any suggestions?

Spring may be on its way. I saw my first Mourning Dove of the year just a short time ago; also my first Goldfinch. A more careful look through my field guide brought me to Dark-eyed Junco as the bird I could not identify yesterday. Don't know how I missed that page. Also don't know why I haven't seen one before. I have nearly as many birds in my yard today as I did yesterday. They are as fun as watch as children are with their 'antics'.

Happy Spring everyone.

Yesterday I saw a Goldfinch attack a daffodil! He had almost finished turning yellow (you know they are olive drab in the winter and then grow a new set of bright yellow feathers in the spring) and he caught my eye when I saw him fluttering over the blossom, then he swooped down and gave the flower such a smack that he knocked it down to the ground. I guess he thought it was some strange goldfinch trespassing in his territory. After teaching the daffodil a lesson the goldfinch flew away.
An excess of springtime testosterone, I guess!

Too funny - like my bluebird.

I have some gold goldfinches today too at the feeder. They are so pretty. Once the days become longer, they "change their feathers."

Do you put thistle out for them? I do not have good luck with thistle and they seem to be content with black oiled sunflower seeds and sometimes the fruity mix.

And people wonder why I spend soooo much time by my window. But it's just like with kids, you never have the camera ready for this.

My birds had better be content with sunflower seeds. My brother brought me a pick-up-box full of them nearly straight from the farmer. I would have seeds for years and years, but apparently they cannot be kept that long, so I'm trying to find other feeders to give them to.

I can't believe your daffadils are blooming already. I did notice that the hollyhock have broken through our newest snow, but I haven't seen anything else. Maybe soon!!

I fill the finch feeder with a mixture of thistle and sunflower seed hearts. Not only the goldfinches, but the chickadees, downy and redbellied woodpeckers, nuthatches and pine siskins all find something they like in that mixture, and the juncos clean up anything that falls to the ground. There is still a pair of siskins coming every day to the feeder, which is unusual. They ahould have left for Canada by now, maybe they will stay here to breed if they like what I serve so much!

The daffodils, forsythia, red bud trees, Bradford pears. Spring has sprung here.

Hello All, Virginia sure has more blooming than here in SW Michigan. Of course we had a dusting of snow the other day, but the daffs were still screaming yellow and the scilla are singing the blues. Where I have my bed placed I can look out the window first thing in the morning without getting up. Yesterday I opened my eyes to see a phoebe on a sumac branch. I have never seen a phoebe before, but I knew what it was because I have thumbed through my Peterson's guide about a thousand times over the years. My day started most excellently!

It's great when you can add a bird to your sighting list.

Hi Prairie Girl! Were your daffodils and scilla buried under snow this morning? Mine were and I must live fairly close to you (1 mile south of the MI/IN state line) The poor things were lying down under the cover of white.
More snow is predicted for tonight and then it is supposed to warm up again. Then the daffys will rise again, and I will plant that beautiful flat of pink pansies I bought today.
BTW, the forsythia is blooming here, but only the bottom 15 inches of every bush. That happens every so often; sometime in the winter it got so cold that all the forsythia flower buds froze except for the ones that were under the snow cover.

Our forsythia are just about done. The petals on my weeping cherry are lining the sidewalk. The tree is just beautiful.

It's a bit too chilly right now to plant anything outside but next week I will begin to gather some plants to put in my planters on the deck.

Claybird: Don't give up on your forsythia, the bottoms of mine are blooming also, but about 6 weeks ago I cut some stems off the top and brought them in. They bloomed just fine so the buds must have been alive. Maybe they will come out but just a little later, or when it really warms up. I am just over the state line but still in WNDU,WSBT territory. Everything is Notre Dame. Yes more snow tonight, but last night's covering melted pretty quickly here. But, GEEZ, it was cold today. I had to be outside this afternoon (helping friends move) and I had my heavy scarf and gloves on. Now my lips are chapped and cheeks are chafed. I'll have to grease up before I go to sleep. I love the look of daffs and scilla together. Saturday I dug up some of my Tete e`Tete and light blue scilla and put them in a pot together and gave them away to a friend - not a garden person. She was all, "Oh you are wonderful how did you ever get them to bloom at the same time?" I told her I planned it all last fall and that the timing was critical and bla bla bla. Hehehehehe. I love pansies. Do the pink ones have a specific name on the tag? Angie: I love it when the petals on the cherry start to fall, or a breeze starts them wafting through the air. It is like sweet smelling snow. Here in SW Michigan we don't dare put anything out until mid May unless we are ready to cover it over night or at a moments notice. You are lucky to have a long growing season. Have a great Tuesday everyone!

The pink pansy label just says "Pansy, pink shades", not very helpful! They are large blossoms, unblotched, and every shade from dark mauve to palest pink. I got them at Shelton's, south of Niles on the road to downtown South Bend...on sale for $7.99 a flat.
(Sorry to be so local, but if Prairie Girl gets WNDU and WSBT she can't be very far away.)

We're expecting a freeze tonight. I had to bring in some plants off the deck. I remember it snowing once here on April 6 - daughter's birthday - that's how I remember.

Claybird, I sure do know Sheltons Farm Market! I've been shopping there for years. I will check out their stock of pansies. My club has just moved its office to a block south of Sheltons in the Sonrise Storage and Office Units. I will probably be shopping there more from now on since I will be close by frequently. Thanks for the info on the pansies.