Babs has been out and about birdwatching. She writes: There are a few signs of spring here and there. The temperature is not one of them, but these birds bathing in a puddle ought to count. I’m not sure of the species. I think the one on the right has a small bug in its mouth so other things must be coming to life too.
I would be willing to bet that one of you will come up with an identification. OK, maybe not of the bug, but surely of the birds.
Posted in: Adventures outdoors, Babs Young photos
Torch Lake Views 
Sybil
April 24, 2011
Wonderful photo. Almost looks like a wasp in the beak …
Gerry
April 25, 2011
That could be. By which we know we have a Bold Bird.
Fee
April 25, 2011
Yup, I can identify them – they’re birds! Beyond that, no clue. Our little feathered friends are completing their nest-building, and on the good news front, my strawberry plants are beginning to flower. Nom nom.
Gerry
April 25, 2011
Good job! Hope you get more strawberries than the birds do.
margie
April 25, 2011
Another sign of spring: while hanging my clothes out on the line to dry, I kept hearing the drummings of ruffed grouse out in the swamp.
Gerry
April 25, 2011
Now there is a great sound. Pretty things, too, grouse, but I usually see them only as a blur.
P.j. grath
April 25, 2011
That one in the water has a grackle-like irridescence. I was hoping by now that someone else would have given a solid i.d., but since that’s not the case I’m putting my best guess out there.
Gerry
April 25, 2011
I was completely flummoxed myself. Maybe Babs is messing with us.
Dawn King
April 25, 2011
I’m just now getting it. You think a SUMMER house in ALABAMA is weird! LOL >..well it is for you northerners who are used to snow birds going THERE in summer…. 🙂
Gerry
April 25, 2011
Not weird exactly, just inexplicable. When my sister and brother in law lived in Birmingham, Alabama, they kept trying to get me to visit them in August. From the perspective of someone who lives in northern Michigan, that’s just wrong. My idea of good times to visit Alabama are November and March.
thedailyclick
April 25, 2011
Very cute!
Gerry
April 25, 2011
Heh heh. We strive always for cuteness, particularly with regard to shoes.
harpersfarm
April 25, 2011
What a great picture! This is such a good time of year for bird-watching.
Gerry
April 26, 2011
Sometimes I wonder if, after their own busy season settles down, the birds spend some time people watching? I would think they might find us endlessly entertaining.
Nye
April 28, 2011
I love birdwatching also, and this is one awesome birdbath.
Gerry
April 28, 2011
Leave it to our Babs to make a puddle look like an inland lake.
flandrumhill
April 28, 2011
Gerry, I agree with Pamela that these are likely common grackles. The only other yellow-eyed dark birds I can guess they might be are Brewer’s blackbirds, but these are supposed to be fairly rare in Michigan.
Gerry
April 28, 2011
OK, but these are birds Babs saw. If I’d seen them . . . well, first off you wouldn’t be able to tell what they are anyway on account of I would’ve clicked when they were halfway to Nova Scotia . . . but if I’d seen them, they would have been common. Now Babs, there’s someone who happens on rarity on a regular basis. I’m going to go look up Brewer’s blackbirds. Back later.