http://armchairbirder.com/2009/07/08/the-robins-of-summer/ Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds Sat, 25 Sep 2010 12:53:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc http://armchairbirder.com/2009/07/08/the-robins-of-summer/comment-page-1/#comment-18 Gina Webb Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:12:19 +0000 http://armchairbirder.com/?p=81#comment-18 Hi John! When we first moved to Sagamore Hills, I had never heard so many cardinals in the mornings, and loved watching them at the feeder we'd inherited with our new house. But soon, there were just too many cardinals and they all talked too much. They do get up very early and like to sit outside (feels like inside, frankly) the windows and call to each other. Now that we have many more kinds of birds turning up, the morning cardinal symphony has eased off, thank goodness. Just wanted to share with you that we have a nest of chimney swifts in our chimney. Rather, perched in the V of the damper, where I think it may have dropped at some point.Awfully close to our fireplace logs, actually. The babies must have survived the fall, as they all sound healthy when they are begging as one - certainly as you describe in your book "as loud as a thousand nighttime crickets." What's the time frame for them to fledge? Will we need to have our chimney cleaned before we figure out how to keep them from coming in again? Or is it best to provide a refuge for them once a year? PS: This blog is so wonderful. How have I survived, not reading your writing all these years? Hi John! When we first moved to Sagamore Hills, I had never heard so many cardinals in the mornings, and loved watching them at the feeder we’d inherited with our new house. But soon, there were just too many cardinals and they all talked too much. They do get up very early and like to sit outside (feels like inside, frankly) the windows and call to each other. Now that we have many more kinds of birds turning up, the morning cardinal symphony has eased off, thank goodness.
Just wanted to share with you that we have a nest of chimney swifts in our chimney. Rather, perched in the V of the damper, where I think it may have dropped at some point.Awfully close to our fireplace logs, actually. The babies must have survived the fall, as they all sound healthy when they are begging as one – certainly as you describe in your book “as loud as a thousand nighttime crickets.” What’s the time frame for them to fledge? Will we need to have our chimney cleaned before we figure out how to keep them from coming in again? Or is it best to provide a refuge for them once a year?
PS: This blog is so wonderful. How have I survived, not reading your writing all these years?

]]> http://armchairbirder.com/2009/07/08/the-robins-of-summer/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Lindsie Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:24:07 +0000 http://armchairbirder.com/?p=81#comment-17 Robins are much in evidence in our Marietta backyard and keep us entertained (we don't get out much). For one thing, they seem to run more than they fly. Typically, they sprint across the yard, stopping so suddenly that they tip forward from the arrested momentum, then dashing onward. Also, they are bathing fools; they are in the birdbath more frequently and for longer periods than any other bird. They seem to get great pleasure from their wallowing and splashing in the cool water. Robins are much in evidence in our Marietta backyard and keep us entertained (we don’t get out much). For one thing, they seem to run more than they fly. Typically, they sprint across the yard, stopping so suddenly that they tip forward from the arrested momentum, then dashing onward. Also, they are bathing fools; they are in the birdbath more frequently and for longer periods than any other bird. They seem to get great pleasure from their wallowing and splashing in the cool water.

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