Nature Notes: Catbirds + Gardens
My flowers-instead-of-grass front lawn meadow is doing nicely. I believe the last time my husband mowed the front lawn was two years ago? Three?
In our backyard, the raspberries are beginning to appear. This makes our yard even more inviting for the birds.
About two weeks ago the catbirds showed up again in our backyard. They seem to love resting on my tomato plant holders.
Do catbirds like hydrangea? I like this white flowering shrub, even if they don’t notice.
Unlike other birds, such as the cardinals in the winter, the catbirds don’t seem to mind when I get up close with my camera.
I think this catbird is about to take off. They make such endearing sounds, like a meowing kitten.
For more Nature Notes:
Robin from Israel says
Lovely captures, they really aren't camera shy are they?
Finally made it to the produce market yesterday. Didn't get the red cherries, the Rainiers were calling to me instead - yum!
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Ilana-Davita says
This is a lovely series. I like how you manage to capture the birds.
The green of the lawn and bushes seem to indicate that you have had a fair amount of rain in the past days.
leoraw says
And maybe I'm just good at watering? Actually, the flowers in front need less rain than the tomato plants in back. Another plus for growing flowers instead of grass.
EG Wow says
I'm amazed at how friendly the catbird is! I like your front garden. Most but not ALL of my front yard is garden. I still have a narrow strip of weedy lawn that my husband still mows.
Crafty Green poet says
Lovely photos, the hydrangeas are beautiful and the catbird seems to have a lot of personality!
Carver says
I love your front flower meadow. Oddly the catbirds are one of the shyest birds here. I can shoot them through the windows but if they sense me they are all. Your garden is lovely.
Felisol says
Your flower meadow is beautiful and so much more vivid than a lawn.
This summer I've got a new view on weeding. I used to complain a lot, till I realized, that when the weed is gone, the summer is gone too.
My garden is where I find joy and thrill of life, it's not my tyrant.
You must have had a fine summer; imagine raspberries already.
What thrill.
I am extremely shortsighted, so I only know the biggest birds by name.
The zoom on my Powershot has given me new insight. There are definitely no catbirds in Norway.
I use to sit on the terrace trying to confusig the starlings with my whisteling. I hope that is not cruelty towards birds. We communicate fairly well.
With 50 fahrenheit degrees no tomatoes can grow. I have to buy the from Spain and hope there are no nasty germs on them.
(I rinse them in salt water).
Have a wonderful weekend in summer of New Jersey.
Michelle says
Oh how I would love a meadow for our front lawn...so beautiful and wildlife friendly....I have never seen a cat bird...great photos...
About cat birds
Gray Catbirds live amid dense shrubs, vine tangles, and thickets of young trees in both summer and winter. Human disturbance and development often create these habitats in the form of clearings, roadsides, fencerows, abandoned farmland, and residential areas. On tropical wintering grounds catbirds spend more time in forests than they do while in North America.
In summer, Gray Catbirds eat mainly ants, beetles, grasshoppers, midges, caterpillars, and moths. When fruits are available they also eat holly berries, cherries, elderberries, poison ivy, greenbrier, bay, and blackberries. They are sometimes garden pests, eating or damaging raspberries, cherries, grapes, and strawberries.
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