Welcome and Less So

.Our yards have been extremely busy with birds these past few weeks. One reason is that so many of our resident birds have produced chicks.  Another is that the drought has made our birdbaths even more attractice than usual.

Most of the visitors are very welcome. This is certainly the case with this young Northern Mockingbird, who is now a  constant visitor.

Other visitors include families of Northern Cardinals and a large extended family of House Finches. These species are particularly welcome because they generally seem to get along with each other.

Much less welcome are several House Sparrows which have started visiting our feeders and birdbaths on a regular basis.

And yesterday I was dismayed to see a couple of European Starlings grazing on our front lawn.

Don't get me wrong - I like House Sparrows and I think Starlings are beautiful birds. However, I much prefer to see they where they belong - in Europe - rather than here, where their presence is threatening the existence of native American species.

I just hope the House Sparrows and Starlings don't decide to take up residence in our yards. If they do, I'm afraid I'll have to take steps to discourage them!

CyFair Campus
Last time I checked on the Purple Martins on the CyFair Campus, there were well over 30 birds on and around their house. So it seems that they had a very successful breeding season. They should be leaving us any time now if, in fact, they haven't already migrated. Hopefully they'll be back next year. 

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