Last brood of the year...

The gray catbirds show up each spring in our yard, and quickly set about nesting. By summer's end, they've usually raised 2-3 broods; this summer, perhaps because it was so warm, I think most of the nesting pairs raised three broods.  This youngster was hanging out in one of our cherry trees this morning, picking off bugs and just generally being cute.  One of it's parents was in a nearby patch of poke berries, and they were calling back and forth to each other with their little cat-like meow calls.  Delightful.

If you look closely, you can see this youngster's gape pretty clearly - that's the bit of skin at the corner of its mouth, the last remnants of its "childhood".  It's also still quite fluffy, not having gotten all of its adult feathers in yet.  By the end of next month, it will be gone - perhaps as far away as Mexico, or perhaps only to the southern coast of New Jersey.

Only one hummingbird today, a juvenile female.  I suspect she's just here for a day to refuel.  Also had a migrant red-eyed vireo foraging in the poke berries this afternoon.  And although it is officially fall, the temps are in the mid-80's (F) so it feels much more like summer.

Three other youngster shots on Flickr, starting HERE - catbird, cardinal and mourning dove.

In the Monarch Nursery...FOUR eclosures today which was one more than I expected.  And #67 was one I've been keeping an eye on.  She fell when she was preparing to pupated so I had to let her pupate on the floor on the enclosure and then quickly get her rehung (which was a hair-raising operation!)  She was very small and her chrysalid had some lumps and bumps that were concerning - no doubt from the emergency hanging operation!  Anyway, she came into the world around 1 today, small but absolutely perfect.  By 4 she was clamoring to fly, so I let her go.  The last one (#69) just emerged about an hour ago, so I may keep her in the enclosure overnight - I'll see how she's doing in another hour.  They are pretty good about letting me know when they are ready...  This leaves only 3 chrysalids in my nursery.  Today's count - 1 male and 3 females.  

Missing Hubs very much, but he's having a good visit with his mom which is great.  

Thank you for all the love on my osprey yesterday.  I think it's the first osprey I've posted since I left Florida.  And did you know that osprey can be found on every continent in the world except Antarctica?  Perhaps one of the most recognizable birds in the world.

Ciao, people,
Debbi