| [Swainson’s Warbler, image from the National Audubon Society] |
Spring marks the migration of warblers to the Appalachians, where they spend the summer hanging out and raising families. We thus dedicate the month of April in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series to one warbler who likes to make Pisgah National Forest its spring and summer destination: the Swainson’s Warbler.
| American Robin at the Inn on Mill Creek B&B, 2012 |
If ever a bird had the ability to make winter seem a distant memory while frost is still very much on the ground, it would be the American Robin. It seems like as soon as we see robins doing their stop-and-go flutter across the grass in the apple orchard at the B&B, it’s like winter never happened. Interestingly, the American Robin is a year-round resident in most of the United States, but it spends most of the winter tucked away, roosting in trees.
Small but definitely not lost in a crowd, the Downy Woodpecker is our February 2014 feature in the 12 Months of Birding at the Inn series on our blog. The Downy Woodpecker is black and white, with a splotchy or checkered-looking pattern on its wings, a white stripe down its back, and a black-and-white striped head. Males have a red patch on the backs of their heads.
| Blue Jay at the Inn on Mill Creek (August 2013) |
We’re starting off this year’s 12 Months of Birding at the Inn — a monthly showcase of different bird species seen at the Inn on Mill Creek — with the big and beautiful Blue Jay. The Blue Jay is considered a year-round resident in our neck of the woods near Black Mountain, NC, but we don’t see them very often, so it’s special when they do make themselves known. They tend to prefer the edge of the woods and the Inn on Mill Creek is located two miles within Pisgah National Forest, so we assume that we’re not really Blue Jay territory, even though we’re surrounded by oak trees and Blue Jays love acorns. Blue Jays also migrate (estimates are that fewer than 20% of Blue Jays migrate), but according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they have a mysterious migration pattern. For example a Blue Jay may migrate south one year and then migrate north or stay put the next year.
| American Crow [Photo Credit: Dick Daniels] |
The super-intelligent American Crow has been crowned our December 2013 bird in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn series on the blog. If you live in the continental U.S. (with the exception of the desert southwest) or Canada, you are likely familiar with this large member of the Corvidae family.
There’s just something endearing about animals with big heads and little bodies. It might be one of the reason we own pugs… but it’s also the reason why we love the Belted Kingfisher, our October bird in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn series for 2013.
| Black-throated Blue Warbler [Photo Credit: Joe Kegley] |
Heading through our “neighborhood” of Pisgah National Forest in the North Carolina mountains on its way to its winter abode in the Caribbean, the Black-throated Blue Warbler is a fairly common visitor to the Inn on Mill Creek B&B in the early fall. Thus, this beautiful songbird earns the September spot in our 2013 Birding at the Inn series on the blog.
| Eastern Phoebe at the Inn on Mill Creek says, “get my good side” |
Csaba the Innpug isn’t the only cute creature at the Inn on Mill Creek with a tail that wags. With its constantly wagging tail, good looks, and social butterfly attitude, the Eastern Phoebe is one of our favorite birds at the Inn. The Phoebe is also a longtime resident of the nest above the back porch door at the Inn on Mill Creek Bed & Breakfast, having constructed the nest in 2008. The Phoebe (we’re not sure it’s the same one, but we like to think so!) has made several upgrades to the mud and grass nest over the years, and we have helped a little as well…you might remember our blog post about the Extreme Makeover Eastern Phoebe Edition.
| Lovely little hummer at the Inn on Mill Creek |
The speedy little Ruby-throated Hummingbird is our July pick for this year’s 12 Months of Birding at the Inn series on the Inn on Mill Creek blog. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird has the distinct honor of being the eastern United States’ only breeding hummingbird, so if you see your hummers disappear for a few weeks in the summer, no worries, they’re just starting their little families and will be back soon.
