Happy Fourth of July Everyone, Here in the Charlotte Park area of West Nashville, I have so many very welcome baby cardinals, titmice and chickadees that they are eating me out of house and home! I also have TOO many greedy baby starlings who literally ABSORB food. It is grand that the cardinals have raised their OWN babies this year. Out of seven nesting pairs last year, we only got ONE cardinal baby. The cardinal parents were busy feeding baby cowbirds. Although I have many adult cowbirds around, I haven't seen even one baby so far. Maybe my adult birds of the other species "wised up" and tossed their eggs out of the nests. Have lots of mourning doves with babies, and several mourning dove couples are shamelessly copulating again right out on my deck as I write. My mockingbirds' young have been chased away from the home front, and my three ladies are on eggs again at their respective nests. Everywhere I look, there's a chickadee or titmouse. Have about 30 of each coming around with their different parents. Lots of little house finches are still wearing their "under-fuzz" beneath their more substantial feathers. One adult male house finch has a large bulbous growth on top of his beak just where the beak joins the head. It looks very much like a large, full tick, but it is definitely a growth. I see it very close up when he comes to the feeder that hangs just outside the kitchen window. He seems healthy otherwise. A few minutes past noon, I stopped at the Hill's Grocery at the corner of Charlotte Pike and Hillwood/Annex Avenue. An absolutely GORGEOUS pale yellow-green budgerigar was flying around over the door and into the eaves where the house sparrows hang out. It then flew into the parking lot and landed on the pavement several times. It was obviously lost and "out of its element." It seemed very confused and afraid. I don't know if it is someone's escaped pet. It may have escaped from the PetsMart up the hill in the new Nashville West Shopping Center, which has either just opened or is about to open. They may be getting stock for their new store and let the bird escape in unloading or whatever. It appears to be a very healthy looking bird, but I am sure it is somewhat stressed by the unfamiliar (?) territory. He sure had the attention of everybody in the parking lot...........mostly senior citizens on this, Hill's senior citizens discount day. Super birding to you, Dee Thompson Nashville, TN ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should appear in the first paragraph. _____________________________________________________________ To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. ______________________________________________________________ TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------ Assistant Moderator Andy Jones Cleveland, OH ------------------------------- Assistant Moderator Dave Worley Rosedale, VA __________________________________________________________ Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ARCHIVES TN-Bird Net Archives at //www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/ EXCELLENT MAP RESOURCES Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com _____________________________________________________________