Wildlife From Our Deck

     On the warm, lovely evening of April 25, we sat on our back deck in New Holland, Pennsylvania for about an hour and a half to enjoy spring.  And while we were there, we noticed much wildlife on our lawn and in the air above it, making our time on the deck more enjoyable and entertaining.    
     Our two side-by-side bird baths were an attraction that evening because several kinds of critters took their turns coming to them to drink and/or bathe.  Watch a bird bath to learn what creatures are living near it because most of them regularly come to it.  That evening a gray squirrel drank at one of our bird baths and so did a few house sparrows, a beautiful male white-throated sparrow, a pair of Carolina wrens, a blue jay, and a gray catbird just recently arrived here from wherever he wintered.
     The sky over our lawn was interesting with the activities of locally nesting purple grackles, American robins and mourning doves.  I saw three chimney swifts swirling over our yard after flying insects.  These small birds are back from northern South America to nest down the inside of chimneys.  And I saw a red-tailed hawk and a Cooper's hawk soar over our yard at different times.  Both these raptor species have nested in our neighborhood, and might be at this time.
     There were other, random critters on our lawn as the sun sank in the west.  I saw a baby cottontail rabbit hopping over the lawn and nibbling grass and other plants.  Every year, we have a couple of broods of cottontails born in some protected spot in our yard.  A single tiger swallowtail butterfly fluttered among the trees.  I saw and heard a pair of northern cardinals, both genders in lovely feathering.  And I saw a pair of Carolina chickadees in a pussy willow bush and a song sparrow singing from a top twig on a viburnum bush. 
     And while I was on the deck that evening, I noticed where a mourning dove and an American robin were building nests in young arborvitae trees.  Each kind of bird repeatedly flew into a tree with dried grass and other materials in its beak.  But I made no move to see the nurseries because I didn't want to disturb the birds.
     After sunset, I counted five bats, probably little browns and big browns, judging by their different sizes and ways of flying.  Sweeping and dipping after insects over our neighborhood, as elsewhere at dusk,  bats are entertaining in the air when capturing insect prey that is trying to escape.
     Sitting on our deck was enjoyable, especially when entertained by various types of wildlife.  Readers can do the same, wherever you may be.  Just get out and look for wildlife in any nearby neighborhood at any time of day..