Lots of Baby Birds!

After a disappointing spring in terms of warbler sightings (something I look forward to every year), it became a remarkable time for baby bird sightings!

In my neighborhood there are three main places where I go to photograph wildlife.  They are all in a row:  an English college; a cemetery; and a French college.

In a tall conifer on the front lawn of the first college, a pair of Merlins raised a family of four chicks; in a large maple tree in the cemetery, a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks raised three chicks; and on the beautiful façade of the second college's main building, five Raven chicks were raised.

These created wonderful opportunities to photograph and watch the development of these beautiful (and vocal!) young birds.

MERLINS

Mother on the nest with her chicks

Three of the chicks still sporting some of their downy feathers

Out of the nest for a short foray to another branch

A young Merlin trying out his wings

RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS

Mother

Father

Two of the young hawks

RAVENS

The mother is in the middle

The five chicks waiting for food

Even more neighbourhood wildlife

To continue to report on wildlife sightings in my area, here are a few more (including new photos of species already mentioned).

Brown Creeper

Chipping Sparrow

Raven and Crow

White-throated Sparrow

Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

Hermit Thrush

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Bee

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Northern Cardinal

And below is another shot of the Cooper's Hawk.  I have found their new nest and watched one pulling bark off a tree to carry it to the nest.  I guess they are in an early stage of preparing it.

I will just mention two other birds that were seen but not photographed:  a Common Flicker and a Brown Thrasher.

I look forward to more species as migration progresses!