A male Baltimore Oriole in a Crabapple tree 💮

While looking for warblers on the nature trail, I felt like I was being watched. After looking around, I spotted the watcher. 🦝 📷: Raccoon

A pair of Sandhill Crane colts play while staying warm and cozy under their mom's wings.

A female Yellow Warbler bopping around in my backyard. A male Yellow Warbler was close by, following her around.

A Tree Swallow zips over the pond's surface, hunting for insects.

There was frost on the grass and on mama Sandhill Crane's feathers, but the colt looked quite cozy under her wings.

An Eastern Chipmunk peaks out from a tree to see if it's safe to head for the forest floor.

A young male (I believe) Baltimore Oriole bopping around in a Crabapple tree. This could be a female, but the amount of black is making me think is a young male that hatched last year.

A male Pileated Woodpecker ready for landing with flaps and landing gear deployed.

A Sandhill Crane colt goes for a piggyback ride with mama crane

This Sandhill Crane colt still has the whitish egg tooth on the tip of the beak. They use this pointy bit to help break free from their egg shell. The egg tooth is temporary and will fall off within two weeks. Photo is heavily cropped.

A male Baltimore Oriole flying over a field. They've been back for about a week and it's been lovely to hear their sweet song.

A male Pileated Woodpecker figuring out what would be a good tree to fly to next.

A Tufted Titmouse in a flowering Crabapple. 🌸

A Blue Jay showing those beautiful blues while flying across the nature trail.

A male Yellow-rumped Warbler bopping around a Maple tree, looking for tasty insects to eat.

Male Blue-gray Gnatcatchers have delightful, angry eyebrows that make them look quite fierce.

A Tree Swallow about to have a little in-flight snack (the dark spot is some sort of flying insect.)

An American Red Squirrel, also known as a Pine Squirrel, watching people walking past on the nature trail. I felt like I was being judged. 😂

A male American Goldfinch in flowering Crabapple tree, pausing for a moment before singing his cheerful song.

The newly hatched Sandhill Crane colt (a young Crane), along with an egg that would hatch the next day. At this age, colts have light blue eyes.

A Red-winged Blackbird perches on a cattail to watch over the marsh.

A male Wood Duck flying through the forest, following his lady as they look for a good nest cavity.

A Black-capped Chickadee excavating a nest cavity. Chickadees often choose dead snags and stumps as the soft wood is easier to remove. They also will nest in old Downy Woodpecker nest cavities and in nest boxes.

A young Sandhill Crane (note yellow eye, adults have orange) splash landed close to a Sandhill Crane family. This put the Sandhill Crane family on alert; mama crane kept the young one safe under her wing while dad flew over and chased the young crane away shortly after the family photo was taken.

A Sandhill Crane colt (a baby crane), less than 24 hours old, takes a snooze in the sunshine next to mama crane.

A Pileated Woodpecker with a few woodchips on his beak from carving out a cavity while looking for ants.

A Sandhill Crane adds to reeds to the nest while the other incubates the two eggs.

A Cottontail Rabbit with a tiny white stripe on the forehead hopping around in the backyard. We have plenty of dandelions for the rabbits to munch on.

A female Red-winged Blackbird gathers plant material to weave together to make her nest in the cattails.

After last night's rains, Barn Swallows (with red throat) were gathering mud from puddles along with small bits of grass from the nature trail to build their nests. A Tree Swallow stopped by the mud puddles as well, but these birds are cavity nesters and generally don't use mud for their nests.

An Eastern Chipmunk about to tuck into an acorn.

A Sandhill Crane doing a swan impression. The crane was chasing a Canada Goose that had gotten too close to the nest.

A Pileated Woodpecker hangs upside down while considering if he should move to another tree or stick with this one. He ended up sticking with this one.

A Redheaded Woodpecker clears out some wood chips while working on a nest cavity.

A female Downy Woodpecker perches along the nature trail, waiting for a suet nugget.

A Cottontail rabbits (there's one in the background) helping with the grass in the backyard.

A Blue Jay gathers small twigs for a nest.

Great Blue Herons passing close by on their way to the rookery to add sticks to their nests.

A Yellow Warbler bopping his way to the end of the branch while on the hunt for insects.

One of the lovely warblers visiting my backyard, a Yellow-rumped Warbler. A few of these birds overwinter here in Michigan by surviving on berries, but many more pass through in the Spring.

A Tree Swallow dives off a branch to begin an aerial hunt for insects.

A male Pileated Woodpecker fluffs up his head feathers while checking out trees for food in the marsh.

Ring-necked Ducks get their name from a hard-to-see dark brown ring at the base of their necks. Typically only seen when the males are stretching their necks (females do not have the ring.)

A male Wood Duck shakes his colorful crest while perched up in the tree tops, waiting for his lady to choose a nesting site.

A Great Blue Heron flares his tail feathers as he lands in the woods to hunt down sticks for the nest.

"Psst...got any peanuts?" -Gray Squirrel

Mr. and Mrs. Eastern Bluebird, a bird couple hunting for insects along the edge of a marsh.

A Wild Turkey tom looking to impress the hen in the background. She ended up hopping off the log, heading away from him and went looking for food.

I was delighted to hear the "sweet-sweet-I'm-so-sweet" song of the Northern Yellow Warbler in my backyard marsh yesterday. Two of them were singing; perhaps they having a sing-off to see who gets to nest in the area.