Trick or treat?

This is not the trick-or-treater I expected!

He has come calling just outside the window.

It is a great costume. I suspect Hawk is not waiting for candy.

Too bad I don't have some tasty mice in the Halloween bowl.

In the Pokeweed

Who loves the poke weed? Lots of birds, that's who.

Every time I look out the window I see birds in the poke weed.

Here's a flock of sparrows - and someone else.

Can you find mockingbird in this picture?

For a while Catbird kept chasing other birds out of the bush. Catbird did not want to share those good poke berries!

But now Catbird has flown away for the Winter and other birds can eat the berries.

Lots of House Sparrows are enjoying the feast.

They don't mind sharing with Towhee!

Hood Ornament

You may wonder why I am taking a picture of the garbage can. This is the view out the kitchen window from the sink. Usually I watch a flock of feeding birds on the edge of the driveway - just about where that patch of sunshine is - this is where I scatter seed in the morning.

You don't see any flocks of little birds down there right now.

Look closer and you'll see why.
A little hawk is decorating the lid of the garbage can.

Is a baby catbird a kittenbird?

While we were watching the tree trimming out the bedroom window, we saw something moving in the bushes by the corner. It was a fledgling catbird, just out of the nest.
No wonder the catbirds have been chasing everyone away from that corner!

Tree trimming

We had a thunderstorm a couple of weeks ago. After the storm you couldn't see the waterfall. This was because a huge limb of the mulberry had broken and fallen down. It split the trunk down to the bottom. Most of the limb was caught in lower branches so the whole thing was precariously balanced over the back of the waterfall.

This called for a tree trimming crew! They came last week with gigantic trucks - which they BACKED all the way from the upper shed down to the pond!

That was one impressive feat of driving!
The main truck had a bucket on it that took the tree cutting guy up and down and back and forth so that he could get his chainsaw in the right place to cut the limbs.

Naturally, Granddad wanted to watch the action. He had a great view from the bedroom window. It was fine entertainment for him!
Nothing more fun than watching people work.

I thought of you tree-climbing sorts as they scrambled up in the tree and swung down on ropes.

Granddad wasn't the only one watching the action.

Do you see the hummingbird in this picture?
This feisty bird was not fazed by the noisy saws and chipper - he just kept coming and going from his feeder.
When all was done and they'd cleaned up the twigs and sawdust and the trucks had trekked back up the yard and everything was quiet again, Granddad said: "Now what are we going to have done tomorrow?"

Hummmmm

I got a fat envelope in the mail this week.
Inside were some wonderful letters and a newspaper article all about hummingbirds.

How did Sarah know that this is the time of year when we have lots and lots of hummingbirds in our yard?


We have three special feeders for them that I fill with sugar water.
Right now they seem very hungry!
The article says that they have to eat at least every 30 minutes when they are not sleeping.
And they eat twice their body weight every day.
But with all the flying around they do, they never gain weight.


If you look out the window at the feeder, you are sure to see one of the young hummingbirds. If you sit outside and watch them you will hear them too. It's their wings that humm - their voices are little chittery tweets.
If you take out the camera to get a picture, they move away fast.
So I have a LOT of pictures of places where a hummingbird was just a second ago.

I wait and wait and snap and snap and get lots of very blurry pictures.

I knew the wings would be blurry - they move something like 20 times a second.

Sometimes they sit on the rim of the feeder. Snap! Caught one looking up.

What about those beautiful hummingbird colors? The iridescent green, the sparkling ruby throat? The sun's on the other side of the feeder. I just get silhouettes. Guess I'll have to just keep trying to take the perfect picture of a hummingbird.
In the meantime I'll read all the interesting facts in the article Sarah sent.

New birds

All over the yard you can hear the chirps of new birds.

You might like to look around this time of year.
If you look through the grass carefully you might find the delicate shells of tiny bird eggs.

And if you follow the cheep cheep cheep sound you might find a brand new fledgling that has just left its nest.

Spring Cleaning

Brrr. It's a chilly early Spring day out there even though there's some sunshine.

What is that blur in the water outside the window? Song Sparrow having a spring bath.

It's awfully cold to be in the water, isn't it?

Just watch him flutter and splash - he's serious about this getting clean.

Every time I think he's done, he jumps back in.

I guess the lady Song Sparrow will appreciate his well-washed feathers!

Too cold for frogs

It must be Spring. There's the Red-shouldered Hawk perched above the pond. Puffed up in the chilly morning air. Waiting for frogs. Last year there were frogs about now.
While Hawk waits in the cold for a frog, someone is trying to hold very still.
Can you spot Squirrel on the trunk of the tree?
Hawk doesn't see him.

Wait! Hawk does spy something moving down there.
That looks like a BIG meal!

Socks! You'd better come home NOW!

Him and Her

A flash of red in the dull tangle of the leafless bush - I spy Cardinal!

Can't miss him.

I point the camera and click! I have his picture. When I look at the picture on the computer I see that I got TWO cardinals - and I didn't even notice the other one when I was taking the picture.

Do you see her?

I hear you knocking but you can't come in

Who is tapping at the window? Oh, it's little Sparrow.
"Come on," chirp the sparrows, "Let us in! It's below zero out here!"

Mourning Dove is cold but not unhappy

"Snow on my shoulders?" "It's okay", says Dove.

"Under those outside feathers I have soft fluffy ones to keep me warm"
A little snow, a little ice - no matter.
It meant no shadows on Groundhog's Day.
And you know what that means!
Spring is coming SOON.

They're Back!

Every year we wait and watch for the birds that flew south last Fall to come back.

One by one I count them off: brown thrasher, catbird, house wren, chipping sparrow.... and the latest: the hummingbird!

Birdbrain

Every year the same thing happens. Some bird catches a glimpse of its own reflection in one of the windows. The poor deluded creature thinks it is seeing another bird. It challenges the reflection - and spends days attacking the window to drive off the "other bird".

This year the tapping and flapping at the window has begun early.
Flop! Thud!

Over and over and over again.

Over and over you hear "Wink! Che-Wink!" piping outside just before the wings hit the window.
Usually the bird is a Robin or Catbird.

Usually the bird is a male.

Not this year.
This year it is a female Towhee attacking the glass.

The hawk returns

I looked out the bedroom window and saw this character watching the pond. I think it is the same hawk that was catching frogs last year. I wanted to get a closer look so I crept out the front door and snuck around the house. I hoped he wouldn't see me until I was close enough to get a good picture.
But when I tiptoed around the spruce tree the branch was bare.
It's hard to sneak up on a hawk!

Winter snacks

Who likes to eat suet on a snowy afternoon? "I do!" says Red-bellied Woodpecker.

"Me too!" say Carolina Wren and Downy Woodpecker.

Some prefer corn and seed.

Like Cardinal and Sparrow.

And what about Crow?

Crow wants more left-over macaroni and cheese!

At the Zoo

The flamingos all got together. "Are you all ready?"

one...

two...

three...

Go to sleep, everyone!

Frog legs for dinner

Uh-oh. Look up in the tree by the pond. Someone is waiting for dinner. Wasn't he here yesterday, too? Hawk, are you back again? Do you think this is a restaurant?
"Don't bother about me," says the Hawk. "I'll serve myself"

"I just fancy some frog sushi for dinner"

I go to visit some birds

I went to visit an old farm where lots of birds live.

There were chickens and ducks and geese and turkeys. What is this turkey looking at?
There is a bird up in the tree. That's a BIG bird. Do you see it? It's making a LOUD noise!

Here's one on the ground. It is Peacock!

Look on top of the house - do you see a long tail?

If we walk around front we can see peacock preening his long feathers while he sits on the roof.

But he doesn't like all of us looking at him.

So he flies up in the tree.

Now do you see two peacocks in the tree?

It must be hard to land in the tree with such long tail feathers.