Monday, December 26, 2022

Christmas Surprise

 Greetings!!  (It's the Christmas season)

I am so excited (it takes so little), that I can finally enjoy the presence of Carolina Chickadees at my feeders!  Their antics are a joy to watch!  They seem to be very calculating, checking out the area thoroughly before attempting to eat!  Here are a few of my first attempts to capture their "silliness"!





Monday, April 5, 2021

Life Lesson

 Hello all!

Today was eventful because I got out of the house and went to Lowe's to purchase some plants.  These said plants are to be decorations in my ever growing nature preserve environment.  However, there was a bit of a situation...

There I was, strolling leisurely through the plant department in Lowe's, perusing the cacti and succulent area.  There were various varieties, along with some other ornamental plants, such as Crotons, Dracaena and the like.  The isles were tight and of course, there was a lady who HAD TO be in the same small isle I was in.  I used to leave an area like that, but lately I just stay there and figure, "she can leave if I'm too slow".  She didn't.  She followed.  As I turned the corner, of which I had no problem, she attempted the same "tricky" maneuver.  She failed.

Now, I'm going to stop here and digress.  

When you were a child, hopefully your parents taught you what I call "life filters"; ie: don't touch fire, don't eat yellow snow, don't pet a flaming dog, etc.  Now if you were me, you either didn't pay attention or just had more pressing matters to deal with when these lessons were spoken.  

That is why, today, this happened to me (now back to the story)...

The lady, who obviously failed her cart driving class, hit the wire shelf holding all the plants.  It made a rather loud noise.  I looked up at her and at the same moment, I saw something out of the corner of my eye, falling off the shelf.  Being old does not necessarily slow down some muscle reactions.  I reached out and rather easily caught the falling plant.  BAD MISTAKE!!!  It was a cactus!!  As it hit my hand, I said, rather loudly, "SHIT!".  The lady immediately apologized.  I said, "CACTUS"!  She said, "Ouch...and immediately left the area.  See picture 

So, your lesson for today, boys and girls is, "Don't catch a falling cactus!".  Note:  This will save you hours of trying to locate microscopic and/or invisible thorns.

You're welcome...

Monday, October 19, 2020

Banner Day!

 Hi all!

Today was a banner day for birding!  However, it didn't start that way!

I did my usual chores this morning and a few new ones, then I decided to see if any birds were allowing me to photograph them?  I found not many.  The female Northern Cardinal visited, as did a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, but they were sort of regulars. 


It was about 1:30pm and I paused my birding to go check the mail.  As I walked out to the mailbox, I heard, from somewhere across the street in the 300+ acres of woods, a Tufted Titmouse.  I was excited!  They haven't visited my feeders yet in the year I've been here.  In fact, I've not even seen one in the area, so to hear them close was thrilling!

At this point I knew that I had all the appropriate foods to attract them (black oil sunflower seeds, peanuts, both shelled and unshelled, fruit and mealworms), so that shouldn't be an issue.  I thought that they just needed to see the available buffet and the problem would take care of itself.

On my iPhone I have the Audubon App that has the songs of most all the birds in my area.  I brought the app up and thought that perhaps if I played it loud enough, they would hear it and come to investigate.  I played the first song.  Nothing.  As the second sound byte started I saw a few birds fly into my pecan tree, directly behind my feeders.  I looked through my camera and low and behold; Tufted Titmice!!!  Figuring that I was on a roll, I then played the first Carolina wren song.  Note: They had not been here (at least visually), for about a month.  It was seconds before one landed on my snag, then on the flat feeder, then on the peanut feeder!  

Not being a person who normally presses his luck, I thought I'd try and see if there were any Downy Woodpeckers within listening distance?  I played their first sound byte.  Unbelievably, almost immediately two flew into the pecan tree.  Now, they didn't stay long, but they did come back twice and I'm sure they now know that there is food there for them.  Time will tell.

As I thought about this amazing series of events, I saw a Brown Thrasher in the woods beyond my property line.  Why not, I thought!?!  I played their first song.  Nothing.  I played their second song.  Again nothing.  My luck had run out, it seems.  I stopped playing their songs and went back to the Carolina wren song.  As it played I saw a motion almost directly below the window in front of me.  Yes, you guessed it, a Brown Thrasher!!!!  It stayed for about five minutes, hunting for bugs, before finally catching a leaf hopper and flying away.  Amazing!!!

The day was spectacular!  Here are a few photographs as proof.  Tomorrow will also be interesting, I'm sure!!




Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Backyard Update

 Hello Quarantined Followers!

It seems that once again I've fallen into the "forget the blog" mode.  However I do have somewhat of an excuse.  Note:  The previous entry is from two weeks ago.  It seems that an update to BlogSpot glitched my publishing of it then, so I published it now.  

Now from today...

For the last couple of months I've been working on making my yard more bird friendly and closer to a natural habitat for any/all woodland creatures.  After quite a bit of hesitation, I've finished my ground feeder and put it out next to the snag.  No one, as of yet, has visited it, but I'm hopeful that someone will in the near future.  I've also planted more trees (two Azaleas and soon two Camellias, which will arrive next week).

I was quite happy to see two pair of Rose Breasted Grosbeaks visit my feeders in the past two weeks.  The males are not in full breeding plumage, however they are still a welcome site and are quite a stunning bird.  I think the female is currently much more beautiful, having their mottled black and brown feathers with a very faint reddish breastplate.
 








The Carolina wrens have come back and are very sparingly showing up, eating
a few mealworms, then leaving again.  My hope is that they nest nearby, as I enjoy their loud, raucous calls.

There are three Eurasion Collared Doves coming for some millet daily.  They are big and scare most all the other birds for a time, but eat quickly and then leave.

My Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are still here, though now there are only two.  The other four must have started their migration.  I will be sorry to see them go.

Note:  This blog is not set up nearly as neatly as I would like.  The update to BlogSpot has made this difficult.


Hello all!

I've fallen into the "ignore the blog" habit again and I swore that I wouldn't.  Sorry.  I promise I will try to be better in the future.  I think that the problem is that I'm not taking many photographs these days.  One reason for this is that my birds, for the time being, have deserted me!

Today there were only House Finches visiting.  Yesterday and the day before, and a few before that, there were none.  I think one reason is that it's too hot.  Realizing this, I started turning on the sprinkler and low and behold, more birds!  Not a ton mind you, but more.

Carolina wrens were out and about (the first time I saw them in months), looking for a nesting site.  Fingers crossed.

I'm really not complaining.  My Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays and Red Bellied Woodpeckers come everyday for peanuts (they don't stay long), as well as my four Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.

Here are a few photos from yesterday.  Enjoy...

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

And then there were none...

Today I was quite surprised when I checked in on the babies in the nest to find them gone!  I guess I miscounted and they fledged this morning.  I was thinking that they'd be around for a few more days.
Perhaps they will return to the nest tonight, before leaving tomorrow to destinations unknown.

I did get to see them today though.  They were checking out the neighborhood from a vantage point that Mom and Dad use regularly.  Their siblings were there also, I guess to wish them bon voyage.

Fly fast and free little ones.  May your lives be long and your journey's safe.

Note:  Below is the last photograph of the fledglings on the nest (just taken now).  Tomorrow they will be gone forever.




Tuesday, July 7, 2020

The Second Clutch

Sigh....

I can't seem to be consistent when it comes to this blog.  I'm trying to be.  Really!

With that being said, the first Barn Swallow clutch has left the nest and are now flying around collecting food for their younger siblings (2nd clutch).  The babies of the 2nd clutch were born about 6/25/2020 and are now about to fledge on their own (approximately 2-5 days from now).  The babies (four), of this clutch were much more vocal than their previous siblings.  I noticed that Mom was almost immediately on the nest after the first clutch left.  She and Dad cleaned the nest and spruced it up a bit for about 4-5 days.  She then laid her eggs and spent most all of the time sitting on them.  Here's a photograph of the babies when they were about 2-4 days old.


They grew fast.  I tried to take photographs daily, but forgot a few days.  Here are the babies yesterday.  They will fledge soon.  Hopefully, Mom will again have one more clutch this summer.  If not, it's truly been a pleasure watching the 'kids' grow up.

Changing the subject; the feeders out back are about the way I want them.  They continue to evolve in their positioning and content.  (See photograph).  There are House Finches (female in photo), continually throughout the day.  They seem to prefer black oil sunflower seeds and hulled sunflowers over millet and thistle.

My hummingbirds also continue to visit and today Dad brought a baby with him to feed.  The baby didn't eat, but Dad did while continually talking to him with chips and chirps.

More soon......promise.