The past few days, a Northern Mockingbird has been sitting on and around the feeders, perched for long time just looking around, I’m surprise that he’s alone and not with a couple like they usually do. I don’t see many birds this time of the year, I think that next season, winter will bring more birds to the feeders.

I’m displaying some shots of the Northern Mockingbird and some shots of Eastern Bluebirds I shot last year.

I’m still planning my trip to the Savannah area and the marshes and Islands in the coast of Georgia. Can’t wait to be there!

by Carl Strang

Earlier this week I completed my first year of observations at Mayslake Forest Preserve. Many of the posts in this blog, which also is approaching its first birthday, have shared pieces of Mayslake’s ongoing natural history. It’s appropriate to look back at what I have learned there so far. Today I’ll simply share some numbers, the counts of species I have observed on the preserve to date.

Resident vertebrates include 14 species of mammals, 4 reptiles and 3 amphibians (though additional frogs have been observed at Mayslake by others in recent years). The bird species count is 130, many of which were migrants passing through. I saw evidence for successful nests, fledging at least 1 young, in the following 21 species: eastern bluebird, chimney swift, song sparrow, house wren, eastern kingbird, robin, northern flicker, blue jay, eastern phoebe (cowbird produced), chipping sparrow (cowbird produced), downy woodpecker, red-winged blackbird, red-bellied woodpecker, common grackle, black-capped chickadee, tree swallow, European starling, blue-gray gnatcatcher, Baltimore oriole, white-breasted nuthatch, mallard.

The insect species count is only 97 so far, but most of these belong to 4 groups to which I have directed most of my attention: 26 species of singing insects, 29 dragonflies and damselflies, 24 butterflies and moths, and 6 bumblebees.

Likewise my attention to Mayslake’s vegetation has been limited to certain groups of vascular plants. These include 49 trees (including those planted by landowners prior to forest preserve acquisition), 23 vines and shrubs, and 184 forbs. I’ll elaborate the last a little by mentioning genera represented by 4 or more species: so far I know of 4 Asclepias (milkweeds), 6 Aster, 4 Erigeron (fleabanes), 5 Eupatorium (a diverse genus including Joe Pye weeds, bonesets, and white snakeroot), 4 Polygonum (knotweeds), 5 Ranunculus (buttercups), and 7 Solidago (goldenrods).

Now that the cool weather is hitting parts of Georgia, especially in the North side, I see less birds stopping to eat from our feeders. Once in a while I hear the honking of high flying geese heading South. The foliage is turning to beautiful colors rapidly, our Bermuda grass lawn is already half brown, the young oaks we have in our landscaping are already shedding leaves.

Here are some photos taken a couple of days ago, before rain got back to darken sky and get everything wet.

I had made plans to go out and see some of the foliage close to our area of town but I guess it will have to wait!

The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) pictured above graced us with his presence a few years ago in my former garden. Birdgirl, who took this photograph, and I were both delighted to have bluebirds nesting in the yard. When the temperature dips and we start waking up to a layer of ice on puddles and birdbaths, my thoughts always turn to Robert Frost and his wonderful poem about a little bird’s parting words as he sets out on his long journey south.

The Last Word of a Bluebird (as Told to a Child)

As I went out a Crow
In a low voice said, “Oh,
I was looking for you,
How do you do?
I just came to tell you
To tell Lesley (will you?)
That her little Bluebird
Wanted me to bring word
That the north wind last night
That made the stars bright
And made ice on the trough
Almost made him cough
His tail feathers off.
He just had to fly!
But he sent her Goodbye
And said to be good,
And to wear her red hood,
And look for skunk tracks
In the snow with an axe –
And do everything!
And perhaps in the spring
He would come back and sing.”

Here are some more photos of my backyard visitors.

Eastern Bluebird sp. name: “Sialia Sialis”

Description:

The Eastern Bluebird is a small thrush with large head, large eyes, long wings and short legs. The bill is shot and straight.

The male species are vivid deep blue above and rusty or brick red on throat and breast.

Females are grayish blue with bluish wings and tail, pale orange-brown breast.

Their habitat: They live in meadows or open areas surrounded by trees where they can find a suitable place to nest.

I’ve observed that other birds are not very friendly with bluebirds because they tend to steal eggs from nests. But I love to see them around!

Eastern Bluebird (Male)

Eastern Bluebird (Female)

by Carl Strang

The end of the nesting season for birds has arrived. The cowbirds at Mayslake Forest Preserve have shaken out the last of their eggs, and the fledglings have matured.

Song sparrows, chipping sparrows, and phoebes were among the last foster parents. The phoebes, as far as I can tell, raised only cowbirds in their two nestings at Mayslake this year. Better news was a brood of bluebirds, produced in one of the bird houses adjacent to the mansion grounds.

Indigo buntings continued to sing and nest well into the season.

But the latest nester of all, for which I have no photo at this time, is the goldfinch. Goldfinches have a diet entirely of seeds, and take advantage of the abundant seed production at the end of the season to raise their young in late July and August.

by Carl Strang

We are well into the nesting season for nearly all species of birds in northeastern Illinois. The white-breasted nuthatches in the savanna have fledged their young.

There were four fledglings. They moved about 50 yards from the nest and stayed in a small area for a few days, then drifted west out of the savanna. Nearby, blue-gray gnatcatchers scrambled to keep up with the demands of their more scattered youngsters.

The red-bellied woodpeckers (one pair on the preserve) have their young near to fledging. Here an older nestling peers out,

and soon is gratified by Mom’s arrival.

Meanwhile, a male bluebird has been favoring a song perch atop the chapel.

(That’s the tip of a lightning rod behind his head). Several bluebird houses are near, but some are occupied by tree swallows. I have seen fledgling swallows recently, which means there are vacancies. A final bird topic pertains to chimney swifts.

A review of the literature on the species indicated that a given chimney will have only one nest in it. The Mayslake mansion provides for a possible inquiry on this subject. Some active chimneys have been capped, and so are unavailable.

Other chimneys are not capped. I once saw a swift drop into one of the chimneys in this pair.

Here is yet another tall chimney.

Especially intriguing are the fake chimneys.

This set of 8 stacks is entirely decorative, but I have twice seen swifts drop into one of the holes in the southwest quarter. This is where the potential for inquiry comes in. Given that a single hole will have only one swift nest, do the extra holes in clustered chimneys, fake or real, provide additional nesting habitat or will one pair claim the entire cluster? I have not seen swifts entering chimneys often at Mayslake, but I will continue to collect observations in hopes of addressing this question.

Good grief ….. are they knocking again already??? I’ve given them directions today at least 50 times …….

Knock knock knock – Ruby? Knock knock knock knock ….. RUBY???? It’s me. Are you in there? It’s around 5 or so, and I told you I’d be by your tree around 5 or so. Is it OK to fly in now, or would you like me to fly in a little later?

Oh … Hi King. I thought it was the kids again. Could you give me about two hours? The dreadful heat today and all the local children coming by and knocking on my limb to ask directions to the beach has given me an awful crown-ache, and I’d like to take a quick bird bath and freshen up a bit first if that’s OK with you.

King? Are you still out there on a limb for me? If so, could you please fly in and give me a hand with the snap on the back of this new cocktail dress I ordered for this special occasion?

Wowwwww….. I sure hope I’ll grow up to have a gal like that Ruby gal who orders such beautiful cocktail dresses for….. I don’t know what for but I ….

No ma’am – I’m not just day dreaming again and doing nothing again, and yes yes yes….. I’m am still working the camouflage technique after the swoop like you said I should….

You’re still looking VERY good from here, and that’s just not good enough! Try to fit in better with all of your surroundings after the swoop like I’ve shown you before…. like this, and if you have caught no bugs by yourself by 8 p.m., then you will just have to go to bed bug-less tonight, I guess….. I can’t keep giving in and bringing you bugs…..

Hey there! You like this fence too??? Listen, friend – please don’t tell them I flew from this fence today to hang in those those blueberry bushes behind you that the red bird is flying into now to watch that freak show going on in there – you know, the one with the cat who has wings and can sing like a bird….

Don’t worry……I won’t…… I cannot see anything…. I can’t even see you….. I cannot see the blue bushes behind me…. I cannot see the red bird ….. I do not think I eat blueberries……. I do not know my reds and blues yet …. I am so confused…. I was told to sit with the fence….. I am so hungry…. I am so scared……

poor damn kid….. it’s a shame to have to be so little and to have to learn all those blues and reds while having to sit with the fence

Is that a big bird with a big red head who just showed up below me? My parents said a big bird with a big red head might show up below me to practice on a bird cage and that I should not imitate you or be scared of you or scared of bird cage below me….

Yes I am a big bird with a big red head on bird cage who showed up below you to practice. Do you know why bungee cords aren’t everywhere for clinging?

All I know is I am so hungry and so scared and I think something just showed up behind me and I don’t know my blues from my reds and I am so scared

You think you’re scared!! My dad told me I had to go work with him on the roof today where there are no bungee cords at ALL for clinging to! Don’t be scared that was just your big sister, and she just flew off

Thank God for big sisters. I think I hear your dad banging on the roof, and I think I hear my dad asking that blue bird again if he will give me more lessons today…

Thanks for showing up to help. We think our youngest boy had enough purple and house finch lessons and won’t need anymore goldfinch lessons, but he is having a hard time learning his reds and understanding why blue has nothing to do with finch life. My wife sends her apologies to you all again for our boy begging for food from your wife yesterday. We hope she was able to eat in peace some today without Junior there with his mouth wide open again…. poor boy, I guess he’ll eventually learn…

Son, you’re beginning to worry us some. We didn’t tell you to so sit with the fence. We told you to sit with the finch. And Mrs. Indy – the small bluish bird about the size of your mom….. the one you’ve been begging from lately?? She is not a finch mother who might put food in your mouth if you just stand there long enough and keep it open long enough….

What are you trying to find looking down? If it’s what I think it is ….don’t worry about that horrible snake event you witnessed last week or that lady you always see …. you know – the one who stands on two legs and doesn’t fly?? She was not standing in the middle of azaleas shaking those limbs and beating the bush with the rake in an attempt to hurt any birds. We have told you and told you – she was trying to make that snake in those bushes come out so she could put another snake in that garbage can that carries snakes away. We don’t know why she won’t use the hoe on their head …..

There ya’ go…… it’s just like those things we used to bring home and stuff in that big gaping mouth of yours you used to have open 24/7 wanting another meal stuffed in it except now you have to pick it up yourself and put that special twist into it – the one your sister learned last week and keeps singing….. C’mon on every birdy! Clap your hands! All ya looking good! I’m gonna sing my song! It won’t take long! We’re gonna do the twist and it goes like this!

Is there a bungee cord I’m supposed to be clinging to on this thing while I twist?

Way to go, BABY BROTHER!

Mister GoldFunkel, that is IT! I’ve had it with your insults about my weighty plumage every time I come in for a landing. It’s bad enough I have to negotiate this flippin’ thing to get a good meal, but to keep hearing your insults every time I get here???? How ’bout I tell the Missy Goldfunkel where I saw you having breakfast this morning, making a total finch out of yourself again with that new gold on the block, or would YOU like to tell her while I perch here with the two of you and correct your memory you’re always bragging about that I bet you’ve suddenly lost.

But darlin’…. please come back! That so-called red bird friend of yours that you just flew off with who always makes our meals together seem so one-sided when she shows up is NOT telling the truth!!! I was NOT having breakfast – I didn’t even SEE the new gold in there! I was just hanging out in those yellow flowers I told you about – you know, the ones I told you about last week …. the ones I wanted us to have lunch together in some day…..???? I was just watching them bloom!

Really? I bet if you try to make me drop off this bad squirrel proof feeder that all your friends just flew from, I’m going to tell her next time I see her that I’ve got a camera now and have proof of the whole thing… all of it….

Blondes. I guess it’s true – they’ll believe anything.

HONEY??!!! I’m over HERE!!! I SAW THAT BOX LAST WEEK!!! My voice is about shot!

This is the one I want….. would you PAH-LEEEZE start bringing the nesting material to THIS box that I have chosen for us this time before one of my friends beats me to it….

Good GRIEF!  I have seen it already!    There are so many flowers outside that box and the view is so…so…. so colorful and flowery and….. I know you love flowers and want our children to learn all about them as soon as they open their eyes, but this box over here …. it’s our FAVORITE – or USED TO BE!

I see it….. I can see just fine…. you don’t have to stand up there and watch me work again….. why don’t you go do something…. like…. like fly off to the local store and get me some Ray-Ban polarized sunglasses.

WHAT???? Am I doing what again??? No sir! No Ma’am! I’m not doing that again, not at all…… I was just…. You want me to stand where. OK…

OK…. can you see me now??? I don’t know why I’m so wet. No sir, no – I haven’t been at this beach all day. I just got here.  What about the peanuts???

I thought you said the peanuts I was supposed to be learning how to shell would have hard shells all around them, you know….. shells? Like seashells by the sea shore? That is the ONLY reason I am at the beach you told me to quit coming to last week! I’m coming!! Let me look one more time for the shell!

Female Cardinal

Female Bluebird

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Female Brown-headed Cowbird

Female Pileated Woodpecker

Go East, Young Gal…

After such a terrifying entrance into the world at their box with the poor little snake stuck in their predator guard and ensuing Polk Weed event….

They’ve spread their wings and are flying high!

I was hoeing in the Butternut squash garden near the farming field, just watching them. And of course …the camera was around my neck. Poor camera. It sure has taken a beating lately. Between snakes and snappers and Peanuts… and now hot and steamy butternut squash rows with Bluebird fledglings in the trees, watching mom and pop.

And garbage cans….

Can I fix that one little beautiful hair … I mean feather outta place?

No? OK….

What the %&@$ kind of bird is that in the sky flying over Peanuts?!

Guess he wants a bird’s eye view. Why the heck would someone want to sprout wings with an engine and fly like that over peanuts? Doesn’t he have anything better to do…. like stand on the ground and rescue snakes, or something? Maybe hoe or run the tiller? teehee…. : -) Besides, that funky sounding engine up there is upsetting the Red-shouldered Hawks…..

whose fledglings I hope to be seeing soon!

Went to the garden “below” with my hoe down from the butternut garden to chop away between the okra and squash rows….

I am so easily distracted… I love watching the Phoebe. For some reason, I always start singing that song Phoebe Snow did in the 70’s when I see the little Phoebe….

“you’re the poetry man… you make things alright, yeah yeah yeah”

Eastern Phoebe

The okra got chopped, maters got staked, the last of the radishes got plucked (what a wonderful, earthy taste!) and we had spring onions with baked chicken for supper and gas for dessert.

That’s OK…. can always work dessert off in the gardens.

The eggplant plants are blooming. It was planted for friends who love eggplant. I’ve never been an eggplant fan, but they promise to turn me into one before the summer is over. Something about …. they grind it up into some kind of dip or paste and slab the tasty (so they say) concoction on pita bread, or between it, or…. (sounds kind of like a pasty mushy slimy-like concoction…. I love “okra slimy” – just don’t know if I can acquire -at this ripe age – such fondness for eggplant slimy. The teeny purple bloom is pretty. But not as pretty as the big okra bloom. Oh just give the poor eggplant a chance, would you?

OK OK do your thing and make eggplant. I’m like Mikey – I’ll try anything.

The zinnias are blooming ……

Our white-tailed friends love to eat them!

Right now, they have plenty of clover to munch on and other young tasty things to run through …

Eastern Kingbird …. making such a fuss over bugs. Don’t squash them – just eat them!

Zoom Zoom Zoom…..

Got that bug!! I know a bug when I see a bug. Yeah! It’s one of those fuzzy bugs!

Eastern Kingbird

While I’m back editing, here’s some tid-bit info on water snakes just in case you or anyone you know gets a notion that one “needs killing” instead of “needs to be left alone” (unless you want to relocate it!)

Sensational Serpents

Redbelly Water Snake

Snakes of North Carolina

We have so many snakes around here. This is what Spider Cat brought inside the house last year and deposited at my feet …..

howzya likes me now… I laze around and hunts up all dee snacks I see firz you….

skink … I tinks I see a skinks … I tink the stinks may fall on my had…

Spider and the boss, Miss Fatz, get to go outside but only under very close supervision now (no catch birds, no catch lizards, no bring me snakes anymore) plus we heard what we thought might be a coyote a few months ago. Not sure, but there’s been increased sightings in this area.

or they get to ramble around in their Cat House Romper Room area where catnip grows and cats nap.

Chewbaccy, you’re looking mighty… uh…. “all spiffed up”, shall we say, for Chewy. You sure you ‘ain’t been hanging out in flower bed a little too long?

I know I won’t let you and your mama go on the boat with me, but…. and .. yeah yeah – it’s totally wonderful that you take time to smell the flowers – for sure! Everyone needs to do that!

Oh … yes, I do see the boot slobber on that lower lip.

I sure miss those boots….

So much for all spiffed ….

Look at the bird! Look at the bird up there!

Took the afternoon off (only day of the week) that isn’t supposed to rain) and went to the Pinery to walk the trails and look for birds.  It was a little gusty, but mostly sunny and a wonderful day to be outside.  Didn’t wear a hat so my face got a little red. 

There were alot of birds singing and flying about.  Most notable were a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO heard singing and then seen flying from tree to tree.  Later there was another one near the river.  Great views.  Also saw a beautiful male BLUEBIRD.  Lots of ORIOLES and CEDAR WAXWINGS, about too.

In the spirit of today’s earlier post,  it’s been a good week for bird watching.

I’m not what you would call an “avid” bird watcher.  I do have a “life list”, but it’s not up to date.  I don’t even know where it is right now.  And I don’t go out of my way to add to it, or rush around to try to spot some rare or exotic thing that has shown up in the Chicago area.  There are only a few birds that I can identify by song or call.

I just happen to know the birds I like.  And this week, I’ve been blessed to see a bunch of them.  Most of them were near my work: first a rose-breasted grosbeak, then four indigo buntings (possibly the same one on multiple occasions), and finally an eastern bluebird.  And around our home, we’ve had a house wren eyeing a bird house that my oldest daughter made four years ago, which was mounted on our fence but unused until now.  That in itself has been a good lesson in patience.

Small joys.

(Eastern Bluebird by Ken Thomas, published on wikipedia)

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern bluebird

“The bluebird carries the sky on his back.”
     — Henry David Thoreau

Minnesota is the summer home of many colorful migratory birds.  I loved the flashes of blue from swooping bluebirds, which I have never seen in Seattle.  I also enjoyed yellow goldfinches, blue jays, red cardinals, and yellow-headed blackbirds.

“O if one could but fly like a bird!”
     — Walt Whitman

Goldfinch

Blue jay on Dad's bird feeder

(going to try this again) Burstmode’s comment (by the way – there’s some really nice photos on Burstmode’s) on another post alerted me to strange phenomenon I see going on on my blog – double posts, half posts, posts out of order. I don’t know how to straighten it out – guess I should start with reading Blogging for Dummies but …. don’t have time. Date change might suffice in the meantime. Pardon the confusion!

After a rocky week of rocky rolly weather popping up everywhere at all hours of the day and night ……

with damaging hail – golf ball size – damaging winds, lightning like we’ve never seen, heard, or felt before (at least – not in a long while) tornado warnings and tornado watches, town sirens sounding off to warn everyone to take cover…

taking cover and wondering if our out-of-town friends might get an unexpected early flight out – compliments of mother nature – we were glad to see some blue in the skies that afternoon!

The rain that came with the storms this week was badly needed. As I love hearing it said, “the creek needs rising”. We had a severe drought last summer that lasted well into an unusually dry winter, and so everyone welcomes the needed rain and thunderstorms. There’s a silver lining to every cloud: At least it wasn’t July and golf ball size hail.

We were “between storms” (more expected later) and so I decided to go check out the creek to see if it had risen any since last week. Still below its banks, this is the lower part of the Contentnea Creek, one of Carolina’s finest. Heritage, history, generation after generation – it’s cherished territory that runs deep.

Spanish moss – it’s so beautiful – the way it hangs and drapes like long, curly gray hair almost as if it wants to be washed by the creek but can’t quite reach it. Birds love it.

I walked down the steep bank to get to the water’s edge – to the narrow trail that skirts along the creek bank. The creek’s a little low, but it’s on the rise. Walking the creek bank can be like walking on fresh banana peels all the time but especially after a rain and when it’s low. It’s always a nice feeling to feel that next vine, tree root, cypress knob or limb you’re reaching for so you can take “just one more step” without your feet coming out from under you.

I noticed the familiar, beautiful, little bluish-purple delicate flower that’s always nice to see on the creek bank and wetlands this time of year – one I’ve always enjoyed seeing but one I’ve never identified – is blooming.

I kept hearing it ….. up ahead a ways ….. an occasional chirrrrr-ip chirrr-ipppp.

You’re cute, but… nope – it’s not you.

With my eyes on the general area – getting closer one step at a time, pausing to listen for the chirrrrr-ippp’ing again ….. then another step or two, pause, wait and listen….. another chirrrrr-ipp’ing – closer…. I was almost directly under it. Chirrrr-ippppp, chirrrrrr-ipp. If it would just make some movement – fly just a little, make the leaves wiggle – do something so I could see something – something other than just green. I bet I stood there 30 minutes looking up at that same green area. It was in there. It was starting to rain. Rain never hurt anyone, but that thunder I was hearing in the distance……

Finally – one little teeny brief and beautiful moment with the teeny beautiful Northern Parula – one of only a few birds that nests in Spanish moss.

Whatbird – Northern Parula

The Bluebirds have been feeding their babies who are getting noisy by now …. FEEED ME FEEED ME!

Speaking of Bluebirds, we had a catastrophe on our hands the other day. I was working in the garden late afternoon – everything was status quo, I was taking note of the things I normally take note of that time of day – tree frogs starting up, wetlands starting to wake up for the night, the Pileated making one last round….the usual – and all the sudden I heard Bluebirds begin to “raisin’ cane.” I knew it meant trouble, and so I took off running as fast as I could to the box.

I scanned the immediate area for an immediate weapon. There it was – a young Polk Weed plant about a foot high. That would do it.

WHAM WHAM WHAM don’t you dare slither one more inch foward, Buddy Roe – just back yourself right on up the same way you came in.

I noticed something wasn’t quite normal looking. After all that swatting the snake wasn’t attempting to flee. I gave the pulverized Polk Weed a rest long enough to take a closer look at the snake, from above – standing on my tip-toes looking down upon the snake. It was stuck – stuck good. All I could see was snake body woven in the hardware cloth. CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME??” I tried to flip the snake out of the hardware cloth – it was stuck – so bad. Feeling a bit sorry for the snake (truly) and wishing there was a way I could get him unstuck and released two miles down the dirt road…. “CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?”

My release plan would have to happen quick because if all that help arrived I was hollering for, there would be no “Snake Round-Up and Release” like last year let alone a snake untangling and release. That would be that. And help arrived, and that was that. With all evidence removed from the scene, the Bluebirds finally quietened down and return to their babes. All is well in the box!

These water snakes, which can be found everywhere on the creek, get really big. They’re not poisonous, but they can be aggressive.

This water snake who was in our rock garden last year was big, too. I didn’t know how aggressive water snakes could be until I convinced myself that the water snake in our rock garden who would not leave just needed to be rounded up. Armed with a rubbermaid trash container and long rod…..

And a secure fittting top -

Unlike some other snakes I know, he was rounded up and released.

Do you care to explain why you did that? I have friends that hang out in the rock garden.

I think I’m going to hide for a while….

You need to work a little bit on that camouflage, Red. Find something green like me.

Late! Late! For a very important date!

Oh how I wish! We’re waiting on these beauties who showed up last year on May 1st, but they’ve not shown up yet!

OK OK … just please stop looking at me like that, and I’ll say it! You’re beautiful, too!

If she won’t tell you, I will – Please get the hell off my feeder!

Goodness she has a temper…… I’m kind of shy – I hope she won’t tear into me like she did that Grackle.

I don’t know about you, Maude, but this wooden salad bowl she’s put under our table makes this the perfect spread, don’t cha’ think?

I had to come up with a quick fix when the bottom of the feeder was kind of accidentally ripped off when the whole feeder was kind of accidentally still affixed to the ladder that was in the back of the truck that was driving off when – after the feeder was blown from the tree during some very high winds – we had to put the ladder in the back of the truck to get it hung on the same high limb it had been hanging on. Nothing like a nice perch for the Cowbird!

It’s usually shortly after the Brown-headed Cowbirds show up that the Grosbeaks aren’t far behind, and so….. get ready to move over, Cowbird!

I can’t whistle any louder – would you please get her attention for me since you’re already down there and tell her I’ll be right back after I clean up all these pine blossoms from the window sills before the Chickadees get them.

Judy? JUDY, come quick! There’s someone in our spare bedroom who was not here last month. They’re very nice, and I heard them asking someone if it was the Bluebird they heard at 3 a.m. singing its heart out in the dark – that they thought that was really really neat – and so since we always want one up on that territorial gray and white bird who starts singing at 3 a.m. and wakes the whole forest up for no reason, just tell them if they happen to ask you that – yes, it was us – the really neat Bluebirds singing our hearts out at 3 a.m.

It’s been a wonderful few days with our friend from Pittsburgh! We’re finally getting some badly needed rain this evening, too – hopefully it will pass through without any of the severe weather that’s possible with this front coming through – large hail, high winds, and possible tornadoes. Hail damage in the gardens right now wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen after moving half the earth by hand to set out tender plants, but it sure wouldn’t be a very nice thing for the skies to open up and start throwing ice cubes on us after all that hot work!

We had a very exciting few minutes last night when I came running into the kitchen from the Bunny Garden and quickly grabbed the camera off the counter and went flying back out without saying a word to anyone except “something’s going on out there!” Even Miss Jolly, our dog, heard it (a very different sound…. almost like a creature was crying out repeatedly in distress.) It was in the tall pine trees, and Miss Jolly was looking up into the tall pine trees – eyes fixed on exactly whatever it was. I looked at her to guide me to where, exactly, in the 100 pine limbs that were way up there was the sound coming from. Was it in the middle, to the right, to the left? And as I zero’ed in on the area Miss Jolly was zero’ed in on and eased on up slowly under the pines to see for myself what the heck it might be, I noticed I heard pecking at the same time. I heard a loud, strange, never-heard before sound – and pecking. Still not having located exactly where it was yet, I knew there was no way that a woodpecker would be pecking in close proximity to a creature in distress and that is HAD to be a woodpecker (one we were not familiar with) and that’s when I saw some pine bark come tumbling down – and I saw it. It couldn’t be but one – one we had seen one time last year and hoped we would one day have a nesting pair. The camera was pointing into the sky, I could not bend my neck back any further, and I knew if I was going to get a picture of it before it flew off I would have to just lay on the ground and hope I wasn’t immediately covered up with curious and playful dogs.

Not a good shot, but it was good enough that I was clapping my hands when I uploaded the pictures to my hard drive and went running back into the kitchen …..

“IT WAS! It WAS! IT WAS THE RED-HEADED WOOD-PECKER!!! And I saw TWO fly from the pines to the other side of the yard!”

I was kind of late coming back home to finish up dinner – trying to chase the Red-headed Woodpeckers down – but it was worth it!
Whatbird – the Red-headed Woodpecker

Whatbird – the Common Grackle

Whatbird – the Brown-headed Cowbird

Yes I did see her laying all down on the ground to get a picture of that loud, Red-headed woodpecker way up in those pines that came by with his girlfriend, and I don’t know what’s so wonderful about them….. I mean, she never lays down on the ground for me, and I thought I was pretty red myself.

The thunder is clapping and the lightening is coming down… lights are flickering… I’d better close this up. Busy day tomorrow. I hope all my blogging friends are doing great – I’ll be by soon!

The biggest problem with taking pictures of small birds is they will not sit still long enough to get really well focused shots.  Like an unruly model they flit about and just won’t sit still long enough to allow a good shot.  This fellow did and I think I have some nice shots to share.

We have a bird house full of baby eastern bluebirds. 

I have loved watching this pair build their nest in a bluebird house  followed by the laying of five beautiful blue eggs.  About two weeks ago the baby birds started hatching and today this is what we have.  We have our bluebird houses attached to our fencing for the alpacas.  We have an 8′ perimeter fence and the house is attached to a t-post about five feet up.  

The fact that these birds are cavity nesters makes them ideal candidates for a bird house. In fact, if there was ever a bird in need of our help in providing nest boxes, it is the Eastern Bluebird.

The Bluebirds nest is made of grasses, plant stems, pine needles, and lined with hair, feathers, and fine grasses.

The nest is placed in a birdhouse, or abandoned woodpecker hole usually 3-20 feet above ground. The female lays between 3-6 pale blue eggs.

The female will incubate the eggs for 13 – 16 days and the young will leave the nest within 15 to 20 days.

The male Eastern Bluebird will often keep feeding the fledglings while the female begins a second nest.

If you plan on putting up a nesting box, place it on a pole within 4-5 feet of the ground.

This height will help discourage house sparrows and make it easier for you to monitor.

Keep a close watch on your nesting box and remove nesting materials from house sparrows and starlings.

For more about the Eastern Bluebird click here.

The boat with the blue tarp over it was temporarily pulled out of the barn in February when we anticipated a few day’s work inside the barn and then – taking the tarp off and putting the boat back under the barn.

There’s been times I’ve wondered if I’m the only one who admires certain things with such a passion – as in the kind of passion that says “don’t dare move the boat!”

Two months later and the barn work long finished, the poor boat should be back under the barn and out of the elements (or better yet – on the creek!)

But it’s not, and it’s because of the kind of “passion” I’m talking about.

This is the first spring I’ve not been on the local creek in many, many years (something I always do – it’s just a part of life.) When folks in small towns aren’t seen on their regular routes doing their usual routines, other folks notice and begin to wonder (and worry) and pretty soon start calling!

“You OK? No one has seen you on the creek at all lately, and we were wondering if ….. “

“Oh yeah! I’ve not put the boat in yet! I’m fine – the boat’s being worked on, but we’ll have it back in a few weeks – I’ll see you soon!” (you think I’m gonna tell em I’m “Wren sitting?” tee-hee)

This is the “Bunny Garden” in February. It’s always been called the “Bunny Garden” because a Bunny has been sitting in that particular rock garden ….. forever, and over the years that garden took on the name “Bunny Garden.” I remember when the Bunny first arrived and some of the discussions about the bunny…. “I don’t particularly like the bunny in that spot. Can’t we put it somewhere else? She won’t notice or be offended if she doesn’t see the bunny in that garden when she drives up!” (The Bunny was a gift to my mom and dad from a friend of theirs who hoped they would place the Bunny in that garden. The decision was (no matter who liked the Bunny and who didn’t) the bunny was staying in THAT garden (one of those little family secrets.) The Bunny would soon become an admired addition – it always had some creature hanging around it to be seen (bug, butterfly, insect, lizards.)

The garden holds a special place in our hearts. We begin “working it up” in February like the other garden areas to prepare for spring planting. Flowers usually go in the Bunny Garden.

My dad began collecting those rocks over 60 years ago at least – if not 75. Some are from the farm he grew up on – he used to plow the fields with the mules, and if rocks were found in the field they had to come out. Rocks weren’t cherished back then as they are now – at least not in fields they had to grow crops in. Some rocks are from the Chapel Hill area when he and mom lived there; others are from Kentucky, Michigan, Louisiana, Florida, Pennsylvania (he knows them all, “up close and personal”.)

Dad thought his rock collecting days were over with at least 30 years ago. And they were as far as just picking up a rock he happened to see and like and bringing it home. Those days were long gone…… or were they?

Talk about a special day!! We had to cut through briars and vines and dig them up from the earth. Some weighed well over 50 lbs a piece. Getting them back wasn’t easy, but it was doable if we took turns and took our time.

How we found them: We were walking together in the woods one day. He stepped on something he knew felt “different” under his foot (not just the usual hidden limb under the leaves.) We brushed away the leaves and dirt and exposed part of a rock that was mostly buried. We found others in the same area – most seemed to have been piled (years ago) around the bases of trees. We wondered…. and then we remembered. About 20 years ago, heavy duty equipment had come through that area of woods to put a culvert under the railroad track to prevent an eventual wash out from the water coming off the farming field. We assumed they laid their foundation (to get the heavy duty equipment through the swamp) and that they unloaded the unused foundation (lots of rocks) on the hillside above the swamp. We added one to the rocks with the Bunny Garden. After Lucky Dog welcomed the new rock, he struck a pose with the Bunny.

It’s now April ….warmer and greening up – time to put the maters in the pots near the Bunny in the ground.

This is last year’s tomatoes below. We had never grown vegetables in the Bunny garden but since we had noticed the tomatoes (in their usual location) had begun to get the dreaded “blossom end rot” and wilt, we decided to give maters a try in the Bunny Garden in hopes to avoid the wilt. They did good in their new location (keeping fingers crossed for another year of maters without blossom end rot!)

There he sits…… (not the bunny)

He’s a funny little fellow. They’re all over the place now, wearing their springtime green and waving red love signs.

Some of the “woods rocks” filled some spaces in this garden, too.

The leaves that have all greened up above the bird bath made the water look green.

Later in the day I noticed one male Cardinal just sitting in the middle of the bird bath who looked perfectly content to just sit in water. He wasn’t interested in preening or bathing (then I noticed he was “content” with not “just sitting” but rather content with chasing every bird off that lit upon HIS bird bath.)

I was playing with the dogs when I heard KAKAKAKAKAKA. I looked in the direction of the loud sound and got one snap before he flew off.

Close up of that same picture

I wanted to see the horse skull more closely.

It was very obvious the skull was (and had been) well utilized by the Pileated.

Below is a photo of the same skull last year on the same fence post, taken shortly after I got my dig camera (I was trying some features I hadn’t tried yet.) I found the old pics on my hard-drive. It was neat to see the difference the Pileated had made.

So…. it’s a “she” Pileated (or at least I’m assuming it’s a she .. getting some needed calcium.)

She came back a few days ago again – I heard KAKAKAA in the woods, and within seconds she lit upon the fence post.

I have begun saving all the egg shells now and placing them inside a rotting stump near the barn area – close by to the skull. In fact, it’s the stump I sit on frequently at the end of the day to look across the farming field or to hear and see what bird activity might be up in the thicket.

I walked into field and down along the edge of the woods. The tent caterpillars have popped out over night.

I spied a butterfly across the field being tossed about by the winds. I wondered how it survived such conditions and began walking towards it. It was the Monarch.

It fluttered its way across the field – the whole while being tossed about in all directions, almost violently. It looked to be an exhausting journey and process for the fragile butterfly to go through to get to wherever it wanted to go.

It got getting closer and closer to the woods and finally landed in some weeds to enjoy a short rest before it fluttered into the woods.

I wanted to take a rest, too. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet was nestled in the tight vines in the thicket again. She was weeee weeee weeee’ing and really putting on a show in the vines. I’d never seen such an energetic and fancy dance by such a teeny bird. She ventured out a ways – enough I could get a better look and picture. I didn’t see the male.

Ready to bring the day to an end, I walked on home. I saw something very blue flash ahead of me – quickly through the trees. He landed on a wisteria vine and was looking at the feeder below.

Until he saw me….. then he flew off.

And he came back later.

This is our third year having bluebirds and our first time webcasting.  We are fascinated by Nina and Barney, the Eastern bluebirds who made their home near ours.  Their show is broadcast live from a bluebird nest box camera in south Louisiana.  Here is the link:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/slidell-bluebird-cam

Viewer comments or suggestions are welcome.    We have had to tinker and fidget to stay streaming.  The camera in use is “The Night Owl Nature Cam” and features audio, color video, and infrared night vision.  The infrared seems to fail when the temp is low.  That will improve as the weather gets warmer.  The view is very close but we can’t change that.  The color is bland and may be related to the close proximity of camera to subject. 

We’ve also included other live birdcam links on our home stream page.  Bet ya can’t watch just one!  Check out other bluebirds, owls and eagles in various stages of parenthood.

FAMILY HISTORY
After a courtship where we observed Nina pursuing a reluctant Barney, the pair began building their nest on March 21, 2009.  It is a typical neat, organized nest made from pine needles. The center cup consists of thinner, soft plant material. It’s pretty plain…not much flair.

Nina laid the first egg on March 28, 2009. Thereafter, she continued to lay one egg per day. On April 1, 2009 Nina began sitting on her 4 eggs. She leaves the nest for short times during the day. At night she stays in the nest box. Incubation is 11 to 19 days. Hatching expected April 11-19, 2009.

Barney’s job is to feed Nina while she sits. We do feed them meal worms occasionally.  

For more information on bluebirds, their habitat, building nestboxes, observation guidelines, etc. visit the North American Bluebird Society website at http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org

I’ve been extremely busy. Sorry. I am swamped with school work and it’s very stressful. Not to mention I have to figure out what I’m doing with my life. I still haven’t heard from Purdue or Hunter. I got a call from a visiting vet who was interested in my resume on Monster. He called me, and ever since we’ve been playing phone tag. I’ve given him times to call me back and he hasn’t. I just hope he didn’t hire someone else.

I’m thinking if I really like this job offer but I get into school somewhere I might defer school for a year and work in CT where this visiting vet is. It depends on how much money the school is giving me and how much money the vet would give me.

On a lighter note I’ve been seeing these amazing birds. Harlequin Ducks, Great and Double Crested Cormorants, Piping Plovers, Killdeer, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, a Short Eared Owl (flies like a moth, that’s for sure), Eastern Bluebirds (my pride and joy), and a Pileated Woodpecker which was quite a find for eastern Mass. We saw a few Great Egrets and a Blue Heron the other day, as well as lots of Osprey, Turkey Vultures, and a Cooper’s Hawk. The most exciting were the Harlequin Ducks by far, I bet no artist could copy their intricate pattern perfectly. I took the pictures of the Harlequin Ducks and the Great Cormorant myself.

Two males on the right in full alternate (breeding) plumage and two females on the left.

A male Great Cormorant in full alternate plumage.

And here’s what a Pileated Woodpecker looks like.

A male Pileated

But these little birds blew me away. I couldn’t believe the beautiful sight I was seeing, and while we’ve all probably seen them before, their sad, sweet song drew me in like it had a rope tied around my waist and hand over hand dragging me along. My heart thumped as I watched them flit from branch to branch, responding to the tape that we played for them to come closer, but never too close. And when we stopped the tape as to not confuse it or torture it any longer, it puffed itself up with pride and flew to a lower branch, looking around and sticking its chest out, for it had thought it won, it thought it had chased off the territory stealing male. These creatures, full of story in just their flight patterns, in just their song, are none other than the Eastern Bluebirds. Little babies, teeny sweethearts that are so territorial they will take a House Sparrow’s home out from under its feet. My little loves, what I wait all winter for, to see these blue beauties, and to hear their song while the sun beams in on my face and chest. I love you, sweet creatures from the hands of God.

A male Eastern Bluebird in full alternate plumage.

By Carl Strang

Yesterday I outlined the story of a shared day with other birders in the Christmas Bird Count. Today I am finishing with some of the birds we were especially happy to find, species we certainly don’t see every winter day.

One of these species was the purple finch. We saw both males

and female-plumaged individuals, some of which may have been first-year males.

The single most unusual bird of the day was this rusty blackbird.

Its head showed the sharply contrasting rusty tones of winter plumage that give the species its name, but this male appeared to be delayed in its body feather molt.

A final species of special interest was the eastern bluebird. We saw two small groups of them, one along the Prairie Path containing this female.

The second group was at Kline Creek Farm, and included this hackberry-loving male.