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!

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!

It was the beginning of last Spring when while observing from my office window to my backyard I saw a couple of Northern Mockingbirds flying around the feeders and the bird houses, then the female sat on top of one them, meanwhile the male sat on the ground on a grassy area then began to… dance? That’s what I saw! It was terrific to see the bird doing pirouettes and other dancing like steps, his wings fanning the air as he danced  to a soundless music.

I was so under the spell of this whole bird ritual that I hardly had a chance to shoot a few frames.

What a wonderful experience I had; to be able to see the courtship of these beautiful birds. Add more to my fascination for birds.

I consider myself lucky to have all the backyard visitors I get daily. Some of my friends and neighbors tell me  that they have their feeders for birds but complaint that they hardly get any birds to feed.

Dance of the Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird, sp. name: “Mimus Polyglottos”

Description:

Northern Mockingbirds are medium-sized songbirds, slender and with long tail. They have small heads with long thin bills with a hint of downward curve and long legs.

Their wings are short, rounded and broad.

Overall gray brown, paler on the breast and belly with two white wing-bars on each wing.

The white on the wings and tail become flashy in flight.

Their habitat: Towns, suburbs,backyards, parks, forest edges and open land. They love to sit conspicuously on high vegetation, fences, poles and other high points to observe from there. They are very aggressive when guarding their territory. Also are excellent imitators of other bird’s songs.:)

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird

I had a subject all picked out for today’s post. When I was setting up for the picture, though, I saw a bunch of birds out in the yard. I quickly switched lenses to see if I could take advantage of their presence.

I took today’s picture with my Nikon D700, with a Nikon 200-400mm f/4 VR lens mounted on a tripod. I was shooting with the lens wide open to try and blur the background, at the same time giving me a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the constantly moving birds. I imported the RAW files into Adobe Lightroom for editing. I needed to crop the image a bit, since I didn’t seem to be having much luck getting close to the birds. Otherwise the picture didn’t require much editing.

I know that photographing wildlife definitely requires a special set of skills. Getting close to the animals without scaring them off requires stealth and patience. I certainly need more practice in both of these areas. I think that I would also like to experiment with using flash while shooting wildlife. This would probably require the use of a flash extender, which I don’t currently have. I will add this to the list of equipment I’d like to acquire in the future. Until then, I’ll just continue to work with what I have. I’m virtually certain that it’s not my equipment which is holding back my photography.

In the very southwest corner of Kansas lies the Cimarron National Grassland. This area, along with the nearby town of Elkhart,  is a favorite birding destination for Kansas birders. Several western species reach the eastern edge of their ranges here, and lost eastern migrants are attracted to the patches of trees in a sea of sand-sage prairie and cropland.

Cottonwoods along the usually dry Cimarron River provide a wooded migration corridor from eastern Colorado through southwestern Kansas.

Middle Springs is one of several oases on the grassland that provide trees and water to migrants like this Clay-colored Sparrow.

female Blue Grosbeak

male Blue Grosbeak

The fastest land animal in North America, Pronghorn evolved to outrun American Cheetahs, which became extinct somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.

The white backsides of Pronghorn are visible from great distances.

Mourning Doves were by far the most common species seen on this day, with Eurasian Collared-Doves coming in a close second.

This Barn Owl was in a little cavern in a bluff overlooking the Cimarron River corridor. Note the little bones and other debris in front of the entrance.

This is the bluff where the Barn Owl had her cavity.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Gaillardia pulchella

As one would expect in the Sunflower State, these were everywhere.

The abundant Prickly Pear cactus makes walking a challenge in many areas.

The Elkhart sewage ponds are the only permanent bodies of water for many miles around, so they attract good numbers of migrant shorebirds and waterfowl. These American Avocets were swimming in the middle of one of the pools.

Spotted Sandpipers

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Burrowing Owls are one of many species that rely on prairie dog towns for shelter or food. I found several Black-tailed Prairie Dog towns on this day, each containing an owl or two, but the dogs kept out of camera range.

Tuesday evening, Bob and I drove out SW of town in search of grassland birds.  We saw Field, Savannah and Grasshopper Sparrows.  We HEARD Clay-coloured Sparrow.  This was along Napier.  Also there we saw family of Gnatcatcher’s, some Bobolink’s, Cedar Waxwings and Eastern Kingbirds.

In another area, we saw a Northern Mockingbird, an Orchard Oriole, a nest of Eastern Kingbird, and more Field, Grasshopper and Savannah Sparrows.

In another area, we saw Eastern Meadowlarks, Bobolinks and a very photogenic Upland Sandpiper.  Great views.

It was a great evening to be out and about.

For the past few weeks or so, there has been this annoying bird that sings/chirps during the entire night.  From like 11 or so all the way through the early morning hours it makes the loudest freaking noise I have ever heard coming from a winged creature.

The Suspect

What makes it tough is we like to sleep withe the windows open.  Normally the sounds of crickets and peepers from the pond below our house is a calming, soothing sound.  One that relaxes us and puts us to sleep.  Then this god damn bird starts in and doesn’t stop.  Literally he sings for the entire night. 

Finally I had to look it up.  Apparently it is a Northern Mockingbird, also known as a nightingale(ahhh since he is up all freaken night!!!)  The bird shows off his stuff by mocking(get it?) other animals calls.  It can mimic insects, frogs, toads, even car alarms.  What makes it worse, it tends to go non-stop if it doesn’t have a mate. 

So not only do we have a bird that mimics the other birds he hears through the day, he mimics the peepers at night AND he doesn’t have a lady bird to uh, ruffle his feathers, if you get what I am saying.

I need solutions and I need them now.  I could read “To Kill a Mockingbird.”  Hopefully that offers some suggestions.  Maybe I can figure out a way for it to imitate a white noise machine or the sound of waves crashing on a beach.  Or better yet I can look up some sorta bird escort service in hopes the thing gets his beak wet(if you get what I am saying!)

Somethings gotta give though or your favorite morning blogger and his very pregnant wife will be left bird brained!!!

Feed Me

A Northern Mockingbird decides how to get past me while providing non stop feeding to the pair of screeching mouths.

Northern Mockingbirds are common to then entire south, central and eastern United States.  In northwest Louisiana, they are found all year round.  Here’s a young Northern Mockingbird image taken today at the Red River National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters Unit in Bossier City, Louisiana.  You probably recognize the general body shape, with the long tail and grayish body, but for some reason, this just don’t seem like a mockingbird.  The spots on the breast look out of place.  The juveniles will retain these spots for a short time before becoming adults.

This female Northern Mockingbird has an active nest in the bush behind her, which is clearly visible from one of my kitchen windows. I spent a couple of minutes in the back yard this afternoon hoping to capture an image of her bringing food to her babies. Here, she is spreading her wings, warning me to keep my distance. These birds may be a common sight around here, but they can sure be a lot of fun to photograph because of their character.

Sister Alma Rose Sings Praise with the Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird

Well, it’s seven-oh-four in the mornin’,
And the sun is just dim in my window.
It will soon climb its way up to glory.
So will I.
So will I.

Oh, I ain’t gonna die any minute—
Or any day soon, I don’t fear it.
No, this day, it’s got beautiful in it.
So do I.
So do I.

And I ain’t gonna hush my spirit;
And I ain’t gonna fuss or fret.
There’s a song in my heart, I can hear it,
And it ain’t singin’ fear or regret.

There’s a mockingbird out in her Eden
Singin’ praise, singin’ low, singin’ high;
And if she can be glad just for livin’,
So can I.
So can I.

Oh, I can’t help but think that Creation
Is a personal gift made for me,
And each day is a great celebration!
Let it be.
Let it be.

Don’t you feel it, down deep in your spirit—
Pure life, every life, everywhere?
There’s a song in your heart. Can you hear it?
Just listen. Just listen. It’s there.
And this day, it’s got beautiful in it,
Everywhere.
Everywhere.

♦

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We’ve been waking up to a Northern Mockingbird since Friday. I remember having one last year…it’s back. It’s perched up in the tree across the street. I’ve been sleeping downstairs in the back room where it’s a lot cooler and I can hear that bugger over the ceiling fan. Luckily I love listening to him…or her. Here are some pics that I pulled off the internet ~

We had a flash flood thunder storm pass over yesterday afternoon ~ and woke up to THIS!!!!! BLUE SKY! THE FIRST IN OVER A MONTH! Wow…I remember that sky. The sky we normally have. The sky we would have if California would stop burning to the ground. Take a good look because it will probably be gone right soon.

Remember this lovely sunflower that I posted about not too long ago? The one right up front? The sunflower that I said I had better get a picture of because it was near where someone STOLE my obsidian rock? Well…Friday morning while out front waiting for my sister to pick me up for Monterey…I noticed the yellow was gone from that corner. Some jackarse stole my sunflower! Broke it right off the top…all that is left is the stock which is fence high. I’m leaving it there for everyone who passes by to look at. I’m starting to think about ways of electrifying the fence. Or set up motion activated pepper spray misters around the yard. Why can’t people just take a picture of something they think is pretty, like I do??!! Why do they insist on taking other peoples property? I don’t go stealing things out of your yards? Why can’t I expect the same consideration from you?!

My Simple Woman Summer Swap partner, Becky, received her gift in the mail…will wait for her to post a picture first and then I’ll post pictures of the making of it later. I had fun with it, can’t wait to see what I get!

Parting shots of my niece and nephew at Monterey over the weekend…

I enjoy northern mockingbirds tremendously. Their beautiful and often-changing songs are a perfect way to end the day on the patio after a long day of work! They’re very territorial and will confront and attack birds may times its size. The one the right was singing the entire time I was taking photographs. They’re also very intelligent. Recently, when I was digging holes to plant my new rose plants, one of them waited until I stepped away and quickly swooped down, and emerged with grub in beak! These amazing birds are regular visitors to my garden.