Little - Big

Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are very similar in appearance.

So much so one would be forgiven for thinking Downys were just young Hairys.

They're not.

The main difference is size. Which is why it is so nice when they show up on the same tree.

Snow Birds

Friday morning we woke to a winter wonder land.

And the American Robins, looking for food, descended upon the Crabapple tree.

And they found it.

Which can't be said for the Mourning Dove.

Thoughts of Warmer Times

On day this past June I spotting this red patch in the Crabapple tree out my office window.

And work went on hold.

A young Northern Cardinal. 

And as I was watching a young Great-crested Flycatcher made an appearance.

A nice interlude between work tasks. 

And something to dream of these cold dark days.    

Yard Critter of Last Friday

A Red-tailed Hawk.

I spotted it from my desk as I was getting ready to have lunch. Of course the wrong lens was on the camera, as it was still configured for the eclipse shots earlier that morning.

I then had to find an angle that did not hide the bird behind one of the many branches. The first shot was taken from the dining room, to get a shot before it flew. The rest from the kitchen.

And I was just in time.

As flew it did.

The right place at the right time.

A year round resident in these here parts, this is the hawk most likely to be seen in our area. And often seen while driving, roosting on telephone poles. 

We often see these birds soaring overhead and occasionally, like this bird, in the trees in the yard. Although, again like this bird, they don't stay put for long. Or at least not for long after we notice them.

🦅  🦅  🦅  🦅  🦅

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.

And Then There Were None

Well, technically one.

This one:

A Cooper's Hawk.

It showed up, and all the other birds disappeared.

🦅  🦅  🦅  🦅  🦅

Thanks to Sandra Keller for confirming my ID.

Robins

Just off our deck, we have a Dogwood, which replaced a Service Berry (relocated) which replaced a Sweetgum (taken down), has been a favorite destination of American Robins this fall.

There are at least five in the image above. The image below shows why.

It's the berries.

Very yummy if you're a Robin it seems. The flock pretty much de-burried the tree.

Today's Owl Picture

It's just so cute!

Very cool that it was here again today.

🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉  🦉

I had mentioned in yesterday's post that I could see the owl box from my desk.

When I'm sitting at my desk facing my computer, this window is directly behind me. The scope is aimed at the owl box, which is the light colored rectangle below the black rectangle (which is a bat box; still waiting on bats to take up residence).

The view through the scope.

Gives me something to do when I should be working ...

Back Yet Again

We last saw an Eastern Screech-Owl in our owl box in April 2017.

The box is visible from my home office desk, and I glance at it just about everyday. And occasionally I see a squirrel looking out. But today I was quite surprised to see an owl. It's been over four years and I had pretty much given up hope that one would return.

I hope it decides to stay for awhile. 

Woodpeckers

Recall that last Christmas Eve one of our Weeping Willow trees fell over. And we 'planted' some of the branches and stumps. And then we raised the main trunk.

We did this hoping it would be attractive to wildlife, especially woodpeckers.

And one day this week ...

First up was a Northern Flicker.

Then a Downy Woodpecker.

And a Red-bellied Woodpecker on the 'slingshot'.

And then a Pileated Woodpecker on the other side of the slingshot.

And finally another Pileated Woodpecker on the main Willow Tree stump.

I was hoping for the other two woodpeckers we've had in the yard, Hairy Woodpecker (common) and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (rare), and dreaming of a Red-headed Woodpecker (nearby). But it was not to be. 

Still, a four woodpecker day is a good day. Even more so when they're seen from the comfort of my living room, while working from home.

Life is good.

Crack! Swosh! Boom!

I'm sitting at my desk in my home office, with the windows open, the sounds of the yard mixing with Brian Eno (Ambient 4, On Land) streaming, when I hear ...

... CRACK! ...

                   ... SWOSH ....

                                       ... BOOM ...

What the ...

A rather large branch fell from the big Willow Oak out behind the Bench Garden.

As think as my leg and much longer, but not as large as some tree falls.

Non-trivial never the less.

And ...

... another is on the way ...

Spray Misty For Me

The underlying reason for the warbler show is of course warbler migration. But one reason they visit our yard is the trio of water features just outside our living room.

The bird baths, the bubbler, and the mister. (It also helps we live in the woods.)

The above image isn't noisy (in the photographic sense). No, that is the mist. Mist these birds, like this female American Restart, really seem to enjoy.

It is truly amazing how many birds these water features attract. 

We first learned of misters for birds when we visited Pat Sutton's Wildlife Garden, back in the before times. We also learned about small frog ponds while there. Her site is a great resource for anyone who wants to attract wildlife to their yard, no matter the size. Go visit!

Caterpillar

I was doing some yard work today when I spotted this:

Frass. Rather large frass at that.

So I looked up. And saw this:

An Imperial Moth Caterpillar.

A rather large caterpillar. In the pine tree outside our living room.

Not the first one. Hopefully not the last. 

I'll be looking next September.

Birding is Hard

At least when it comes to Flycatchers.

They all look like this:

And the only reliable way to tell them apart, other than DNA analysis, is by voice. They have distinctive and diagnostic calls.

This one wasn't talking.

So it goes down as "Flycatcher sp.".

Once upon a time this would have been Traill's Flycatcher*. But that was split into Willow and Alder Flycatchers, which look identical. But have different calls.

Did I mention this one wasn't talking?

Very unsatisfactory.

~~~~~~~~

* Thanks to my friend Sandra for telling me about Traill's Flycatchers.

Fledging

A week and a half ago I blogged about a Carolina Wren nest in our feeder garden, just outside our living room.

A couple of days ago as we were watching TV in that living room (Ted Lasso, highly recommended) one of our cats, Max, for very excited and ran to the screen door. A fledgling Carolina Wren had 'landed' on the screen. It flew before I got a picture, eventually settling on the Bog Garden rain barrel.

Look at that stubbly tail.

In all four birds fledged that evening.

Three can be seen in this image. One in the upper right, one on the same branch a bit lower, and one in the lower left corner.

The upper two ..

... the lower bird. Look at those feathers!

The parents were screaming the whole time, trying to get them to the woods edge and then into the trees to roost for the night. 

Incredibly cool to see these birds leave the nest. And from the comfort of our living room.

Putting in the sliding doors was a great idea. And it was all Patty's doing. Thanks you!

The Warbler Show

Sunday started out slow. The expected rain never came (nor did it on Saturday), the air was still and it was very humid. I did some yard work, pond maintenance on both the fish and back ponds, while Patty went on a bike ride, training for an upcoming group ride.

As we were sitting in the living room, relaxing after lunch, I remarked that the birds seemed to have all gone away.

I was wrong.

At around 1:00 the American Redstarts showed up. There are three in the image below, starting with the black and orange male and two females increasing in blurriness to the right.

We saw five females at any one time, although only the one male.

Who was much less camera shy today.

And then a Northern Parula, seem here eyeing a Tufted Titmouse, briefly stopped by. We would see it about the gardens off and on, but it never came back to the birdbath area.

The Titmouses (Titmice?) did.

Much to the displeasure of the Redstarts.

This round goes to the Redstarts.

The Titmouse would get its turn.

Making an even briefer (and blurrier) appearance was this Chestnut-sided Warbler. I managed two shots before it was gone.

The fun ended when this noisy Carolina Wren came barging in. Too much activity near its nest perhaps?

(Is "noisy Carolina Wren" redundant?)

Things settled down, with only the Titmice (Titmouses?) flying about. And the Wrens bringing food to the youngins. And Patty and I went back to reading and listening to music.

And then,, this time around 3:00, it started up again.

As before it was the Redstarts that started things off.

Checking things out.

He's back!

Splash about ...

... shake dry ...

... a bad feather day ...

... a bit of preening will fix that.

And then Patty spotted this bird peaking out from behind the leaves and bouncing from tree to bush to this Pokeberry.

And then briefly out in the open. A White-eyed Vireo. 

And then a Prothonotary Warbler made a appearance. 

Which upset this Carolina Chickadee for some reason.

The Chickadee needs to learn to share, there's plenty of room for everyone.

The Black and White Warbler knows.

As do the two Titmouse (see what I did there?).

And we'll leave with that with which we started.

Not a bad day of birding for never leaving the living room (well, except to get a beer).