Cranky Pants

Today I am cranky. I'm allowed to be cranky. 

A Few Items Worth Mentioning

• Just a few hours after I posted about male cardinals feeding the females, I actually witnessed this! I don't think they were mating because it seems too late for that, and the female was not scruffy like the juvenile I had seen a few weeks prior so I assumed it was an adult female. It looked like she was receiving a sweet kiss from her love. 

• Later that day a bluebird took a quick respite from flying in the heat to perch on the top of the shepherd's hook. I have never seen a bluebird before so this was very exciting for me. He had his mouth wide open. I've seen other birds do this and I wondered if it's a cooling mechanism, much like panting for a dog. Turns out it is, the internet says. It was pretty hot that day. 

• The blue jays have been very noisy today! I rarely hear them, and usually only so when I walk through the parts of the neighborhood where the trees are thicker. They're so loud I expect a flock of them to land in my yard to begin the Angry Blue Jay Territory Convention.  

• On my way to the library yesterday I saw a dark wide wingspan circle over the street a ways in front of me and land over some road kill. I was able to drive right up to it before it flew away revealing itself to be a turkey vulture! Before I knew what it was I was describing it to Rob and said it looked like a big black bird with a red turkey head. I wouldn't call them "pretty." 

• I love it when I surprise the birds at my feeder. Many of them are so focused on eating that they don't hear me walking from the car to the front door. When I get right next to the feeder they all scream, fly to the nearest branch, and if they're chickadees, they scold me until I shut the front door behind me. Last week I surprised a goldfinch. He looked right at me, paused as if processing what he saw, then gave a startled warble before flying away. 

Barred Owl

This post comes all the way from Illinois. I bet my Uncle Todd doesn't know he's a contributing editor to this blog!

Thought you might get a kick out of the new resident in our birch tree 10 feet from the front porch.

Its a barred owl. I’ve never seen one before. He just sits in the tree (no nest) and gets chased occasionally by other birds (for the last few days) but always returns. The limb is over the sidewalk and besides the white splots he emits, there are also grayish balls consisting of tiny bones, fur, and feathers of the creatures he has dined on. He looks pretty well fed.

Anyway, its kind of neat. We are enjoying his company. He is a pretty good size owl.

Breakfast Date

I often see a pair of cardinals feeding in the yard together. I've read that during their courtship the male actually feeds the female, though I've never actually witnessed this myself. As that early romance fades, the simply sweet companionship remains. These days when hormone levels are lower, I see the female eating from the tray while the male forages on the ground.

Here they are on a breakfast date, chaperoned by a baby bunny (the brownish blur above Mr. Cardinal).

Maybe My Current Favorite

Look at this little sweetie! This is a chipping sparrow. Smaller than the house sparrow, they have a chestnut colored cap on their head. I saw one bouncing around restlessly, almost wren-like. Their call is much like their name would suggest, a high-pitched trill, and a chip, chip, chip!

Dallas Meets Skye

Hey Dallas, what are you looking at?

Oh, nothing............

My parents' parakeet fascinated her for hours. 

"One Good Tern Deserves Another"

To continue my Duluth Birdservations, here is a shot of a sandy island in the St. Louis Bay where hundreds of gulls and terns nest. The guide of our boat tour told us that terns like to nest mate for life, which prompted him to say "one good tern deserves another!"

As we approached the island, their perpetual and tortuous shrieks became the sort of soundtrack I imagine my brain would play if I ever went crazy. Instead of voices, I'd hear seagulls. Hundreds and hundreds of seagulls.

Duluth Hummingbird

A hummingbird, getting its morning nectar from my Mom's feeder.

Duluth Birdservations!

A few weeks ago I got a visit from a white-breasted nuthatch. In Duluth this weekend I managed to snap a few photos of his cousin, the red-breasted nuthatch. They were so tame I could stand right under the feeder and they'd keep eating, with an occasional glance in my direction. 

Goldfinch

Goldfinches are nearly impossible to photograph because they always have their backs turned towards the house, or they're concealed by birch tree leaves.

Then I got lucky.

Wrens

These are the wrens that have been hanging out in our garden areas. I followed one as he slipped into a canopy of leafy plants. When he realized I was there he flitted to the fence where he scolded me. I apologized but he wasn't ready to forgive me, and he flew away.

Another wren was in our front yard by the perennials. 

Then I struck gold when I looked out the kitchen window and saw three of them sitting in a row on the fence. I grabbed the camera and went outside. I got even more scolding for these photos.

Weekend Update

• I'm thrilled to report that the Indigo Bunting returned twice today after gracing me with his presence for the first time yesterday.

• Wrens, wrens everywhere! They have been hanging out in our garden areas so there must be a nest somewhere nearby. I received many baleful scoldings from them as I got too close in my attempts to photograph them. 

• Lately I've been really lazy about filling the hummingbird feeder. A wave of guilt washes over me whenever I look at it, and the hummingbirds haven't returned (from what I've seen). But yesterday there were two sweet little butterflies resting on its red plastic base so I felt better knowing someone was getting something from it. Speaking of butterflies, they're everywhere! It's fun to watch them.

• A cowbird with a most embarrassing situation visited our feeder yesterday. As it turns out, humans aren't the only ones who must watch for bird poo bombs from above. Yes, that's what the streak of white is on his back. Hopefully it was an accident and not a malicious attack, but when you've got a reputation like the cowbird, you never know...

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Delicious Birdseed!

Knowing the chances of seeing a bald eagle fly majestically over my yard on Independence Day were pretty low, I was wondering what other patriotic theme I could go with to celebrate today. And then, an Indigo Bunting stopped by (which is so exciting because I haven't seen one since I left Duluth)!

Thanks to the inspiration he provided, here's the Official Birdservation Salute to America:

RED!

WHITE!

BLUE!

Red-winged Blackbird

I have fond memories of red-winged blackbirds from my childhood. They remind me of making the drive to my Grandma and Grandpa's farm in Chisago County. I remember staring out the car window at the wash of golden farm land and being thrilled to see their bright colors as they perched on the cattails growing in marshy ditches.

When I first saw one at my feeder I was so excited! And since that first visit I only need to hear them sing to know one is in my yard. It's a distinct call; very different from the ongoing medley of finch and sparrow song.

I have a pair of red-winged blackbirds who visit my feeder, most often just the male.  Sometimes his girlfriend stops by, but it's almost never a "date" as they usually visit the feeder solo. I've read that these birds are polygynous (meaning, one male bird mates with many females), so the female I see might be one of several girlfriends. Out for a quick meal away from the sister-wives. Kind of like the Big Love of blackbirds.

From the photo below you can hardly see any red on his shoulders, it's mostly hidden by black top feathers.

But when he's air-borne his color pops (as you can see from the blurry blob at the top of this picture!). 

Hay Bale Owl. I Think.

As seen in Bayfield, WI in October 2008.

Not So Darling Starling

I don't see a lot of starlings in my yard. In fact I see more while I'm idling in the highway's on-ramp on the way to work than I do in my whole neighborhood.

This one walked all the way across the yard to the marigolds and savagely tore a few petals off (don't ask me what that was all about).

Then he scrounged in the dirt, presumably in search of a creepy crawler for lunch.

An Unfortunate Nesting Location

As my mom would say, "Robins must be really dumb."

To explain, over the past several years Mom has taken note of all the bizarre locations that the robins in Duluth have chosen to nest.

There was the summer of 2005 when one robin made her nest in the hanging basket right outside the front door to their house. We tried to accommodate her as best we could by avoiding use of the front door, and I think it was working pretty well. Then we threw my dad a retirement party and all the extra humans made for one nervous momma. Sadly, she did not hatch any babies.

Two years ago another robin also nested in a hanging flower basket. My mom would keep tabs on her, with one update to us saying, "Mother robin is stoically keeping to her nest, trying to hatch those babies."

More recently, there was a story in the Duluth News Tribune about a robin who made her nest in a $14.95 rose bush at the Cub Foods garden center and would chase unsuspecting patrons away. 

In the end though, I'm not so sure that robins are dumb, but that we make it really easy for them to nest in inconvenient places. 

Thunderstorm

We're under a thunderstorm warning. About 15 minutes ago the sky got so dark I had to turn on some inside lights which, unless it's winter, is unnecessary at 6:00 PM. Then I heard the eerie sounds of the siren as it blasted its song through the streets in 360 degrees.

Not to worry! The birds are still chirping away as if nothing is wrong. I watched as two robins got cantankerous with each other in their quest for worms. The rolling thunder that causes the dog's ears to flatten against her head, giving her a look of bewilderment, is the same noise that seems to go unnoticed by the birds. Life as usual here in bird land!

Another Installment of Weekend Birdservations!

• A baby chickadee with a particular bald spot on his forehead finally learned how to eat from the suet grate.

• Never before seen in our yard, a white-breasted nuthatch made an appearance. Since the visit I've heard their nasal "yaank yaank!" call from both ends of our front yard. I was able to get pretty close to one too as he waited in the tree for me to fill the bird feeder.

• A raptor (falcon? kestrel?) stalked the feeder until he snagged his evening meal of sparrow. He came back for a second meal Sunday morning, and later awed the guests of our Father's Day picnic as he flew across the backyard.

• The hungry baby chipping sparrow I mentioned the other day ended up being a baby cowbird that a family of chipping sparrows fostered. I guessed this because the markings on the baby was not consistent with sparrows of any kind, was twice the size of its parents, and much hungrier than most sparrow babies. A week after I captured those photos I noticed them again and learned that those sparrows are actually raising two cowbird babies. 

• Juvenile robins have been practicing their songs as the afternoons fade to evening. A little sputtery at times, but sounding more and more like their parents every day. 

Hungry Baby Bird

This happened June 12.

I watched this little baby bird for about 15 minutes. At first I thought he had been abandoned or got lost because he was all alone on the sidewalk (seen here with a few house sparrows who didn't acknowledge him), looking around as if he was waiting for his mommy to come back.

Then mom (or dad) chipping sparrow swooped in and fed him for about 10 minutes. He was very, very hungry.

Downy Woodpecker

A series of shots of a female downy woodpecker feeding her little one (photos taken June 5). The last one is of her baby taking flight from the feeder. Look at that wing pattern!

Bird of Prey

This guy landed under the feeder and I was intrigued. I even went outside to get a better look but lost sight of him as he slipped behind a bush. Then I heard a scuffle, and several small birds screaming in terror. My final view of him was as he flew away with a sparrow in his evil clutches. I just about cried.

I heard this could happen, that hawks or falcons stalk small birds at the feeders. Unfortunately I didn't recognize that behavior until it was too late. After checking my book I still couldn't figure out what kind of bird this was. He (or she) was grayish in color with a striped tail, and about the size of a crow. My best guess based on its small size is that it was probably a falcon. Now with a tasty sparrow in its tummy.

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Wow, this is exciting. I've never seen a nuthatch in my yard. There was a pair of them and they flew in synch with each other- hovering at the feeder but not landing, tracing an arc across the yard to the birch tree, then swooping up onto the roof where they stayed only long enough for me to snap a photo.

Our Little Black Squirrel

He's back at it. This time he put his butt in the water tray so he could reach the sunflower globe. He gave up on the suet grate after nearly falling off. I think he's cute.

Naughty!

This picture should get my dad all worked up.

The Notorious Brown-Headed Cowbirds

We found this egg carefully placed on the edge of the garden box. It's too far from any nest or tree for it to simply fall out and land just so. I suspect that a cowbird may be behind this one.

We've found abandoned broken eggs in our yard before. A few weeks ago Rob watched a brown-headed cowbird fly from the pine tree out back and drop a robin's egg just inches from our deck. Cowbirds are known as "brood parasites" that search out other bird's nests to lay their eggs in. They even go so far as to find nests with speckled eggs (to match their own so the host won't recognize them as foreign), and they essentially stake out these nests waiting for the hosts to leave before laying their own egg. Usually they will remove one or more of the host's eggs, perhaps so that bird won't notice that there's more eggs than she laid herself. I don't know if birds can count or have a sense for how many eggs they're incubating but it's some fascinating stuff!

The host bird raises these cowbird babies as their own. Last summer I saw evidence of this foster-parenting when a male cardinal was feeding a young cowbird. What really intrigues me is that these cowbirds are not raised by their kind, so how do they all know to do this when they mature? It must all be hard-wired into their little birds brains. It's simply amazing!

Tokyo Stalks a Cardinal

Tokyo rarely takes interest in small living things. She prefers rubber bands and bottle caps. But a cardinal was chirping outside the kitchen window and her interest was piqued.

Where Do Baby Birds Come From?

Have I got a treat for you today! Upon hearing a ruckus coming from the garden, I went out with my camera to see what was going on. There were two chipping sparrows perched on our wooden privacy fence, staring at each other.

Then she lifted her tail, he jumped on top, and... well, I'll leave the rest to the privacy of your imagination.

Poo

Ok, who pooped on my window?! My eyes are on you, mourning doves.

Baby Chickadees!

Last weekend the sparrows were busy bringing their newly fledged babies to feed in our yard. They stayed mostly on the ground picking up bits from the grass and mulched area under the feeder. It usually went like this: mom and dad sparrow hop around a find a few morsels and when the babies saw this they'd turn on the charm by peeping and fluttering their wings in a most helpless way. Today most of the sparrows I see are feeding themselves so perhaps the babies have learned what they were supposed to!

Yesterday and today I noticed several black-capped chickadees hanging out in our birch tree. Chickadees commonly grab one seed at a time and fly off to a branch where they can pick at the shell until they get the seed out, so I figured word got out that I put more sunflower in the tray so everyone came for a bite to eat. But then I noticed this very panicked, and persistent, and relentless high-pitched squeak, much like, "dee-dee-dee!! DEE-DEE-DEE!!!!!!!"

Trusty binoculars in hand, I watched them for a while. Some of those chickadees were plump and fluffy, and didn't know what to do at the feeder. They spent most of their time in the tree while the mature chickadees were back and forth, back and forth between feeder and tree. And the babies were doing their part of the dance by singing to mom and dad: "PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH! RIGHT NOW!!!! DEE-DEE-DEE!"

House Finch House Salad

Like many of our neighbors, part of our yard's landscaping includes autumn joy sedums. They begin as sturdy, green stalks in the spring, growing green flower heads that bloom into a beautiful red as summer fades (shown in the photo- I had to add this because there's a cautious blue jay peeking out from behind the spiral bush).

These red flower heads, brimming with seeds, are a popular food choice in the fall for our resident house finches. The nearly flat head provides a convenient platform for them to land, and sometimes they just perch there to rest, even in the winter.

Knowing this, I made up my mind a long time ago that any changes to our landscaped shrubbery will not include removing these sedums. Besides feeding the birds they're just really easy to care for.

Imagine my delight when I noticed small birds land on the sedum stalks and drink rain water that had collected in the curles of the leaves.

And I also only recently noticed that when my finches want a little salad, they just nibble on bits of leaves!

Here's one chewing on a piece.

The scars from past meals.

Bathing Wren

You can hardly see this guy at the top of the sedum bush, but I believe it's a house wren. He (or she - it was moving pretty quickly) was "swimming" through the leaves and stalks of this sedum. I think it was bathing because the plant was still wet from when I had watered.

Sunday's Birdservations!

It's amazing what you can see when you're really looking. Today I observed several things worth mentioning. Unfortunately the camera didn't catch all of this and even if it did, the image quality isn't awesome. So here we are:

• The hummingbird feeder I hung in the tree was finally noticed by one teensy weensy ruby-throated hummingbird

• A brown-headed cowbird danced for a female

• A male house sparrow gave himself a dirt bath in the neighbors' garden plot

• It was girls night out as a group of female house finches fought over whose turn it was at the feeder

• In search of some protein, a sparrow chased a hapless moth and presumably ate it (I lost sight of them before the meal happened)

• A house finch happily splashed around in the water tray

Dancing Cowbird

A brown-headed cowbird, dancing for the female. She was unimpressed.

Edible Bird Nests

One week ago today many happy people came together to celebrate the love of one special couple and their commitment to each other. A touching ceremony, delicious food, sartorial splendor with peacock feather accessory, and delightful edible table decor.

It looks too cute to eat, but I did anyway!

6:57 AM

If you ask the neighbors what the heck I was doing crouched behind barberry shrub this morning at 7 AM they wouldn't know what to tell you. I wasn't planning to take a picture of this groggy cowbird, but she was so uncharacteristically quiet and sweet.

Coyote vs. Bunny

Normally this time of year the bunnies have the run of the neighborhood, nibbling on scraps that fall from the feeders, eating all my flowers, and making many, many babies. But so far this spring I've seen very few.

Maybe the recession has hit the bunny population, so instead of eating out under the feeder every night, they only treat themselves to a gourmet seed meal once a month. Okay, probably not.

We also think that the dog keeps them away. Silly theories have developed out of that idea like the one where Dallas didn't actually eat that bunny back in January, she just deposited its parts all over the yard as a warning to others to not step foot near our third acre lest they meet the same fate as their little friend.

Today I saw what I suspected is the real reason behind declining bunny numbers: the coyote. I've seen and heard them before in our area, but not for a couple years. Stay as long as you'd like, Mr. Coyote. I don't want my sunflowers to become bunny salad, and I prefer that only birds dine at the feeders.

The Dedicated Robin

Late last week, as Rob and I were settling in to watch some TV, we heard something hit the basement window. It was the kind of noise that makes your heart sink: a clunk muffled by flailing feathers. Upon investigation we noticed two robins perched on the fence, nervously cocking their heads. They were fine, no harm done. Laughing, we scolded them for being such dummies.

Throughout the weekend though, a particular robin had come back to that window every 10 minutes only to repeatedly fly into it for about 30 seconds before we would chase him away.

I've read that male robins make it their mission to defend their territory from those who dare to encroach during nesting season. When they see their reflection in a window they believe it is another robin, and the closer they get to that "intruder" the more it looks to them as if the intruder is challenging them back! It's an endless cycle of wrongly perceived threats that ends with the robin attacking his own reflection. In our case, that robin has been battling himself for almost a week.

On Memorial Day, this robin was unstoppable. At first his misguided valor was funny. By mid-afternoon, however, humor was replaced with sheer aggravation as that bird flopped into every last nerve we had.

I placed a deck chair against the window to see if it would block enough of the reflection but soon realized the chair had become a handy, bird-poo-covered perch for him to rest on while he stared his enemy down. I put paper over the window and it seems to have helped.

As soon as his brood hatches his attention will turn to caring for his family. The average robin egg incubation period takes about 12-14 days, so we may endure another week of this crazy behavior.

A Sparrow Without Her Tail

I was going to post about something else today but then I looked out and saw this female house sparrow without a tail! She's a compelling mix of cute and pathetic but her lack of plumage hasn't slowed her down one bit. Aside from dining alone at my feeder, she has also been hopping around in the neighbor's roof gutter.

Don't worry, little bird, like any bad haircut it will grow out eventually.