The Long and the Short of It

Just two female woodpeckers

sharing the suet feeder.

 

 

 

They look like the could be

a mother and child,

but in reality

the larger of the two is a Hairy Woodpecker,

and the smaller is a Downy Woodpecker.

Woody Woodpecker??

 

As a child, I loved the Woody Woodpecker

comics when we went to the movies.

The first time I saw one of these Pileated Woodpeckers

that was exactly who I thought of.

 

 

This is a female that recently

visited my suet feeder outside

our living room window.

 

 

She is quite a pretty lady!

 

A few years ago there was a male

Pileated that visited.

By looking at his picture,

you can see the difference in

markings between the male and female.

 

 

The red on the male's head

extends clear down to his beak.

He also has red extending from his mouth.

 

 

 

 

Quite a handsome guy!

 

It is always a blessed day

when we are able to see

such an awesome bird up close! 

 



Baby Blues

The long awaited day finally arrived!

 

While the Bluebirds decided not to lay their eggs

in the beautiful nest they had prepared

in our new Bluebird house,

they didn't forget the feeders

where they found new worms daily.

 

One day a short time ago,

I saw the Bluebirds flying across our backyard.

When I saw that there was more than two of them,

I realized they were teaching their fledglings to fly.

 

The next day, I saw some of the Baby Blues

at our feeders.

 

Their landings from flight

were not always so sure-footed,

but some did manage to end up close to their dad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little one waited patiently at the top of the feeder

hoping his dad would see him.

 

 

Well, maybe he wasn't quite so patient!

 

 

"Here I am, dad, and my mouth is ready"..

 

At last his dad saw him,

 

And down the hatch!

 

 

There appears to be at least four babies.

They are so fun to watch.

Although I do see the mother,

the dad seems to be doing all of the feeding/teaching.

 

 

And finally--"I can do it myself!"

 

 

I feel so blessed

to have been able to observe this

and take pictures of it.

I was originally inspired to take bird pictures

by a blogger who took the most beautiful

Bluebird pictures I had ever see.

Some of her pictures have been published

in Birds and Blooms magazine in the past.

That was over ten years ago,

and I have taken a lot of bird pictures since then.

 

I still would like to be able to take

pictures of them in flight like she did;

but living in the woods,

I don't usually have enough light

to shoot at high speeds.

 

But who knows, maybe someday!



Blue Birds

A year ago, for the first time

we had Bluebirds make a nest in our nesting box.

Our excitement, however,

turned to disappointment

when raccoons raided their nest,

not once, but twice.

I thought they probably would never return.

 

This Spring we decided to put up a new nesting box;

one that would not be so easy for the raccoons to raid.

But, before we got it up, believe it or not,

the Bluebirds returned and started building in the old box.

 

 

 

For a couple of weeks, they were busy building

their new nest and totally ignored the new box.

Then one morning I saw them checking it out.

I thought, boy, that's interesting.

When I looked out our front door, I knew why.

The raccoons had once again torn apart

all their hard work.

 

 

There was a lot of activity by the new box,

and I am happy to say they relocated.

 

 

 

 

There is not as much flying around right now,

so maybe that means the mama

has laid her eggs and is waiting for them to hatch.

 

 

At least we hope so!



Spring Migration

In early May, suddenly our trees seemed to be bouncing with colorful birds.  Some were just passing through, while others have decided to stay for awhile.

Early one morning as I was looking out at one of our birdfeeders, there were a couple of beautiful red-colored birds.  At first I thought a Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, but then it hit me--Mrs. Cardinal does not look like that!

 

 

 

After a taking some more pictures and a closer look,

I discovered it was a Summer Tanger,

a bird I have never seen here before.

Then there was another bird

I only saw once a couple of years ago,

A Redheaded Woodpecker.

He seemed to spend a lot of time

around the bottom of the feeder.

 

Then there were a number

 of my favorite Spring visitors: 

some Red-breasted Grosbeaks.

Then to add a little more color,

the Baltimore Orioles were back. 

There had been a large group of them here

two or three years ago, so I was really happy

to see a group of them again. 

This visit I was able to see Mrs. Oriole also.

            Another bird I haven't seen very often:  

                 Hermit Thrush--I think.

Just to add a little more color,

a couple of birds I see year around:

The Goldfinch

 

 

and the Bluejay

 

 

What an amazing couple of weeks!

 

Things have slowed down a bit,

but I still need to share about our Bluebirds.