We Love Lucy

No sooner did we see our second hummingbird than we witnessed conflict between the two.  They twirled around each other like tiny helicopters and one of them fell to the deck.  Lucy was lying in her bed and watched the recovery.

Lucy reflected in the glass

 She attentively watches the little bird

 She stands and her tail wags each time the bird moves

It's hard to believe the first quarter of 2014 has passed already.  This winter and spring have brought very unusual weather to us here in the mountains and to many areas around the globe.

We have so much to be thankful for as we note how many people on our planet are suffering and dying.  Natural disasters have taken a toll and humankind perhaps a larger toll.  Our thoughts turn to those in pain around the world.

Today's quote comes from Maya Angelou.  They are words we should all heed.

"During bad circumstances, which is the human inheritance, you must decide not to be reduced.  You have your humanity, and you must not allow anything to reduce that.  We are obliged to know we are global citizens.  Disasters remind us we are world citizens whether we like it or not."

So think of your fellow citizens of the world.  Help those in need, here and abroad.

HAVE A SAFE AND WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

What is that Bird

We were sitting at the table when we noticed a black bird with a splotch of white on his back.  It was backlit by the sun so we weren't at all sure what it was.  I grabbed a quick photograph through the door.  Looking through the lens I realized we had just seen our first migrating Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  There was no mistaking that bill.

I went outside to watch the woods hoping the bird or one of his friends might come back.

 My reward came rather quickly.  Another lovely grosbeak wearing his best summer plumage.  These birds occasionally nest in the highest NC mountains, but for us they are merely traveling through our area during Spring and Fall Migration.  While they are lovely at all seasons, nothing compares to the bright rosy chests they sport during the Spring.  Their backs are a speckled black and white; the heads are black; and their front bodies purest white.

 He stared directly at me

 Then he looked away as he prepared to fly

The males will stay around for a week or so and then will be joined by the less colorful but still beautiful females.  After a few days the males will continue their journeys leaving the females behind again.  The females will leave after a week or so and we will not see any of them again until the Fall migration.

I had a lovely blogging break and took many day trips all over western NC with our mountain loving daughter.  The weather was perfect except for one rainy day.  That is expected to change for the worse tonight as we prepare for some severe storms.

Our thoughts go out to those in eastern NC affected by last Friday's severe weather and to those in Oklahoma and Arkansas over the weekend.  And to those in pain all over our planet.

A Woodpecker Sittin' on a Rail

 

As the young Pileated Woodpeckers learn to feed themselves, their navigation systems are not quite developed.  They flutter around, sometimes landing on a chair or on the shingles and once even on the umbrella.  Most often they fly to the deck rail.  And they sit and try to figure out how to get up to the suet feeder.  They are fun to watch and after some missed attempts and fly-bys, eventually they land on the feeder and enjoy the suet.

 

 

 

Little female seems surprised to have landed on the railing.

 

 

 

 

She looks up at the feeder.  It seems far away.

Today marks a very special day for some of our readers.  Rosh Hashanah signals the beginning of High Holy Days for our Jewish neighbors.  Called the "Jewish New Year," Rosh Hashanah begins this evening at sundown.

A common Rosh Hashanah greeting is shana tovah u'metukah which means, "a good and sweet New Year."  And so to all of you, Jewish or not, I wish you a good and sweet new year.

Three On a Tree

The Pileated Woodpeckers will soon stop feeding their young and the little ones will have to fend for themselves.  Unlike most birds, the Pileated Woodpecker fledglings are almost as large as the adults before they ever leave the nests.  We can tell the difference between parent and child in their eyes.  The adults have a well-defined sclera while the pupil fills the entire eye on the juveniles.  In most instances, the adults have smoother top-knotch feathers while the juveniles appear in need of grooming.

This year, one of our mated pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers had two fledglings.  We have been delighted to see them in the area.

 

 

 

Father (on the left) and his two daughters

 

 

 

One click of the camera is enough to send one of them flying away.

Soon to be followed by the others.

It is really amazing to see the parent feeding two juveniles at once.

Birds Being Birds

 

 

 

We are by no measure experts on birds or bird life.  But we do have lots of opportunities to observe them in nature.  We have three pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers who come to our feeders with their young.  One pair has two fledglings in this brood; the other two pairs had only a single one.  Both parents assist in feeding.

 

This is not scientific, but we have noticed a pattern in their approach to feeding.  Our first indication that the birds have hatched are the parents; filling their beaks with suet and flying off quickly in the same direction each time.  Later, we see the parent and fledgling deep in the woods.  As time progresses, the woodpeckers bring the fledglings closer and closer to the house.

 

At first, the parent seems always to feed the little bird from above, dropping the food into its mouth.  As the little one grows, the parent feeds the bird in a more parallel position.  Finally, the parent feeds from below the bird, forcing the little one to mimic eating on its own.

 

 

Parent on the left, little girl on the right

 

 

 

The parent makes three trips to the suet.

Our most amusing observations are when the parent comes to the suet and flies past the little bird waiting on the branch.  The little bird invariably sits there in disbelief.  When it realizes the parent is not returning to feed it, the bird makes several attempts to get to the feeder.  Often the initial attempts are not successful but very soon the little bird is sitting properly on the suet feeder enjoying a meal.

Watching the birds simply being birds helps us forget about the world's problems for a while.

Wrong Lens, Bad Lighting

For some time now I have been trying to photograph one of our Pileated Woodpeckers feeding a fledgling.  I watch and wait, watch and wait.  More often than not the woodpeckers will slide to the other side of the tree for the feeding itself.

I was caught unawares the other day and grabbed the camera when I noticed a fledgling on the tree.  So here it is; bad photography but a sweet moment in time.  There was a time when I would not have dared put such photographs on my blog.  But regular readers know that I am a reasonably competent photographer.  If you are not a regular reader, click on the label "birds" and you will see some much better photographs.

 

 

 

Parent and child.  The youngster on the left, almost as big as the parent.

 

 

 

Ready to feed

 

 

 

A blur of motion as the little Pileated gets fed.

It's still raining every afternoon here.  Our plants in the front yard look like a jungle.  Bits of mildew appear on the screen porch.  We are praying there are no hurricane remnants to hit us this year.  There just isn't anywhere for the water to go.  The weather is wreaking havoc on the tourist industry, especially hiking,  kayaking and tubing.  The waters are just too high and dangerous and most operators were closed more days in July than they were open.

On a Brighter Note...

 

We're having more sunshine and it is most welcome.  Mostly afternoon and evening thunderstorms with more sun during the day.

 

We are really fortunate this year to have at least three pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers who come to our suet feeder with their fledglings.  We can identify one of the adults by his/her bald head.  Yes, bald head down to the neck.  So bald you cannot tell if it's a male or female.  So we see this weird bird feeding a chick.  Yesterday we noticed a red line at the top of its head so we hope the feathers are growing back.  We have another pair who had two fledglings and sometimes we see all four of them in the trees at once.  The third pair had only one fledgling.

 

We can tell when the birds have hatched by the feeding frenzy with the parents grabbing large amounts of suet and rapidly flying off into the deep woods.  Later, we can see the fledglings down in the woods as the parents feed them.  As time passes, the parents bring the fledglings closer and closer to the deck.  There is a tree quite near the suet and this is the usual feeding place.  The parent will eat and then will fly to the tree to feed the youngster.

 

This little one waits for his lunch.

He preens his gorgeous feathers while he waits.

 

 

 

Camera at the ready, I stood silently watching, waiting to capture the moment of feeding.  Wouldn't you know?  The silly little bird scrambled toward the back of the tree and all I got was the parent's back, leaning down to feed.

 

Curses!  Foiled again.

No matter how often we see these wonderful birds, we always stop and look.  And listen to their jungle-like cries in the woods.

And so life is good.  It's always better in the mountains.  Closer to reality than Raleigh.

Titmouse Cleans House

 

 

Among the advantages of living in the woods, watching birds do what birds do is one of the best.  We have several bird houses throughout the woods and always enjoy seeing them occupied.  One nesting box in particular seems to appeal to several different types of birds.  In previous years this house has been rented by chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, and titmice.  And many times, a pair of birds will spend a couple of days building a nest in this house, only to decide they don't care for it after all.  Since we never know the stage of nest-building, we do not clean out the house during the summer.  We let the birds do that.

 

The other day, a Tufted Titmouse decided the house was to her liking.  She spent quite a while removing the old nesting materials.



 

What a mess!

 

 

 

 

I can't believe they left all this stuff in here.

 

 

 

 

This is getting harder and harder.

 

 

 

 

And there is still more inside.

 

 

 

 

Oh, forget it!  I'm tired of these fixer-uppers!

So the little titmouse abandoned the idea of nesting in this house.  At least she did some good housecleaning for the next bird who has an inclination to use it.

Don't you just love watching the birds?

They Are Turning Yellow Already

I mentioned in a previous post that one of my favorite songbirds is the American Goldfinch; this for no other reason that that the goldfinches molt and turn yellow so early in the year.  We know that spring is here when the goldfinches turn.

Not all of them change at the same time and it's always a treat to see the variations in yellow among the males.

We have to rely on the calendar and the goldfinches to confirm that spring is here.  Like most of the rest of the country, we are having temperatures far below normal for the year.  High winds and blizzard conditions have hit the Midwest again.  We won't get out of the 30s here today although our normal high for the day is in the 60s.  The skies are gray and we are having little flurries of snow intermittently.

Nonetheless, the trees are budding and the goldfinches are turning yellow.  And so we know it is spring.

The American Goldfinch is the State Bird of several states, including New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington.  It is found in most states either as a summer resident or all-year resident.  Here in NC, they stay with us all year.

Interestingly enough, the birds put on their summer plumage quite early, but they do not start nesting until June or July.  The reason is because they are truly vegetarian and must rely on the thistle, milkweed and other plants to produce the seeds they need to feed their young.  So despite the early molting, they are among the latest nesters.  Some songbirds are ready for a second brood by then.

This one seems a bit brighter than the others.

The goldfinch is one bird that does not raise the young of the Cowbirds.  A Cowbird may leave an egg in the goldfinch nest and the egg may hatch.  The goldfinches will feed the large intruder, but the Cowbird chick cannot survive on the all-seed diet of the goldfinch and will not live.

Pesky Pine Siskins tend to flock with American Goldfinches during an irruption.  And this has been a significant irruptive year for them.  We have taken in all feeders except the suet on several occasions but those pesky siskins keep coming back.  Perhaps they will move on soon.  We hope so, because we definitely want our goldfinches around without them.

And Then She Flew

I saw her before the little birds did.  Rapidly she dived from the tree to catch a Titmouse at the birdfeeder.  She missed her target and was unable to pull up before she crashed into the side of our house.  My husband was startled by the loud thud as the hawk (we think it was a female Sharpshinned) hit.  The dogs were very surprised to see a very large bird lying on the deck not a foot from their bed.

We all stared mesmerized by the beauty of this magnificent bird.  I grabbed the camera to catch a few snaps through the window.

This was just before she took flight.

Not quite ready to go but fully alert.

Immediately after the strike.  Note how she is already looking right at us.

(I didn't want to put this photograph first.)

Dazed, she got on her feet right away.

I stood by the window breathlessly waiting to get my first picture of a hawk taking to flight.  Alas, I was distracted for only an instant...the very instant she decided to fly.  Despite missing the photo op, I was nonetheless thrilled to see that this wondrous bird was not seriously injured.  And thankful for the opportunity to see her so close.

Memories of Snow

Many people are suffering with the excessive heat across our country.  We had a very mild winter this year, but for the previous three years we had above average snowfall.  A few people love to think back fondly on those cold days.  Especially during the heat waves of summer.

One of my Milwaukee friends came down to visit in March one of those years to enjoy our Carolina sunshine and get away from the Wisconsin cold and snow.  We laughed when the skies became cloudy and my friend mentioned that in WI that would have signaled snow.

Little did we know that it signaled snow here.  In the middle of March.  While it happens often in the higher elevations, it is not that common here.  And snow it did.  And it kept on snowing.

This cardinal glared at me as if I caused the snowstorm.

Lots of snow and still snowing.

A goldfinch picks up a mouthful of the white stuff.

The bird was sitting on the deck rail.

This photograph gives you some idea how deep the snow was.

And it wasn't done yet.

Branches were laden with heavy snow.

My friend and I had planned to sit on the deck much of the time,

talking, reading, or watching birds.

That wasn't going to happen this trip.

The snow lingered and we could not get to the airport for my friend's return flight home.  We changed her flight and she got to stay an additional two days.

Memories of snow...do I miss it?  Not at all.  We chose this place for our retirement because of the infrequent snows.  Even when it gets too hot outside, I still would not want a flake of snow.  I'll just stay in the air-conditioned comfort and try not to go stir-crazy.  At least I can still get in the car and drive somewhere.  And I can look at photographs of the snow more fondly than I looked at the snow itself.

On the bright side, we are expecting a cold front to give us some relief today.  It will be most welcome.

Little Female Pileated

Another Pileated Woodpecker has fledged.  This makes the fourth from our two pairs of resident parents.  We saw the adults showing behavior that suggested they were feeding a fledgling deeper in the woods.  Finally, they brought her to a tree near the house.

The other day my husband came inside from sitting on the deck to tell me that I had missed the greatest photograph ever.  He saw the parent feeding the fledgling on a branch and he knows how badly I have wanted to catch the moment with the camera.  "The lighting was just perfect!" he said, "it would have been great."  I snarked that I had a bigillion such missed opportunities on a weekly basis.  You know all of them;  you don't have the camera with you, the camera has the wrong lens on it, etc., etc., etc.

But I knew that sooner or later I would see the feeding and have my camera at the ready.  Not on a branch, not in perfect light, but at least on the right side of the tree.  [NOTE:  For some reason, the photographs look very dark if you have your laptop tilted too far so you might have to adjust it.]

The little girl waits on the tree.

Her mother comes back from the suet and lands alongside.

Finally!  They do not go up under the leaves or crawl behind the tree.

They actually feed right before my eyes.

One more mouthful.

And then they break apart.  Notice that there is little size difference between the adult and the juvenile.

The mother turns her head.  Perhaps there have been too many camera clicks.

Together they fly off deep into the woods.

If you are reading this, I assume you still have Internet access after the Feds shut down the temporary fix for the "Doomsday" virus causing thousands of infected computers to be unable to connect to the Internet.  It is frightening to think of the horrid things evil people can do to so many people in our electronic world, isn't it?

I hope your week is starting well.  Temperatures across the mid-west and eastern US are expected to moderate a bit.  And we hope for the rain to stop in the UK and Russia.  We definitely have some global "weirding" going on.

Behind the Branches

We are blessed to have so many birds in our woods and are often treated to the sight of the parents feeding the fledglings.  Since the birds come at different times each day, catching a photograph is more luck than skill.  The other day I happened to have my camera...with the right lens on it...and I saw two Pileated Woodpeckers fly to the tree.  Finally I would be able to capture the feeding.

This baby Pileated Woodpecker sits and waits for the parent to bring some food.

I've got the camera at the ready.

Want to see this baby fed?

So did I.  But the two birds climbed just high enough in the tree.

So here's nothing but branches and the tail end of a bird.

Perhaps this shot of the Downy Woodpecker feeding its fledgling will suffice.

People who watch birds know that the best bird is always on the other side of the tree.  But just knowing it's there is sometimes enough.

The number of people in harm's way seems to be growing.  Now we add those in peril from the dangerously high temperatures, many without power from the storms.  Our thoughts are with them along with those affected by the western wildfires and the residual floodwaters in Florida.

Bird and Baby

We do so enjoy the birds, especially the ones who bring their fledglings nearby to feed them.  Fathers of most of the woodpeckers play an active role in the nesting and feeding.

The little Red-bellied Woodpecker waits for some food.  Notice the faint red on top of his head.

We call this tree the "launching tree" because almost all of our woodpeckers bring their fledglings here.

Initially, they feed them deeper in the woods and then bring them closer and closer.

This is the last step before the fledglings must find their own way to the suet.

The adult brings food to his little one.

Notice the "little one" is almost the size of the parent.

The quality of the photographs is not great, but the sentiment is there for you to see.  Call it instinct or call it nurturing.  No matter what you call it, it is amazing sight every single time.

Amazing Sight at the Birdfeeders

Red Crossbills are a rare sight at our elevation.  One year we made a little birding record in North Carolina.  We had Red Crossbills who nested in our conifers and brought their fledglings to our feeders. http://ncmountainwoman.blogspot.com/2009/05/fledgling-is-red-crossbill-one-for.html

Last week my husband looked out and saw a pair of them.  It was amazing to see a pair of them again.

The male is on the right, just in front of a cardinal.  The female is on the left.

They seemed to enjoy the sunflower seeds.

The male saw me but continued to eat.

They are wonderful to see.

I highly doubt this pair will stay around here.  This year our conifers have few to no cones so this might not be a good place for them.  Perhaps next year...