FROM THE SALT LINE TO THE GOLDEN TREES
LINE AND SQUARES AND FALL – Marilyn Armstrong
Category: Wildlife
A THIRD OF THE WAY THIS OCTOBER – Marilyn Armstrong
IT’S ALL HAPPENING ON THE FEEDER
I have to tell you, it wasn’t easy finding six of anything on the feeder. A lot of flocks of five, but this was the only one with six. You have to count the tail of one because you can only see five!
THE GOLDFINCH CAME HOME! – Marilyn Armstrong
It’s not the big flock I had last year, but three Goldfinch showed up today and hung around long enough for me to get their pictures. They were the stars of last winter’s bird portraits. They are so awfully cute.
We also had a visitor I haven’t seen in years. It was a baby Chipmunk! We used to have hordes of Chipmunks chittering at us as they tried to take over the driveway. Then the bobcat showed up and he ate them. All of them. This is the first Chipmunk I’ve seen in at least five years. He was so little!
Hunting, I guess, for seeds left on the deck. For some reason, I didn’t take his pictures. I was so bedazzled just seeing him on the deck. I even had time to call Garry over to see him too, so I certainly could have taken his picture, but I was having so much fun watching her skitter around the deck looking for seeds.
The birds are coming back. Slowly. The Mourning Doves are still missing, but maybe they are just being shy. They are also a bit big for these feeders. They liked picking seeds from the deck. They are flat feeders.
On a positive note, we have lots of joyously singing Carolina Wrens.
Also, I saw, but he was gone before I could get the picture, a full red-headed woodpecker. Not the big one who looks like Woody. This one looks just like the Red-Bellied Woodpecker, but his entire head is completely red. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen one outside a bird book.
Sometimes, it’s good to live in the woods.
BETWEEN THE LINES ARE THE SEEDS OF HOPE -DAY 6 – Marilyn Armstrong
EATING SEEDS BETWEEN THE LINES – Marilyn Armstrong
The birds are slowly coming back. Slowly. I don’t know if more are going to show up. I’m particularly worried about the disappearance of the Mourning Doves. They don’t migrate. They live here year-round, but I haven’t seen one. But they are shy and it takes them a while to find their way to the seeds.
Meanwhile, there was quite a flurry of birds today. And here are some squared up pictures. Lots of lines. The entire feeder is all wire lines. The deck is also lines made from wood planks and posts.
But these two pictures are special because one is lovely Lady Cardinal. While Sir Cardinal is showier in his brilliant scarlet feathers, she is — in her own way — a gorgeous bird. Her colors are wonderful!
And the second one is one of my all-time favorite birds, the Red-bellied Woodpecker.
EVEN MORE BIRDS – Marilyn Armstrong
Do NOT complain about my birds. I am so thrilled to have my feeders up. When I ramble into my kitchen for morning coffee, there the rails and feeders are all aflutter.
What’s really a bit strange — I’m sure this has something to do with climate change — is we are getting different birds than last year. We have last year’s birds too, but many fewer Goldfinch who were the stars of last winter’s bird population.
We have the same woodpeckers — Downy, Hairy, and Red-Bellied. But we have wrens this year. A flock of Carolina Wrens who normally only arrive in early spring has settled into the feeders.
You know you have Carolina Wrens because they have the loudest voice in the woods. Very small birds, but what a voicebox!
There are also Titmice, Chickadees, and Nuthatches (two types): White-Breasted and Red-Breasted.
As for the Carolina Wrens, they’ve been bouncing around the woods for several years, but they never came to the feeders. This year we have them and a couple of others I’m not sure I’ve properly identified. All of the small brown wrens look very much alike. Is that offensive to wrens? If so, I apologize. Same rusty brown color. With speckled and barred wings and striped faces.
We also have a big gray bird that looks like the bird you get in a coloring book. He is Standard Bird A and I can’t for the life of me find it in either of my books. I’ve got two books now. The pocket-size (for people with really BIG pockets) Peterson guide and what I got used from Amazon (free overnight shipping) that cost me $3.50, weighs about 20-pounds and describes in intimate detail every known bird in North America. The final one is coming tomorrow or Monday — the Audubon pocket guide –another book for people with super big pockets.
I’ve been trying to get the most recent books because not only have we many fewer birds than we had just a few years ago (down by almost %30!), but they have moved. Migratory birds aren’t migrating.
A few of them are no considered “homeless.” They don’t have an area of North America that is their breeding ground. This does not bode well for a bird species. But at least they are still alive and maybe if we can slow this changing climate down, our feathered friends will settle down too.
I’ve seen a few Cardinals and for the first time, a bunch of Blue Jays. Still no Robins. I hope they come back. Also, no doves this year. There’s a big white and slightly orange bird of unknown vintage.
For someone who loves taking bird pictures, I’m really not very good at identifying them, so anyone who’d like to help, please, HELP.
A SQUARED AWAY BLUE JAY – Marilyn Armstrong
More July Blues – The Square Blue Jay
PHOTO PAINTINGS BY THE DAM ON THE MUMFORD – Marilyn Armstrong
I need to go take some new pictures. I feel a bit lost without the birds. They have been my mainstay since last November and now, they are gone.
We’ve had a couple of beautiful days, but I didn’t get outside to shoot. Now, there are going to be three or four more days of rain coming up, so there aren’t going to be more pictures until the weather clears.
I might have to go and process a lot of pictures that are just sitting in folders, waiting for my magic touch.
