Archive for January, 2010
Inspiration
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” Lanston Hughes
What an awesome thought. And the best part is we can choose to hold on to them. So next chance you get, grab your binoculars and focus on the birds in flight around you, and follow them into your dreams.
Ordinary With A Twist
I love comical surprises. The day started out like just an ordinary day. A little laundry, a couple of cat boxes to clean, and breakfast, and breakfast dishes before scurring out the door to work, and all the while trying to keep my eye out the windows to see if I had any special visitors at the bird feeders. Right before Bob left for work, he asked me to take a look at the strange bird sitting in the tree outside the door. I looked out to see not a single bird around except a sharp-shinned hawk that was ready to take off over the hill.
Right after he left the back yard was bustling with my happy snow birds at the -window feeder, a couple of siskins and other finches and mourning doves. So, off I went to finish folding the laundry. When I returned to my place at the table with my coffee and yogurt, the back yard was once again empty. The doves had left the platform bird feeder, the snow birds were nowhere to be seen.
They had all decided that they didn’t want to be breakfast for the two sharop-shinned hawk that were stalking over the entire area. Sharp-shinned hawks and cooper’s hawks are often mistaken for one another, but the sharp-shinned is smaller. They are year round residents here, though it was the first I had seen one in the yard. They may be small for a hawk, but a fierce predator.
One sat atop the shepherd’s hook on the hill and one on the heated bird bath. So that’s the twist and very out of the ordinary. It was quite a thrill, and something I may only see once in this lifetime, so I had to pass it on.
Just A Thought
“Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitudes toward life. The longer I live, the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.” Charles Swindoll, Author & Pastor
So, with that thought, choose to make it a joyful weekend. Take a walk in the park, the woods or just around the block. Fill all of you bird feeders and don’t forget to check the suet supply and the water in the heated bird bath.
Have an awesome weekend!
Pine Siskins A Plenty
I’m back again and feeling better - not great yet, but better is moving in the right direction.
Do you offer thistle food to your back yard birds? Thistle is really an incorrect term, though it is used widely when referring to nyger seed. The thistle feeders are usually tight knit mesh or tube feeders with very small holes. I feed the nyger seed all year round, and find that it is twice as popular in the winter months. Today, the two tube feeder that have the nyger seed were literally covered at every port with pine siskins. The mesh nyger feeder was covered with them too. I counted 6 at one time and it is only 9 incles long. Nyger seed is a high energy food, and it is especially loved by the finches of all varieties especially in the winter months.
Pine siskins aren’t seen too much around here in the warm months. They are indeed a winter visitor. Siskins are a small finch and are often referred to as “winter finches”. They are brown and heavily streaked with lighter tones underneath. They have 2 buff colored wingbars and some yellow at the base of their flight feathers. They prefer to hang out in coniferous areas, but will seek the small seeds like the nyger seed, and remain close to the food source all winter. The Pine Siskin has been know to hang out in their winter habitats long enough to breed.
Happy Birds
Well, I got my husband’s bug and didn’t make it here last night. I was otherwise occupied. It has literally been years and years since I was hit with a gastrointestinal bug - I hope it is years and years until the next time. Not fun at all.
We woke up to some snow this morning. It’s just a squall and won’t last, but I love the way the dark-eyed juncos swarm around in the snow. Their common nick name is snow birds, but I prefer to call them my happy birds. They are swarming the patio and covering the window bird feeder. And of course the cats are loving it. The snow birds always make me smile and I needed a smile this morning. They always look like they are smiling and hopping and skipping. That’s why I call them happy birds.
Dreaming Again
Seeing that robin up close and personal this morning had me thinking spring all day. I know it’s too early for it, but I had to at least feed the dream and keep it going for a day. It’s too early to actually do anything about it. They are predicting snow for Saturday, but it not too early to dream about it.
I envisioned filling the hummingbird feeders with sweet nectar for the hummingbirds. I could see myself hanging the hummer helper nesting material so they could build their nests to prepare for their new family. I saw flowers - lots of flowers. There were petunias, honeysuckle, gladiolas, snapdragons and impatiens. It was a very pretty day, the air was far too cold to keep on dreaming, but it sure made my day. I hope you had a good day too.
A Sign Of Spring
I didn’t get here last evening. My hubby was quite sick with a bug and family first, always. Now this morning I discovered the reason - there is always a reason when life’s events take me away from this blog.
The binoculars have been out all morning. A sign of spring? I rather doubt it because they are predicting snow a bit later this week. But, this is a glorious, bright sunshiny morning and the birds were having a ball. So why the binoculars? High atop the red Maple tree sat a robin, and right next door in the branches of the bradford pear tree sat 3 beautiful bluebirds.
Some might say that the robin is indeed a sign of spring, but we do see them here quite frequently in the winter. They stay close to the wooded areas, where there is protection and cover, and near water where they can find soil that is not frozen to find their insects and worms. The bluebirds are year-round residents and are regular visitors to my back yard. I never tire of seeing them in the trees, on the fence, under the bird feeders foraging around on the ground and of course at the mealworm feeder.
Levelling the Lopsided
It’s amazing to me what effect a few storms of rain and snow, and a few windy days can have on my gardens. Yesterday afternoon was a very lovely one for late January, so I wandered out with bird watching in mind, and then did anything but, until I spotted the line-up on the fence.
A close look at things let me see how lopsided things had gotten. The double shepherds hook that holds the meal worms and platform feeder was decidedly leaning, so that got straightened as did all the path lights, and then as I headed to the butterfly garden to freshen the water in the bird bath, I stopped in my tracks. The fence that is our neighbor’s and stands several feet above the garden because of the hilly terrain, was lined from one end to the other with birds. There was a combination of house finches, goldfinches, several doves, a couple of starlings and to totally amaze me a woodpecker. I stood and just stared at the line-up of my friends. Their feeders were full, the suet was there, and still they just sat. As I eased down the hill to get closer, they all flew away. I supposed I spooked them when I got too close.
So, I kept to my tasks and took the old water out of the bird bath and since it was lopsided and leaning like everything else, I leveled it before filling it with fresh water.
It was a nice taste of spring like weather which is about to come to an end in a day or so. There’s even snow in the long term forecast. So I guess it’s not just the outdoor ornaments and the bird bath that are lopsided - the weather is still topsy turvy too.
It’s My House - No, It’s Mine
If I had a nickel for each time I have seen or do see this, I would be rich, beyond my wildest dreams. Some of those feathers I was talking about yesterday, are a result of some the bickering and bantering between the finches and the tufted titmouse over the blue bird house. I can be quite entertaining.
As far as I can deduct the finches win most of the time, but I am not always fortunate enough to see the winners every day. The tufted titmouse appears to be large in comparison to the other birds that visit the bird feeders, mainly because of their large had and heavy neck. Apparently they are not too big to get into the blue bird house. They can also be quite aggressive. So I might just be wrong. And that is fine.
Feathers
Remember the other day when I listed a bunch of fun facts about birds? There are a lot more where they came from, but lets back track to one of them. Feathers.
The fact is that birds are the only animals that have feathers. And, they perform many tasks for our fine feathered friends. They use their tail feathers to steer them flight. The down feathers, are the softest and the ones that keep them warm. The wing feathers are crucial to being able to fly.
The colors of the feathers are effective in hiding them against prey and in attracting a mate in the spring. Birds just wouldn’t be birds without their feathers.
What prompted that little tid-bit of information you ask? I found a few feathers near the bird bath and a few more under the caged suet feeder. You see, there is some territorial fighting going on for the water, which is heated and the suet. They all love the suet.
Looking forward to a great weekend!