Yesterdays wind was howling, so much that even Rocket the cat felt there might be some malevolent force at work out there and maybe he could just go back inside! The Red Bellied Woodpecker looked like a Marilyn Monroe poster bird! If fending off the Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds wasn’t enough!
I often wonder what they think of the newly returned snowbirds after having endured the Winter here…most likely…”Piss off and find your own feeder!” Ha! There are swarms of Grackles and the Red Winged Blackbirds busy showing off their wares to the ladies and establishing territories.
I left the screen door open the last warm day and just sat and listened to them. They herald Spring:)
There is a lot of bickering right now, territorial woodpeckers chasing off last years young and pushy newcomers trying to move in. The cats love to watch the kerfuffles, just in case they get close to the ground!
This female Hairy Woodpecker is the Queen of the evil eye! The Downy’s are pretty rambunctious as well!
We are not too far removed from the animal kingdom most days;) I enjoyed an encounter of the Red Bellied female chasing a very thick Red Winged Blackbird off HER suet feeder! She had her work cut out!
Yes, both the squirrels and birds here dabble in Shakespearean insults;) They’re well read:)
And we thought the blue jays were rowdy! They pick and choose when they come to get their peanuts now, all that competition!
I found this wonderful branch beside the road, covered in fungi, and thought it would make a photogenic perch. They were none too happy with it at first, such cautious birds! The weird stuff this lady comes up with! Their expressions! Ha!
The flocks of Tree Sparrows and Junco’s have been replaced by the Goldfinches, already changing into their breeding colours! The White Breasted Nuthatches are busy squabbling as well! It’s noisy out there!
I ran into a flock of Robins as I walked out the road. The always elicit a smile! Poking about in the grass, they can now. The snow isn’t completely gone but we’re getting there!
One morning every bird took a dive into the bushes and all sound and activity ceased. The woodpeckers froze in place on the trees, the Blue Jays vanished as if they’d been “beamed out” and the little birds mysteriously did the same…what the?? Then the large body flew over…a juvenile Bald Eagle. I’d heard the “KiKiKi” noise they make but thought it was one of the blue jays as they often mimic them when the grackles and blackbirds are getting too boisterous! Yup, then they come in, smiling as much as a bird can smile, maybe smug looking is a better word…yup, we did that! Ha!
There wasn’t a squirrel to be seen for hours after as well! They are impressive!
Now many folks don’t like the Grackles as they are greedy and rude and bossy but are they ever beautiful! Those iridescent colours when the light hits them right and how they turn into “Count Gracula” as they squawk! I do enjoy watching them.
I set up my sun umbrella in the light rain one morning as the colours change in the lower light. The rain drops on the branches made beautiful bokeh, circles of light, around the birds. The magic that is light!
At the beginning of March we had another blast of snow flurries and two nights of -24°C plus, it was too much, always somewhat depressing this time of year! Enough! Even the birds looked a bit shocked! Ha!
I do love to photograph the birds and snow. Maybe it’s just the challenge of it but it is such a beautiful sight! Hoping we don’t see too much more, maybe I just jinxed us! Ha! Rain, OK, snow, NO! Just not TOO much rain please!
My last little bit of bird fun was with a seed bell Mike’s lovely Godmother Ute gave us! It was fascinating watching the birds figure out just HOW to use it!
The Chickadees figured it out first, then the female Downy, then a juvenile Hairy! Too dangerous looking said the Goldfinches! This Downy was pretty comical!
Sorry for the bird novel but I think I’m caught up except for a visit we made to the Blue Heron rookery (nesting area) yesterday. Sadly to see only one nest left standing. Last Spring there had been 8 in total but it looks like over the Summer/Fall and Winter the other trees with nests in the swamp have all come down. Not sure if they will rebuild or find a new spots! We’ll go back and see. I caught this pair flirting away just before the rain started to come down. Let it wash away the the leftover snow and give something for the grass to grow…I’m ready:) Saludos amigos, Spring is in the air;)
