Tag Archives: cardinal bird

November December Flora and Feathered Fauna

Autumn, birds, cardinal bird, chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Goldfinch, goldfinches, Hairy Woodpecker, massachusetts, New England, nuthatch, , , , , , , , , , ,
Even as November eased into December, Yang and I have still enjoyed the creatures and plantation around the Yang Manse.  Would you believe that we still had morning glories toward the middle of November?  Gallantly battling colder, shorter, darker days, these Heavenly Blues waited until the last gasps of autumn to bloom.  Their beauty shown through the dying colors of the late season. They even provided a lovely contrast to the last of autumn’s orange and rust foliage.

Though we had an extremely poor crop of pumpkins and gourds (three fertilized, two surviving long enough to be picked), we did still manage to grow some of the plants to maturity.  Here, is one gourd that started out lovely, but succumbed to cold, too much dampness, and the onslaught of slugs.  You can see how pretty it was before Mother nature went wild on it.

 

In a happier vein, though, how about a look at the survivors?  This gourd that did make it was a surprise fertilization, which we found peeping under some leaves.  Here it is shortly after discovery.  We try to put a rock or plate under the growing gourds and pumpkins to keep the damp ground from rotting them.

 

 

And here is the same gourd all grown up.  Sadly, because it was fertilized, late it never grew very much and then spoiled after only about six weeks.  It was pretty while it lasted!

 

 

We also managed to get one pumpkin!  It was fertilized during a short break in the rain for a week or so of sunshine and hot weather.  Here’s our pumpkin a beautiful dark green as it grows slowly but surely, out facing damp and ravenous slugs!

 

 

It may not be the biggest pumpkin we’ve ever grown, but like Reba Mcentire, it can sing, “I’m a survivor” – if pumpkins can sing. Now the pumpkin resides in state in the picture window on the sun porch, where we can enjoy viewing it as we watch the birds chowing down at our feeders.

 

And speaking of birds chowing down on our feeders, we’ve got plenty of the little feathered guys to watch!  We have the usual suspects: Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, Cardinals,  Chickadees, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers, and Nuthatches, for example.

 

 

But there are also returning old friends, as well.  The harbingers of winter, the Slate Colored Juncos, are back.  At first, they did their typical feeding off the ground, but now they are returning to old habits of taking lunch at the feeding bar.  It just takes them a little while to remember that they can do that. I love to see them flying away, making the sound of castanets and flashing the white stripes on the fan of their tails.

 

Who else should make a return engagement after a short absence, but the Goldfinches!  As summer ended, these guys disappeared from my feeders for several weeks.  Then, suddenly, they all returned in November, wearing their olive winter coats. They also like to chow down with the other birds, so I have some neat shots of them with their pals, though woe betide the bird who tries to chase one of these aggressive little olive-garbed guys away!  I love this picture with two Goldfinches and a Titmouse (on the right)doing acrobatics.

Here’s another one of the Goldfinch with a Nuthatch.  Isn’t the Nuthatch in picture #1 adorable, just peeking around the corner of the feeder? Don’t you love the gorgeous blue/grey of the Nuthatch’s cloak, more visible in picture #2?

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see here, the Goldfinches don’t seem to have trouble getting along with either the Hairy (photo #1) or the Downy Woodpeckers (Photo #2).

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact, this summer and fall, I don’t think I’ve seen so many  Hairy Woodpeckers on my feeders.  They certainly do seem to look like Downies on steroids.  Here are some nice shots I got of the female  Hairy.  You can tell the difference because the only the male has a red spot on the back of his head – like in the case of the Downies.

So, I’ll just end with a shot of a Titmouse and a Goldfinch snacking away.

Until the Titmouse turns to me with a definite, “Who you lookin’ at, human!” expression.

 

Backyard Birds, Part One

birds, cardinal bird, catbirds, chickadee, goldfinches, massachusetts, New England, nuthatch, Rufuous Towhee, wood peckers, , , , , , , ,
Despite the polar vortex heading our way this weekend, spring is trying to sprung on us.  And the feathered visitors to my backyard are showing the way.  Bright new plumage is emerging and old friends are returning from warmer climes, though some winter visitors have lingered on.
The bird I’ll introduce to you first is a Downy Woodpecker.  We’ve seen these lovelies all winter long, and this spring they’re still pecking away at trees and the wooden poles holding up our feeders, as well as chomping away at suet.  I noticed that they seem to come in different sizes.  I’m not confusing them with Hairy Woodpeckers, who seemed to disappear from my feeders in the winter, only to return in the spring- especially for suet. We also have gotten a few Yellow-Bellied Woodpeckers throughout winter and spring – and a Flicker or two. Unfortunately, so far this year, we’ve only gotten  photos of the Downys.
Bluejays can be real stinkers – one of the biggest bullies at the bird feeder.  We have four who show up together and try to boss the other birds away.  Often they succeed, but we also have some extremely aggressive Cardinals, Chickadees, and Goldfinches who won’t take excremental effluvia from no one.  So, the Bluejays aren’t always the boss of everyone.  Still, they are beauties, aren’t they?
Speaking of Cardinals, we have more than a few pairs visiting.  I suspect the same couples hang out here through the years, and their kids may even take up residence in the yard as well.  The other day, I saw a female feeding a male black-oil sunflower seeds off the feeder.  I guess when you both brood and fledge the kids and take them out to lunch, you split courting and parenting even-steven.
And in these pictures below, you can get a gander (so to speak) at the ‘ttude both Cardinals and Chickadees possess that enables them not to take any guff from Bluejays.

Who you lookin’ at?

Here’s a less belligerent  chickadee.  They have to be one of my favorites!  I love their cheery calls and the way that that bounce through the air in flight.  They seem to disappear in the mid summer and not return in number until almost fall. Then they stay winter through spring.

 

Juncos always herald the beginning of winter, with their castanet-like calls and the flash of white fanning out in their tales when they take flight.  I haven’t seen any for about two weeks now, but they did seem to linger much later this year.  I love how on some their grey feathers almost shine blue.

 

Speaking of blue, I adore the soft blue backs of the White-Breasted Nuthatch.  It’s fun to watch them scoot up and down a tree, searching for a snack.  You can always tell they’re around by the ack-ack-ack call they give.  Like the woodpeckers (in that family, right), they go for suet the way my cats go for dental snacks. I used to see Rust-Breasted Nuthatches when I lived in Lowell or in Connecticut, but I can’t remember seeing any in Auburn.

 

But let’s look at some spring birds.  The Goldfinches never completely left us, even in the winter, but now their numbers have increased.  Better yet, the boys have shed their drab winter coats and put on their bright, yet soft, yellow finery. You can see that the fellas in these pictures have pretty much converted their outfits to suit (ha!) the season. They LOVE sunflower seed hearts the best of all, but real troopers that they are, they will also go for black oil in the shell.  They also will take guff from no one when food is involved.
One of my favorite returnees is the Catbird.  Another suet gobbler, this guy bobs her tale and shoots about with glee. I especially like this picture because you can see the bird has got her cap on.   Like the Mockingbird (a relative), this character has many calls.  My favorite is when she calls my name, “Sharon!”
We don’t yet have pictures of all the return visitors.  The Rose-Breasted Grosbeak has been back for several days, but we haven’t gotten a good picture of him.  I’m waiting hopefully for the Baltimore Oriole, though I did see one on a rail trail yesterday. You can see one of the first harbingers of spring in this group shot:  the Redwinged Blackbird (center). 
Another typical spring sojourner is the grackle.  Mourning Doves are always with us – and pretty greedy, too.
However, we did have some real excitement when we saw this fellow on the ground beneath out feeder this week:  a male Rufus or Rufous Towhee (I have heard it both ways!).  It’s not the best shot because we had to grab it fast from indoors and a little far away.  Still, you can see the wonderful colors.  I haven’t seen one of these guys in like three years – when I was on a rail trail in Millerton, NY.  Thrilling, isn’t it?

So, I guess that’s all for  now.  The end is in sight!