The clocks are ticking away. Making 2022 soon vanish. Turning the page to 2023. WISHING YOU THE BEST YEAR EVER!
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Bright and early this morning I happened to look out the bedroom window. Not far away, a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), worked away at a fallen tree rotting on the ground.
This woodpecker is quite large, the size of a crow. It’s one that I see quite often flying from one tree to another, or flying in front of me as I go down my mountain road. Unmistakeable because of its size and coloring.
The Pileated Woodpecker’s favorite meal is Carpenter Ants, but they also eat many other sorts of insects, other arthropods, and nuts and wild fruits. They will on occasion dine at a feeder, eating seeds or suet but here at my feeders it doesn’t happen often.
As for the photos I tried to get, let’s just say I managed to record the event and nothing more. The image immediately above is one of my attempts. The woodpecker was working in a bunch of briars and brambles. And to complicate things further, I was shooting through a window screen. The image at the top was taken in February of this year, apparently when the photography gods were smiling upon me. 🙂
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Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). A frequent visitor to my feeders and in other parts of this world they’re found in southeastern Canada, throughout eastern US from Maine to Minnesota, to Texas, New Mexico, southern Arizona, southern California, and south through Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala.
I think of Northern Cardinals as birds that eat seeds and fruit, but during the summer they also eat insects, spiders and invertebrates. They can have all they want here at my cabin, including Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, please.
During the breeding season these Cardinals are very territorial, but during the winter they become accepting of other Cardinals, nesting together for warmth and protection. That protection is more important during the winter since their color stands out dramatically against the black and white of the winter forest, and against snow.
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Betelgeuse, the GrandKitty. We’re having a grand time at GrandKitty Camp.
In the US outdoor cats kill 2.4 billion (or thereabouts) birds each year. Not Betelgeuse though. She’s a very happy indoor cat, who follows her instincts by pouncing on a feather attached to a string, running round and round to get it.
Please help the birds. Keep your cat inside. Your cat will be safer, and so will the birds.
And her name? Betelguese, got her name from the red supergiant star in the constellation Orion NOT Beetlejuice as in the movie!
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Most leaves have fallen from the trees, now that it’s nearly January. Making identification more of a challenge. American Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) is one that I find easy to recognize. As a young tree it has shreddy bark, with narrow strips curling off.
As the tree ages the shreds disappear still leaving the appearance of bark that has been scratched by a cat, but not to the extreme of the young trees.
I love it when the bark makes identification easy. No question of what the tree is.
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I’m not one that keeps a life list of birds that I’ve seen. But when the Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) was mentioned as being active in Batesville (Albemarle County) Virginia, that got my attention. I’ve never seen one in Virginia, though they are listed as living here year round.
Today I got to see a couple of these beautiful birds. Unfortunately, though I did have my camera with me, I didn’t have the proper lens. That will come with me the next time.
The Red-headed Woodpecker is a fascinating bird that will store food, and will cover that insect or seed with wood or bark to hide it. It is only one of four woodpeckers in North America known to store food, and the only one known to cover the food this way. Grasshoppers are one of the foods stored, and these are stored alive. They are wedged into cracks in wood so tightly they have no way of escape. These food items are moved from place to place before the woodpecker finally eats them during the coldest times of the year.
I was struck by their appearance as they flew, appearing to be a bird that was almost totally white. I’ll be back to this location with my proper lens for the purpose of getting pictures of these birds soon, since I see they are nomadic and though I got to see them today, they may not be at this same location a year from now.
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A very cold Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The temperature fell to -2° on Saturday, Christmas Eve morning, and by Christmas Day the temperature had risen to a “warm” 32° in the afternoon.
This brought at least 12 species of birds to the garden where I had scattered sunflower seeds. Extra calories to help them stay warm.
As popular as the sunflower seeds were, the birdbath certainly attracted as much attention.
A simple water warmer kept the water in liquid form which was in great demand.
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So many traditions on Christmas Eve. One tradition, carried on for at least half a century, enchiladas. An absolute must. Another, putting the tree up and decorating it on Christmas Eve. That one quickly dropped from the list. Tonight we’re having mincemeat pie for dessert. Not a tradition, but perhaps it will become a tradition to be followed.
Wishing all my dear friends, cousins and readers a Merry Christmas filled with many good things, and a 2023 that will be the BEST of years.
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This morning there were snow flurries for a few hours. Perhaps because we had flushed ice cubes last night. That’s good but we’ll still work on it tonight and again tomorrow night, Christmas Eve. This snow stuff requires hard work sometimes, even to get flurries. If you’ve got a snow candle, we’d appreciate your support. This is important stuff.
This photograph is from January 30, 2010. Some of our Christmas trees, during my very favorite winter.
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A little willowy child has come to visit with one request. A request to flush ice cubes each night until Christmas. The weather forecast not quite perfection. No snow on Christmas.
Perhaps we can help. Flushing ice cubes just might help the clouds form. The temperatures plummet. Now, Thursday night. One night, the spell cast. Two more nights left to go.
Ah imagination. A child with imagination and an adult with the imagination of a child.
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