Flicker Reflection

This morning at the pond. A Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) takes a sip and creates a reflection in the little pond.

One of the first things that was done here at the cabin after move in took place. A human made pond installed in one of the gardens. A place for inspiration. A marvelous thing to add to the yard given my love of nature. So many creatures, from many species of frogs, salamanders, turtles, snakes, there to entertain and educate me. I love it.

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Blackhaw Drupes

Drupes are much like berries – but different. A drupe is a fruit that has a pulpy outside with a single seed inside that is surrounded by a stony exterior. They come in many sizes, large such as peach, small such as Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium).

Blackhaw drupes are eaten by Chipmunks, Squirrels, Hermit Thrush, Cardinals, Bluebirds and White-throated Sparrows.

Along with the flowers in spring, the colorful drupes through the summer into winter, and the purply-red leaves of autumn, it’s a good large shrub to find in your woods, or to plant in your garden.

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Enjoying New Year’s Day With A Tufted Titmouse

I’m enjoying the first day of 2023 with my green tea, in a mug that was given to me by a treasured friend. A mug with a Tufted Titmouse gracing front and back.

And appropriately I’m making notes on the birds that I’m seeing out my windows, coming by for the seeds that I’ve put out. The Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is one of the busiest birds out there. At any given moment I probably see 5 of them, taking one seed at a time and vanishing with it before its return. During the year the Tufted Titmouse eats seeds and insects. They’re here at my cabin year round.

A successful species, they are expanding their territory further north, and according to numbers compiled thanks to citizen science reports, are also increasing their population in their traditional territory.

A tiny bird that is not shy when I’m out refilling the feeders. Greeting me with their song of peter-peter-peter.

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The Event Was Recorded

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 Cardinals In The Garden

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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GrandKitty Camp And The Birds are Safe

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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Using Bark For Identification

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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A New Woodpecker For Me

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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Busy Couple Days In The Garden

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)

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.

Yellow-shafted Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

This brought at least 12 species of birds to the garden where I had scattered sunflower seeds. Extra calories to help them stay warm.

A Chickadee (Poecile) with a blur of a Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) in the background

As popular as the sunflower seeds were, the birdbath certainly attracted as much attention.

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

A simple water warmer kept the water in liquid form which was in great demand.

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