06 December 2010

The local Bird Bar.....

Confession time.....

We love birds....

We love feeding the birds....
watching the birds...
listing the types of birds we've seen...
photographing the birds in our yard...
but we're not "birders"....not really.

It's just that we can't help ourselves.
They are so darned cute,
never mind that those 
Hussy Mourning doves eat their flippin' heads off....
then perch on a tree just above our cars and then proceed to .....
well, you know.

I'm trying to think of something to 
make them "mourn" just a bit less.

The Carolina Wren is our favorite.
She sings with such abandon,
or is that determination?

Anyway,
my sweetie lost his mother years ago,
and when a CW appears, 
he smiles, because he is pretty darn sure she has come back as
a Carolina Wren....smiles.

So,
when we were sitting out on the front porch a few afternoons ago,
and glanced a happy CW on our feeder,
I snuck inside to grab my camera.

Here is looks as though she is inside of the suet cage.... 

She even stopped talking when she noticed the focusing light...

So, in reality, she was merely on the opposite side of the cage, not in it... 

Any angle will dooo.....

Look at her tongue!

And that white eye liner!

Just one or two tail feathers out of place...

But her cap is finely preened...

Now she might be getting just a bit miffed that we are watching her eat... 

Who else is watching?

Make no difference, as long as I control the suet, she says...

Wonder if it is sweeter on this side?

Whoops! Did she fall off?

Later in the afternoon, the clouds rolled in, so I took up a position inside..
so that I might catch a shot of the speed racer, the chickadee....

Almost, but 
perhaps a finch will do...


no?

There she is!


Checkin up on us, maybe?


Don't know what type of bird this is....but do you see it there on the ground?
Perhaps, all you see is the eye...right in the center of the shot. 

Ms. Carolina Wren loves to peck around in the crouch of this Bradford Pear Tree,
see her on the right?


And how lucky was I?
to see both the Chickadee and the Woodpecker on the same tree?
This tree looks as though he has a bad attitude...maybe because he shot his eye out....



 One more look at the finch...


And of course, CW....


A Nuthatch...


And finally, my chickadee...


thank you for indulging me...
smiles.

05 December 2010

Meet Phred, the interior designer....

Phred is a DIY'er.....
he is very busy this time of year 
making his crib....
making it suitable for entertaining....
spiffing things up for the winter....

 Phred 
is a squirrel.

He lives in the tree
that my office looks out on....
My office is three floors up,
and looks out into a dense patch of trees.
As I type, my peripheral vision 
tends to catch sudden movement in the trees.

So
Monday, as I sat typing away,
I spied a twitch, and a rustle of tree limbs.
I looked directly out and still couldn't make out what it was...

It was Phred.
There about 30 yards out
Phred was stuffing leaves, still attached to small limbs,
into what remained of last winter's nest.
This is what I saw....


Yes, I would recognized him anywhere....


That perpetual scratcher of ears....


Whose tail seems to be longer than his entire body....


who remodels with the last remaining green leaves...


See him? peeking out from under that leaf?
perhaps he has esp, too.....


One paw on the entry limb, one paw holding on to his threshold...


then WHOOSH! he is off to procure more interior enhancements ...


Back, he stuffs them in the front door...


only to poke them further through the roof...


old exterior brush begins to be transformed...


The old dead cedar tree that Phred lives in, 
stands sturdy, 
even though it was stuck
 by lightening a few years ago....


Phred moves fast!(note the blur!)


One quick little look to make sure the coast is clear...


then hang up side down for just a minute,
 to stretch things out a bit...


Then back with another limb...


Just when I think I see him 
taking a short lunch break...


He surprises me again..


grabs the leaves in his mouth...


and up the trees he goes...


Now, I think he may be just showing off...


or sleeping on the job....


Subtlety is not his forte...


Ah Phred....it's been fun watching you...
hold tight there buddy....
keep things real...
and 
stock up for the winter yet to come....
smiles