.

.
Borrego Springs, CA

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

If you put out a bird feeder…

Soon after I arrived at Anahuac NWR, I set up the Hard Rock Bird Café.  It took a few weeks for the birds to discover the feeders, but discover it they did.  Lately, I’ve had more than my share of hundreds of common grackles descending on it.  I haven’t taken any pictures of them yet as they’re a rather skittish hoard, but tonight I thought I’d show you some pics of the other birds that dive in for a snack when the grackles and blackbirds fly off when I open my squeaky window above my kitchen table.  They have gotten used to that squeak, and just wait for those big piggish birds to leave.

IMG_5754 IMG_5755

I placed the feeders near some yaupon plantings so the birds would have a place to alight coming and going.  This American goldfinch was all puffed up to combat the low temps this morning.

IMG_5776The blue jays here always have to contemplate whether or not it’s safe to come down for some seeds.  It’s hard to get clear shots of the birds in the yaupon bushes because of all the little branches.

While my rig’s stairs were still covered in ice, and there were lots of icicles hanging off the rig, the bushes and trees didn’t have the icy coating that we experienced last Saturday.  That’s a good thing unless you’re trying to get interesting ice pictures. 

IMG_5757

Not all of the birds that visit me are interested in the seeds. I do think that because other birds are hanging around, some of the non-seed eating birds come around to see what all the commotion is about.  Such is the case with this ruby-crowned kinglet.  They are just a bundle of activity as they search for insects among the branches.  I was happy for it to sit still long enough to get a shot.

75 Anahuac NWR 2013-201411

Then, several yellow-rumped warblers bubbled through.  I’ve come to recognize their little “tic, tic, tic” call as they, too, look for hidden spiders and such in the bushes.  One of them even ate some of the dried up holly berries.

IMG_5793

Not many worms available at this time of the year, so this American robin stopped by for some berries.  I’ve been told that Native Americans used these berries to brew up a tea that gave them hallucinations until they consumed enough to cause them to vomit. (Ilex Vomitoria (sp?))  I don’t know if they were seeking a ‘vision’ or just a way to clean out their systems.  What ever… I haven’t seen any birds staggering around.  Eye rolling smile

IMG_5796

A shy cardinal came along to enjoy both the seeds and the berries this morning.  As I watched this bird, I noticed three things about its feathers.  The tail feathers are already looking worn along the ends.  It won’t produce new tail feathers until late summer.  Can you see the greyish edging to the feathers on its back?  By the time breeding season is here, those grey edges will be worn off and he will be a magnificent brilliant red all over.  Then, one of its primary flight feathers on the wing appears almost black.  Do you see that black stripe?  I think that’s unusual.

Seems like I’ve always known that if you put out bird feeders, you have to expect more than seed eating birds.  All the little birds suddenly disappeared at one point this morning, so I took a look see.

IMG_5753

Sure enough!  A young Cooper’s hawk had come swooping in to visit the café.  After all, they have to eat too! Freezing cold weather is hard on many creatures, and if this young lady survives her first year she has a good chance of living a nice long life.  That’s the nature of things, and I welcome her here occasionally.  I just hope she dines on some of those blasted grackles! 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

20 comments:

  1. Very interesting post and some great pictures. I need to get a bird feeder and a new hummingbird feeder. I love to watch the visiting birds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe it was a Cooper's hawk I saw along the San Antonio River one day. It swooshed past my leg with its talons extended as it tried to snag a grackle from under a picnic table. Unfortunately, it missed and the grackle lived to eat another day.

    Love the photo of the cardinal in the berry bush. Perfect match.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Learned a lot tonight, Judy .....thanks for the tutorial and the super photos .... Stay warm !!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yikes on ice storms! Sure am glad we're not traveling thru TX, LA, AL, FL or GA now (as we will be in less than a week)!! Our relatives in those areas have been iced in, also. Nuts to that stuff.

    You know, I think if I was a bird, I'd be embarrassed to be called a yellow-rumped anything!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an awesome post Judy. The bird photos are wonderful and I so enjoyed learning all about them. The cardinal photo should be in a magazine....and I love the yellow rumbled warbler. It brings back special memories of our day with you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love this post. I have learned so much about birds just from reading your blog - your posts really piqued my interest. Was never much interested in birds before. I felt pretty proud that I could identify some of your pictures before I read the text! You're a great teacher - thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You have some beautiful bird visitors! So colorful! I enjoyed seeing them:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Enjoyed seeing colorful and different variety of birds. Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the colors! The robin and the cardinal are among my favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great patrons you have at the cafe ... even if they don't all eat seeds. I see from your photos what you meant about not seeing the yellow on the rump of the yellow-rumped warbler unless it's flying away from me.

    ReplyDelete
  11. They just don't seem to go for those grackles!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Grackles are a pain, but I love to look at their shiny black feathers.
    We have a mom and dad cardinal that visits us often. On their next visit, I will now pay more attention to their feathers.

    ReplyDelete
  13. No bird feeders here this year. They found bear scat on the trail and by the side of Crane Lane.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yep, I hope the hawk dines on a few grackles too, one of my least favorite birds. Gina wanted to put out a feeder while we were all in TX but I told her if she did we would have those nasty grackles pooping on everything, the RV park trees were always full of the darn things. Loved the cardinal shots--cardinals don't like us up here in Montana--too cold I suspect.

    ReplyDelete
  15. From your beautiful photos it's pretty plain to see why you are 'The Bird Lady of Blogland'.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I really dislike those Grackles. We have our feeders out here at Goose Island and have attracted a plethora of the Titmouse/mice??Also there are tons of Cardinals here. I am most fond of the water birds and a friend here has told me where to spot a Whooping Crane..I see lots of bike rides in my future 2 weeks here!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you for the lesson in bird identification. I did recognize the Coopers Hawk because one swooped down in front of us while driving in the motorhome last year. We braced for the crash into the windshield, but somehow it moved just enough for us to clear it. Still can't believe we missed it. :cO

    ReplyDelete
  18. You always have such good pics!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

    ReplyDelete
  19. We get a lot of action at our edge of the woods bird feeder. In fact somtimes I think of ThBirdes movie when they start flocking in the backyard! I guess I should be watching them more closely

    ReplyDelete
  20. Nice post.Thanks for sharing this in your blog

    ReplyDelete