What's Happening Here

In a word, what's happening here is... SPRING!

Of course, I'm going to need more than one word (and quite a few photos) to tell you about it.  

I tried to narrow down my topic, really I did.  But when I looked thru my photos from the past week there were simply too many good 'stories' to tell to pick just one.  

So, woodpeckers?  Yes.  Hawks... yes.  Ducks, again... yes.  Also, wild turkeys, goldfinches, and of course, I can't leave out our bluebirds.

We'd better get started!

I love our red-bellied woodpeckers and I'm happy to see they stand their ground against the newly-arrived hoards of red-winged blackbirds.  Actually, they seem to be king of the peanut-suet nuggets feeder.

The red-winged blackbird is on his way out, and the hairy woodpecker to the left just has to wait his turn.  

Mama red-bellied is also quite unperturbed if anyone tries to interrupt her turn at the feeder.

I put peanut-suet nuggets in the feeder when I have them, and sometimes I put in plain shelled peanuts.

Mrs. Red-bellied likes those very much.  After she is done, it's a hairy woodpecker's turn.

Notice the rust color on the bottom of her tail feathers?  I'm not sure why they are that color... maybe someone reading this knows and can comment.  I know woodpeckers use their tails as props against trees while they are foraging or drumming.  Maybe something rubbed off on her?

Our red-bellied woodpeckers also enjoy sunflower seeds.  The female has a routine... she gets a seed:

See her red belly and her neat zygodactyl toes?  Click here to learn more about them.

Then she carries it to our apple tree which is close to the feeder.  There she puts it in a crack in the tree bark to crack open and eat.

Red-bellied woodpeckers are one of my favorite birds, but it's time to move on.

Next we had a flock of wild turkeys pass thru.

There was one big old gobbler in the group.  First he showed me his back side...

then his profile:

...and finally, he really showed off!

Come on, ladies, what's not to love?

Almost everyday this week I've seen a beautiful red-tailed hawk by our place.

One day he was sitting in a tree right by our driveway as I drove in.  I wish I'd had my camera for that!  Magnificent to see him close and then fly off with outstretched wings.  I did get a photo one day of it in flight but not that close!

We had another little hawk visit on the 19th.  While I was working in our sunroom it flew past the window.  So I raced in to grab the camera and binoculars.  Then, he sat still as could be for almost 10 minutes right in front of the house.

The lighting wasn't very good for photos and there were many twigs in between us, but I got a few decent shots of this sharp-shinned hawk.  In every photo I have, it looks like it only as one leg.  It wasn't cold out so I don't think he needed to pull it up for warmth, and I don't think he could have hidden it that well.  Or could he?  Another question for my more knowledgeable readers.

I'm still hoping and waiting for another type of hawk to come around.  We have two new kestrel boxes ready for use.  You can see one of them on the pole on the left side of the next photo. 

We also had some thunderstorms this week and the grass is greening up a bit.  The ice is out of the swamp and a few ducks are arriving.

Mallards, a pair of hooded mergansers one day (sorry, no photo... too early and not enough light when I saw them) and then a pair of common mergansers.

I like that the water is clear enough in the photo so you can see the hen's orange feet as she stands on the submerged log.

Our goldfinches are brightening up... getting their warm weather change of pretty yellow feathers.

Well, they will be pretty again once they are all finished molting!

I can't leave out our bluebirds -- I've been watching them every morning this week at the box I can see from our bedroom window.

There's been lots of activity there, though I haven't seen them take any nesting material into the box.

One day, Mama Bluebird was doing some housecleaning though, and came out of the box with a thin piece of grass I must have missed when I cleaned it.

They usually hang out around the box in the early morning.  Then I sometimes see them different places around the yard later in the day.  I'm so happy to have them around, as well as all the other birds.  

That's "What's Happening Here" but I will also say, "To Be Continued" because I'm still waiting for wood ducks... and tree swallows, and wrens.......

Bonus: Bluebirds

Is there a support group for people who are addicted to taking photos of bluebirds?  If so, I need to join!  I see bluebirds... I have to grab my camera.  Help?!

Maybe the 'help' is that I can share them with you?  I just did a whole post about bluebirds on March 9th, so this one is a 'bonus', but it's also because I happened to capture on film (as we used to say when we used film) something I mentioned in that post.  Remember how Mama and Papa Bluebird were guarding their nesting box after chasing off another bird?  Thanks to the fact that I had my camera set to high-speed burst and was already taking photos of the bluebirds when it happened again on Sunday morning-- I captured it!

I'm going to label each photo with the time it was taken.  (Instead of "A Few Moments with Mama and Papa Bluebird", this post could be called "A Few Seconds...")

We start off with Mama Bluebird looking pretty on top of the box.

6:54:40

 Then Papa joins her.

6:56:05

 Next is when the excitement begins: Papa goes into action....

6:58:05

6:58:06

6:58:06

6:58:06

 At this point, that burst had to be recorded on my camera, which takes a very brief moment.  In the next burst you can see the 'enemy'-- a starling!

6:58:15

6:58:15

6:58:15

Wow!  I was a little sorry I wasn't zoomed out a bit, as I didn't capture all of the birds in action-- but I still think the photos are neat. If I hadn't already been taking pictures, I would have missed it all.

Now, Mama and Papa go back to sentry duty.

6:58:24

6:59:11

 Finally, Mama checks inside to make sure everything is okay.

6:59:57

As I think I am hopelessly addicted to watching and photographing our bluebirds, stay tuned for more "Adventures with Mama and Papa"!

Early Spring

On the calendar, March 20th is officially the "First Day of Spring" this year.  In our hearts and minds, what says to us "Spring is here!" can be lots of different things.  

For many people, it's the arrival of American robins.

The early bird DID get the worm!

This year I saw the first robin in our yard on March 8th.  (I also saw some a few days earlier at a nearby location).  The springtime arrival of robins can vary greatly... in fact, they can sometimes be seen in the winter - if you look in the right places and if there is food available for them. In 2013, we listed our first robin of the year on January 3rd.  The next earliest was February 5th in 2009... but usually it's in March -- anytime from March 2nd to 9th.

Of course, I greatly anticipate the arrival of other birds.  Red-winged blackbirds sometimes hang around in the winter here (like William) but most arrive back in early March.  The males come first and start staking out their territory and then begin singing from a prominent spot.

That one choose an extremely prominent spot, as you can see in the next photo!  He was all the way at the top of the huge hemlock tree by our house.

That's him-- the small black dot at the top, just left of center.  I don't think any females were paying attention to him; in fact, I haven't seen too many females around yet.  They arrive back awhile after the males.  There was one at our feeder area today though, so maybe he'll get lucky.

female red-winged blackbird

He's not the only one acting a little silly while looking for love this spring though.  Song sparrows have been arriving back the last few days.  This guy was singing his heart out near the top of a tree, too.

See if you can pick him out in the next photo... he's way up at the center of the tallest tree.

The goldfinches aren't singing anymore than they usually do (they won't nest until late summer so there's no rush to find a mate), but they are starting to change into their summer attire.

Not only does this one appear to be getting some bright yellow feathers around its side and throat, it seems to be loosing an old feather near its tail.

Mallards in the swamp should be happier this March than last.  Here they are last year on March 9th:

"Why did we come back here already?"

And this year on March 6th.

Two male mallards

There was plenty of water for this mallard couple to swim around in this year on March 12th.

On the 12th, it was so balmy that a bunch of painted turtles were sun-bathing!
Wildflowers are in bloom in places that were still snow-covered at this time last winter.

Coltsfoot

Dandelion

There are signs of life in some other buds and leaves which are beginning to grow.

Bulbs in my garden are flowering (well, they used to be in my garden -  these crocus have been 'transplanted' into the grass by chipmunks who hid the bulbs in their tunnels and then forgot to eat them).

Apparently, chipmunks don't like to eat snowdrop bulbs.  They leave them alone.

There are so many beautiful things to enjoy when the warmer weather comes.  There is still much to anticipate, too!  I'm anxiously waiting for the first hepatica flower in the woods.  I've been checking, but... no flowers on them yet!

Hepatica leaves

All these things bring joy to my heart.  The arrival of birds, the new growth of plants, and the blooming of flowers.  But there is one more thing that signals to me that spring is here.  I can't show you... I don't have a photo of one.  And it's not the appearance of them that is so thrilling in the spring -- it's their sound.  And that is the chorus of the Spring Peepers!  I heard the first ones yesterday - so, "Spring is here!"