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.......