Bird's nest

Henry pointed me to this abandoned bird nest. There was a broken egg underneath it.  I'm hoping someone will be able to identify which bird built it.

The Mockingbird vs the Red Tailed Hawk

I like to sit on my front porch when I first get up. I never know what I'll get to see, but often I get to see something interesting in the natural world.

This morning, I noticed a Red Tail Hawk landing on the utility pole at my neighbor's house across the street. As I was watching him through my binoculars, I noticed that a mockingbird was attacking him. At first I thought the mocking bird was just flying near him to harrass him. But, no, this mockingbird was in full attack mode, nosediving him such that I could see the hawk shudder when contact was made. This went on repeatedly, but the hawk just stayed calm, unreacting as the mockingbird continued the attack. The mocking bird tired and landed within a foot or so of the hawk on the wires. It wasn't long before it took up the attack again. Finally, the long suffering hawk flew down to the ground and stayed for awhile, later flying off low to the ground.

The mystery is why was the mockingbird so determined to fight the hawk. Yes, mockingbirds are very territorial, so perhaps it was just a territory squabble. But it is nesting time, perhaps there was a nearby nest that the mockingbird was defending.

I have to give the mockingbird credit, the hawk was much larger, bigger claws and beak. Whether it was courage or stupidity, the mockingbird was certainly attacking a much larger, more powerful creature. I have to give the hawk some credit to, I suspect it could have easily taken out that annoying, pesky mockingbird, but chose not to act.

This sure reminds me of some human behaviors as well. As humans, we have territory issues as well and we can be pretty "courageous or stupid" when we defend those human boundaries. Sometimes we are like the hawk, ignoring those people trying to peck at us - choosing not to retaliate in kind.

Yes, there are many life lessons I learn by watching the wildlife from my front porch!

My Winter Backyard Birds

Because the weather was so cold and snowy the birds were flocking to my bird feeder. After driving around to get the scenic photos, I decided to sit on the porch (with the propane heater running) to see if I could get some snowy day bird photos. We were expecting two more bands of snow, so i was hoping maybe I would be lucky and get some snowy branches or birds with snow flakes on them. While we did more snow, it didn't accumulate, but I enjoyed my time on the porch. And I was pleased with the bird photos I got.

We get tons of white crowned sparrows in the winter. The adults are easy to identify with those solid white markings.



The juveniles lack those prominent white head markings and for years I've had trouble distinguishing them from chipping sparrows. I've been sure the ones near my house have all been juvenile white crowns because they are always hanging around the mature ones. Experienced birders always scoffed because chipping sparrows are a lot smaller than white crowns. On this snowy day, I had a lot of different juveniles whose markings differed from one another just slightly. After photographing them, I pulled out both my Sibleys Guide to Birds and my Sparrows of the United States and Canada. After careful comparisons between the juvenile white crowns and chipping sparrows, I'm very confident that the ones I saw were all juvenile white crowns. I noted that chipping sparrows have a darker beak, only one white wing bar, and darker legs. My birds had yellow orange legs, two distinctive white wing bars, and yellow orange beaks in addition to being similar in size to the adults.



I don't know how many juveniles I had, but as I'm going through the images, I have many more juvenile images than adults.



I was especially happy that this Lincoln sparrow visited while i was out with the camera. I'd seen him in the yard and was pretty certain that I had the correct ID, but a picture confirms the identification so much better because you have time to study the markings in detail with a bird that is not hopping around and flying off.



He came back several times giving me several opportunities to get a good shot of him.



One of my favorite winter yard birds is the Harris Sparrow. He's one of the larger sparrows, but I love how the bright browns and blacks contrast against that very white breast. He has such distinctive markings that I find him easy to identify. With the males and females looking alike, it keeps the identification simple.



When I first starting watching the orange crowned warblers in my yard, they were sneaky. They would come in quickly to eat and fly quickly away so fast you couldn't get the details in the field marks. Today, they were hungry and stayed around long enough for me to get some good photos.



The day wouldn't be complete without the cardinals.






Also seen coming to the feeder, red winged blackbird females, northern mockingbird, brown headed cowbirds, and Carolina chickadees.

The Mockingbird Chicks

I knew that I had a mockingbird nest in one of the live oak trees in the front yard. I had watched the parents sneak in and settle down, but activity had come to a halt and I wasn't seeing in activity. We had also seen a bunch of loose feathers that looked like the remains of a mockingbird, so I figured that the nest had failed.

But I have two juvenile mockingbirds showing up at the bird bath each morning. No way to know whether they are from the nest in the front yard or another one. I never see a parent with these two youngsters, but they are really enjoying the birdbath.




I'm set up on my front porch with my big lens, hoping to catch that "perfect" image with the chick splashing in the water . . . I've got a few that I'm proud of.



I also enjoy watching them shake out the water from their feathers, pluff themselves up and groom themselves.




They even come up with some really cute poses.




I'm enjoying my summer mornings on the porch - the birds keep me well entertained!

Barn Swallows under the Eaves

I knew that the first brood of barn swallows had flown and that mom was sitting on new eggs. We saw the new chicks this week. I knew I wanted to get some photos when they were little . . . but there is always a lot to do so I didn't get out to photograph until this morning. Sadly I had seen two chicks the other day . . . today I only saw one. But it was so cute and alert as it waited for its parents to bring food. Of course, if a fly or insect flew near, it opened that wide mouth and snapped out. I enjoyed watching the chick stretch out its still downy wings. It is already grooming and flapping those wings. I'm wondering if that is what happened to the other chicken - squirming in the next, flapping the wings, getting unbalanced, and then falling out.

Both mother and father barn swallow bring food to the chicks. In checking more about barn swallows - long tails and darker red chested colors are the preferred choices of female barn swallows. Note that this father has deep coloration - must be a prize catch!

And I think the first group of fledgllngs would like to come back as I've seen the parents chase off some other swallow presumably the first group. However, unmated barn swallows can also come in and kill nestlings hoping to get their chance to mate with the female. I just know we've seen some aerial battles around the nest the last week or so.

While some people don't like the mess the nesting swallows make on porches under their nest, I'm grateful to have these small chicks living under my eaves. Not only do I enjoy watching them, but I also know that they help reduce the mosquito population around my yard.

While I've got other photos from the first clutch that I intend to post either here or my website, this is one of my favorite shots from today.

Barn Swallow Family

We don't get barn swallow chicks every year. Sometimes we're not home when the parents are rearing them. But this year, we're home. I'd seen the mother sitting the nest. We now have chicks - one noticeably younger. Today was my first day out to try to capture this porch miracle. The last time I was home at the right time with chicks was back in 2003 and I only had a 100-400mm lens. I'm hoping that with patience and my Sigma 300-800mm that I will get some good shots this year.

I don't have time to watch the mom when I'm shooting - she often comes in very fast. But look how far in she puts her head to feed the chick. Notice too how she balances her tail against the nest.



Sometimes I was able to get off a burst of shots, she's checking me out. I'm using fill flash with my better beamer hoping to get better exposures of the nest that is in the darker area under the eaves of my house.




You'll have to click on this image to see it full size - that's a dragonfly. I bet i could look it up and identify it from the patterns on those wings.



The chick gobbles it down.



I didn't get any prize winning shots today, but at least I've gotten started with this set of barn swallow chicks!

Wednesday Porch birds

Birding was slow this morning. It looks to me like the white crown sparrows have started moving north. Just a few days ago, I had a bunch coming to the feeders. Today there were only one or two.

The white winged doves are still here in mass. They don't coo much, but their wings certainly tell us when they have taken off - swoosh!


Best of the few photos today was this red bellied woodpecker. I sure hope there are some woodpecker chicks that will come to my feeder when they are bigger!



By the way, this photo was taken early in the afternoon. The sunlight was somewhat filtered. This feeder is shaded. I used fill flash with my better beamer to get better lighting on the woodpecker.

Tuesday's Bird Photos

I'm trying to get myself more disciplined in photographing the birds that show up at my house. So . . . while I do my morning time on the porch, I've been setting up my 300-800mm lens. I write my morning journal, read my Bible scriptures for the day, and right now I'm working through the Artist's Way book. When a bird shows up, I break and attempt to get a photo.

Today was a somewhat cloudy day, not too dark, but I knew that I was going to need the flash to make anything work. I'm still experimenting with fill flash. I want it to look natural, not "flashed." The theory is that you set your exposure for the ambiant lighting and then use the ETTL setting of the flash at -1. (I'm not an expert here . . . and I'm still trying to find settings that work for my lighting and equipment.) Some of my images this morning were way too dark (I had the exposure compensation set too dark) and then when I set exposures to make it brighter, then I got that "flash" look.

But I had two photos that came out in the OK range.

With a gray sky, this is not a great shot of one of my white wing doves. I darkened the leaves a little using a layer of Selective Color. But that gray sky really pulls my eye away from my subject. But it was one of the "better" shots of the morning.



The blue jay has been amazingly camera shy. It seems to sense when I have the camera and lens pointed in his direction and immediately flies off. Since I cut off his tail (remember I had to be quick . . . no time for careful framing here) I decided to crop in and attempt more of a portrait feel. Here the flash worked pretty well adding light without that over bright look.



Neither of these is likely to get submitted anywhere, although the blue jay might make a good notecard. But I've learned in the past that when you set up regularly, some days don't yield any great shots. But . . . every now and then you have a great opportunity.

Monday's yard birds

I'm trying to get out more frequently at home to capture the birds that are coming in to my feeders. We've had a string of cloudy days and this is the first sunny day recently where I've had a chance to shoot with the sun helping me.

The sun can be your friend providing nice, bright, warm lighting to your subject as in this white crowned sparrow.



I've got some other shots where the sun was NOT my friend where it blew out details in either the bird or the surrounds.

When the sun is out, the ambient lighting even in the shade can give you opportunities for some good bird shots.

Here's one of the red bellied woodpeckers that are coming in regularly to the suet feeder. I suspect that this pair is feeding chicks because they come in regularly and carry off food. Today was the first time that there seemed to be some rivalry - I heard some woodpecker wars and I don't know if perhaps I know have two pairs of woodpeckers coming in.




I have a lot of white wing doves coming in. Sometimes I can see thirty or more at a time. They startle easily and the sound they make as they all fly off at once is amazing. What powerful wings they have!



I have visualized a couple of images that I'm trying to get. One of these visualizations is to capture one of the white winged doves coming in with its wings outspread. Here is one of my attempts to capture that idea:

Today's Bird Photos

Today was my birthday and I decided to spend part of it on my front porch photographing the birds at my feeders. I had one that I wanted to photograph so that I could send the image to a bird expert, because I was having a difficult time with identifying it.

Here are some of the better shots of the day:

I get large numbers of white winged doves. It is amazing how many of them can fit on the feeder at one time!



As I was taking my shots, I visualized trying to get wing action as they landed or flew off. This one probably worked the best.



This is my mystery bird. I think it might be a Lincoln sparrow, but those black smudgy marks on the sides don't match the illustrations in my Sibleys. I've sent it to an expert to confirm the id.



I still have lots of white crowned sparrows.



I figure they'll be leaving to migrate north before too long.



I've been very pleased to have a pair of red bellied woodpeckers visit my burr oak tree. I have this suet feeder set up usually with a fruity suet and a woodpecker suet. I sure hope they bring chicks to my feeder!

2008 Bird Chicks in my backyard

'Tis late July and I'm seeing more juvenile birds coming to the feeders and the water trough. It has me thinking about the chicks I've seen in my yard this year. Back in late April, early May I had the privilege of seeing a killdeer family - 2 adults and several miniatures, the chicks. So perfectly like the parents just much smaller. The family behaviors were interesting to watch as well. One of the parents would give the broken wing dance to lead us away from the chicks. And the adults and young would whistle to each other to bring the family back together again. I thought they would be around more than a couple of days, so as I was busy with some other tasks at the time I did not grab the camera to take photos. But it is sure a great memory.

One evening I came home and as I walked up the back porch I realized I had fledgling wrens - perhaps their first day out of the nest! I saw them over the next few days, but once again, I was occupied with other mundane events.

We had nesting swallows, but we were out of town when they would have been rearing their young.

I had a red tail hawk that built a nest somewhere in the neighbor's treeline. We've seen some hawks flying around that make me think we have juvenile hawks at this point.

There have been a group of mockingbirds with the tell tale marks on their breast that indicate that they are juveniles. I've been watching one that flies in circles up the trunk of the tree near the ground feeder. Sometimes I think it is trying to chase the other birds out of "its" tree. I've also seen several mockingbirds together that make me think they are a family group.

I've had a large flock of field sparrows that come in together. In the past, the field sparrows usually come in in one's and two's - which makes me think that some of this big group are this year's fledged chicks.

The cardinal chicks have also been visiting the feeder - they are almost adult sized, but not all of the feathers have come in yet.

There is a blue jay coming in that also has a downy appearance around its bright blue feathers - so I'm thinking juvenile for him as well.

I've even seen a couple of birds that I suspect are juvenile starlings from the markings on their breast that resemble the ones I photographed a year or so ago.

We put out owl boxes - so I'm hoping next year we will have owl chicks as well.

Yes, I enjoy watching the birds that visit my yard!

Morning Birds

I like to start my day on the front porch with my Bible, my devotional books, my binoculars and my bird identification books. Add breakfast and coffee and I'm set for 30 minutes or so.

Most mornings I can predict pretty closely which birds I'll see: cardinals, white winged doves, house finches, house sparrows (yes, I know I need to trap them), field sparrows, white crowned sparrows, chickadees, carolina wrens, turkey vultures, red wing blackbirds, cowbirds, barn swallows, mockingbirds, etc. We have a northern harrier that must have a nest in the trees on a neighbor's property, I see it regularly. Sometimes I get a glimpse of the caracaras that live somewhere around here.

I put out a lot of bird seed in the form of loose ground seed, seed cylinders, and various suet feeders with fruit and insect suet.

Every now and then I see a bird I'm not expecting. This week, I saw two bluebirds - I'm always thrilled when the bluebirds show themselves - I've got bluebird houses out, but I don't know that we've ever had a successful clutch. But I also saw a glimpse of a bright yellow bird. A little later I got a better glimpse. I had a yellow warbler!!!!! I hope it stays around!

I need to spend more time on the back porch as well. I know we have a family of wrens that is frequenting the seed feeder back there. The titmice also seem to prefer the backfeeder, although ocassionally I see them in the front.

It really is a great way to start the day - watching the birds, hearing their sweet songs and calls and trying to focus my mind on things bigger and grander than myself.

Lake Tanglewood birds

One of the things I enjoy at Lake Tanglewood are the mornings with the birds. If I were going to be up here longer I would put out bird feeders - the seed cylinders and the suet feeders. This morning I wanted to enjoy the birds at my sister-in-law's house. So I got out fairly early and went and sat on her patio.

My morning bird list:
house finches
cedar waxwings
Western kingbirds ( yes . . . I know there are several birds,(flycatchers) that are similar - but because of where I am I think these are truly the kingbirds rather than fly catchers)
Bewicks wren - I got several good looks with the binoculars - but I had to check online to be sure which wren - white eyestripe, gray breast- must be bewicks
Northern harrier - He was soaring way overhead - hard to see the white spot on rump. I also went back online to check - white breast, dark head. I'm pretty sure of this id.
Bullocks oriole - He did not give me a good look, but based on better looks last year - bright orange with black on the head -
Turkeys (on the way to Mary's house)
Curve billed thrasher
Turkey vulture

And, after birdwatching, I got to sit and have some coffee with Mary and Walter . . . a good morning.

Dreaming of spring

Because of lingering health issues from the infection I had last week, and because I need to have my photography portfolio ready, I've been stuck in the house the last couple of weeks. My outdoor spirit is SO ready to be out and about with my camera taking photos. But I am enjoying printing out photos that I took last year.

This set is encouraging because I don't think we'll get to do the same amount of travel this year. These photos were taken near bird feeders I had set up in Amarillo. I have bird feeders around the Hutto house as well. I just have not been healthy enough to sit outside with the camera with our temperatures that have been chilly in the mornings. (And yes, I'm also trying to be disciplined and have my portfolio ready - so that means sitting inside in front of the computer.)

So, for some of the rest of you that are cooped up inside right now for whatever reason - here are some harbingers of spring:

American Robins:







I love the expression on this mother curve bill thrasher face as she feeds her demanding youngsters:




Golden Fronted Woodpecker:



And yes, woodpeckers eat seeds as well as insects.

I'm SO ready to be out and about with my camera. Maybe I'll get a few photo opportunities on our trip to Florida next week.

Yard men and Western kingbirds

Since I've set up bird feeders at Evelyn and Gene's house, I've moved one of their chairs to be my "viewing" spot. I was planning to end my day watching the evening visitors. Before I got out there, we heard Sissy barking at the fence. The long awaited yard men were here to do the mowing and trimming. I went ahead and move to the chair. I figured that I would not see many birds at the feeder until the loud mowing was done . . . and, indeed, this was the case. But I was treated to an amazing display of sight and sound as about a dozen kingbirds flew all around the trees in the yard. They were very chattery. Some were territorial chasing others away. But they kept moving all around the trees and singing up a storm. I noticed that when the mowers moved to the back are of the yard down by the lake, the kingbirds left. It was only later that I realized that my kingbird visitors were in the yard to take advantage of any insects disturbed by the mowing. After the kingbirds left, I stayed in my chair and was rewarded by seeing a male house finch and a black crested titmouse.

Bluebirds

I went to bed tired last night and woke up tired. After hot tubbing and getting dressed for the day, I decided to have a more substantial breakfast (still staying on the low carb diet). I also wanted to spend time outside this morning, so I took my breakfast, a cup of hot tea, binoculars to watch the birds, and my morning devotional materials.

Yesterday I had been some birds along the fenceline that I wanted to identify. One of them had come up near the house. I've been hoping for bluebirds and this one had blue coloration, but not that of a bluebird. After consulting the bird books yesterday, my best guess was that this one was a female bunting of some sort. It had definitely done bunting behaviors in the grass by the fence.

This morning, I had my binoculars ready. When I looked at the bird perched on the fence, I was SO excited. It WAS an eastern bluebird!!!!!!!!!!

Now you may ask, why did that make me so excited?????? I've had bird feeders out now for several years - I have the tall cylinders of bird seed that last several weeks. I have a bird feeder with both seed and suet. There is a ground feeder out in the yard. But last spring, I had seen some info on bluebirds and we put out two blue bird houses. I did see a sparrow come out of one of them last year, but otherwise they had been pretty unoccupied. I had put out a little of the suet snacks that are supposed to attract bluebirds . . . but they just went stale in the sun.

But now I have a real bluebird in the yard!!!!!!!! On today's agenda is to go get the mealy worms and a new package of suet treats!

And my scripture for today:
He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.

God's provision . . . . . . seeing the bluebird has cheered me up and helped get me going today!

Nature - On the Back Porch

For several years now, we've had bird feeders around our house. Recently we've had an interesting bird visiting. When I first saw him, I thought he was a juvenile, because his flight was irratic. He flew almost like a cartoon bird - never straight toward his destination. There were times when we wondered if he was going to make it to his destination. At times he hovered much like a hummingbird, but not as effortlessly. When Henry got a closer look, his feathers were in bad shape and his eyes looked almost blind. He was a regular visitor to the feeder so I felt like this feeder was probably keeping him going.

This morning while sitting in my living room I saw a much larger shadow on the back porch. While I caught the action out of the corner of my eye, I could tell something momentous had occurred. We have roadrunners in the yard - and we had one now on the back porch - with a bird in its mouth. I was astonished, because I did not realize roadrunners ate birds! The roadrunner had jumped up to the feeder (4-5 feet off the ground) to get his meal. When I first saw the situation the smaller bird was probably still alive, but damaged. I watched the roadrunner briefly before he disappeared with his prey further into the yard and out of site. The smaller bird was no longer moving with feathers disarrayed.

Perhaps I'm tendered hearted, but I'm pretty sure it was our weak bird. I allowed myself a few moments of grief for this handicapped bird. It is a fact of nature that it is the weak and injured animals that are the easiest prey. But it is also part of human nature to protect the weak and helpless.

I had always assumed that roadrunners ate insects. But Henry did some research this morning after the fact - they eat insects, small rodents, small birds, baby birds and small snakes. Since we found baby rattlesnakes right by the house last month, I'm still glad we have roadrunners in the yard. I had also been glad when I realized that my bird feeding had attracted a Cooper's hawk to the yard on a regular basis, realizing that Cooper's hawks feed on smaller birds. A mystery to me is why I was more disappointed about the roadrunner's feeding than I would have been had it been the hawk. But I think it was because the victim this time was an individual bird we had connected with on an emotional level - an underdog we were rooting for.