Red-Breasted Nuthatch

I just updated my version of Photoshop Elements, to Version 9. Now I'm testing it with this image.

Bue Jays

The young blue jays are back -- I think there are about 3 or 4 of them. They've been crashing through the trees, screeching from branch to branch, as they follow each other. They already look very much like the adults, although their backs are still somewhat gray.

But the big give-away to their "juvie" status is their begging.

This one had figured out the suet feeder and was doing quite well, until he decided that he might get catered to if he hollered and begged for awhile.

When he didn't get any response,  he went tearing off across the road with the rest of his siblings.

Raspberry- and Rose-Colored Views

During this last week, I've had two season's firsts at my feeders -- the purple finch and the rose-breasted grosbeak. I haven't been able to get new pictures of either of the males, so I've had to pull a few images from past years.

Why does the grouse cross the road?

For the same reason that the chicken does, it seems . . . to get to the other side.

We had just left the house the other day when we saw a quail-like bird crossing the road in front of us. And when we drove back through about an hour later, we saw the same bird slowly crossing the road the other way. What gives?

So as soon as we got home, I walked back up with my camera. And sure enough, the bird was still there, just standing under a tree in front of the corner house. It let me get within a couple feet of it and even started walking toward me as I was taking pictures. It seemed very content to be there, but I backed off, not wanting to startle it.















This was another first for me -- a ruffed grouse. And as I was reading several descriptions on web sites, I found a few that said that sometimes they will seem "tame" if they have not been around agressive predators a great deal.

The spring days are warming up, and so are the feeders. The pine siskins are fighting for the available spots on the feeders, so I spread some seed on the deck railing . . . and pretty soon that was busy, too.

Doing Spirals

I saw the brown creeper again yesterday, spiraling up the tree from the bottom -- almost didn't see him against the dark bark of the tree. I took these photos just about the same time last year.

Signs of Spring -- and another first

I'm finally beginning to believe that spring really is on the way. There is still plenty of snow on the ground in our area, but winter is slowly fading away. The snow banks along the roads are dirty, the potholes are growing, the mud is overtaking the back roads, and the annual "Frost Heaves" signs are sprouting like weeds.

As the temperatures gradually inch up and the days lengthen, the bird population is changing, too. The flocks of goldfinches are larger, the chickadees are noisier, and the blue jays are back with their bossy voices.

While I've had a few white-breasted nuthatches all winter, I've suddenly been getting a lot of the smaller red-breasted nuthatches. They do a fast grab and run at the sunflower chips, but stay much longer on the suet feeder. As fast as they are, they've been easier to get photos of than the larger white-breasted nuthatch.


This winter I've also added a few "firsts" to my bird life list. About three weeks ago I had a white-winged crossbill under my feeders. Yesterday, I had a LBJ (little brown jobby) with reddish chest up in the tree watching me for quite awhile. But it wasn't the usual house finch or purple finch. First I had a male common redpoll, then later a female staring at me from the branch.



Then, all of a sudden, I had about half a dozen common redpolls under the feeder.So, while winter probably hasn't had its last hurrah, signs of spring are here.

P.S. -- Did you look up last night and see the space station and shuttle overhead? It was a perfectly clear night and amazing to see how fast it seemed to move across the sky.

It's been a long time . . .

. . . since I've put anything up (2-1/2 months long)! So to start catching up, I'll post a couple photographs from this last week.

The other day, when I glanced out the window, I saw a goldfinch on the ground -- just one, unlike the flocks of sometimes thirty or forty that I've been seeing lately. But when I took a closer look, I realized it wasn't a goldfinch, although there was a greenish-yellow tint to it. It was actually a little larger and the other markings weren't right.

I went outside to get some photos of it and was surprised that it actually let me get about four feet from it without flying away.




After I pulled out the trusty bird ID guide, I determined it was a female White-Winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera). I have seen it a few other days, too, always alone and feeding from the ground. This is one to add to my list.

Sunrise and chasing the waves

We make frequent visits to a friend in Hampton, NH. From the balcony of his condo on the first day of September, we had a great view of the gorgeous sunrise over the beach (and of course the utility wires -- pretend they're not there).

And then later in the day, as the light was fading, I took a walk along the beach. There were a few other people out there, some with their dogs, just quietly strolling along.

But parts of the beach were quite busy. The semipalmated plovers






and the sanderlings were chasing the waves and finding all those yummy little invertebrates in the wet sand.





The light reflecting off the wet sand made some interesting patterns.

Hampton on Labor Day

We spent the weekend with a friend who lives in Hampton, New Hampshire. This was the sunrise over the ocean on Labor Day morning.A short time later, I took a walk along the beach and found these Semipalmated Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers were also out for a walk.The sandpipers were the hardest to get photos of in the early morning light -- they are very fast as they skitter across the wet sand, not even pausing very long when they find something.


The plovers were just as fast, but for some reason I had a little more luck with them.

Daily Variety

Today's visitors included the hairy woodpecker . . .







and the white-breasted nuthatch . . .





as well as the chipping sparrow . . .

Feed Me, Dad!

It's been family time -- and noisy -- lately in the trees, especially when the kids decide they're lazy and hungry.

Today it was father goldfinch's turn to keep up with the youngster. Dad would spend some time at the feeder while the youngster waited impatiently in the tree. And when dad came up to the branch, the begging and wing fluttering started. I watched this cycle several times, until the youngster finally joined dad down at the feeder. The juvie grabbed some seeds on his own, but still tried begging -- and was ignored, until he returned to the branch again.

Black and White All Over

I added another "first" to my bird list this evening. Just as I started to step out to our deck to check the bbq grill, I caught a flash in the tree. My husband slowly handed me the camera and I was able to get a few shots as two black-and-white warblers jumped from branch to branch. The pair came back again a little later -- both times they came from the woods across the street, along with the chickadees and nuthatches.

Evening Grosbeaks

The evening grosbeak is only an occasional visitor to my feeder, either early in the day or late. But I think I miss most of their visits. Recently, I had the male . . .

who was joined by the female.





And then a third one -- the youngster of the family -- came "crashing" into the scene. He spent a lot of time in the tree, just looking at the feeders as he went from branch to branch.

Mom and dad occasionally glanced up at him, but they didn't let that crazy kid distract them much from filling up with the seeds.



He made several attempts to get to one of the feeders, usually ending up back in the tree. But a couple times, he actually made it to the feeder next to the adults.

And I did end up with one image of all three of them.