Birdwatching 101
Hahahaha! This blog is about BIRDS! At least that's what it'll START OUT being about. Knowing us, it'll go off on some wild tangent, and we'll probably end up talking about the price of gas. At least I think you can be pretty sure that we WON'T be discussing the "P" word! (Politics!) That topic is banned from my blogs... ("Banned from my Blogs.." Doesn't that have a nice ring to it??)
Anyway, as you can tell from my photo (I hope it's not too dark), I finally have my first ORIOLE, after all 30 years of feeding every bird and squirrel in the Tillman countryside! I am ecstatic!!
It took this pretty guy a while to get the "hang" of the feeder. (Get it, get it?) First, he tried to peck at the liquid through the glass.
"I can SEE it! Why can't I drink it??"
When that was unsuccessful, he tried to find a spicket of some sort underneath the feeder. No luck.
Finally, he reached over and discovered one of the holes. Voila! Success!
I'm pretty sure that the Orioles are just passing through the area and won't be here long. The only other ones I ever saw were at my sister's house in Springfield many years ago. She and Mom had regular Oriole feeders, which I think are a bit more accommodating for the larger size of the Oriole. Still, they adapt quite well to the hummingbird feeders, so I don't believe I'll rush out and purchase a special one.
I guess I could start a series in which I post some bird photos from my regular feeder, where I spend a veritable fortune on black oil sunflower seeds - but that would mean that I would have to wash my windows... Mmm...I shall have to ponder the issue to decide if it's worth it...
I shall list the birds which appear in regularity at my feeder in the yard under the big oak tree (high on a pole so my son's cat can't get them!): Cardinals, Indigo Buntings, Yellow-shafted flickers, Titmice (or is it Titmouses?), chickadees, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Rufus-sided Towhees, (long ago) blue Grosbeaks, Hairy & Downy Woodpeckers (since the only difference is size, my sister simply calls them "Hairy Downy Woodpeckers" and that covers both...), doves, wrens (these catch bugs around the house), Phoebes (I don't see these at the feeders - They build a nest on my back porch light every year.)....
Birds I don't see anymore: Barn swallows. Mmm...They used to occupy the porch light nest and terrorized every moving thing in the vicinity, but I haven't seen them in recent years.
Birds I hear but don't see: Owls, Whippoorwills, Meadow larks, Bob Whites.
That is my Bird Blog!
I think it would be perfectly charming to talk about birds for awhile, don't you, girls? We can probably be sure that the guys won't bother us on this topic, since the only birds they're interested in are ones they can kill -- like turkeys.
Oh, I forgot turkeys. I have a sweet turkey hen who seems to live on my lane all by herself - except when she has a brood of adorable babies. I sometimes forego my morning walk, so that the dogs don't upset her. Today, my son's father-in-law said that he saw some white on her tail, which he says means that she's a tame bronze turkey gone wild. I never heard of that. I wondered why she was always by herself and didn't run around in a flock. Now, I'll worry about her even more.
From the charming, bird-filled hills of Tillman, Missouri, this is your bird-watching and squirrel-feeding rural journalist, Madeline, signing off on an absolutely GORGEOUS Sunday evening!
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Hey - do any of you have Martin houses?? Several years ago, the kids and I bought one for my husband, and he put it up in a RELATIVELY clear spot by the pond. He sat and watched it from the front porch, as sparrows came and built nests in it. Finally, he took the 4.10 out there and shot at the sparrows, which I'm sure wasn't too conducive to attracting the Martins, either! We finally figured out that our place is just too wooded to suit Martins.
"NO POLITICS"!!!
The only predatory bird I've ever seen at my feeder is a Sharp-shinned hawk who showed up there many years ago, looking for a tasty Titmouse to munch down on. Most of the daytime feathered predators in this area are Red-tailed hawks. I know the owls prey at night, but I rarely see them.
I use "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds," which my sister gave me to replace an older birdbook that had drawings of birds. This one has the actual photographs, which I think make identification easier.
Years ago, my husband and I caught a glimpse of a Pileated woodpecker out back at the edge of the woods, but we never saw him again. That's a sight!
Great blue herons are not uncommon on my pond, but my dogs usually take notice and chase them off. White herons are less common. The neighbors often have Cattle egrets around their herds.
I love birdwatching, and when I see a new one, I'm not happy until I find out what it is!!
I didn't know that Peregrine falcons were employed by the Airforce!!
I would like to have seen more!