I'm Stuck!

I came home to a concerned Joseph who had been observing a fledgling downy. The downy was on the side of one of our bird feeding trees (tree stump with assorted feeders) and was motionless. When i saw him i could see that he had a foot stuck behind a metal bracket that holds a feeder. Joseph was able to move the bracket enough to free the little guy. Initially he was sort of hobbling around on a tree branch but when i saw him later he appeared to have recovered from his ordeal.

Peanuts- Get Your Peanuts!

I feed the birds and i have the birds who like peanuts (blue jay, titmouse, grackle, crow, red-belly). The Blue Jays are real big on asking for peanuts. A couple are even relatively tame when it comes to those tasty legumes. The Jays will perch on the back of the patio furniture and make a "whoooop" sounds as the bounce up and down. It's their peanuts please call... the "hey lady, you're shirking on your responsibilities and we need peanuts... now, please... whooop"

So the other day when i was on the second floor i heard that familiar sound... "whooop"... so i looked for the jay out the window. No jays in sight... so i called out "where are you jay?". That's when i got my answer "whooop"... not from a jay but a crow. I guess the crow has seen the action of the jay calling and me throwing out the peanuts... and figured he would give it a try too. whoooop!

Who's at the Feeders?

So my puzzle for this morning was trying to figure out who was visiting my bird feeder. The beak was the most unusual feature to this bird... it was long and dagger-like. The size of the bird was similar to a redwing blackbird. Coloring was buff, brown, tan with streaking on the breast. Joseph and I bbeleive that we might have spotted a female Brewer's Blackbird. Too bad she flew before i could my telephoto lens on her.

Peanut Eater...

Titmouse
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

A pair of titmice have decided that they like the peanuts as much as the blue jays. They (like he blue jays) know when i leave the house in the morning and that that is when i hand out the peanuts.

Cleaning out the Birdhouses...

Today, Joseph and I went about the task of cleaning out the birdhouses around the property. We noticed that the wren house had not been used... maybe this year. We then moved on to another house on a pine tree. I Had Joseph tap on the side of the house to make sure that no birds (or critters) were inside... since i had seen activity around this birdhouse. So Joseph tapped and decided that the house was empty. He proceeded to undo the screw that holds the side panel on the house. This house has a nice hinge so that you undo the screw and lift the side panel for easy cleaning. So joseph lifted the side panel and the house was packed with debris... he then dicded to use the screw driver to dig some of the debris out of the house. That was when the little red squirrel came out of the front hole and frantically made its way up the tree. I supect that he was none to happy to be "goosed" with a screw driver!

Hummingbirds!

I finally got a half-decent shot of a hummingbird!
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

We have a family of hummingbirds that visit our feeder. They seem to enjoy the fact that they can perch and eat instead of hover and eat. There is a youngster who is getting pretty friendly. I thought it was a girl until recently when it perched and looked right at me... turned its head to the side to show a little dot of a ruby throat. It's a boy!
Recently i had to take down the feeder to refill it... as i was cleaning i heard this little squeak and i turned to see the hummingbird at the back door! ... looking in rather expectantly. Needless to say, i finished up quickly and got that feeder back outside (where it belongs). Fun little critters these hummingbirds.

Bee Balm is Good Food!

Bee Balm is Good Food
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

We have a multitude of hummingbird moths this year. In the past we might have one visiting the garden. This year it is common to see three on the same bee balm. They are also quite friendly and unafraid this year and buzz right on by me to get to the good eats.