They're All Gone

In the post below, I mentioned that the chickadees awaited the house wren (HOWR).  Well, this morning he arrived on his early schedule and did his deed.

HOWR Claims House

What had been a perfect chickadee nest was no more.  I first noticed the HOWR's arrival at about 9:00 AM this morning.  He was tossing out parts of the nest material.  It took me a couple of minutes to get down to the house and I began my inspection.

Nest Material on Ground

After seeing the nest material, I checked the nest with my finger.  No eggs and nothing sticky.  The eggs should have been about 7 to 10 days old but there were none there.  I looked around on the ground and found nothing.  At first, I was puzzled.  Then I looked harder on the ground.

Chickadee Egg On Ground

Another Chickadee Egg

After I knew the chickadee nest had been destroyed, there was nothing left to do but admire the nest-building effort.  The moss area was several inches deep, deeper than the one in 2008.  There was a fine fluff around the egg area that was incredibly soft to the touch.  A lot of effort went into this nest.

Chickadee Nest

So, what went wrong?  Well, nothing actually.  I could have put a HOWR guard up.  However, this HOWR flew to the hole from the ground in addition to flying to the hole from the roof of the house.  They know where the hole is.  I had been hoping for a vigilant male like the one that defended the nest in 2008.  This one did down a downy woodpecker earlier.  However, he was often missing from the nearby trees.  This morning, the female also left the nest without the male nearby.  This was all the HOWR needed.  It broke and tossed the eggs out of the nest and was in the process of dismantling it when I stopped it.

Am I angry with the HOWR?  No, it was just being a HOWR and a HOWR, like a chickadee, are native birds here.  I am disappointed with the chickadees' lackadaisical defense of their nest since a chickadee is a match for a HOWR. 

For my own part, I took down all my bird houses.

In This House . . .

. . . there is a chickadee family.  In 2008, a chickadee family fledged all but one chick in this house.  Last year, the chickadees began building a nest but a downy woodpecker decided to roost in the box during the nights.  The chickadees decided to move on after that.  Then two house wrens (HOWR) sent the downy packing.

It appears that the difference may be an aggressive chickadee male.  In 2008, the male chickadee took a cowbird and a bluebird to the ground when they approached the box.  This year, the male has already taken a downy to the ground and chased it into the woods.  Maybe he is an agressive defender of the nest.  He is going to need it.  The HOWRs will arrive around the end of April to May and they will try to move into the house.  The chickadees will need to fight them until their chicks fledge.

HOWRs are very cute little birds.  They are small and industrious.  The male builds the nest with sticks and the female, if she accepts, finishes the nest cup herself.  HOWRs are native birds--they belong here.  Unfortunately, the male HOWR guards its territory and fills nearby boxes with sticks in its territory.  That includes boxes with nests.  HOWRs are known to peck holes in eggs and remove chicks from nests.  That's not nice.  So, as in 2008, the chickadee male will need to fight the HOWRs to keep them from destroying the chickadee nest. 

If you look at the box, you will notice a plate over the entrance.  This is a bluebird box with a 1.5 inch hole.  The plate is a hole reducer.  It is there to keep house sparrows (HOSP) out since HOSPs are known to kill sitting females who are on their nests.  They also kill chicks.  HOSPs are not native birds and were imported from England in the 19th century.  Now, they are everywhere and they are agressive during the breeding season.  My neighbors unwittingly breed HOSPs behind their house shutters.  In the last few years, the breeding has moved to several other houses.  Yesterday, a HOSP pair attempted to move into an empty box on my property near the chickadees.  I took the house down and hopefully that was it.  HOSPs are not permitted to breed here.  In fact, I do not want their nasty screeching in my woods.

With the HOSPs at bay, the chickadees now await the HOWRs. 

Spring Approaches

I'm still mourning my dog, Ambrose. However, some events here are worth mentioning.

As you can see, I had a pair of the most elegant birds--Eastern Bluebirds--checking my houses this morning. The female noticed winterberries that I had planted for them and flew down for one or two.

Then it was time to check out a knot in one of the hickory trees.

After checking out the yard, both blues then flew off together and were replaced by two of the regulars--Phillie and Millie--2 of the local goundhogs.

(Originally published on March 7, 2009)

Eastern Bluebirds

Upon Losing One's Best Friend

After being watched and shadowed for nearly 17 years, you get attached to your dog. Below is my dog, Ambrose, at 10 years of age. He died this Thursday, 5 weeks short of 17 years old. More of me than I thought, died with him.

As with every dog owner, I could go on and on with stories about him. However, one amuses me more than any other.

Ambrose was a people dog not a dog dog. He loved every human he met. He had no use for other dogs. As you can see from above, Ambrose was a good looking boy and he knew it. He posed for his image. Anyway, a few years back, Ambrose had his hair cut at his "salon." There was a pretty, little, female poodle there by the name of Lily. She was a miniature, like Ambrose. I was paying the bill when Lily approached Ambrose to play. Ambrose sat like a gentleman but ignored her. Lily tried to get Ambrose's attention. Ambrose, was looking good, and continued to ignore her. Lily became tired of being ignored and slapped Ambrose across the snout with her paw. Ambrose, still the gentleman, took the paw across his face and continued to ignore her. Lily walked off.

Now, if it was a human, Ambrose would treat the last human he met as his new best friend.

It will take some time for me to recover from my loss. However, I intend to return with some new bird images.

(Originally published on February 20, 2010)

Top Of The Bird Chain

Its never easy taking an image of a bald eagle. Generally, they do not circle. Maybe once or twice but never like a vulture. Normally, they fly in a straight line.

Its even more difficult getting an image standing on a snow-covered deck in 20 degree weather without a coat. Add a failing camera in for good measure and its a matter of luck.

Today, I got lucky. I walked out on the deck and noticed a bird with a white tail. I ran into the house, grabbed the camera, and went back on the deck.
 

I managed to click 4 or 5 images off and got 2 that were worth publishing. When the eagle flew straight overhead, I stumbled and ended with a blur. At least, the 2 above were decent enough to publish.

(Originally published on February 7, 2010)

The Return Of The Cardinals

Yesterday, it was 14 degrees outside. I was walking through the kitchen and noticed there were 5 cardinals on the deck railing--3 male and 2 female. I knew why they were there. They wanted food.

Two male Northern Cardinals waiting for food.

I put on my coat and headed for the feeders. The cardinals arrive in force by mid-January. I don't know why they pick that time of year but they do. Then they sit and wait in the woods. Today, they had enough of the waiting and came up to get me to feed them.

This is how the woods look in January.

The woods fill up with the cardinals and you see specks of red throughout the woods. You also see brown tinged with red too--the females. I have three places to feed the cardinals. One is under the abelias, another is under the butterfly bushes, and the third is the black oil sunflower seed (BOSS) feeder. Under the abelias, they get sunflower hearts--shelled sunflower seeds. That is to keep the gardens from filling up with BOSS shells.

A male and female cardinal wait their chance

under the butterfly bushes. Their friends, the

white-throated sparrows, wait with them.

 

The cardinals get along with the other birds. However, they do argue with each other. The males will be chasing each other soon. The females will hiss at each other, from time to time.

 

(Originally published on January 31, 2010)

 

Northern Cardinal

Nothing Flies Like A Turkey Vulture

I've been taking images of turkey vultures in flight for about 4 or 5 years. Its kind of like taking images in Yosemite. You can take all the images you want but you cannot capture it in an image. Turkey vultures have a wingspan of about 6 feet. They're big! They play, they test their flying skills, they dive, they chase each other, they do loops, etc. They simply are the best flying machine here.

I had thought I had seen everything in the past 4 or 5 years. However, this past week a turkey vulture left me shaking.

Turkey vultures flying inches apart.

I was standing on the deck watching the turkey vultures above the thermals in back of the house. A turkey vulture snuck up from behind me barely clearning the house. It gazed at me as it flew by. A few minutes later, a turkey vulture--flying for speed--again flew from over the house and above my head. There was this swoosh. (Listen to the sound of the glider in the end of this clip from the original Thomas Crown Affair.) So, there I was with this loud swoosh over my head. The turkey vulture proceeded straight into the woods swooshing all the way from its speed. Since the turkey vulture was flying between trees, it went perpendicular (or sideways) to the ground. You could see it adjusting its wings as it flew between the trees. I simply stood listening and watching as it happened.
 
Call it play, call it a test of its flying skills, call it whatever you want. I never saw anything like it and it left me shaking for a few minutes.
 

Turkey vulture slowly turning to its right.

(Originally posted on January 23, 2010)