Saturday, April 18, 2015

The company of birds

I got the finch feeder just for finches but they prefer the main feeder. They will go to it when the big bossy cowbirds show up. This guy is just getting his summer colors. All that gray on the top of his head will be yellow


These were just a few feet away from us in the setting sun last night

purple finch pair
 

large snow drops. Back at the old place the whole yard is covered with the tiny blue ones

The vultures fly overhead quite often. From a distance, they are graceful. Up close, disgusting

This is a chipping sparrow, not a wren as I said earlier. The house sparrows are bigger and more numerous.. Unfortunately, they have found the feeder too
It was warm enough to eat dinner outside just a few feet from the feeders. Will this drive the birds away? Not the chickadees and finches who continues to flit back and forth but we kept the cowbirds and sparrows away. Latest new bird? A hairy woodpecker. I expected to see downy woodpeckers as they like to hang out with nuthatches (a kind of woodpecker too). Hairys and downys look identical but one is sparrow sized and the other robin sized. We got the rarer big one yesterday.

While I was bald from chemo, I would sit on my patio wearing a pink, fuzzy ski cap. This fascinated my resident hummingbird who would hover around my head often to investigate it. Hummingbirds will approach you but do not like to be approached. Also they leave as soon as they hear a camera shutter.

Vultures seem the most wary of humans. They will fly away if I am within 50 feet.

I've been running and biking a lot. Today is a good day for it too before the rain starts tomorrow. Then time to make a dessert for the Mom's group tonight out on the farm.

1 comment:

Elephant's Child said...

Loving your birds.
Vultures are very useful. Serve an important purpose - and you are right. They do look graceful flying.

Followers

Blog Archive