Mine! All Mine!

Joe bought me this hummingbird feeder and it has been a great source of entertainment, hanging just outside our back window. There are three hummingbirds that spend all day chasing each other and making their high-pitched tweeets as they duke it out. One bird in particular seems to have laid claim to the feeder. He's more often perched on the wire that it's suspended from than eating from one of the plastic flowers. We've already gone through one batch of the store-bought solution. We made our own "nectar" using one part sugar to four parts boiling water. I feel better giving them something that doesn't have artificial coloring in it. This also eliminates the bright red poop everywhere. Did you know hummingbirds have tongues? I guess that should be obvious since other birds have them, but watch this video and you'll see what I mean.

Food! Now!

I don't know if birds have temper tantrums when they're young. But if they do, this might be what it looks like.
Is it gonna fit?
I don't think it did. How sad.

Hiking Hood, huckleberry ducks at Trillium Lake

Wednesday morning, Joe and I hiked past the treeline up Mt. Hood. Here's a pretty handsome shot of my huz. The view of snow, rock and wildflowers was breath taking, as was the elevation. After a winded walk at 7,000 ft. above sea level, we drove down to Trillium Lake. That hike was equally gorgeous, but much greener. Near the end of the loop trail, we heard the soft whistle of a duck. She waddled toward us and looked at me from one eye. Joe pretended to give her something and she bobbed forward, hopeful, but confused. Huckleberry bushes lined the lake, and though Joe and I found them a little tart, I thought maybe the duck would appreciate them more than the imaginary food. I was right. Soon about five ducks gathered around me, edging closer and closer to snap up the round berries.

Audubon State Park

Saturday was a near-perfect day: Joe and I slept in (a little) after a long-- long-- Friday night. Then we packed up a picnic lunch and headed with my folks to the John James Audubon Park in Henderson, Ky. We dined in the shade of Sassafrass and Maple trees on sandwiches, spring mix salad with basamic vinaigrette, blue corn chips, guacamole, farm-stand strawberries and chocolate chip angel food. Bluebirds were nesting across the way and Carolina wrens were chudle-lee-chudleing in the distance.
Before heading out on a hike, we stopped to watch the hummingbird feeders.
The top photo has a male ruby-throat, and this photo shows two females.
After our hike, we enjoyed the AC in the bird observation deck, where I saw a tufted titmouse (he was shy, so his tuft is down), a pileated woodpecker, chickadees, jays and cardinals.
In the museum, they had some interesting animals, like this Eastern Box Turtle eating a grape. And this ultra-adorable frog.

Another nest

On our way to work I'd been noticing this mommy killdeer hanging out in the corner of a gravel lot... soon I noticed she was always there. I convinced Joe that we needed to stop and take a picture to capture her nest-protecting skills in pixels. This is her, standing akimbo, about to launch into a very dramatic wing-flapping performance. Killdeers lead predators and peepers (like myself) away from their eggs, which sit vulnerably on the ground, by pretending to be injured. She had this way of flapping her wings that made it look as if she were on her back. Throughout the performance, she squeaked frantically until two more killdeer appeared on the scene and joined in the action.

I still got to see the nest though :-)

Nestiquette

I mentioned a few posts ago that we had some chickadees move into the bluebird box. They make a very green nest with moss and soft grasses.



This morning as I was getting ready I heard the soft, but indisputable churdling of a bluebird. Their call doesn't carry, so I knew he must be close. When I parted the mini blinds, this is what I saw.

I wasn't the only one who noticed. The male chickadee was squeeking and nattering up a storm... but from a safe distance on top of the herbie curbie (that's hopkinsville-speak for garbage can).

I left for work assuming that the blues would win this birdhouse battle, as the bigger bird. When we came home for lunch, we didn't see the bluebirds... so Joe decided to remove the chickadee nest. I'm rather torn, and spent much of the afternoon feeling bad about the poor defenseless chickadees. I'm trying to remember that the box is designed for bluebirds, and that they are the more endangered bird. But the chickadees made such pitiful noises when they returned to the empty box. I believe they've started to rebuild. No sign of the blues. Any thoughts?

New Tenants

This has been an interesting weekend -- Our friends Jeremy and Shirley Martin are moving into a duplex at the end of our street :-) Our friends and nextdoor neighbors Ravi, Pria and Akash are moving to Texas on Monday-- which is bitter sweet because we'll miss them, but think they will like it there. And it looks like we might have some new friends moving into the bluebird box. They're not blue. But we welcome them just the same. Chickadees are not too common, though their name is so familiar. Sparrows pretty much out compete most birds, so we're happy to have this little couple make a neat nest of moss and fine grasses, rather than the half-hearted pile of weeds the sparrows keep throwing together in there.

Bird Quiz

Just kidding. I'm going to limit the fun to the food quiz (see yesterday's post if you missed it.) But, really, if you know what kind of bird this is, I'd love to know. Right now I'm guessing a Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus). But I really don't know. It seemed about the size of a very large red-tailed hawk.
EDIT 5-29-07: Now I'm thinking it looks like an immature Bald Eagle... what do you think?

Joe and I have kind of taken to bird watching since we lived in Taiwan. These photos were taken in Land Between the Lakes, where we went hiking Saturday.

In other bird news, I heard a blue bird's soft, low chu-do, chu-do as I was walking to the mailbox today. At first I just thought it was a distant mockingbird mimicking the sound. But then I looked up and saw a flock of three bluebirds flying in the familiar flap a few seconds, swoop a few seconds pattern. They were talking to each other as they flew. Adorable. If you'd like to get a proper dose of bluebird, click here.

Herb harvest & cornpeckers

I harvested some of my basil today just as some storm clouds were blowing in. All that basil went into the blender with some pinenuts, olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese. The resulting pesto went on a pizza shell with some tomato slices and fresh oregano (also from the patio)


Turned out pretty tasty, but next time I'll add more tomatoes to level out the pesto-y saltiness. Joe enjoyed it.

While I was snipping the herbs for my patio pizza, I kept hearing this little tapping noise. It was breezy, so at first I just thought something was vibrating in the wind. But the noise persisted intermittantly .... and it seemed to be coming from the corn field. I had to inspect.

Here's what I found:


Apparently nobody taught him he's a woodpecker, not a cornstalk-pecker.

Owl intruder

We've been having a visitor every night about 8:30.

A horned owl sits in the Catalpa snag in the Sivley's back yard. Notice the particularly bold mockingbird (left) and robbin (right).

The first night he came, the little birds made quite a fuss; actually scaring the owl away. The second night, the owl didn't seem as fazed, though the birds were trying their best to seem intimidating. Last night, only the mockingbird ventured to follow the owl. The owl looked down at the mockingbird... and the mockingbird decided to retreat.

Hopper Meal

Wow, I wonder who gets to eat that one!

Friday

Joe and I worked a double shift yesterday, but we had time to sneak a peak at our favorite little ones.

Thursday

Wow, what a difference one day makes. Look at the development in their wings. Those feathers are ready to pop out!

Wednesday

Sleepy birds, beaks pointed up as they snoozed... as it is most convenient to open up for a snack in this position.

Monday

On Monday, we invited our neighbors, Ravi and Akash, over to check out the babies. Mr. and Ms. Blue were watching us. All four are hatched.