Birds on the Wire

A chickadee and a tufted titmouse hang out on the steel wire we used to hand the bird feeder. The feeder, by the way, is about 15 feet above ground, on a pully. I have to pull it up and down to fill it.

It's on a PVC pole that supposedly the squirrels can't climb. So far I haven't seen them trying to get into the feeder, although I have noticed that the squirrels and turkeys both like the seeds that spill from the feeder.

Blue Jays and Cardinals

 

A Cardinal

 

Birds

 

Even though I have that wonderful bird book my brother gave me, I still am not the best at identifying birds. The only one I'm sure of is the blue jay. I think the first two might be tufted titmouse, and I have no clue on the last one. I haven't found a picture that looks like that bird yet. Of course, it is a very fat book with lots to look through.

The Lady Cardinal

This female cardinal took up residence on my bird feeder for about half a day recently. She sat regally in the same spot for a very long time. The smaller birds stayed away while she plopped on the side of the feeder. She wasn't eating much, but she may not have needed to. She was a fairly plump bird.

On the other hand, every picture I took of her has a seed hanging out of her mouth. Maybe she was having a big buffet.

 

A Little Unknown Bird

Here are some bird pictures. The last two are of a chickadee, I think, but I don't know what the bluish colored bird is. I can't find a photo in my birding book. The birds have found the feeder and I'm seeing lots of birds now. It is especially nice to go outside and hear them calling.

Birdwatching

My husband built me a birdhouse so I could watch the little birdies during our pandemic lockdown.

The deer are lovely, but I would like to watch the birds, and see if I can get photos of them.

They took a few days to find the birdfeeder, but a few small birds are showing up.

I think they are Carolina Chickadees, but I'm not sure. I will be learning more about birds.

Cedar Wax Wings

 

The Eagle Takes Flight

I lucked into this photo Just happened to spy an eagle in a tree on the farm and had my camera with me. He took flight as I was setting up the camera and I clicked.

The Turkey Buzzard

Turkey buzzards are ugly birds. They are huge, about the size of a turkey, but they eat carrion, not grasses and seeds. They also fly more than turkeys. Turkeys generally only fly up into trees to roost. Turkey buzzards soar on the thermals and can stay aloft for a very long time.

It is also called a turkey vulture. It found in the U.S. and Canada. It is native to this area and not brought in from Europe with the settlers, so it's a North American original.

We consider turkey buzzards good birds because they eat the dead animals along the road. We have also been alerted to dead cattle or a dead calf when we've noticed the turkey buzzards circling overhead.

These birds are unlike black vultures. A black vulture will attack a newborn calf, pecking out its eyes or attacking until it dies. Black vultures also eat eggs of other animals and small critters if they can catch them. We are not fans of black vultures. Black vultures used to be scarce here, but one of the local universities or a government facility (I've never been sure which) was studying them and they got loose. Now the black vultures are everywhere and we see more of them than we do turkey buzzards.

This turkey buzzard apparently was drawn to something stinking in our trash can. They have a heightened sense of smell. He spent several days staring morosely at the trash he could not reach. The smell must have dissipated because he is not hanging around anymore.

Pileated Woodpecker

This pileated woodpecker found another of our dead ash trees and went to work on it. The bird found the beetles and went to town. It made a huge mess at the bottom of the tree.

Birds in the Sky

Friday, when the fellows were cutting trees, I occasionally shot photos of birds flying overhead. I think these are hawks but I'm not positive. They were drafting on the wind currents around the house, having a good ol' time, and when the tree cutting grew boring I'd turn the camera to the birds.

Birds and a Squirrel

Pileated Woodpecker

Robins

Squirrel

Squirrel



Wrens? Brown Thrasher? Not sure.