Evicting birds

 

They chose a safe, inaccessible spot to raise their chicks.  Paul noticed a lack of scrabbling noise over the bathroom in the Carriage House so it was time to repair their entrance.  

Red Bellied visitor

We have heard a mysterious loud knocking in the backyard but hadn't been able to catch sight of this visitor until last night. A woodpecker is banging away at the back porch overhang.  He isn't making much progress but we are doing what we can to discourage his overtures.  Today I hung (everso sightly) wire cages over the shingles and in front of the places where he is hammering.  So far so good.
The robin that was pestering the carriage house windows gave up when she built her nest, but returned to her task when the babies fledged.  It looked like she was going to fill the nest again, but hasn't yet.
Hummingbirds are busy fighting and protecting their feeder.  The most we see at one time is 3, but summer isn't over.
A different lady turtle greeted us at the carriage house door tonight.  No dog interventions and not the same one that was on the patio in the rain 2 days ago.
No cow sightings or evidence.

FOY

Indigo Bunting on the patio
Black snake at the meadow pinch, 2'
Morels, 3, small, lower on the Bears' Lair Trail than last year.

and, Gambol flushed a turkey hen yesterday at the first water bar.  He appeared grateful that Paul called him off.  That hen might be in Ohio by now.

FOY: birds

yesterday--(male) rose-breasted Grosbeak
tonight--male ruby throated hummingbird.

Robins and Bluebirds

Early in February we had Bluebirds visiting the berry bushes (Viburnum and Holly) in front of the house.  At first we thought they were Robins, but their red color was very subdued.  Later in the month we could see their blue color as well as the red, so not Robins.
Then on Feb 28 we had a flock of Robins visit our Mt Ash and berry bushes. There were about 20 birds in all, male and female, and they really attacked the Mt Ash.  We had about 8 trees with varying amounts of berries on them and we were wondering who was going to eat the berries as the excess fruit was causing the tree branches to hang down when hit with snow or ice.  The flock was still around on Saturday and there were Robins all over the trees and bushes.  On Sunday the weather was threatening to snow but we missed the worst of it and only got a couple of dustings.  I didn't see any Robins on Sunday, I thought it was because of the rotten weather. 
Again on Monday the Robins were gone with the exception of one or two birds still hanging around.  Then I took a closer look at the Mt Ash and the bushes and the trees are completely bare of fruit and most of the bushes are also picked clean.  I guess the flock has moved on to better feeding grounds.

Robin

Swiping the red, semi-dehydrated holly berries in light snow. The first robin of the year and the first bird we've seen on the berries.
Just enough snow to freshen the yellow spots, less than 3".

Gambol has discovered my chair but only when he thinks he's sneaking.  If the other dogs come in or if people move around, he hops down fast.  Usually he lounges in the bedroom.  He reminds me of Pierce's foray to the bottom of my bed. Is his age catching up?

Lifer

Gambol alerted us to a female pheasant on the back hill this morning about 10:00.  She wandered around the currents and viburnums for 15 min before moseying into the aspen cut.  

Snacking on viburnum berries about 10 feet from the bedroom window. taken from inside

On the rock pile near the electric box, taken from the patio

Perhaps a new yard bird...

Perhaps we heard, but did not see, a yellow billed cuckoo on the afternoon meadow walk.  At first we thought dove or owl, but neither were right. A throaty "ka, ka, ka, ka, ka, kow, kowp, kowp, kowp, kowp." We especially heard the kowp sound.  Since Cornell says they eat lots of hairy caterpillars, we say "Bring them on."

Happy Birthday Lady Terra

FOY over the last week: Whippoorwill at dusk, rose-breasted grosbeak, indigo bunting

Windows and birds

The windows stopped a dove in flight today.  The screened windows and doors don't seem to be a problem and the special stickers don't seem to be placed right to help. We may need to get a few more.
Count: 1 Cooper's hawk and 1 dove.

reading: A Scattered Life ****  McQuestion. families and their trials and tribulations.

Too much glass

This was on the front porch stoop when we got home. We found a smear on the glass door just below the holographic leaf placed to help birds avoid collisions.  I thought of what Hoss would do (freeze it for never-later stuffing) and decided to leave it for a natural disposal in the woods.

Screech owl

Eastern screech owl whinnying like a horse above the house when I put the chickens to bed tonight, a new bird for the Barony.

Nature

Gambol brought me a box turtle on our early morning walk and a dead chipmunk while we were gardening. Both 4-legged boys missed a 4' long black snake sunning in the grass. Three boys scared a jake in the driveway 50 feet from the house on their late morning walk. A bald eagle flew over the house and was buzzed by a crow. Hummingbirds did their U-shaped dance mating over the deck. I found a new flower: Hooker's orchid Platanthera hookeri in the bear's lair. It's on the Pa Endangered list.
A thunderstorm hit just after breakfast; Buddy starts quivering well before we can hear the thunder. He buried his head in my armpit then scrambled into my lap.
We have nature here at the Barony.

Too beautiful a day...

...to be stuck off my feet.  Crutches still suck.  This whole weekend has been a clear blue, cool, breezy, drying-the-mud sort of a weekend.  I saw 2 redtails frolicking over our woods and a Cooper's took a quick peek-thru at the bird feeder.  We had about a dozen goldfinches at the feeder this morning, the most since last fall. A kettle of gulls (ringbill?) played overhead flying to the northwest about 4:00.

Reading: You Can't Stop Me **** Matthew Clemens, a sheriff turns TV star, a la Adam Walsh, to find the killer of his wife and kids.  I like his descriptions: "music put a crease between his eyebrows", "airsick passengers swaying like a fruit about to ripen and fall" or "an upchuck bouquet".  Glad I have my Kindle!

Good day for reading on my new Kindle

It's a palindrome day: 01/02/2010 http://tinyurl.com/palindrom

New yardbird list for 2010  http://www.yardbirder.net/List.php?Name=Ldemmert&List=Yardbirds2010
I just saw downy and hairy woodpeckers on the same tree; now I get the difference.

Reading The Help, Kathryn Stockett, a civil rights theme, young Mississippi white & wealthy woman tires to write a book of interviews of black maids in 1960s.   ***** I'm thinking that a Kindle in every 6th grader's desk might help the reading scores.  It is fun to read on it; gentle on the eyes; easy to turn pages.

Two comfy dogs gnawing on bones side by side not staged:

Windy and bitter cold; some snow flurries all day.  The tarp on the loft dormer blew off.  I hope we don't get lots of snow as predicted.

FOY

Scarlet Tanager tonight at top of an oak.

Bear

The compost bin was overturned last night so we were probably visited by a bear. We haven't seen any other evidence, however.
We picked an asparagus dinner for Lady Terra and Prince Smiley-face: our first harvest. They took home a dozen spears from pencil to thumb diameter. We are only taking 1 stalk from each root this first year. Serendipitously, 25 more roots arrived by FedEx today as we were harvesting. They'll fill in the holes left by winter kill.
Gold finches dot the front maple and oaks by the feeder like Easter eggs. We must have 20-30. Pine siskin numbers have dwindled but there are still a dozen or more. Purple finches are trying to take over the feeder. At least 2 pairs are aggressively hogging they sunflower tray. Brown-headed cowbirds have arrived. I saw a report that hummers are in Juniata County, so I made some syrup but have lost the feeder. This weekend we'll have to hunt it down for sure.
The daffodils are at their peak. We have a long way to go to hit Mom Kitty's mark with daffodils. Violets and muscari round out our Spring color wheel.

Found!

One golden goldfinch. This one is almost all yellow while the rest of the flock have only a yellow feather or two. The pine siskins are still here.
Daffs are poking through also, even the Kitty Lapps, which are late bloomers.

Sunday

No hunting in PA on Sundays but the Cooper's Hawk that just took a male cardinal didn't know that. I didn't see the hit but saw the hawk land, mantle, and then take off to the jack pine for a moment. The bright red cardinal stood out in the dry snow on the jack pine. We then lost them to the back forest where the Cooper's could eat in privacy. We can tell something is awry, that there is a hawk in the neighborhood, but that silence only lasts until the hawk is further occupied. As soon as the cardinal was taken, the other little birds came back.
It's still snowing, 6" new fluffy flakes, but the temps have mellowed to +15 degrees. No wind.
1 egg at breakfast. 2 more before lunch.

Noise from the Ladies

A most unlady like noise was coming from the coop when Gambol and I went out this morning. I could hear it from the door way and thought it was a new wild bird; it was just the announcement that we had a new egg, nice and warm, as fresh as possible. In fact she was just exiting the nest box as I entered the coop. I hadn't been available to hear the announcement all week. An hour later we picked up another. I don't know if the noise is clucking eggsactly; it's more like a one note squawking of a pileated woodpecker. And another this afternoon. Eggs = 3 today
We went to bed at -4 degrees last night and woke up to -11. "Global warming my ass," says the Baron (again). The snow is squeaky dry and glittery in the bright sun this morning.