It's Tuesday

 

This week was pretty normal for February but the winter aspect of Ohio is getting old. We had to shovel snow this week as a weather clipper dropped about 4 inches of the white stuff on the yard. It was mostly melted by Sunday but another is on the way later today into Wednesday.

 

The bird news is  the bluebirds were back and checking out my housing options yesterday. It is the first I have seen them since early January. Called my friend Kathy and got some meal worms into the feeder and sure enough they were back for their special treats. Today if the sleety icy weather develops I will have to make sure to get the bluebirds some extra worms. I understand the robins are eating from feeders this year also. The ground must be too frozen for them to get worms. They should be in Florida but they are lucky so many of us are keeping are feeders full.

 

The picture today is of a mourning dove. They have been around all winter and are primarily ground feeders. They are the most common native dove species and the name comes from the mournful cooing call. It is one of the larger birds at the feeder averaging about 12 inches long. Watch the male court the female. He will do aerial displays, bobs his head and puffs out his throat all the while making his long coo call. 

 

 



 

 

Second picture is of my other wintertime activity; spending time with AJ. He has been getting bird lessons and I have been getting Wi lessons. He is a big Mario and Luigi fan and is much more adept at the Wi controls than I am. He still claims to want to be a train conductor when he grows up and we spend a fair amount of time with the train sets too. It has been fun building with the lincoln logs and leggos again. Both he and Jesi are doing well.

 

 

The quote today is one we often hear but I was surprised to see the extended version about looking too long at the closed door. Think about it and have a great week.

 

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.

 

 

Monday February 18, 2012

The goal this week is to spot and take a picture of a pair of eagles that have been spotted on the golf course. I have seen one but never when in a position to capsure a picture. Apparently the course superintentent has seen them and it is hopeful they will nest this spring.  So my birds this week are house finches. Very popular and prevelent at the bird feeder. These are small birds with the male having a red or sometimes yellow head and the female almost looking like a sparrow with all greys and browns. They will fly to the feeder but often just pick up the seeds off the ground under the feeder. This is the male and the female with my friend Woody.

So besides birdwatching Steve and I attended Mike's special Olympic basketball game last week. His team is struggling this year and has yet to win a game. The were playing Lucas county and here you can see Mike (14) has great form in protecting during the free throw. I think the shot was made though so there was no rebounding.

While the team struggled Mike played well and here he is making one of the two free throws. He made both of them and did make another 2 or 3 baskets during the game.

 





Wednesday February 13

Happy Valentine Day almost. I am getting later and later in the week posting but I am still shooting for at least a post a week. This week I was trying to get a picture of a new bird I saw in the yard. I was able to identify it but never could get a picture. It was a Cedar Waxwing. Very indentifiable by the red stripe on the wing and the yellow tail feathers. Very interesting bird but I will have to try harder for a picture. So for this week we go to my most frequent flyer at the feeder.

This is a Dark Eyed Junco. He has a pale short beak a dark eye and a white belly. His gray over all color is accentuated by the white tail feathers that are visible in the second picture as he flies away  from the feeder. The second picture is one from last week when the cardinal and the red bellied woodpecker were all at the feeder together. I thought it was interesting to see the flight in action from the cardinal. The junco is more of a ground feeder, often eating the seeds that have fallen from the feeder. The Junco female tend to be a little more brownish than the gray one here.

 

 

Quote for Valentines Day:

 

“Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses.”

 

 

Tuesday and it is February

The snow and cold weather that has arrived has created lots of activity at the feeder this week. The regulars are frequent visitors. As I was trying to decide which bird to highlight this week I looked out and my friendly Red Bellied Woodpecker was present. I was snapping a few new shots of "Woody" when in flew a beautiful red Cardinal. So todays picture is entitled "Woody and Red".

This Red Bellied Woodpecker is a male, which you can tell by the red stripe on his head. A females stripe does not go all of the way to the bill. The name comes from the reddish hair on the lower belly. The zebra striped backs are very distinctive. My Woody is a little smaller than the average size as he is not much larger than the cardinal. The female has been present too and they are especially fond of the suet cakes at the feeder.

Woody was joined by the famous Red Cardinal. The cardinal is the State bird of Ohio, but I surprised to learn that 6 other states claim him as their state bird. Of course my "Red" is a male. The female of the species is an attractive(?) tan gray. Male cardinals are very protective of their territory and because of this often fly into glass windows as they charge the intruding bird that is really their own reflection. I have witnessed this behavior at my hanging feeder which is closer to a window. Supposedly this is not harmful to the bird because they are not flying fast enough to hit the window hard. In fact it is probably safer than if the intruder was an actual bird because they would attack each other.

Other news this week is that we are having a real Ohio winter again. Temperatures have been in the teens and we have had snow several days. There is probably about 6 inches on the ground now. Warmer temperatures are expected late this week but we are all thinking spring since the groundhog did not see his shadow.

Thought for today:
Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'