Mom told me to wait for her up here. I don’t like being alone.
Oh, my! I hope she hurries. I don’t like the look of that crow.
Mother Flicker dips and glides,
While her baby sits and hides,
Harvesting some lovely ants,
Adds a beetle to enhance,
All the goodness that she feeds,
To her babe and fills his needs.
Junior waits while mother works,
Hoping that no danger lurks,
Crows and merlins and the like,
Waiting for a chance to strike,
Junior always eyes the skies,
Watching everything that flies.
July 19, 2022 at 9:57 pm
Such lovely photos and Poem, Anneli! ☺️
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July 20, 2022 at 4:06 am
Thanks, John. Glad you liked it.
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July 19, 2022 at 10:16 pm
So sweet. Hope this flicker stays safe. I always worry about all the baby birds when they appear. There are so many predators lurking.
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July 20, 2022 at 4:05 am
Yes, and around here we have the occasional merlin. I’ve seen one of them kill a flicker, so I hope this guy is careful and stays close to mom.
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July 19, 2022 at 11:03 pm
That’s such an adorable poem and your photos are wonderful! I love seeing the flickers.
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July 20, 2022 at 4:04 am
Tnx, Lynette. Young birds are so innocent. I hope he makes it.
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July 20, 2022 at 12:08 am
The poem is wonderful and the pictures too. I hope that all the babies will make it!
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July 20, 2022 at 4:03 am
I hope so too. Thanks, Ursula.
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July 20, 2022 at 12:50 am
Beautiful!
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July 20, 2022 at 4:02 am
Thanks, DK. I hope he makes it. They’re so vulnerable when they are young and naive. Not unlike people.
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July 20, 2022 at 1:26 am
Ach…zum Glück 🤗 Wieder ein Vogel gerettet.
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July 20, 2022 at 4:01 am
I’m often surprised at what I see around our house, but having these big fir trees and lots of shrubbery for cover seems to attract birds and little animals.
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July 20, 2022 at 4:33 am
Oh yes, they find plenty of shelter and good hiding places there.
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July 20, 2022 at 3:51 am
Delightful poem, Anneli!
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July 20, 2022 at 3:59 am
Thank you, Grant. Glad you liked it.
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July 20, 2022 at 4:41 am
Sweet poem and photos. The world is a dangerous place for these young birds.
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July 20, 2022 at 4:43 am
It sure is!
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July 20, 2022 at 6:31 am
Have you thought, Anneli, of putting all your birdie and squirrel posts and poems in a collection? They are lovely to read and look at. ❤
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July 20, 2022 at 7:14 am
I have, Carol. Pam W. suggested it too, but the problem is that often they need to be with the photos, and that gets complicated. But thanks for that nice thought.
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July 20, 2022 at 7:01 am
That is so cute, Anneli. I’m sure this is a cozy ending and baby is safe, not some dystopian one that will break my heart!
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July 20, 2022 at 7:11 am
He has a very good chance of surviving.
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July 20, 2022 at 7:30 am
Whew!
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July 20, 2022 at 9:56 am
So sweet!
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July 20, 2022 at 11:03 am
Thanks, Jill. A change from squirrels at last!
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July 20, 2022 at 12:27 pm
Thanks for these photos and poem
Anita
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July 20, 2022 at 2:39 pm
And thank you for your visits and comments, Anita.
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July 20, 2022 at 5:07 pm
Another delightful photo essay, Anneli!
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July 20, 2022 at 5:33 pm
Thanks a lot, Peter.
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July 21, 2022 at 7:35 am
Lovely nature photos, as always, Anneli. And a cute rhyme to go along. We started feeding our birds away from the house because the jays and mourning doves were intimidating the other birds. I hope little Flicker thrives. 😀
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July 21, 2022 at 8:06 am
Just like with humans, the big ones will bully the little ones. I’ve stopped feeding the birds for a while (during the good weather – but I’ll start again as it chills down a bit) because I was attracting hawks, starlings, jays, pigeons, Eurasian collared doves, and raccoons). I thought I’d let things settle down a bit before I put more birdseed out. Also I’ve been hearing that the avian flu spreads more easily with the feeders. Towards the end of the summer I’ll put some food out again. I don’t want to make the birds too dependent on me and attract their predators, but I do want them to have plenty of reserve strength for the winter. Fine lines, right?
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July 21, 2022 at 8:30 am
Yup. I can totally relate. We had no hummingbirds this year, and I think it was from attracting all the aggressive birds. 😦 I didn’t know about the avian flu. Good reason to change things up.
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July 21, 2022 at 10:49 am
It was reported in the news back in May of this year and affected a lot of poultry farms as well as wild birds in Canada and the States. I think that’s why the price of chicken went down – people were not wanting to buy it because of the avian flu. My nephew who lives near Vancouver (BC) said he had crows coming to pick up dead birds on his deck and roof. (There’s a thought for your novels. The crows are like the black undertakers.) I found an otherwise healthy looking sparrow dead in my yard and suspect it was bird flu. I’m hoping that the worst is over, but the songbird numbers really seem to be down.
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July 21, 2022 at 11:30 am
So that’s may be why I haven’t seen as many songbirds. Sigh. I wonder if climate change is making the bird more vulnerable to disease too.
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July 21, 2022 at 12:13 pm
My guess would be more to do with the use of pesticides. I think extreme weather conditions could be responsible for some of the decline but not climate change (not yet, anyway). Just my opinion, for what it’s worth. I don’t really know.
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July 21, 2022 at 12:21 pm
The timber industry here uses a lot of pesticides. Oregon has the highest autism rate and second highest Alzheimer’s rate in the US.
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July 21, 2022 at 2:13 pm
I hate to see pesticides used unless they are absolutely necessary. I don’t include having a lush green lawn as a high priority requiring pesticides to keep the bugs from eating grass roots, but there are people who do that. A person who lives way down the street from here killed a whole brood of baby quails one time. I watched him spraying while they ran across his lawn. I said something but it was like talking to the wall. One chick out of nine survived to the next day.
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July 21, 2022 at 2:38 pm
Ugh. Good for you for saying something. We’re pesticide free on our little patch of Earth, but the timber companies spray it from the air.
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July 21, 2022 at 8:18 am
Awww… reminds me of the classic children’s picture book “Owl Babies.”
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July 21, 2022 at 8:20 am
Baby birds are so vulnerable, it’s hard not to feel empathy for them. They do make great subjects for children’s books.
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July 22, 2022 at 5:05 am
Yes, they do!
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July 21, 2022 at 9:15 am
Aww. I let no one use my front door this spring because some swallows built a nest at the corner of the front door and I did not want them disturbed. Love your poem.
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July 21, 2022 at 10:40 am
LOL! Lori, you sound as crazy as me! Hahaha. Good to hear that I’m not alone in my bizarre logic when it comes to birds and little animals. Thanks for your comment.
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July 24, 2022 at 8:06 am
Very cute! Hope it pulls through.
Re: avian flu, sadly it’s been a huge issue in the UK this year, especially on the east coast.
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July 24, 2022 at 8:42 am
And here too, although I haven’t heard much about it recently. I hope it has passed.
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July 27, 2022 at 12:49 pm
Another delightful poem! Anneli, your verses and photography always bring a smile.
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July 27, 2022 at 5:29 pm
Thank you. It makes me very happy to hear that.
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