Two Eurasian collared doves have come out of the woodwork to be lovey-dovey for Valentine’s Day.
It sure is lonely at the top.
Will you look at that!?
Oh no! It’s that dog again.
You stay down there!
Come on down here. We can play tag.
You just stay here by me, darlin’. I’ll take care of you. How about a little snack? I’m not afraid of that dog. I’ll find you something to eat. Make you forget about all your troubles.
Good! The doggone dog’s gone. The coast is clear for foraging.
That little bit of corn? That’s it? Don’t you think I’m worth more than that? You’re going to have to do better than that if you want to be my buddy.
Okay, what’s the trouble here? I see there are some ruffled feathers. Looks like someone’s head is hanging in shame. Let’s fix this up. Come on, you two. Kiss and make up. And remember she gets the kiss and he gets the makeup. Hahaha. Get it? Get it?
I’ll get you something bigger, darlin’. Be right back. And remember, I want you to be my Valentine. Is that a deal? Okay, that’s good then.
Good grief, she’s high maintenance. But I suppose she’s worth it. Life is such a fine balance. I’d better practice on this balance beam.
Have a happy Valentine’s Day on February the 14th and be happy every day after that too.
***** If you have spare time on your hands, why not visit my other blog, annelisplace.wordpress.com/
Do you remember Bambi asking, “Mother, what’s all that white stuff?” and she answered in such a soft voice, full of wonder, “Why … it’s … snow!”
Well, this morning I found myself saying, “Mother! What …?” etc.
It all happened overnight, and then it continued into the morning. My poor little birds!
The hummingbirds … where do they sleep on nights like this? At least they had a heated feeder this year. Last year I had to run out and exchange the frozen sugar water for liquid every 20 minutes or so. This year, I have one heated feeder, thanks to the thoughtful gift from a friend, and I can also put the not-heated feeders out there when the temperature stays above freezing. It works great!
The heated one is on the left, with the cord running from the outlet in the wall to the feeder.
For some reason the hummingbirds like sitting on the feeder penthouse.
Today it snowed for the second day in a row and just before it got too dark, a hummingbird came for one last drink. I took the video through the screened kitchen window as the light was fading. It’s not very sharp, but the hummer took a long last sip to last him for the night.
The rest of the birds have to find what food they can under the shelter of the eaves or the roof of a feeding station. I think they have a hard time in the snow, especially when the sun comes out and thaws huge portions that slide off branches, and threaten to bury them in the avalanche.
I’m always happy to see the snow because it looks so pretty, but I’m relieved when it thaws and the birds and little animals can breathe more easily again.
Do I dare to hope that this is the last of it for the winter?
I apologize for the background noise of dogs barking and garbage trucks backing up somewhere in the world outside my own little world.
A thin layer of snow covers the usual feeding grounds of ducks, geese, and swans. While the nearby preferred agricultural fields are frozen over with snow and ice, the birds find food and shelter on the edges of the salt water.
The estuary of the Courtenay River holds a lot of bird life. Depending on the wind direction, waterfowl can find sheltered indentations in the shoreline where they can forage for food in the shallows. Rather than feeding on seeds and bits of plant roots when cold weather freezes their usual fields, they make the switch to marine vegetation and bits of animal matter (shrimp, crustaceans) that they find in the tidal areas of the shore. Once in a while, a faint ray of sunshine warms their backs on this southern exposure in spite of the cold day.
Looking upriver at Comox Bay
Looking outwards to the spit
Mainly widgeons and dunlins.
In these very short video clips you can see a swarm of what I think are dunlins flying in to land near the beach. Although it is a very small flock, it reminds me of those murmurations of birds, when they fly so close together in an incomprehensible formation without crashing into each other. If you make the videos full screen you might be able to see the fine snowflakes blowing around as well
These mallards are close to shore for several reasons. They have slightly more cover in case of predators (better than being “a sitting duck” in the open water), and there is probably more food available in the shallows where they can probe the sand with their bills and find small beach creatures to eat. At high tide there is also marine vegetation that is available only at this level, lifted up by the rising water.
They are in survival mode for now, waiting for a good low pressure southeast system that will bring wind, rain, and warmer temperatures, thawing out the farm fields that offer their preferred diet. I hope they are all lucky ducks.
You can hear the great horned owl shrieking, trying to scare the rat (or anything that moves). He’s hard to see in the dark, but watch to the end and you’ll hear him screeching back and forth to his girlfriend, telling her to come over and have supper with him.
Turn on your sound. If you click to make the video clip full screen, it will look better.
Of course you know this kind of talk is all for the birds.
wordsfromanneli 