With crossing bills, I crack a seed,
The sunflowers are best,
It’s easy for me, there’s no need
To put it to the test.
But did you see, my lady fair,
How I hang upside down?
Why don’t you smile then, if you dare?
It isn’t nice to frown.
Category Archives: Birds
Northern Flicker
The northern red-shafted flicker is fairly common on Vancouver Island and I’m glad he is. He eats a lot of ants and beetles and even wasps. That suits me just fine.
Here is Mr. Flicker (notice his red cheek slash) trying to get the attention of Ms. Flicker to ask her for a date.
Turn on your sound to hear him drumming on my chimney and then calling to her. His grammar isn’t great but I don’t think it bothers him (or her).
With a rat-a-tat-tat,
I say, where are you at?
Ms. Flicker (no red cheek slash) misses his call but comes by to announce that she’s a bit late, but she’s here.
I’m sitting right here,
Come and find me, my dear.
Lunchtime
Hoo-whee! These fir cones are like a candy cane. So good!
Oh! Sorry. That was rude of me. Would you like to share this one?
These cones come in little wings that you can peel off. I’ll get one for you.
What’s that? Not your kind of food? Oh, too bad. I’ll get back to it then.
Say, if you really want to see me in action, play the video. Be sure to turn up the sound so you can hear the robins singing their spring songs.
A Taste of the Good Life
Our old trailer has seen better days, but I can’t think of many that were better than this one.
The lake was peaceful, fresh, and beautiful.
An eagle patiently waited for a trout to be caught. Maybe there would be a little “something” left for him.
But first lick went to Emma. This trout fishing was new to her and she seemed to like it.
The next trout had Ruby interested. It was her turn.
Water lilies at the edges added tranquility to the scene.
Time to go ashore and stretch our legs.
Ruby and Emma found all kinds of wonderful smells there.
But right nearby, where even I could smell the animals that had been there, was the evidence of elk that had visited not long before.
A lot of peaceful moments, but never a dull one.
Unwilling Players
When Ruby (our springer spaniel) was still alive, she and Emma (our English field cocker spaniel) loved to go to the beach with us. There was always something to see.
“Hey, Ruby! Look at these ducks. We could play with them.”
“Come back! We just want to play tag with you!”
“Aw! C’mon, ducks! See how we can run and play with you? That would be so much fun.
They don’t seem to want to play, Ruby. I tried to get them to come closer, but they just swam away. Not very friendly!”
“Oh, I’ll go talk to them. Maybe they thought you were just a bit too rambunctious.”
“Nope! They don’t want to play with us. They just kept on swimming farther away. Hah!”
“Water’s damn cold too.”
“We were just trying to be friendly and have some fun. Go figure!”
Beach Picnic
Sure are a lot of seagulls down there. Family day at the beach? Or is it because the sun finally came out?
Hmm…. They seem to be all talking at once, and with their mouths full too. Ill-mannered scavengers.
Ahh … I see. It’s poor man’s caviar time. The herring have spawned near the beach.
I might try a lick or two when those pesky seagulls move along.
*Herring roe and seagull photos by Paul Knettig.
American Wigeon
I have been using the alternate spelling of “widgeon” for some time now, but apparently it is considered old-fashioned, so I’ll go back to the “wigeon” (like “pigeon”) spelling.
***** After reading several comments about the spelling of this bird, I’m thinking I should go back to spelling it with the “d,” (widgeon). Oh, deardeardeardeardear. Whattodo?Whattodo?Whattodo?Whattodo?
The American wigeon (Mareca americana) likes small lakes, ponds, and marshes where it dabbles for plant and animal matter, but it also is often found in fields, yanking out small plants by the roots. Their short bills give them good leverage for this and they can decimate newly sprouted grain fields if they get in there to feed on the small shoots.
The drake wigeon has a distinctive green stripe on the side and back of his head, but it is the white feathers on top that give him the nickname “baldpate” (because he looks bald at a distance).
Mrs. Wigeon doesn’t mind him looking “bald.”
She says, “God only made so many beautiful heads; on all the others He put hair … er … feathers.”
I think they look quite cute together.
With a bit of shade on his side, Mr. Wigeon’s light rusty colours are more noticeable, and we can more easily see that his bill is a lighter slate blue than Mrs. Wigeon’s is, but both have a black tip on their bill.
Thank you, Sonia, for the photos.
Wood Ducks
Wood ducks (Aix sponsa) are not only beautiful with their bright colours and design, but they have some interesting habits, too.
These two photos were taken by my friend Sonia from her visit to the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary near Delta, BC. They are both of drake wood ducks. For a photo of female wood ducks, please click on the link to Belinda Grover’s blog near the end of this post.
Wood ducks are dabblers, taking their food from near the surface of the water. They also graze on land, eating seeds, berries, and acorns. When the acorns are in their gizzards, they are able to crush them to digest them further. My stomach hurts just thinking about it.
Wood ducks have sharp claws on their feet to help them cling to tree branches where they like to perch.
Who would think that a duck would make a nest up in a tree? But wood ducks do just that. Maybe it’s safer that way.
The day after the ducklings hatch, they are ready to leave the nest. The mother duck checks out the water or ground below the snag and when she feels it is safe, she calls to the ducklings who then, one by one, drop to the leafy ground or water, sometimes a drop of as much as fifty feet, and then swim after their mother. If they are not right by the water, they hustle after her as she leads them to the nearby water. Amazing, aren’t they?
I don’t have a photo of a female wood duck, but if you visit Belinda Grover’s blog, you can see them. Please check out her blog of excellent photography.
Late Season Snack
Thank you for hanging in there through the whole month of February for my daily photo and haiku. I’ll go back to posting less often now, unless I come up with another crazy idea.
robin guards his food
perched amid his dinner plate
Russian olive snack
Who? Who?
silent bird cruising
spies pup chasing owl’s dinner
“hoo” let the dog out?
wordsfromanneli 