red-breasted sapsucker

January 4, 2022
by wordsfromanneli 28 Comments

This info paragraph is taken from allaboutbirds.org

Red-breasted Sapsuckers eat sap, insects and other arthropods, fruit, and seeds. Their tongues are shorter than those of other woodpeckers, with brushy tips that help them lap up sap. They spend far less time drilling into wood than many other woodpeckers [do], and instead pick insects (especially ants and beetles) from crevices in the bark or from sapwells. They also fly out to catch insects in midair.

It seems as if these sapsuckers show up here around Christmas time. I did another blog post about them five years ago when they showed up in my backyard. https://wordsfromanneli.com/2016/12/17/a-christmas-tree-party/

Now, desperate for food, they must be finding what they need in the big firs in our area. I took this picture one day last week.

A day or two later, he had hit a window at my neighbour’s house. Luckily they managed to save him after a bit of R&R time in their avian intensive care unit. See the bird resting below.

All I wanted was to fly

Higher up into the sky.

Now my neck is oh so sore,

Thought that window was a door.

Giant branches of the trees,

Beckoned me to “Fly up please,

Pick these insects off my bark,

Go ahead and work ’til dark.”

But between the trees and me

Shiny glass I did not see.

Like a wall it smacked me down,

Dizzy trees spun all around.

Then a lady picked me up,

With her hands shaped like a cup,

Put me in a warm, soft box,

I was trapped, but not with locks.

Somehow I was free to go,

Once my neck stopped paining so,

With a squeak I called goodbye,

Then flew up into the sky.

Thank you, lady, thanks so much,

For your kind and gentle touch,

But remember for next time,

I prefer my glass with grime.

***** If you are interested in writing, grammar, copy-editing, books, etc., why not check out my other blog which is dedicated to that kind of thing? https://annelisplace.wordpress.com/

December 20, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 50 Comments

Christmas Acrostic

My effort at a double acrostic forced me to forego the rhyme factor, but I’ve tried to put together a Christmas message, using the first and last letters, read downwards. If we keep these things in mind, maybe we’ll help to improve someone’s life just a little bit.

And before you ask, no, it didn’t snow here, except up in the hills. This varied thrush visited the feeder a couple of years ago, but he looked so pretty on the snow, I wanted to put him in this post.

Knowing Yule is cominG,
It's time to trim the treE,
Now that I am senior, and the claN,
Depends on mE.
Need to fill the lardeR,
Extra goodie-food will be, sO,
Special in the coming dayS,
So smile and so will I.  
(Yikes! Where's the rhyme? Gone to the North Pole.)
And when it comes to Christmas nighT,
No stores will open staY,
Done with shopping, all's class A,
Good times at home remaiN.
If Christmas music fills our minD,
Vast troubles leave us alL,
In giving freely, as we dO
No need for price on luV.
Good will's enough and that is freE.

Ta-dah-dahdah-deedee.

Y’all have a wonderful Christmas time, y’hear?

And don’t pay too much attention to what those birds say. Their jabbering is for the birds.

July 4, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 42 Comments

Birds at Vernon Lake

We parked our trailer and unloaded the skiff to have it ready for use at the edge of Vernon Lake.

The campsite was visited by many birds. Here are only a few of them. Many stayed hidden though they sang their hearts out all day.

This is a hairy woodpecker. I thought at first it was a downy, which looks very similar, but the hairy woodpecker has a much heavier and longer beak than the downy.

One of the birds I heard a lot, was Swainson’s thrush. I love the song he sings, “You’re pretty, you’re pretty, oh really.” But he is very elusive and I couldn’t get a photo of him.

He’s a very plain version of an immature robin but without any hint of black or red. If you click on this link you’ll see a photo on the bird site: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Thrush/id

Next to visit, was a Steller’s jay, but I almost mistook him for something else. He is a bit pale and scruffy, and this has me wondering if it is an immature bird.

Below, we have the red-breasted sapsucker, probably the very one I took pictures of for a previous post. He was hanging around the campsite the whole time we were there.

And no wonder! He has already made quite an investment in this tree, sipping sap and nabbing insects.

But do you see what I see? Circling the tree just below the chipped bark is a nasty looking petrified snake. I think he’s guarding the dinner table for the sapsucker.

You won’t see me trying to get near him. He looks mean. Is that blood on his lips?

June 27, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 43 Comments

Flashy Redhead

Some time ago this bird visited my yard, and at the time I had no idea what it was except that it was a type of woodpecker. Since then I have learned that it is a red-breasted sapsucker. In the second photo you can see the light dot in front of its eye, one of the main identifying features. It also has a vertical white bar along its wing.

This fellow visited our campsite at Vernon Lake on Vancouver Island last week.