Animals | wordsfromanneli

July 20, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 44 Comments

In Broad Daylight

It’s nowhere near dark, but Ralph Raccoon felt safe enough to come check out our yard.

Just then, the Captain brought Emma (our English cocker spaniel) outside for a pee and in no time the barking and growling started. Luckily, Emma was on the leash because she has a pulled muscle in her leg and we don’t want her tearing around the yard just now.

With one last growl, Ralph clambered up the tree for safety.

Once Emma was out of the scene, Ralph wondered what to do.

“Should I stay here where I’m safe,” he wondered, “or should I come down while I can and get out of here before some crows find me and try to peck my eyes out?”

Turn on your sound and watch what Ralph decided to do.

July 15, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 55 Comments

Mother and Daughter

Again, I was in a rush and didn’t get wonderful, clear photos, but you’re all so good at using your imagination and that’s what I’m counting on today.

The woodpeckers were back. It was Pam and what I thought last week was her sister. I’ve had my eyes opened because I got a better look at the “sister.” Turns out, it is most probably her baby, not her sister.

Pam is near the bottom of the tree here, and Junior is above her. Junior’s topknot is not a brilliant red yet, most likely for her own protection. She won’t be such a target for her enemies.

Pam is working hard, pecking open the bark to look for bugs. Junior is still afraid of giving herself a headache so she lets Mom do all the work.

Pam stops mid-peck and looks around.

“Do you see her, Junior?” she asks.

“See who?” Jr. says.

“Whom.”

“What?”

“See whom, not who? … Oh, never mind. Do you see the crazy lady with the camera? She’s always hanging around near the back door, and I thought I heard it open. I don’t mind her, but that black cocker spaniel is always wherever she is, and that dog LOVES birds – and before you say, ‘Oh that’s good,’ let me tell you, ‘No. That mutt likes birds, but not in a good way.'”

“But don’t worry, Junior, we’re safe. Just open your beak. I’ve got a treat for you to make you forget all about that killer dog.”

“LOL! Gimme a break,” says Emma. “Me? Kill a bird? … Well, not a woodpecker, anyway … not today….”

July 7, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 46 Comments

Pam the Pileated Woodpecker

The pecking of beaks on wood just past the fence of my yard sent me running for my camera. I was surprised to see not one, but two pileated woodpeckers. They were a bit shy and one of them disappeared around the back of the tree. I had a glimpse of that bird just long enough to guess that it was a sister of the juvenile pileated woodpecker I could see on the opposite side of the tree. Do you see them there on the tree that is farthest to the left? One on each side of the tree; one about a foot below the other, partly hidden by a leaf.

I know her name is Pam, not Paul, because she doesn’t have the red cheek slash that the boys have. Notice how long her toenails are. Great for hanging on and for hopping up and down on the trunk of these Douglas fir trees. Can you do that?

She was finding little bugs in the bark. I watched her eat some as she came across them. I bet they were surprised to be found, thinking they were safe in the maze of coarse bark.

You can watch Pam at work in these two short videos she allowed me to take. It gave me a headache watching her slam her beak into the bark over and over again. If you watch carefully you might see her nibble at a bug she discovered between beak slammings.

In the next one, watch how she hopped around the bark so easily, hanging on with her sharp toenails.

See you around the neighbourhood, Pam, and thanks for helping keep down the invasion of insects.

June 11, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 41 Comments

Oh, so Pretteeeee!

He’s back, but still a bit blurry. This American goldfinch is very shy and doesn’t like to be photographed. Again he took off just as I was focusing my camera and I had to settle for a faraway shot. When he sat on the edge of the hedge it was like trying to take a picture of a mosquito on a moose.

This time I got a better sense of his colouring. One day, maybe he’ll sit still when he’s closer in, like this morning when he sat on the garden fence until I got the camera. He is definitely camera shy.

But with colours like this flashing signals to every hawk around, I don’t think I’d sit still long either.

Cuz I’m pretteeeee, oh, so pretteeeee,

I can’t stick around, for I’m bound to be found,

Cuz I’m pretteeeee, oh, so pretteeeee,

It’s awfully hard to be meeeee.

Yes, they’ll see meeeee, oh, they’ll see meeeee,

I really must fly, if I stay I will die,

Yes, they’ll see meeeee, oh, they’ll see meeeee,

And dying so young is not pretteeeee.

You snap pictures, I’ll read scriptures,

I pray that today will not be my last day,

Cuz I’m pretteeeee, oh, so pretteeeee,

I want to keep on being meeeee.

June 9, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 42 Comments

Penny for Your Thoughts

My friend who has the house where the peacocks visit, sent me some more photos that he snapped with his phone, so I thought I’d share them with you.

Here we are, folks. Remember me? I’m Patrick on the left, and I’ve brought five of my friends. Next to me from left to right, we have Percival, Parker, Penny, Paxton, and Preston. I think Preston got into the overripe, fermenting mountain ash berries. You can see that his head is a bit blurry.

Notice that Penny has a paler face than the rest of us and her neck feathers are more green than blue. She has a light brown back and even lighter underside.

Being the older male, I’m sort of in charge of the show. My fan of tailfeathers is way better than that of any others here. When I go up to Penny and show her my fan, with all the beautiful “eyes” on the feathers, I can tell she’s impressed. I shiver the fan just like I’ve seen ladies do with their handheld fans on a hot day at the opera. She nearly swoons when I do that.

All the boys want pretty Penny,

But she just wants me.

My impressive fan has many

Eyes for her to see.

When I spread my fanning glory,

And I show my train,

All those eyes will tell the story

That I’m not so plain.

I must have two hundred eyes,

Marked upon my train,

When I shiver Penny sighs,

“I love you,” again.

June 6, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 39 Comments

Patrick Peacock

While visiting friends, we were surprised to see this peacock at their door. He lives in their neighbourhood and sometimes our friends put food out for him, so he comes to visit once in a while. I asked my friend to snap a quick picture with his phone, and here we have it.

Patrick Peacock feels at home,

For a meal, no need to roam,

Here he has a special dish,

“Keep it full.” That is his wish.

“Oh, but look, some people came,

Some old friends, they look the same

As they did some time ago,

One or two more wrinkles though.

I’ll sit still, so poised and cool,

Long as they obey the rule,

Just don’t scare me, or I’ll run,

Then you would have no more fun.”

May 25, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 45 Comments

Sharing the Yard

I’ve seen the squirrels’ hiding place,

Beneath this pile of logs,

They stash their nuts and cones in there,

While watching out for dogs.

It’s not that Emma eats their food,

She’s picky what she eats,

But squirrels are safer for the fence,

So they won’t be her treats.

I think I smell some hazelnuts,

Still buried under here,

If I could find a few of them,

I’d be a ‘coon of cheer.

But there’s that snooping dog again,

Alerting everyone,

Time for me to take a hike,

And come back later on.

You’ve heard of cowards turning tail,

They show their other end,

I’m not a chicken, but I just

Have no more time to spend.

May 16, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 43 Comments

Fawn Finding

“Come on, kids,” the mother lows,

“Sniff the herbs now, use your nose.”

“Right in here’s a lovely place,

Duck right in and hide your face.”

“Wait!” says Junior, “I can see,

Some delicious weeds for me.”

“Okay, now I’m lying down,

Are you sure I won’t be found?”

“Rosemary, oregano,

Fennel too, oh what a show.”

“Look at me, beneath the leaves,

How oregano deceives.”

“Did you think I disappeared?

Scared you, Mom, I know you feared.”

“Now you only see my tush,

Hiding ‘neath the beauty bush.”

Tiny sister on the ground,

If she’s still she won’t be found.

Where’d she go, that little tease?

Camo colours, if you please.

“Here I am,” she flicks an ear,

Sage and lavender are near.

“All right, come on out, you two,

Weeds between the grass to chew.

“We’re quite safe now, don’t you fear,

No more danger over here.”

Note* These pictures are from several years ago, but at this time of year, when the fawns are born.

May 10, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 24 Comments

Goldfinches on Two Sides of the Pond

After seeing my Mystery Bird post last week, a fellow blogger sent me photos of finches he had visiting at his location. It was interesting to compare the different colour patterns.

My goldfinch was the American version on the North American side of the pond. Here are the two blurry pictures I was able to manage to capture of these flighty birds.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, in the UK, my blogging friend Jeff Grant took these pictures of the European version of the goldfinch.

They are often hard to photograph. These birds don’t want to hang around long enough for zooming or focusing, but isn’t it amazing to find so many of them (at least 14) together in one place.

Thank you for these photos, Jeff.

I wanted to show the colour differences between the two variations – the European and the American goldfinches – but they are too far away to see the colours clearly. Concerned about copyright violations, I didn’t want to use an Internet photo, so I did a daring thing. I sketched a bird and coloured it in my own amateur way, trusting that my blogging friends would forgive my lack of artistic talent and concentrate on the colours that identify the European goldfinch.

Here is my effort at avoiding copyright violation with my own drawing.

European Goldfinch

I would love to see these goldfinches in such numbers where I live. That would be so amazing.

May 6, 2023
by wordsfromanneli 38 Comments

Mystery Bird

A short time ago I had a mystery beetle to identify, but this week, it’s a mystery bird. We don’t often get brightly coloured songbirds here, so when this yellow bird landed on the fencing of my garden, I rushed to get the camera. I barely had time to find the bird in my viewfinder when it took off. Hence the blurry photo.

Later it came back and, again, I rushed to get the camera. Again it was a blurry photo, and the bird immediately flew away.

I snapped wildly in the general direction of the bird’s flight and thought, at first, that I had missed it. But when I zoomed in on the photo, I found it in the top right-hand corner. It’s too tiny to see what it is, so I saved a zoomed photo of that part that I circled below.