Baby Grackles

6-29-2018

Sitting on the porch in a rocking chair watching the birds on the feeders in the front yard. This is a good way to spend an hour or two. I like watching all the different song birds flit and flutter around the feeders, pecking seeds, darting off the eat them, and flying back for more, chirping and chattering the whole time. The smaller birds and larger birds dancing around each other in an almost choreographed chaos of fluttering wings. Then the grackles fly in, large wings spread, black feathers gleaming dark iridescent rainbows in the bright sunlight. After a few minutes, I realize I am watching grackle families with this years young. The baby grackles are not full grown yet but big enough to fly. The parents are jumping up to the feeder to get suet, then dropping down a feeding their offspring. Although the babies are somewhat smaller, they are definitely large enough to feed themselves, but are content to let Mom and Dad do all the work. I sit and watch in fascination at the feeding spectacle. Finally a car goes by and the grackles all fly away. How nifty was that?

Waking Up To Hummingbirds

6-14-2018

I set my hammock up on the back porch of my parent’s house. This space sits on top of a hill and looks out over the Okefenokee Swamp, delightfully graceful and languid with its lush vegetation in all shades of dark green, cacophonous with raucous insects, boisterous frogs, and other lusty critters day and night. The hammock stand works amazingly well. Thank you good husband for designing the attachment to hold the bug net! The porch roof keeps the sporadic downpours of rain off, and the ceiling fan stirs the hot humid air around me cooling my skin as I sleep. This morning I was dozing as soft luminous sunlight filtered through the jungle, when I became aware of short several insistent high-pitched squeaky squawking sounds emanating from right above me. I opened my eyes and realized there were maybe two dozen ruby-throated humming birds swarming around the feeders hanging directly above me. WOW! What an areal show; the males darting, diving, zig-zagging, zooming, chasing and screaming at each other fighting over the food, the females zipping around, hovering and sipping at the feeders. I lay still and watched the spectacle until the feeders were empty (apparently my mother fills them a couple of times a day). What a gloriously marvelous world we live in.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

5-22-2018

Sitting on the porch in the evening, watching the sun sink lower in the sky, listening to the outside world wind down into the blue time. The song birds are making a last dash to the feeders before nestling into their nests for the night. I’m rocking and spacing out when a flash of red catches my eye, a red breasted grosbeak is sitting on the feeder, trying to munch seeds, black wings flapping to keep its balance on the swinging feeder. Looking down I find its mate brown and tan strips to blend into the background. As he thrashes on the swaying feeder, seeds rain down around her. She is content to peck them from the grass, while he puts on a hilarious show or flashing red black and white feathers. Eventually he find purchase and calm enough to crunch the black oil seeds open. I sit and watch them until they eat their fill and fly away into the twilight. Another sure sign of Spring being finally here to stay, now that the grosbeaks are back!

Pileated Woodpeckers

5-20-2018

Fun trip down the River today, good group of people in my boat. Active paddlers with entertaining stories. We were near the end of the trip, floating along close to shore, relaxing, hanging out, when a loud rapid hollow knocking rang out from the trees, echoing across the river corridor. The pounding starts out fast and furious, then after a few moments, the intensity peters out. Half a minute later the knocking rings out again. My guests turn to me with a question on their lips, my eyes lights up as I smile with delight. I think its a pileated woodpecker! As the raft slid closer on the currents, the hidden bird took flight out over the open water right in front of us. We were entranced watching its characteristic wing beat pattern (flap, flap, flap, fold, dip, flap, flap, fold dip), large black and white body flashing in the sunlight, dazzling bright red head a beacon as it traveled to the tree line on the other side of the river. As it disappeared into the newly green branches, its playful laughing call trumpeted out like a monkey in the jungle. Everybody in the boat cheered with the sheer joy of experiencing a simple wonder of the natural world.

First Humming Bird

5-17-2018

Sitting on the porch, lazily rocking in my chair, gazing out across the yard and road, through the trees, over the creek, now hidden from view by new green leaves, enjoying the afternoon, listening to insects buzz. Feeling the heat of this spring day, the smooth caress of the gentle breeze, admiring the blue of the sky, breathing deeply, drowsing in a state of half consciousness. A tiny blur zings through my field of vision catching my attention and waking me up. It whirs by again, then stops suddenly in mid flight to check out some flowers on the porch. Hovering, wings humming, its ruby throat flashing in the sunlight against its iridescent green body. I want to jump from my chair in happiness, but I sit still and watch this amazing little creature as it dashes and darts around looking for nectar. The Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds are back! Once it zooms away, I immediately go inside and whip up a batch of hummingbird food and hang the feeder. Spring is here to stay!

Woodpecker

4-3-2018

I have set the hammock up in the yard, in the snow… It is warm enough to lay outside in it, if I bundle up against the cold breeze. I am swinging gently and watching the sky and thinking about how amazing it would be to be able to paint all those different colors of grey and white that make up the clouds. I would use a huge canvass, as big as a two story house, and capture the pensive, moody, ever changing clouds. I gradually become aware of a clattering sound, realizing it must be a Downy or Hairy woodpecker. They peck at a fast pace for a few seconds, take a break, and go again. I think it must be up in the maple above me, so I squirm in the hammock to get a better look at the tree. After a few more rounds of pecking, the small black and white bird hops around the trunk into view and drills some more into the tree bark. I lazily watch the small woodpecker as it hops, pecks, and inspects, then eventually flies away.

Turkey!

3-29-2018

Sitting on the sofa, doing a whole lot of nothing, when I notice that both female cats are anxiously perched on the window sill, tails frantically swishing, bodies tense, passionately chittering their annoyance at what ever is out there. With eager curiosity, I stand up and am surprised to see a large male turkey sauntering over the packed snow, strutting as he walks around under the bird feeders, enthusiastically gabbing at the frozen ground with his impressive beak going after the fallen bird seed. The three of us watched this giant bird as he casually made his way around the yard and then leisurely traveled down the road all the while randomly pecking at morsels he deemed worth of his attention. He never noticed the three pairs of eyes avidly watching his every move. Fantastic view of the local wildlife.

Grackles!

2-27-2018

As always, when one shows up, the other is not far behind. The Grackles are here today! These marvelous iridescent black birds with dark feathers shimmering resplendent in blue, green, and purple in the sunlight. They mingle with the red wings and maul the feeders with gusto and bravado. I could watch for hours as they flap, hop, strut, peck, fly around, dancing in the yard. The sun is playing hide and seek with the clouds as snow flakes flurry in swirling confusion, while elegant red wing black birds and exquisite grackles delight in the plentiful seed feast, dazzling red and ravishing dark iridescent colors flashing as their shifting movements catch intermittent sunlight.

Cardinals On The Feeder

1-27-2018

Another grey snowy cold day. I fill the bird feeders; the Chick-a-Dees are on it before I finish and walk away. The always appreciate fresh bird seed! Later inside, I glance out the window while coming down the stairs as see a magnificent bright red male Cardinal swinging on the feeder, eating his fill. I love watching the Cardinals, their color a joyful contrast to all the grey. I try to take some pictures through the window, but they don’t come out they way I want so I give up and just stand in the window petting a cat and watching the bird show with delight. The female eventually shows herself as well, the Chick-a-Dees, and Juncos swarm around, flitting and twittering. I stand and watch until something spooks them and all the birds fly away, scattering in a zillion directions, disappearing into the bare tree branches. My paternal grandmother loved the Cardinals too, and I think I understand, my heart reaching through time, space, and memory.

Black Squirrel!

1-25-2018

For a variety of reasons, I like feeding the birds. The feeders hang on a shepherd’s hook in the front yard where we can see them from the big picture window. The cats love to sit on the window sill to watch the birds and squirrels all day long. We call it bird TV for cats. When birds or squirrels come up on the porch, the cats go nuts. Their whiskers stand at attention, their tails swish in agitation, and when really riled up they make a clicking squeaking noise. Often my husband or I will look out to see what has the furry felines so excited. Today, my husband was watching and called me over. There was a black squirrel! We have small red squirrels, and larger grey squirrels, but this is the first time I have seen a black squirrel up here in the mountains. I’ve seen them down near the River in Catskill, Saugerties, and Kingston. I guess they are up here now too! We all watched this squirrel as it raided the feeders, we watched the little birds like Chick-a-Dees protest, and we watched as a couple of Blue Jays reclaimed the feeders for the birds. Quite the wild kingdom out there on a cold winter day.