Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Nature is all around us



Above: A bird feeder -- if you build it, they will come.

I'm on vacation and visiting in Connecticut. My friend Kate has bird feeders on her deck and is rewarded with woodpeckers, cat birds, humming birds, cardinals, blue jays and many more varieties. You've probably heard of a Baltimore Oriole or a Robin, but what about an Indigo Bunting? Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers are spectacular. When they fly away, their underneath is all yellow. They are in the woodpecker family.

What kind of birds you draw depends on what kind of seeds, suet, sugar water, meal worms and so forth that you put out. The type of seeds will also affect which birds come.

Kate says she is a migratory stop. Bird families stop for one week in the fall and the spring on their way north or south. She also says that what started as a hobby can become an obsession.


Above: A Downy Woodpecker eats suet.


Above: A Nuthatch takes his or her turn at the bird feeder.


Above: Red-bellied Woodpeckers are spectacular. You can tell that this one is a male because the red goes all the way to its beak.

Photos by MOJO and taken with my Canon.

8 comments:

  1. You did a good job on the photos without a flash, MOJO.

    Were you stopped down as far as you could go?

    Word Verification: tripsyin

    ReplyDelete
  2. can you tell me how to kill a woodpecker? Like what do they eat? Can I make a decapitating bird feeder? Poison? How do I target the woodpecker? Seems like you might have this information..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Birding is a worthwhile hobby. You know, now that you have some time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @TenMile: Stopped down as far as that lens would go.

    @Wafles: There's a woodpecker god and he's coming to Boston to get you!

    @Bastin: Good idea.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Makes me want to run out and buy some bird feeders!

    lol word verifiction is "pests".

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi!
    I really like your blog and would like to get in contact with you concerning an opportunity.
    If you are interested please feel free to contact me via email.
    Best
    Anna
    anna@geeko-promotions.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. dude he is like eating my house. I must kill!!! I put out some shiny balloons and may have scared him away.. either that or mating season might be over... Fricken hate that thing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a superb post. Very interesting...what a collection of birds. I've never seen some of them.

    Re your guess on Ocala...very funny! You probably know its a mixer/food processor...

    ReplyDelete