Why the Caged Bird Pecks.

Once again my life was called upon for a rescue, partially my fault.  I stood up walking to the kitchen to heat some soup for lunch and heard a gentle thud outside against the window over the deck.  My stomach dropped as I had heard this familiar sound once or twice before during the years I have now lived here.  I looked out and down to the deck floor.  This lovely female downy woodpecker in the video above had hit our dining room window full force and then fell to the deck tucked beneath the railing at the edge.  She was there for about half a minute unmoving with her head bent awkwardly away from her body and down.  When I bent to gently pick her up, she revived suddenly and flew quickly away.  But she flew only a few yards and collapsed on the grass one story below, and then lay sprawled there with wings askew.  My heart was in my throat as I scanned the trees for hawks and as hubby ran down the steps.  He lifted her gently into his hands and brought her back up to the deck and we looked at her closely.  There was no blood and her wings did not appear to be broken and she was able to hold up her head.  Her eyes were half-closed and her beak was open as if panting either in shock or fear.  I brought her to the outside water dish and dropped some water down her beak from my fingers to see if I could revive her a little.  She gulped at the water and stuck out a little red tongue but made no effort to fly again.  

Growing more concerned as she did not resist being held, we put her in the bamboo cage that had been so perfect for use with the frozen and desperate waxwing we saved last year.  She refused to leave my husband's hand as he rested it on the cage floor with his arm barely fitting in the tiny door, and she sat there dozing off and on for about ten minutes in his palm.  Hubby wanted lunch and so we were going to attempt a transfer to my hand.  As we did that she awakened with a start and flew to the opposite side of the cage looking out at the sky and pecking at the bamboo bars.  I took this video quickly as she had miraculously come back to life.  We took the cage outside.  We had to catch her inside the cage to release her and she was a little resistant, but once she was placed on the deck table she looked around for a second or two and then flew high into the far oak trees across the ravine.  We both audibly sighed and smiled.

We immediately ( well after 30 minutes) left to drive up to the nearby landscape place to purchase a half dozen decals for my windows.

Later that afternoon and after the decals were in place, she was back at the suet feeder!  She appeared in very good health.  Her mate also visits the feeder, each day so we hope they will have a nice family this summer.

Small Woody

While walking around one of the interesting marsh areas that are so nicely maintained by the local beaver family near my house, I came across this woodpecker and at first thought I had seen a new species. In my excitement I took several dozen photos.  When I got home and used my various bird books and brought it up tight on the monitor, I saw it was a juvenile red-headed woodpecker. You may just see the red feathers starting to cover his/her head. He/she was somewhat shy.  What a gangly and awkward-looking teenager he appears to be!    Just a little curious and just a little timid.  (Apologies as I reduced the size of these photos...so they are not as clear as I would have liked.)

M. Erythrocephalus

A few weeks ago I spotted this eyecatching woodpecker on a snag overlooking the marshland in a local county park while walking the marsh's edge and watching a resident beaver eat the leaves of the water lily plant in the marsh.  Spring was well on its way and the marsh land was a stunning lime green in the angles of the golden sun.  I looked up at the brilliant blue sky and this fellow was very easy to spot even without a bird call.


These redheaded woodpeckers eat both meat and plants but they do like their meat fresh.  According to the Cornell bird site this fellow will store live grasshoppers by wedging them in the wood so that they cannot escape before he decides to eat them.  Sounds like some horror movie!  He also is a robber of nests and killer of the eggs inside.  A real horror movie lead.


A little fact you may not know is that these woodpeckers have an exceptionally long tongue, up to 2/3 longer than their bill.  This tongue is used as the padding around their brain to prevent concussive damage when they are hammering away at that hard old tree.  I wonder if Darwin knew this?  I must search to see if I can find an anatomical diagram of this.

Another Lunch Guest

While eating lunch yesterday I happened to glance out my breakfast corner window.  It was a dreary rainy day.  It had actually been raining for several days and I had been thinking about my day lilies that had arrived and were waiting patiently in my cold garage to be planted.

Something red caught my eye.  It was not a cardinal.  I knew that I could not sneak open the deck door without losing the opportunity and therefore took these through the double-paned window.

One would think that when one was packing such a dangerous weapon one would be just a little braver when it comes to stalking photographers.

Neighborhood Gossip

Playing the role of the nosy neighbor I was looking out the window of my kitchen long before the sunrise as I sipped my first cup of morning coffee and thought I saw something in the hole of the dead tree trunk. The morning was still dark but I was pretty sure I saw the head of a bird peaking out. Had the red-bellied decided to stay? I grabbed both my camera and the binoculars.

I went outside with my camera and caught this photo in the dark. It has been photo-shopped to death and this was the best I could create with the distance of the shot and the dark morning. It is my friend Flicka (flicker) that has picked up the lease on the old place. The hole has been slightly enlarged and the place looks cleaner. So it appears we will have new neighbors for a short time.

Missed the moving van, but the flicker does not appear near the house in the daytime...only in the very early morning. Perhaps I can get a photo in the late afternoon if this drizzle stops and the sun cooperates?

In Tabor's Yard It's All About Location, Location, Location

Last year the red-bellied woodpecker family made their home in the tall dead tree just outside the southeastern corner of my house and only a few feet from the sunflower supermarket. The male rounded the natural knothole to perfection and then called the female over for her approval. She wasn't too crazy about it facing the house instead of the water but the spring was moving on fast and she had eggs to lay and so they closed on the place and raised their family. Their children were natural athletes and soon moved on before mid-summer.

Yesterday, I took this photo (click for a better view) of a male red-bellied woodpecker, perhaps the same one, checking out the old stomping grounds. The place is a bit last year's style and needs some cleanup, but it has still got good bones and the price is right. Lots of great trees for the children to learn flying in. Perhaps the pair are moving in again for the spring. It is all about location, location, location.

Mates

Caught this pair on the snag outside my kitchen window. I had to take this photo through the window AND the window was screened. So it it not a clear or good shot. But it does capture two together near my house which is rare. I quietly stepped out on the deck to see if I could get a better photo and only caught this through the deck before they took off, beady eyed little pair that they were.

Spring Breakfast

Grubs and beetles are starting to move freely under the logs and inside the bark of dying trees. If you listen very, very carefully you can follow their tiny scratching movements and then open a hole and eat them!

Get Down with Downy

Some wear their heart on their sleeve...looks like this fellow wears his heart elsewhere? Woodpeckers are so joyful, aren't they? (Click on it for a closer look.)

My Friend Flicka

There are a pair of flickers in our neighborhood and they only visit as the sun is beginning to throw long shadows against the trees. They swoop in from somewhere across the forest and land on our snags and proceed to excavate whatever they can. They are fast and cautious and, therefore, difficult to catch still in a photograph. I can sometimes hear their 'wicker' call and then I am able to zone in to find them on a high branch poking away. I was lucky last night and raced out to the deck to catch this beautiful bird. They are my favorite woodpecker and this photography almost does their beauty justice as the bird books I have cannot. This is a much better screensaver in terms of clarity.

Warm and Cozy

The days have indeed been frosty and the finger of the river where I live has a light crisp layer of ice on its surface which has prevented the varied ducks that had intrigued me last week from visiting my neck of the woods. Yesterday was a nice clear and bright day and as the sun was setting the woodpecker in the photo above stopped on a snag just outside my back window and ate his dinner. His warm colors and the warmth of the setting sun were a wonderful contrast to the gray and cold days we had been having. It is not the best viewed in higher resolution but clicking on the photo will enlarge for a nice screen saver.

Ice on the Water

Although the day was cool, it was not cold. Every shade of gray had fallen across the woods and we got into the car and drove to the other side of the peninsula to the park. We took a different trail this time, following the guidance of arrows as if they were demands. In no time a quick and quiet pace had been started with footfalls rhythmically buried in the layer of fallen leaves on the wide path. The damp air captured the sound of our breathing. The only other sound was the dancing across the leaves of a disturbed squirrel now and again.

Eventually the trail took a sharp turn across a boardwalk, but we followed the narrow game trail that invited us straight ahead. There was some deep knee bending beneath fallen oaks required and some large straddling over other logs when eventually we reached the opening wetlands.

The view was uncovered to the ocean in the far distance, but the way was blocked by a lake of gray black water and wheat colored marsh grass. At least one, perhaps two, beaver families had begun the harvest of a number trees in various stages of growth some in early death stood scared while others had already fallen to the forest floor. We sat on one of the larger fallen logs and a woodpecker flew screaming overhead breaking the silence. As we caught our breath the sound of the foghorn at the lighthouse on the point punctured the foggy air in answer to the woodpecker's rhythmic scolding. We sat in silence for sometime but the darkening night forced our return.

We crossed the boardwalk on the trail to our return path and crossed another hill into another marsh valley. This one noisy with mallards and geese whose sudden and panicked flight startled us as we neared.

There was ice on the waters edges but we were not cold. We were complete and comfortable.

New Tenants

A new couple has moved in nearby. Since I am still at work in the city, my husband has been the spy of their activities. Except for the demolition and remodeling noise, they are a quiet couple. The male part of the team arrived earlier this spring and began the remodeling. We were sort of surprised that he installed the entry away from the water and facing our deck. I wish I could have heard her comments when she saw this.

"You have that lovely water view and you decide the entry should face that brick monstrosity? I will have to listen to noisy biped chatter every evening from that deck!"

He probably appeared sheepish but continued to move wood chips out the front, because he knew she loved him and she needed someplace to nest soon.

Over the next few days, hubby watched them settle in and begin their child care. They seem to have a balance of responsibilities. When he returns to watch the little ones, she leaves -- probably to get a meal out and some fresh air. There is not much room in that abode.

Yesterday they had their first adventure. Blackie, the black snake, which I had talked about in a previous blog entry has come out of hibernation and returned to the yard. He was 'snaking' his way up the remaining trunk of a small dead tree. This trunk was within a yard of the trunk in which our young couple had set up housekeeping.

I wish I could have been here to see the drama. There was a rather vocal (on the part of Mr. Red--you would think I could come up with more original names) argument followed by diving and flapping. Blackie, probably intimidated by that jackhammer bill, eventually gave up his territory even though it was only feet from the bird feeders. He moved on in search of a meal elsewhere and will certainly startle me one morning when I am out gardening.

I will post some photos today of the newly-weds, if I can.