MikeandRong

Other than a few local birds and a Hummingbird, these 2 Red-tail Hawks have been soaring over the house area nonstop these days. So no real good pictures to show until they go hunting a little farther away.

Mike, we have fox squirrels here and contrary to this article I have see some that were three or four time as large as a gray squirrel in the woods of Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. They have diminished so much because almost all of the long leaf pines have harvested to make room for the new hybrid fast growing kind of pines that mature in about 20 years. Camp Lejeune wildlife finally realized this and not plant long leaf pine plots as well as mixing in a few white oak trees for them.I know those big red fox squirrels you are talking about. Up until a few years ago they were fairly common here too, usually 2x the size of a grey squirrel. I don't know if it was due to cross breeding or something else, but I never see them anymore here either. There were never black squirrels here until about 10 years ago, seeing one would always be such a rare sighting, and now they are common. I can see all sorts of red markings in the greys and blacks now that I believe they have all cross bred and it's rare to even see a truly real grey squirrel, like the true reds and greys I grew up with. They just can't expand their area anymore as it's all getting built up and they have nowhere else to go, thus becoming a product of their own environment. But that's just my guess. Here is a couple of fresh picture to show you what I mean by the cross breeding between the colors I think is happening. A grey with a red face and a black with a red patch on top his head.

It was chilly this morning, upper 50s. I knew that once the sun cleared the roof of the house and warmed up the sucrose water, the Hummingbirds would show up and stay for a drink. I was at the right place and at the right time, with perfect lighting by the sun for these shots. 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds came in at once but would not stay in the vicinity of each other while drinking. In the pictures where one is sitting on the clothesline I could hear him calling, it sounded like a tiny mouse squeaking, that was pretty cool. Then about 5 minutes later another different one came in too. I can tell they are different by the unique black marks that are on their throats. Exposure time was 1/1000, and all photos are in the same order as taken.

Not much bird activity this morning, probably due to the Red Tailed Hawk calling all morning. So I took what I could get and focused on the activity that was going on. These Goldfinches had no concern at all about the Hawk calls. The Female in the first photo was eating first, then was joined by the male. As another female tried to join in she would have nothing to do with it and chased it away. She even tried to scrap with the male and he was not intimidated at all and put her in her place, causing her to bow her head and submit. At that point they both spotted me and both gave me the evil eye look, but kept on feeding. Another female arrived and she was all fired up, once again fighting her off, with the male just watching the cat fight going on and not getting involved.

With the Blackbirds finally gone I left the Woodpeckers to eat in peace. Perfect timing because this Ruby-throated Hummingbird came in for a drink barely 2 minutes from me sitting down for a rest. In the third photo you can see him sticking his tongue out getting ready to drink or test the air if you zoom in a little.

Two sets and a single baby Male and Female Downy Woodpecker, 5 in total, came in together and took turns feeding and playing around. I had to stay somewhat still and shoot one handed as they were closer than usual for so many of them together, and I didn't want to alarm them with my excess movement. Here are 4 of the 5 as best I can tell.

Just after noontime a big flock of Grackles and Cowbirds flew into the yard and started to eat. This brought in a bunch of Woodpeckers and the Chickadees to eat at the feeders. I didn't want all the feeder food to get quickly gobbled up by the Blackbirds so I stood under the tree to shoo them away. The regular birds are used to me and come right in to feed, even with me standing so close to the food. Baby Male Downy Woodpecker. Male Red-bellied Woodpecker. Adult Female Downy Woodpecker. Black-capped Chickadee eating from the nut and berry suet block. Black-capped Chickadee holding down and pecking open a single black oil sunflower seed.

Yesterday morning a huge Red Tailed Hawk flew over the yard really low with what looked like a snake in his mouth at first. He landed next door all the way in the back corner and it turned out to be a small broken branch for reinforcing his nest. With him around so near I know now why so many less birds I'm seeing and all the squirrel alarm cries I'm hearing. Lots of Woodpeckers are around this morning and this baby Male Downy was pecking over and over on the hollow bamboo holding up the cucumber vines. It's foggy because I took the picture through the window screen from inside the house. What a loud noise him and his sister were making in the garden with all that head banging. This really nice looking Female Hairy Woodpecker was coming in quite a bit later this morning, but instead of staying she would fly up into the tree branches to eat in hiding.

Monday a few more birds showed up. This Ruby-throated Hummingbird took a quick drink and left. Maybe they can sense the upcoming eclipse and it is throwing off their feeding or something. This young Mourning Dove was acting strange all day. It's feathers stayed all ruffled up and it was sleeping a lot. Durning the eclipse it slept on a low branch for almost an hour. Then late afternoon it layed down on top of the shed and slept again. It could fly and eat just fine, it just was taking so many naps today. I believe this is the same Male Cardinal with the black area in front of his left eye, but now it is much smaller. Maybe it was part of his feather molting. This nice looking Male Cardinal was singing up a storm all while just relaxing in the sun on the power line.

Saturday was zero birds in the yard and I could hear squirrels in the trees all day long sounding their alarm cry. Must be a combo of a cat and some Hawks, because this went on all day. Sunday again was next to nothing in the yard and again with the squirrels sounding the alarm cries. This Ruby-throated Hummingbird came in but for a moment, and he had a really P.Oed look on his face. And this Male Cardinal eating the black oil sunflower seeds was the only other bird in the yard today.

No pictures Thursday, and Friday there were hardly any birds here or even flying over. That is very odd for me not to hear or see them. Maybe some Hawks are nearby that I don't know of. This Red-bellied Woodpecker was feeding on insects in the tree over my head and not bothering with the peanuts or suet today at all. He's the only bird I got a picture of today. This one has a really long tail that he has laid out on the tree branch for bracing himself. This all black female squirrel is really friendly to me and was busy playing with an empty Cicada shell that was laying in the grass. Looking closer at her it appears she has lost her left thumb somehow. It looked like it is healing up ok and she climbs the trees just fine.

Wednesday morning this really nice colored adult Female Goldfinch was feeding all alone and acting very tame and unafraid. Here is that same Mourning Dove perching and eating on the feeder again, he sure has his act down pat. This Adult Male Cardinal must not have a second batch of babies, as he is all alone. He is easy for me to spot due to the odd black patch he has in front of his left eye. This Ruby-throated Hummingbird never came in for a drink and just stayed resting on the clothesline. He's pretty big for not having any red showing yet on his throat. You can see his size compared to the clothespin on his right side.

Here is the Father Cardinal feeding his baby chewed up black oil sunflower kernels. He only opens up one at a time and flies up each individual one to feed his baby. This goes on for 20 solid minutes most times before the baby will fly away first to another bush or tree and start the begging chirping process all over again with his father right behind him.

Only a couple of minutes after the Woodpecker commotion, this really little Ruby-throated Hummingbird came in for a drink. I like how they thrust their tail downwards and fan it out to stop their forward momentum in midair.

This is the same Adult Male Cardinal that has been feeding his baby all week. He was not at all afraid of the Male Red-bellied Woodpecker that was already on the feeder eating. As soon as the Cardinal landed the Woodpecker threw his head back and let out this long and sorrowful gurgling call that was a mix between a long and slow drawn out chicken bawk and a Crow caw. I have never heard that before and it did nothing to scare the Cardinal away, but he did stop getting food to listen. He is a very dedicated and protective father that Cardinal.

This big adult Male Goldfinch had no problem feeding on black oil sunflower seeds together with a Male House Sparrow and 2 yearling Male Housefinchs that were just starting to get some red feathers showing up on their chests. As soon as he spotted me he left them and came to feed on the Black Niger Thistle seed, maybe trying to show me that the food belonged to him and I should stay away. It's hard to believe how loud they can sing and it's such a nice sounding song/call too.

Been really busy the last week, so lets catch up. Tuesday morning there were Hummingbirds all up in the treetops at dawn, maybe they slept there overnight. I think they were licking the morning dew off of the Black Honey Locust tree leafs. For a half hour I had a blast watching them fly and land, I'm guessing maybe 5 or 6 different ones all at about the same time. Had to wait for the sun to come up more before I could get any kind of pictures. Looking at the body size and how many or much of the black dots they have on their throats helps me tell them apart. No bright red males have shown up yet that I have seen so far.

Be sure to get THAT picture, Mike! The picture would be easy, just worried that one or two of our feathered friends might end up on the guest menu.

If not for heavy clouds and haze, could not have got this picture.

This Adult Father Cardinal has been feeding 1 baby Cardinal throughout the day since Friday. This must be the second hatch they have had this summer. He will land and grab 1 piece of seed or insect, they fly directly up to his baby that will be hidden but chirping nearby almost non-stop just begging for food. He is a very devoted father and his baby should be just fine, even being born this late in the year.

The Male Goldfinchs were really going at it today. This really dominate one was eating first and immediately drove off the other as it approached. Once driven away he ate all alone. Nice display of the white warning feathers they flash when they want to show off their dominance to another.

That's great! Like giving some sugar to a diabetic when their blood glucose gets too low.

Just a short time later this Ruby-throated Hummingbird came and rested above the feeder, never bothering to drink. I don't know if it's the same one or a different one, but this guys feathers are more ruffled up than the previous bird feathers were.

So I'm watching the above pictured Goldfinch and this Ruby-throated Hummingbird arrived in perfect sunlight for his photos to be taken. He is really small, about the same body size as a Cicada, just his wings, tail, and beak being larger. I like in the 2nd photo how his beak is opened up. After a quick drink and rest on the clothesline he stayed and fed some more making for some great shots. All the photos are in the exact order taken.