Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Wednesday’s Wanderings. #26
Good morning on this very dull, cloudy day. It’s very heavy, dark clouds today, which makes it hard for good pictures. My camera kept telling me to use the flash. Right. Like I’m going to use the flash when I’m outside trying to get pictures of birds. The first flash and there would be no more birds. But my camera doesn’t seem to understand that. Oh well. I took pictures anyway. The birds, however, were not being very cooperative this morning. Even Theodore wouldn’t come up on the deck, she just stayed walking around on the ground looking for…whatever turkeys look for this time of year. She did talk for a little while though, so that was nice.
A male hairy woodpecker showed up this morning, the first male of the season. But he would not come out in the open where I could get a picture of him, until after I came back inside. The blue jays cooperate the best for pictures. The chickadees and nuthatches are around a lot, but they move so fast that it can be a bit difficult to get their pics. The white-breasted nuthatch is getting more friendly all the time. Actually, there are 4 of them now, maybe 5, but I’m not quite sure. But one of them is more friendly than the others, so I want to try and get him onto my hand if possible.
For me that would be exciting, since I have never had a white-breasted nuthatch on my hand. I have had lots of the red-breasted nuthatches on my hand however. It’s going to take a lot of time and patience for this one, but I’m going to try. I know you’re probably getting tired of seeing blue jay photos all the time, so today we have two different species. I think perhaps I will have to change the name of Wednesday’s post. I named it this to reflect my “wanderings” down to the river.
But I haven’t been down there since July 27, three months ago. Though hopefully, once there is snow on the ground, I will be going down there more often again. By that time the bears will be hibernating. But if I’m still walking next summer, the bears will have to put up with my wandering down to the river. It seems to be getting darker outside, not lighter. It will probably start to rain soon, it is supposed to rain today, and tonight, and tomorrow. It’s probably time to feed the birds again. I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve And Muffin’s Bird Of The Week. #5
Hi everyone! Here we are with yet another bird species to explore this morning. This is my first ever photo of a red-eyed vireo, and even though not the best, I am still very happy that I was able to get it this summer. They are small birds, just 4.7 to 5.1 inches (12 to 13cm) in length. They are a very common bird during the summer months mainly in eastern forest regions of N. America. But in Canada they nest from B.C. in the west and Northwest Territory of the north and across to the east coast.
In the U.S. they can be found from Washington and Oregon in the west down to eastern Texas and across to the east coast. They have an estimated breeding population of 180 million birds. They spend their winters in the Amazon basin. Their nests are built about 10 to 15 feet off the ground, built by the female, though the male brings nesting material. The female incubates the eggs and broods the young, while the male brings her food, both protect the nest and young.
The oldest known bird was 10 years and 2 months old when it was recaptured and released during banding operations. They eat a variety of insects, mostly harmful and 50% of their summer diet is caterpillars. During fall migration and winter, berries make up most of their diet. Each male sings 30 or more different songs and more than a total of 12,500 different songs have been recorded. They sing from before dawn until evening and will sing more than 20,000 times during that time. They acquire their red eye after their first year. A remarkable little bird! Hope you enjoyed this, have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
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