Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Birdy happenings around here

Some interesting bird action around here lately. The other day, I heard a shriek outside my office window and saw this:

A hawk had just caught a Bluejay. My birder friend thinks it's most like a Cooper's hawk, athough it could possibly be a Sharp-shinned hawk. They look quite similar and share a taste for songbirds! Poor Bluejay.



The photo would be better if my stupid flash hadn't gone off!


We also have this little fellow dining on a tree in our yard...




He/she is in love with this (no doubt diseased) tree and is on it all the time. He makes a noise like a squeaky toy. It's very endearing.



I love woodpeckers!

7 comments:

  1. Great shots of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I agree with your sentiments about woodpeckers. Any bird that eats insects is terrific.

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  2. Anonymous8:44 am

    Wonderful photos, even with that pesky flash.

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  3. Damn it, Knattie, every time you play the cuteness factor, I have to up the ante with the rant-ness factor!

    I can play foully and introduce a cuteness factor too, you know! I'm a closet cute fan and I'll have you know no one bests me! No one! Well, I have to admit YOU have the chickens . . . but I'll get you! You have my word on it!

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  4. Ah Knatolee I am so jealous of your photo opportunites. I had not heard of a sapsucker before. What a beautiful little bird

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  5. Anonymous9:29 pm

    I'm fond of woodpeckers too. Your little guy certainly blends in well with the tree he's taken a liking to.

    When we were living in the Gold Rush country east of Sacramento, California, we would often see old dead trees that were riddled with woodpecker holes. Each hole had an acorn stuck in it, where a woodpecker had deposited it for safekeeping. Sometimes there would be old wooden fence posts that had been treated the same way.

    Did you know this interesting fact about woodpeckers: "In some woodpeckers the tongue is so long it forks in the throat, goes below the base of the jaw, and wraps behind and over the top of the head, where the forks rejoin and insert in the bird's right nostril or around the eye socket."

    You can read more fascinating facts here:
    http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek030308.html

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  6. Thanks, Evlyn!

    Cog Dis, I wish the darn flash hadn't gone off.

    Chef Nick, you may be able to beat chickens, but can you beat CUTE DUCKLINGS!?!?

    Jams, it is a type of woodpecker and not surprisingly, they like sap. The adult is very attractive:
    http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/yellow-bellied_sapsucker/id

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  7. TTPT, thank you for the cool woodpecker facts and website!! I didn't know that about woodpecker tongues, wow. And I have seen pics of those acorn woodpecker trees. I would love to see one in person.

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!