Birds
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7 A.M. and .9 Degrees
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Frozen
This little fellow is a fighter. We noticed him coming to the feeder in the fall with an injured leg. Here he is in his winter coloration during this extremely cold week (it was 1.4 out the morning I took this picture). His beak is messy and he’s lame, but he can fly and is apparently still fighting.
I took this photo with my 50mm prime lens, and I love the clarity.
Here are a few more visitors out the front window. There are bushes under the hanging feeder, and the birds perch among them between flights to the feeder. Bird bushes. White-throated sparrows ground-feed there, and occasionally squirrels.
Whitethroat in bicycle cap 
Amazingly, a chipmunk woke from hibernation and snatched a few seeds during this cold snap. I’d expect sensible rodents sleep through periods like this. There was also a red squirrel showing great interest in the stone wall from which the chipmunk emerged; I wondered if he was raiding the seed stores of chipmunks and mice in the wall. Eventually he was caught in the act.
One other cool sight from this week: the window over my kitchen sink. I think these are spider webs. though I’m not sure. Who knew? — till the cold weather revealed all secrets.
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American Kestrel
Okay, it’s blurry. But even blurry, it’s more than I’d ever seen a year ago. I didn’t see my first American kestrel till early summer of last year, despite how beautifully bright and detailed their markings are.This one was across a field, and I stopped beside a country road to try and get a few pics.
For Christmas, my daughter received a book by master bird carver Floyd Scholz, and among other things Scholz has increased our appreciation for these kestrels. Click on his name and visit his website to see some of his absolutely amazing, lifelike carvings. He has a book about carving and painting an American kestrel which we’ll no doubt invest in at some point if my daughter continues with her interest in carving. For now we content ourselves with the raptor book we now own — an exercise in close observation that inspires nothing short of awe at the grandeur of these magnificent birds.
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Glitter and sparkle
Just before we got to Hickories Park, I wondered if kingfishers migrate. I got my answer immediately: they don’t. Or at least, they haven’t yet. This was perched over the fastest current on a bitingly cold morning.
He was quite talkative, but even with all the rattling, it was hard to get my eye on him whenever he changed perches.
Even the water was shivering, and the ice made strange noises. Maybe there was a muskrat under it.
Cold blue and white and glittering snow everywhere.
A juvenile eagle sailed over us — always an inspiring sight.
And along the stream, little birds were hopping like popcorn. It was as if the ground was moving, they’re so similarly colored. Mostly sparrows and juncos.
There’s an old gospel song: “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he cares for me.” I hope he’s keeping a closer eye on me than the sparrows. They looked awfully cold, and there are plenty of predators that would like to eat them. They were too busy to think about that though. There is something inspiring and cheering about the way they get down to business and do what they have to do to survive. I celebrate sparrows. We nondescript types have to stick together.
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Up close and personal
More redpolls today. We got an inch or two of snow and they’ve treated us to some close views by using the feeder attached to the house.
Any room down there? 
Absolutely NOT! 
Nice view from up here. Makes me want to… 
…yodel! -
Red-tail art
My daughter came home from our walk yesterday and disappeared into her room to draw the hawk we saw.
She’s 11. I love her drawings — they just get better and better.
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January Robins
Some of the best sights go unphotographed.
This morning I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I’ve had to lay off running over the last year because of joint issues, and often I walk on the treadmill. This allows me to read while exercising, which is a source of pleasure right at the start of the day. But it’s always better still to get outdoors — even though at this time of year it’s usually dark. There is a meditative quality to these walks that I crave, and this morning I took my restless mind out for a stroll.
It was like walking in a cloud; the air is dense with water vapor from the melting snow, and noticably mild. The birds were quite vocal, almost as though they were having a premonition of spring: titmice, chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches, blue jays. The world was in shades of gray.
But then I saw something totally unexpected: two pale robins! This was a first. A pair of robins in upstate New York in January. Robins are supposed to mean spring:
Robin’s song is crystal clear
Cold as an icicle,
Sharp as a spear.
I have seen Spring lift her head,
Snowdrops a-shivering,
Winter dead.(“Robin’s Song,” E.L.M. King)
Granted, they weren’t singing. They were clucking, no doubt critical of the shrivelled berries they were eating. But still, it was a sight to remember.
Last year’s first robin: 3/7/12 -
Eagle Pair
We were driving home from a walk during which we saw almost nothing when we saw the dark bulk of these two eagles sitting in a tree beside the river.
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Red-breasted Nuthatch
I glanced out our front window and saw this visitor this morning!
Red-breasted Nuthatch We’re used to seeing white-breasted nuthatches, but the red-breasted nuthatch is a bird we’ve only begun to see since late summer here. As usual, I’m not sure if it’s that they haven’t been around, or that we haven’t been looking.
I love the blush of color and the eyestripe. It comes and goes like lightning, so I was tickled to get some pictures. They would be improved with a little sunshine (and no reflections from the window glass), but we’ll take what we can get. Smile, Little Bird!
It’s smaller than the white-breasted nuthatch, and perhaps not quite as aggressive. The white-breasted sometimes expands to twice its usual size to intimidate other birds when it’s on the suet, but this little bird darts in and darts out and minds its own business.
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A Riot of Redpolls
These little arctic birds are everywhere today! They’re on the feeder attached to the house, like this one, sometimes wedged tightly together.
They’re also on the roof.
They’re in the spruce tree.
They’re on the feeder out back.
They’re on the ground.
They’re in the treetops.
Everywhere, they’re discussing everything with great animation. They’re looking up, down, around — like David Copperfield, whose first plan as a young man is to spend some time “looking about me.” They move in a large, swirling mass.I’ve never laid eyes on one before this year — that I know of. But I was reading at All About Birds that during iruption years, they travel in huge flocks like this. They breed in the arctic tundra and boreal forest, so this is the sunny south for them!
There are many neat facts about them over at All About Birds. My favorite discovery is that they tunnel under the snow to stay warm, in tunnels sometimes a foot or more long. They can survive temps as low as -65 degrees!
Incredible. Welcome, redpolls! Enjoy your visit.
