Posted on 02/06/2016 10:52:59 AM PST by Islander7
I saw a pileated wood pecker on the ground only 20 feet or so from shore. He was absolutely destroying a big rotting log. l was in my kayak and eased up pretty close and watched for 10 or 15 minutes.
I finally tired and left. I have the solid memory.
For reasons I don’t understand, in a kayak you can ease up on birds very close and they don’t fly. I think the wood pecker had no fear from the water and the herons don’t fly till you get really close, real close.
Confess! What's a greater roadrunner doing in that grouping?
Once on a canoe in a marsh, I got so close to a least bittern I could almost grab it.
Wow, I’m impressed! I use a Panasonic DMC-ZS7. Your photos are far superior to mine. Do you use a tripod?
The roadrunner was from a trip through Texas years ago...sharp eye. I wish I could have found the phainopepla or pyrrhuloxia from that trip. :{)
Beautiful pictures! The owl picture is easily farmable as well others.
I still remember the freeper party at your house. It was great fun. I won at croquet even though I hadn’t played it for years. They said sure you haven’t, sure, but I hadn’t. That was many years ago and I don’t know if you have hosted any since.
I remember it well. I was just preparing to turn pro on the croquet circuit...but the humiliating defeat you served up forced me to reassess my broken dreams. :{) But seriously, that was a fun get together, and no, that was our last. We sold that home and built out in the boondocks.
I probably had over 100 Goldfinches in my yard today. They empty out my 4 feeders every day 2 large nijer thistle and 2 black oil sun flower seeds.
Ours are not yellow and when they start showing some yellow color it means they are getting ready to leave.
Put me on your bird watching list, thanks.
Yes, the Goldfinches stay all year but their color changes in the winter. I have one feeder solely with thistle where they turn upside down to get the seeds through the hole. Rarely do other birds try that but every now and again I see a chickadee using it. It takes a few weeks for the Goldfinches to get through it right now.
I also have 7 other feeders (so far) that I keep out year-round, and will add back in 3 hummingbird feeders when the weather gets a tad warmer. The others all have different types of food, or a different style to allow for different varieties of birds. One is a cylinder feeder which I fill every day. I use a winter blend of seed right now, and have activity all day. I also have a large suet feeder, which the woodpeckers really enjoy. I’m glad I got the big size, because it’s the only feeder that the Pileateds will come to.
On any given day, I have probably 15 or so different birds that I see: cardinals, chickadees, tufted titmice, purple finches, gold finches, house sparrows, wrens, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, mourning doves, juncos, nuthatches, blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers, Pileated woodpeckers, and a couple of male Northern flickers. We also get grackles that love to take over the feeder. Rarely do I see bluebirds, but they do come for a little bit in the spring. I think a neighbor has a better setup for them than I do because they’ve already seen them in their backyard. Occasionally I see a brown headed cowbird (I think that’s what it’s called, but I need to check that). A rose-breasted grosbeak was a little surprise visitor last summer, and only a few times did he show up.
Because we live at the edge of the woods and have a creek, we also see owls and Hawks. I’m still learning which ones, but I can tell one is a barred owl because of his call. I also see a great heron sometimes, usually after a heavy rain and the creek rises.
We get a nice variety of wildlife too. I love to see the deer especially graze through our backyard. I’m not crazy about the raccoons or the opossums. Once in a while we have a fox wander through, and wild turkeys, too. We also have coyotes, and I hate hearing them when they capture something.
We get a large number, most actually, of the same birds that you get but some are just passing through. We have Redtailed. Hawks and I hear owls but rarely see them.
We don't have deer or wild turkeys but yes to the other critters. We also have armadillos that dig holes in the grass. I never see them except to see the ones killed out on the street. I love having so much wild life !
We get a large number, most actually, of the same birds that you get but some are just passing through. We have Redtailed. Hawks and I hear owls but rarely see them.
We don't have deer or wild turkeys but yes to the other critters. We also have armadillos that dig holes in the grass. I never see them except to see the ones killed out on the street. I love having so much wild life !
A bayou sounds cool. I’m sure there’s a whole different ecosystem there than what I see up here.
A bayou is nothing but a creek. Down here on the Gulf Coast they are both muddy streams. We live near Buffalo Bayou and have property on Oyster Creek, they look the same and the wildlife is basically the same. Snakes, turtles, cat fish and Oyster Creek has alligators, never heard of one in Buffalo Bayou, but there probably are a couple.
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