bird facts

It’s a Dirty Job, but…

Posted on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 by The Birding Bunch

Someone’s got to do it.

She’s made a lot of progress at this point and I was amazed I could see this right from my kitchen window. Here, she is not sitting on eggs, but pressing her body down to create the cup shape.

I saw her in the nest again today (8 May) with her Mister standing guard. I suspect she was laying an egg. Then she left for the day. She will not sit on the eggs until all are laid. I think the birds stay near, but not always in our sight.

I am tempted to look in there to make sure there is no Cowbird egg, but we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping the nasties away from the feeding area, which is right next to this tree. The Grackles and Cowbirds are probably bothering other birds, though.

1 Corinthians 3:
¹¹For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
¹²Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
¹³ Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Categories: bird facts, di fekkel

A Sneaky Creeper

Posted on Wednesday, 24 April 2013 by The Birding Bunch

Ephesians 4:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
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I had in my head to do a find-and-guess this bird, but thought it would be unfair to you as I have rarely talked about this bird. We have not seen it very often. Once last spring, but this year we saw them three times in less than a month’s time. Saturday, we finally got decent photos, but two days later, we had a great opportunity to get even better ones.

Here is one that I had edited for a guess this. Can you find the little Brown Creeper? What amazing camouflage!

The Little Birding Expert took this one. I could not believe how close he was able to get.

This is a fun little bird that lives up to its name. It begins at the base of a tree and creeps around the trunk going upward. It uses its uniquely made bill to pry bugs out of the crevices of the tree. I think it is interesting the feet are nearly pink.

Today (20 April), we did a little birding at Bays Branch. I’ve never seen so many Coots in my life! We also saw a few Peeps- Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, along with those unidentifiable ones. We ran into a new issue. The heat coming off the water made it difficult to use the scope. We could not really focus. Anyone know of a way to deal with this?

Some of us went out to our little piece of prairie to start digging up the sour dock. Those things are terrible! Some of the roots were so big, I could not wrap my hand around them. I hope we can get out again before the ticks get active. We may not be able to remove it all, but any little bit helps.

Categories: bird facts | 1 Comment

Easygoing

Posted on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 by The Birding Bunch

This one word probably best describes the Black-capped Chickadee’s behaviour at the feeders. Never has it fought for food, or for personal space. It never scares off other birds by its grand entrance. It patiently waits its turn when there is a crowd. If the feeding frenzy is too crazy, it will come back at another time.

During breeding season, it will claim its nesting territory, but this winter and spring there have been no signs of combative behaviour. While the other birds fight their minor battles, it is a joy to see such a calm personality at the feeders.

This morning (19 April), while tending the feeding area, I heard an interesting duet above the mix of other birds- a Song Sparrow and B-c Chickadee both singing their songs. The timing of each one created a beautiful harmony.
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Romans 14:
19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

Note: This is interesting. Just as I finished writing this post, I remembered that I read something similar quite some time ago. After a bit of thinking, I was able to locate it again. “If We Were All More Like Chickadees“ Now that we have been able to observe this bird for a little while now, we can clearly see how it is more of a peacemaker-type rather than an aggressor. Something we as followers of Christ should seek to become.

Categories: bird facts, God's truth, ponder

A Hunter We Enjoy

Posted on Monday, 22 April 2013 by The Birding Bunch

Psalm 16:
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

I enjoy watching the Kestrels when they hunt like this. They hover in the air to watch what is below them. Their other method of hunting is to perch up high and look down. I wonder if this male was trying to impress the lady while she was sitting off to the side. Because we were leaving home, we did not know if he made the catch.

I recently read a book about Great Horned Owls. A pair was observed during courtship. The male was doing his “dance” for the female. She acts as if he was not even there. At some point, he stops showing off and grabs dinner, which he gives to her. Now she notices and accepts him for a mate. She didn’t care for his aerial acrobatics as much as his ability to feed her and their future owlets.

As the female Kestrel does much of the incubating, she, too, needs to know how well he can provide for his little family.

Categories: bird facts, raptors

Past Tense of Pie

Posted on Friday, 19 April 2013 by The Birding Bunch

Genesis 11:
6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
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As we entered into the world of birding, we discovered some strange and unusual bird names. This is one of them.

Pied-billed Grebe

At least it is easily pronounced. You do not want to know how we slaughtered Merganser, Scaup and other names. It’s probably a good thing we do not live within the Pyrrhuloxia’s range.

The Pied-billed Grebe is an interesting bird. It looks like a duck, but it isn’t. Here is a link to show you what their feet look like. They are very similar to Coots’. The Pied-billed’s feet are closer to their back end. Because of this, they cannot walk on land very well, nor can they take off unless they are in water. They belong to the order, Podicipediformes, which means “Rumpfoots”. These birds are excellent divers and this is their means of escape from predators.

You may wonder about why this is called a Pied-Billed Grebe. This has nothing to do with a flaky crusted dessert. “Pied” means two or more colors.

Bird facts from Iowa Birdlife by Gladys Black

Categories: bird facts, di fekkel, Latin names, links

Don’t Worry

Posted on Thursday, 11 April 2013 by The Birding Bunch

Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
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I’ve been asked if the Kestrels are a bother to any of our other birds. As of this time, no, they are not. The feeder birds feed, the other birds sing and go about their business as if there was nothing to worry about.

Male Red-winged Blackbird sings while the Kestrels hunt.

Kestrels have been known to hunt birds, but this pair has showed no interest whatsoever. I have mentioned the HOSP to them, but they’ve not taken advantage. I suppose if they start going after the house sparrows, they would start going after other birds. The Kestrels seem to prefer hunting the pasture for rodents, and in the summer months, they eat bugs.

There is one species of bird that has been directly impacted by the Kestrels. This is the European Starling. Seriously… they have vanished from the area. It appears they are more than a little terrified of Kestrels. They will even flee from the sight of the Kestrel’s shadow according to this page.

Categories: bird facts, raptors