Don’t they have funny senses of humour? As well as protecting territory etc. Did I tell you about the pelican yesterday morning?? Apparently this particular cheeky one likes to swoop down around 8:45ish every couple of mornings to the sunny corner opposite on our right. He’ll walk along the grassy bank to the house opposite on our left, walk up the steps, along the deck then knock on the glass sliding door with his beak until our neighbour comes out. A isn’t happy with these visits (poop etc) so he’s angry when he shoos the bird away. BUT the bird’s already popped halfway across the deck and is jumping off onto the grass... A chases him as he plops into the lake and swims off towards the main road, smirking (I witnessed the chase and smirking yesterday)
Pelican flies back to Labrador beach in time for the public pelican & gull feeding by the local fish shop just after 9am.
Don’t they have funny senses of humour? As well as protecting territory etc. Did I tell you about the pelican yesterday morning?? Apparently this particular cheeky one likes to swoop down around 8:45ish every couple of mornings to the sunny corner opposite on our right. He’ll walk along the grassy bank to the house opposite on our left, walk up the steps, along the deck then knock on the glass sliding door with his beak until our neighbour comes out. A isn’t happy with these visits (poop etc) so he’s angry when he shoos the bird away. BUT the bird’s already popped halfway across the deck and is jumping off onto the grass... A chases him as he plops into the lake and swims off towards the main road, smirking (I witnessed the chase and smirking yesterday)
Pelican flies back to Labrador beach in time for the public pelican & gull feeding by the local fish shop just after 9am.
When I saw that you posted , I thought to myself, I bet she'll think that Hummingbird was "cheeky."
I know it’s protective behaviour, but I guess because we grow up with magpies all around us and they’re so wellknown for their selective swooping and stalking patterns, it’s hard not to see pranking replicated in other species. Even with our ducks, for examples, certain individuals seem to be chased more than others and sometimes it seems more random than other times.
I came to MOL just now because I witnessed a magical Nature moment, just by fluke. I woke at 6:30am (it’s Sunday here) and drifted to the deck to see if the plants need some water. Scattered a handful of seed for the six patient moorhens with their mouths open (I caught 3 in my garden beds yesterday, eating plants!) and heard a whispered swan call. Yep, the family seemed to be here...
Two parents, one cygnet very close to them and no sight of the other two...until Mum lifted one wing slightly as she fended off three ducks who’d come too close. She’d tucked a baby up high on her back right under each wing; they looked like commas, or like they were tucked into pockets. i couldn’t take any pics, when her wings were down you couldn’t see anything. She was careful to hardly move her wings, partly for protection and partly warmth I think. Dad swam about a yard or so from her, and the other bub between them. They were returning home, and staying very close to the bank wall (so tired?). now I have magpies and butcher birds singing hymns from the street trees, and lorikeets improvising pop songs in the tall palms. Almost traffic sounds. Just gone 7:10am. Heaven.
It does sound magical @joanne. I can sit outside and daydream with nothing going on but birds and bees. Inside I fall into multi tasking. Its still astounds me, that I can sit in my garden and just be with nature.
A reminder to leave water out for the birds and critters. Even a bowl of water on the ground or water suspended from a tree or clipped onto a deck rail. Of course a bird bath large or small is appreciated by birds, squirrels, chipmunks and deer.
Attaching the reminder to the title and I'll continue to add old and new shots of the "water park".
We just had an incredible visit from this beautiful fellow! It’s a gray and chilly morning with a hint of icy rain. He had flown in from the gate end of the lake and was majestically sailing up (westerly), diving for delicacies along the way. He veered straight towards us when he noticed D scattering seed for the ducks.
Have you noticed their amazing beaks?? They’re actually really narrow and sharp. But as the the bird dips to drink or feed, the soft skin under the lower beak stretches and fills to that iconic half-moon scoop we associate pelicans. It was breathtaking to watch this stunning bird dip and dive, find a delicious morsel (not our seed), scoop and crunch, swallow then stretch its neck to dip and dive and again.
A pair of Carolina Wrens set up house-keeping in this little house in our back yard. The parents are very attentive and protective - constantly scolding anyone in the back yard. Listen carefully at the end, you can hear babies chirping.
Sorry - I can't figure out how to upload the video
A pair of Carolina Wrens set up house-keeping in this little house in our back yard. The parents are very attentive and protective - constantly scolding anyone in the back yard. Listen carefully at the end, you can hear babies chirping.
Sorry - I can't figure out how to upload the video
Aren't wrens fun? My guy built the nest in my wren house but if he found a female she must have chosen one of his other pieces of real estate. The males build several nests and then the female picks one and redecorates. She literally throws out some pieces of the nest and redesigns.
Important to note that ants who die in the feeder will make the Hummers sick so I'm up to daily changes. I'm actually considering if it is worth keeping it up as my Honeysuckle is producing so many flowers for sipping and sitting as you can see in the picture.
Our honeysuckle vines used to attract colonies of ants in summer; do you need to pick them off, Morganna, or will other birds/insects handle them? The hummingbirds are like fantasy birds, aren’t they? So delicate.
Wonderful marksierra has helped me with this little video of that Swan family visit. Yep, that soft cheeping is the cygnets. The human male is D/shemademedothis ; the female voice is me
We had a pair of House Wrens in our nesting box and a pair of Carolina Wrens also nesting somewhere very nearby and sometimes and all four parents and four babies at our feeders recently. Love their songs and I particularly love the colors and patterns on the Carolina wrens. During Covid, I have often set up my computer on my dining room table to work right next to the window where the feeders are just outside ... such a pleasant distraction. Unfortunately, due to renovations on our house, we weren't able to hang plants and feeders for the hummingbirds as in the past, but when we do the significant landscaping that will be required once the construction is over, I'm hoping to do much better at selecting plants for a pollinator garden and will definitely have the feeders out next season. In addition to our dining room, part of our new outdoor deck will border the area where we have our bird feeders, so I'm really looking forward to that next year!
We had a pair of House Wrens in our nesting box and a pair of Carolina Wrens also nesting somewhere very nearby and sometimes and all four parents and four babies at our feeders recently. Love their songs and I particularly love the colors and patterns on the Carolina wrens. During Covid, I have often set up my computer on my dining room table to work right next to the window where the feeders are just outside ... such a pleasant distraction. Unfortunately, due to renovations on our house, we weren't able to hang plants and feeders for the hummingbirds as in the past, but when we do the significant landscaping that will be required once the construction is over, I'm hoping to do much better at selecting plants for a pollinator garden and will definitely have the feeders out next season. In addition to our dining room, part of our new outdoor deck will border the area where we have our bird feeders, so I'm really looking forward to that next year!
You are lucky. My male Wren set up house but either he didn't get a date for the prom or they chose another piece of real estate. Too bad, he put in the work.
My feeder is outside my kitchen window and it makes dishwashing pleasant. I was daydreaming as the Hummers chased each other yesterday while 2 potential kitten adopters spent time deciding in their room.
Outcome was better than expected, as they chose the newly spayed mother, Marigold who I took into my rescue 7 weeks ago. A rescue friend found her after she had given birth near a trucking warehouse in Newark, half starving, half covered in dirt and oil and trying to nurse and defend 6 kittens. Lots of pictures on the Morgan Le Fay Cat Rescue thread.
@joanne, I meant to comment on the ants and the honeysuckle. I didn't realize that they were attracted to the vine. I just thought it was the location of the feeder.
We had the pleasure of helping a female Ruby Throated hummingbird get her “wings” last month. She was a puffed up thing sitting on an azalea branch near the feeder. Just sitting and chirping. Filled an eye dropper with food and she fed eagerly. After the third feeding, she smoothed put a bit. Just as we were going to get her for an appointment at Raptor Trust, after speaking with them, she took off. She would come back to the same branch after a few hours and we would feed her. By day 3, I introduced the feeder to her. It was an interesting week. She could fly and would get lost for a few hours at a time but would always come back to the same branch. I’d see her sleeping there for a few nights. Then one morning, watching her sit from a distance, another female came, sat on a different branch, then went to the feeder. Our girl then did the same then took off with the other female. I had tears in my eyes seeing her do this. Here she is when we first saw her and right before she left us for her charm.
@blackcat that is extraordinary! I am surprised that she let you approach her with the dropper! That is a wonderful story.
I believe I posted when I started this thread that there was a woman in Jamaica, The Bird Woman of Anchovy who had trained Hummingbirds to come each day for feeding right through the jungle. Guests would sit there holding the feeder with their fingers outstretched and the Hummers would land on your hand and sip from the feeder.
You had that magical experience. Of course now I'm going to be camping out in my garden hoping to coax one of those little birds to take a drink from me!
It was surreal. We all got to “pet” her ever so slightly when she was feeding. So soft. She keeps her distance now, probably as she should. But I know it’s her as a female, very green on her back, will still come and rest on that branch.
Don’t they have funny senses of humour? As well as protecting territory etc.
Did I tell you about the pelican yesterday morning?? Apparently this particular cheeky one likes to swoop down around 8:45ish every couple of mornings to the sunny corner opposite on our right. He’ll walk along the grassy bank to the house opposite on our left, walk up the steps, along the deck then knock on the glass sliding door with his beak until our neighbour comes out. A isn’t happy with these visits (poop etc) so he’s angry when he shoos the bird away. BUT the bird’s already popped halfway across the deck and is jumping off onto the grass... A chases him as he plops into the lake and swims off towards the main road, smirking (I witnessed the chase and smirking yesterday)
Pelican flies back to Labrador beach in time for the public pelican & gull feeding by the local fish shop just after 9am.