More Birdy Pics

I spotted five tom turkeys approaching the bird feeders Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, they spotted Julie sitting in the window staring out at them and stopped their approach. They opted to head on down the hill instead. The turkeys tend to stay closer to open field down in the valley when the snow starts accumulating. There's a better chance down there for the wind to sweep the soft stuff away and leave an icy coat to walk on. Plus there's a fair shot at some warm eats when the farmer spreads manure from his honey wagon. Yum, yum!

We had a small flock of turkeys come through during our January thaw (remember that weekend?) and before that the last time we had any turkeys around was Sunday after the fall turkey season ended.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker continues to show up on a daily basis. Terry and I are pretty sure its an adult female so we've started calling her "Winnie Woodpecker."(That was Woody's girlfriend's name.) She almost always comes in to face the house so nearly all my shots are head on. Trust me, darling, it is not your best side!


And squirrels! You turn away from the window early in the morning and turn back and there's another one every damn time! There were 14 gray squirrels chowing down this morning to the disappointment of all the feathered flock. The squirrels don't actually attack the birds, they just take up valuable feeder space--not to mention lots of sunflower seeds. The little birds just back off and wait. Only the Blue Jays seem to want to contest their "right" to free food.


One new visitor this winter was a Common Grackle. With no real short grass fields nearby (there area few abandoned pasture fields that are really overgrown) ours is not their typical habitat. This one showed up two days in a row and I'm wondering if he's going to be a regular as long as the cold lasts.

Grackle's always seemed to be a bit of a bully bird to me. They've got that bright yellow eye and a drooping eyebrow that gives them a squint. The way they walk can best be described as a swagger. You can almost see them throwing their shoulders forward with each measured step. And they are dressed in the equivalent of a tux with tails. A nice shiny, satiny, iridescent tux that reminds me of shark skin.


Yesterday afternoon, the birds were raising a ruckus but no one seemed to be feeding. Then I spotted the reason:

One of several cats that roam by from time to time. None of them seem to have collars and I haven't pinpointed which neighbors own which cat. All look healthy enough. Only the stripped orange Tom (and believe me when he walks away from you it is obvious that he is a Tom!) looks to have been in any altercations. (Probably tried to get to friendly with a porcupine!) None will allow me to get within ten yards of them. I've never seen them take a bird, but I have seen one trot away with a squirrel and another with a chipmunk.

My three cats stay in side and watch. They love the deck feeders and the big glass wall onto the deck. Sometimes they will even forget their sister-brother animosity to enjoy the birds. Here's Shadow and Chester sitting side by side.

Normally Shadow won't let her brother this close unless she's really, really sleepy. Then, if she's already bedded down, she might allow him to creep up on the same chair she's already occupying--maybe. A moment after I put the camera down, Chester was allowed to lick her ear! (Considering all cats are Ferengi, this is tantamount to incest!)

Well, that's enough for this post. I don't want things to get out of hand. I've more pictures to put up a little latter.