Cool blog!

@Gleni, your friends blog is great ... the Powerful Owl looked like he was playing peek-a-boo with the camera and what a great shot your friend got of the White-bellied Sea Eagle! That one looks a lot like the Osprey we have here with common names of Fish Hawk and Fish Eagle.

Lin we have osprey here too. I have been trying to photograph one. I know where one perches and eats his fish but he always spots me from a distance.

'Life is actually tough when you are the focus of the universe. I wish that human wouldn't keep on coming out of his house and going into our garden and not keeping his place.'

Gleni said:'Life is actually tough when you are the focus of the universe. I wish that human wouldn't keep on coming out of his house and going into our garden and not keeping his place.'

It doesn't really get any cuter than that.

flaflwrgrl said: It doesn't really get any cuter than that.

sweet, sweet babies!

I've been remiss in posting bird photos....But today I ran into a real gaggle of geese and ducks. What are they? No clue as I don't know anything about ducks and geese. I was hiking along Cibolo Creek and ended up with quite a following. Most were friendly, but a large white goose was a little bit aggressive. Here are a few shots to get started. More to come tomorrow.

GrammaChar, great shots of those Ducks and Geese! Many years ago there was an aquarium shop we'd visit on occasion and they had a very large Goose on the property that really scared me ... he was quite aggressive and known to bite!

Okay, I gave the butterfly thread some eye candy, so now it's your turn! I put up the new Squirrel Solutions bird feeder yesterday and waited. Didn't see anyone using it - not even the squirrels! I did shake some seed out underneath it and also poured out the old seed from the old feeder. That brought the squirrels in, which seemed to clue in the birds. As with my first bird feeder, my first visitor was a Tufted Titmouse. Although, technically, Mr. Cardinal showed up on the ground first.

Unfortunately, the squirrels scared him over to my Abutilon! I wasn't having that, so I went outside to take pictures and scare squirrels. This Cardinal is so red, too!



Here's one of the Tufted Titmice. I'm sure they'll spread the word about the feeder.



Then, I got super excited because I saw a Pileated Woodpecker! Only my second ever! This one was hard to photograph because it kept changing positions. And it was pretty high up.



Then, it got into the neighbor's oaks and all I could see was the red.



Then, it flew off. But that was okay because I thought I saw a Blue Jay in one of the smaller oaks. In fact, I see Blue Jays and Cardinals in this oak a lot. I'm glad you guys (and Audubon on Facebook) warned about molting birds because my Blue Jay is looking pretty scary! But he caught lunch! Total dumb luck on my part getting that shot. Give me no credit!



Later, I saw the Red-Bellied Woodpecker on the feeder, but I'm not sure it figured out how to use it, yet. I could see it moving its head, but I didn't see seeds being flung out of it. I tried to move to the sliding glass door to look, but it saw me and flew away.

plantladylin said:GrammaChar, great shots of those Ducks and Geese! Many years ago there was an aquarium shop we'd visit on occasion and they had a very large Goose on the property that really scared me ... he was quite aggressive and known to bite!

Trust me, I kept moving!!! The birds must have thought I had food for them because they were not at all shy! This one was going after the laces on my tennis shoe!

Very cool, Melanie! Congrats on seeing the Pileated WP; I see them around here too but not as often as the Red-bellied. Sometimes I hear their very loud calls but they stay so high up in the trees that I can't see them. I love the cute little Tufted Titmouse, wish they'd show up around here more often. Great catch of the Jay with his lunch!

Beautiful feeder, Melanie. Please keep us posted about it's effectiveness against squirrels. I have a real problem with them.

Still researching water fowl. Just learned that this one with the poofy hairdo is called a Crested duck due to the topknot of feathers.

Mom still has the shepherd's hook pretty greased up so the squirrel kept trying but only got about two feet before it slid down. I moved it to the other side of the Hawthorne, too, but mostly so I have a better view of it from my recliner.

More weird duck photos from yesterday's hike. These are called Muscovy ducks. Research provided the following information: "The carcass of a Muscovy duck is heavier than most other domestic ducks, which makes it ideal for the dinner table". Okay. I've never eaten duck, but I've seen it cooked on Food Network.

GrammaChar said:I've been remiss in posting bird photos....But today I ran into a real gaggle of geese and ducks. What are they? No clue as I don't know anything about ducks and geese. I was hiking along Cibolo Creek and ended up with quite a following. Most were friendly, but a large white goose was a little bit aggressive. Here are a few shots to get started. More to come tomorrow.

The 3rd photo is a female mallard - she's also the one pecking at your shoelaces.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/...

Great photos BTW, both Melanie & Char! The new bird feeder should work great Melanie.

The white goose with the knob on it's bill is a Domestic Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides)

Charlotte, great close up shots of the Muscovy ducks. I have eaten duck and it is delicious, don't think it was Muscovy though.

Gramma Char, the white goose with the orange knot on it's head looks to be a Chinese Goose: http://www.metzerfarms.com/Whi... The ones with the red bumps on their faces are Muscovy Ducks: http://www.audubon.org/field-g... We used to see them on occasion at our old house ... many folks do not like them because they make a mess on sidewalks, driveways, rooftops, etc.
Male Muscovy ................................. Female Muscovy Duck

My dad doesn't like the Muscovy Ducks because they interbreed with the Mallards. Plus, I don't think they're native. But people feed them and they hang around looking for more food and making a mess. In fact, if I recall correctly, you can kill a Muscovy Duck even if it's not hunting season. Obviously, you have to do it humanely and within the bounds of the law.

Ate duck when I was a kid once. Not sure which kind it was but it was one Dad killed. Didn't like it. Even Dad admits he's never found a recipe to cook duck in a way he likes.