Sad news from Melanie's house. My grandma passed away this morning. She'd been in the hospital and they moved her to hospice last night. Mom and I are staying in FL, but Dad and my brother headed to WV this morning.

In the meantime, Mom and I had a few errands to run. I had some stuff I wanted to drop off at a children's home nearby. They have a pond in the front and I always look for birds. Again, I don't have my super zoom Panasonic, but I did the best I could. FYI, Mom was driving so she just stopped on the little driveway so I could take pictures out the window.

Great Blue Heron



There were three White Ibises, but here's one.



Since Mom was driving, I got a chance to look around. There was no place to pull over, but along US 41, there's a small pond where I counted five Wood Storks! Most of them were sitting up in the tops of the trees. I also saw two smaller whitish Egrets (not sure which species) and a Little Blue Heron. I've never seen that many Wood Storks at once so it was pretty cool.

Melanie, I am so sorry for your loss, I know grandmas are very special to most of us. My condolences to you and your family.

Thanks, Margaret. She was my last living grandparent, and I feel lucky to have had all of my grandparents into adulthood. I will miss her a lot, though. She loved watching the birds and seeing Goldfinches always reminds me of sitting in her kitchen and watching them at the feeders. Hummingbirds were her favorite, though. She always had feeders for them, too.

I remember your visits to WV and how much you enjoyed being with her, and how she loved the birds, you will always have those wonderful memories.

Melanie

mcash70 said:Claudia, that's great that the Creeper got on the suet, at least it sat still for a few minutes. I find the Nuthatch and Brown Creeper very difficult to photograph as they are in almost constant motion running up and down and around the trees.

Yes! I have been trying for weeks to get that darn Nuthatch!

Melanie so very sorry to hear about the loss of your grandmother.

Thanks, everyone. The funeral is on Saturday. My dad and brother are freezing up in WV right now.

Speaking of freezing, and getting back to birds, I got my Puffin blanket from Audubon yesterday. I need to take a picture of it. And if you're still looking for a gift for the birder who has everything, consider adopting a bird through Audubon! https://store.audubon.org/ You get a certificate, a plushie, and a picture. I adopted an Atlantic Puffin to go with my blanket. And because I really seem to like Puffins. FYI, in case you forgot Mom and I scheduled our cruise to Iceland for August 2018 (it was a lot cheaper than 2017). The bird plushie makes the bird call when you squeeze it so I plan on terrorizing the ship with Puffin calls. For once, I can be the crazy bird lady instead of the crazy butterfly lady! Maybe I can be both!

Oh, I ordered some binoculars through Amazon that arrived yesterday. I went with the Celestron Nature DX 8x42. They were recommended by Cornell and Audubon for beginning birders. I practiced looking at the ducks we have mounted up on the plant shelves. I need to get them adjusted, but I think I'm going to like them. They only weigh 22 ounces which is a big bonus!

I did see some birds today. I was watching for the FedEx guy and thought I heard the truck so I looked out the peephole and the Cardinal was attacking my side mirror again. I opened the door and scared him off. There was also a small flock of what I think were Carolina Wrens. A Mourning Dove has been under my feeder on the ground all week so I keep shaking out birdseed for it. And I saw a couple of Carolina Chickadees on the feeder today! Maybe this weather is pushing the birds down my way.

https://garden.org/thread/view...

Glad you found us, Gene! We keep a monthly thread where we share our bird photos and discuss bird stuff, in general. I'm the moderator on this forum, but I'm more of a butterfly person, although the experts here are teaching me lots! Feel free to chime in and add to the fun!

Very few butterflies here right now. Thanks for the welcome. Gene

I hadn't seen a Cooper's Hawk in awhile so I was just very surprised as one flew over the fence and went after a Ringed Dove, the dove flew into the spruce tree with the hawk following, the dove lost, the hawk flew away with it, he won't go hungry tonight.

Last house I lived at there were many trees in the backyard. When the Cooper's Hawk showed up everyone froze. One silly bird made a run for it. As long as he stayed in the trees weaving and bobbing round he was OK. But, then he lit out for open ground. Game over. Gene

The hard part to witness in nature!

There's been a red-tailed hawk hanging around here. I think it has its eyes on my chickens. They are aware of the hawk and are mostly hiding out until we go outside and they come running to hang out with us. When we go back inside, they run back into hiding.

It's supposed to drop down into the 20's sometime tomorrow so I put bird seed out for everyone. Just threw it around on the ground. They always seem to find it.

I'm lucky to have a large stand of bamboo in my back yard about 10ft. away from my bird feeders. The culms are close enough together that the small birds can get in there but the hawks can't. With the exception of one unfortunate grackle, I've never seen a hawk get any of my small birds.

Unfortunately, the doves also are mostly too fat to easily fly into the protection of the bamboo, but they are very prolific and also kind of dumb so I must admit I'd rather see a hawk take a dove than any of the other birds. The cat also used to be able to catch them, since they forage and also nest on the ground! She (the cat) is much too old and fat now to hunt any birds although she does sit under the bird feeder wistfully watching.

Elaine, I feel the same about the Ringed Dove, they are becoming a pest here, so better it than one of the song birds or woodpeckers, the hawk has to eat too.

Royal Spoonbill with Sacred Ibis


The ibis leaving.

Those are quite a couple of characters, Glen!

Love the hairdo on the Royal Spoonbill. Our pink ones aren't nearly such characters.

I have had a strange bird at my feeder 2 days in a row. Photos were taken 4: PM Saturday as it was getting dark. Please enlarge for full viewing.
Yum, great seeds.


Darn, I think I hear someone coming to chase me away.

If I lived where deer came into the yard, I would probably supply them with some grain or corn far away from the bird feeders. Wish I could figure a way to lure cats away from the bird bath/fountain. They're not there because they're starving.
Great pictures!