“On the Fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Four Calling Birds”. I wouldn’t want four calling birds in the house but I would like hearing some of the songs of the spring birds, but that won’t happen for a while as winter only officially started a week ago. Even the noisy barn swallows, like these four birds, would be a welcome sound over the squeaky snow under my feet as it is -5ºF this morning.
Four Noisy Birds
In the northern states, we often refer to birds as winter birds or summer birds, even though the winter birds are actually year-round birds. The summer birds arrive in the spring and leave in the fall and most of the ‘summer’ birds are gone now although I still heard a bluebird singing on Saturday.
But then there are the traveling birds who only stop briefly on their way to and back to farther distances like the High Arctic tundra. And when they are passing by, they often are changing their plumage so it makes it difficult for me to identify these visitors.
On the shore of Lake Superior this fall, I encountered one of the visiting feathered friends and at first, I thought it was a Semipalmated Sandpiper. When trying to determine which bird it was, they often state it is larger or smaller than another bird but when I don’t have the other bird in the same picture or a ruler as they run by, that doesn’t help me much.
One site stated that “If it’s on sand but really actively chasing the waves back and forth, up and down the beach slope with each wave, with legs moving so rapidly they’re blurs, it’s a Sanderling.” Well the birds I was watching was doing just that as I have a lot of blurry legs pictures and the few which aren’t blurry or not standing in water, shows the lack of hind toe that a Semipalmated Sandpiper has. It is also lacking the fine tipped bill so it appears my piper is actually a Sandlering juvenile or a Sandlering adult in transition from breeding to non-breeding plumage.
Whatever they were, they sure were fun to watch as they chased the waves in and out and once in a while, they got wet like I did when a rogue wave rolled in.
Speedy Peeping Bird
This juvenile Great Blue Heron doesn’t seem to notice the rushing water of the Amnicon River behind him but instead he seems to be scanning the pool of water for lunch.
Heron on the Amnicon
During one vacation on the western shore of Lake Superior, probably thirty-five plus years ago already, we encountered a seagull with a bad leg so we would try to make sure ‘Hoppy’ got a treat each day. Last week on the south shore of Lake Superior, I encountered another ‘Hoppy’ and spotted him each day on the beach, especially since he was an outcast and normally on the fringe of the group or by himself.
But I shouldn’t have called him Hoppy since he never hopped, as he just stood on his one good leg or flew, no hopping around. So instead I should have called him ‘Crooked Leg Charlie’.
Crooked Leg Charlie
The most numerous bird in North America, and perhaps the world, covered the skies for days in the 1850s when an estimated five billion passenger pigeons migrated. Loss of habitat and acorns as a food source from deforestation as well as aggressive and massive hunting of the pigeons for a cheap food source for people and hogs in the 19th century wiped out the existence of any wild passenger pigeons by 1900.
A few captive passenger pigeon were kept in zoos but the captive birds failed to reproduce, and soon only one female remained, even though a $1,000 reward was offered to find a mate for Martha (named in honor of Martha Washington) who lived in the Cincinnati Zoo. Martha had had an apoplectic stroke several years before her death, which left her weak and frail and as she grew older, her keepers had to continuously lower her perch so she could climb up onto it, rather than fly up to the perch.
Martha lived to the age of 29, ancient by pigeon standards, but when she died on September 1, 1914, the passenger pigeon, vanished from the planet. It has been a hundred years since of blue, long-tailed, fast and graceful passenger pigeon, larger than a mourning dove, inhabited the country where it was once so abundant.
Disappearing Pigeon
These young swallows where hanging on tight to the branch while yesterday’s winds were tossing them like a carnival ride. The field yesterday was filled with swallows so they might be gathering to head south before winter but before they go, they better eat a lot more of my mosquitoes!
Juvenile Swallows on a Ride
This poor little chickadee looks worn out and a bit haggard finding enough bugs and caterpillars for all the young chicks in the nest.
Tired Chickadee
It has been hard keeping the bird feeders filled now that the baby orioles and grosbeaks have been coming to eat (besides the mother squirrel too). And it appears the baby Northern Flickers have left the nest as I saw a group of them on the lawn looking for their meal. But since they feed on insects, I don’t have to put more seed out since there are plenty of bugs this year.
Peeking Northern Flicker
After a stormy weekend, I always wonder how the oriole nest manages to stay attached to the branches with extreme swaying and wonder how the poor eggs aren’t scrambled. But I suppose since the female spends a lot of time incubating the eggs and builds the nest, she doesn’t take shortcuts nor scrimp on the number of the fibers as it takes a week to build or longer if the weather is bad.
Female Baltimore Oriole in Her Nest
When I see holes in dead trees, I always wonder if they are a house for some critter. This hole did have a resident who I scared out when out working but came back quickly so I don’t know if there are eggs in the nest or babies or just in the building phase.
Northern Flickers generally nest in holes in trees and takes about 1 to 2 weeks to build the nest by both male and female and will lay between 6 to 8 eggs which are high glossy, white eggs. I probably won’t be able to get a picture of the eggs since the hole is high up on the tree and the other half of the tree has blown down so probably not safe to lean a ladder on it.
There are over 100 common names for the Northern Flicker, many based on the sounds the woodpecker makes like heigh-ho.
Watchful Northern Flicker
