Nature & Wildlife Thread

[JBtheExplorer]

I agree, I'm an expert at PhotoShop,

Me too. I've been fooling people with this "blue rose-breasted grosbeak" all day. Little do they know, it's not real, even though my skills make it look so realistic.

 

[Stephen T.]

Great job! Here's one of my feeble attempts.

1 squirrel, 3 poses.

 

[Stephen T.]

Here's another visitor to the stream, a female red crossbill.

 

[j.w]

What is the little bird that looks like a small woodpecker. It has a bright red head and was hammering away at a street sign yesterday. I tried to google it but can't find it. No photo.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Pretty exciting day today as my 10 free trees from the Arbor Day Foundation arrived! Looks like I'll be out planting them in 25°-30°F weather tomorrow.

As a follow up many months later, it looks like all but one survived winter. The maples and oaks are starting to grow leaves. Looks like the redbud is showing signs of growth, too. Even the Sugar Maple which was severely severed on arrive appears to be growing!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

What is the little bird that looks like a small woodpecker. It has a bright red head and was hammering away at a street sign yesterday. I tried to google it but can't find it. No photo.

Search through the list of woodpeckers here and you might find what you're looking for. Make sure to keep hitting the "See More Birds +" to bring up more woodpeckers.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/search/?q=woodpecker

 

[j.w]

Thanks @JBtheExplorer I think it may be this one. Red -breasted Sapsucker.
Although it says this is a medium sized bird and the one I saw was quite small.
It's whole head was red but don't think it had red on it's breast. Can't be a red headed woodpecker cuz I don't think they said it comes to our area and it did not have all that white on it.

 

[j.w]

Darn cat caught a baby rabbit today but she brought it to me and I grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and she let go of it. It was not hurt and first ran to my pond, then ran to the trees and kept going. Then a mother rabbit tried to dig a hole for a new nest right in the middle of some low growing spreading flowers. I had to stop her and put a big rock over the hole as not a good place right in the middle of our backyard. The cat would have seen that one for sure! Hope she does not come back to that spot again. If she does she won't like the big rock and all the water I put around there............I hope!

 

[j.w]

Then my sister emailed me this:

Three babies their parents never came back and they were screaming bloody murder and then just started falling out of the nest. The neighborhood cat I think killed one of the parents as I saw feathers. But the cat was wanting more and was trying to get the babies so I just gathered them all up and brought them inside. I’m feeding them a concoction of cat food and egg food that I used to feed snuggles (parrot) when she was a baby. Using left over syringes to get it into them and it works pretty well. I thought one might die as it was pretty much dead but after feeding and a good nights rest they are all chipper and eating like little demons.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

The neighborhood cat I think killed one of the parents as I saw feathers.

Cats do terrible things to native wildlife.
That's why my cat is an indoor cat.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

This morning, I looked out the window and saw the first Indigo Bunting I've seen in about five years! Also saw Blue Jay and there's been nearly nonstop Northern Oriole traffic.

 

[mrsclem]

We had one show up last year.Haven't seen it yet this year. I'm finally able to lure some bluejays in. They seem to be very nervous birds. Any movement and their gone! The grosebeaks let me walk right up to them.I need to get an oriole feeder.

 

[Stephen T.]

Here, we have an occasional Steller's jay, and lots of scrub jays. Both are somewhat skittish, not letting me closer than 5 or 6 feet. The boldest birds here are the gold finches, pine siskins and mountain chickadees, all three will sometimes land on me while I'm filling the feeders. We have several different blackbirds, all pretty nervous, the yellow heads are extremely wary, when there's a large flock and something spooks them, they make a lot of noise taking off, which happens real often!

 

[addy1]

Yeah JW a baby bird saver! I would have done the same thing. Save and feed.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Some photos from Thursday.