Small Bird Diaries, Part 4 (13 thru 23 May 2011)

When we left our two hummingbird chicks on May 12th., we were just starting to see bills sticking up above the top of the nest.

Just starting to see bills above the top of the nest. 13 May 11

We don’t know exactly when they hatched, but do know I saw that one egg was cracked on May 1 and that both chicks were hatched on May 3.

13 thru 17 May.  The Mama no longer sits much on the nest during the day and not at all at night now.  By May 17, we could see their heads some and the older one’s tail at times.  Their feathers appear to be developing somewhat.

Feeding the chicks on May 14.

The Mama sometimes sits on the nest, but not at night anymore.

Bills sticking up above the top of the nest on May 14.

17 May. Can now see tail at times and more of their heads.

May 17. Feathers are developing somewhat.

May 17. Up on a ladder and using a mirror to see inside nest.

May 18 & 19:  Chicks are much more active now especially the older one.  He has started doing wing flapping exercises and sitting higher in the nest.  The Mama continues to come feed them several times a day.  For reasons known only to her, I saw her suddenly decide that she should sit on the nest.  For old times sake??  LOL.  Anyway, the chicks definitely did not appreciate this show of affection (if that is indeed what it was). 

May 18. Feeding the chicks.

 

May 18. One chick is squirming while the other is being fed.

May 18. It worked. He/she got the Mama's attention.

May 18. From the front. Looks like a two headed bird. LOL

May 18. The older chick is doing some grooming.

May 18. The Mama decided to sit on the nest- babies and all.

Chicks don't appreciate. Note one on right has his/her tongue out. LOL

May 19 from front.

May 19. Feathers are developing nicely.

May 20 & 21.  Chicks are becoming much more active.  Not seeing the Mama as much.

May 20. Mama decides to sit on the nest & chicks again. They didn't like it any better.

May 20. Mama pecks on one of the chicks which doesn't seem to like it much. Would you?? LOL

May 20. From front.

May 21.

May 22

May 22 from front.

May 23. Crossing "swords". You can see a bit of tongue of the chick on the right.

May 23. Wing Flapping Exercises.

May 23. Lookin' good.

May 23. What handsome little birds our chicks have become!!!

Well, that’s it for now.  I hope to get Part 5 and a Special Bonus feature posted before long.  ENJOY!

Small Bird Diaries, Part 3 (22 April thru 12 May 2011)

 

27 Apr 11.

When we left our little Mama Black-Chinned Hummingbird, she had laid two eggs.  We don’t know when she laid the second one, but the first one was on April 16.

 

April 22 – May 01.   The Mama sits on the nest almost full time day and night – only taking time out to feed.  She is ever vigilant watching for possible danger.  If someone comes to the house, she quickly flies off, but not very far.  If another bird – no matter how large it might be – comes anywhere near, she immediately launches an attack.  The startled bird quickly flies off.  It was funny how differently she reacts to another hummingbird’s approach however.  More than once, I have seen another hummingbird fly up within inches of her on the nest as if to say “Hello”, hover there a while and then fly off.  Our Mama very rudely totally ignores the interloper.  LOL

 

27 Apr 11

  

From Front. 27 Apr 11. Spider webs are still in place and probably needed with some of the windy days we have had.

 

30 Apr 11

 

 

30 Apr 11

One day we were watching a movie on TV when I noticed I could see Mama Hummer sitting on the nest reflected in the glass door of the Entertainment Center.  The movie was a good one we thought — an Encore (1971) Western called “Valdez is Coming” starring Burt Lancaster.  Jaunita Penalozo played the  non-speaking role of  “The Indian Woman”. 

 

Nest Reflected in glass. Movie: Valdez is Coming. 1 May 11

On 1 May, I checked the nest.  Oh look, there’s a crack in one!!  Won’t be long now. 

 

Eggs -- One cracked ready to hatch. 1 May 11

3 -6  May 11.  I looked again and saw that we did indeed have two chicks and it hadn’t been long since some of the shells were still there.  Unfortunately, it was so dark in there, I could hardly see.  I could make out one moving and a tiny head with a stubby yellow bill.  Mama is on the nest almost full time so little opportunity to peek in.  I always feel strongly that I should not disturb her any more than absolutely necessary.

 

3 May 11

 

3 May 11

 

Feeding the babies. 4 May 11

7 May 11.  Oh, oh.  Now I see she is starting to fling the chicks droppings out of the nest.  The nest is always kept very clean.   

 

7 May 11.

8 thru 12 May 11.  Mama Hummer is still sitting on the nest a lot of the time, but does so less and less as she must feed them more often.  I imagine those sharp bills that are only getting sharper and longer aren’t too much fun to sit on either.  😉 

 

8 May 11. Notice chick's stubby yellow bill sticking up.

 

 

 

Feeding 8 May 11. Both chicks' bills are visible now.

 

 

Nest Sitting 8 May 11

  

Feeding time. 11 May 11.

  

 

The Chicks on 11 May 11. 

 

 

From the front on 12 May 11.

 I’m sure that we will be able to see more of the chicks from inside the house soon.   That should be neat!!    Enjoy!

Small Bird Diaries, Part 2 (17 thru 21 April 2011)

 

17 Apr 11. Mama is sitting on the nest almost full time now.

Sunday, 17 April 2011:  When we left Mama Hummingbird on April 16, she had just laid her first egg.  Last night was the first time she stayed on the nest overnight.  Now, everything has changed.  Instead of coming and going many many times during the day while she was building the nest, she now sits on it most of the time.  She is ever vigilant for any possible threat to her egg(s).

Monday, 18 April 2011:   The Imposter.  Today started off about the same with Mama sitting on the nest almost all of the time.  Now and again I would see her at one or the other of the feeders so would check them when I was passing by.  What a super surprise to spot an “Hummingbird Imposter”  helping himself to the sugar water in the feeder.  It was a bird I had only seen once before in my life and it was about this same time last year — a Scott’s Oriole.  He must be making a stopover en route to the mountains.  Anyway, he stayed a while and then a gust of wind caught the feeder and whirled it around and off he went.  I guess he didn’t want a merry-go-round ride that day.  LOL 

That long sharp bill is well suited to robbing a hummingbird feeder.

Tuesday, 19 April 2011:  The Intruder.  Several times today, we saw a bird doing something at the hanging petunia pot.  At first I thought it was getting a drink of water since I had just watered the flowers.  Mama Hummer became very agitated having an intruder so near her nest.  She would rapidly fly over and “dive bomb” it until it flew away.  Turns out it was a Curve-Billed Thrasher and was not seeking moisture, but rather fibers from the pot hanger for nesting material.  Imagine our brave little Mama (3 3/4″ (10 cm) long)  taking on a Thrasher (11 inches (28 cm) long)!!!  I tried, but wasn’t able to get a good shot of the action, but this blurry image does demonstrate the extreme size difference. 

 

Thrasher. Camera is reflected on window.

I was able to sneak out front and get a photo of Mama Hummer from the other side. 

 Spider Webs.   I find I am continually fascinated with the Mama Hummer’s use of spider webs both in the nest itself to bind stuff together and give it flexibility, but also in using them to anchor the nest.  I saw the webs below the nest in previous years, but assumed that they were pre-existing.  This year it finally dawned on me that they were not there at the beginning of the nest building process, therefore, it followed that she put them there.  On closer look, you can see that they are actually anchoring the nest to the metal pieces of the support below.  Strangely, while I observed her efforts quite frequently in those five or so days of nest building, I didn’t specifically witness her doing that.  It’s like my friend Sandra said earlier, “With the hummingbirds using so many spider webs, you must have an awful lot of angry spiders in your area”.  LOL   Wednesday & Thursday, 20 & 21 April 2011:   The Mama Hummingbird starts her day with feeding and maintaining her nest.  She pokes at it, pushes a bit here and there, and does some wiggling around.  Sometimes she will bring a tiny bit more materials back with her to work into the nest.  

Thursday I could not stand it any longer.  I just HAD to have a look in the nest.  I watched for my chance as I try very hard not to disturb her any more than necessary.  Then — just what I had been waiting for — she flew off when the mailman came.  I quickly grabbed the camera, mirror, and ladder and headed out onto the porch.  I was expecting to get “dive bombed” at any second as she had done other years when I got too close, but I was in luck.  What a thrill!!!  As expected, there are two perfect little eggs.  Even though they are very small, it’s still amazing that that tiny bird had those inside her earlier.  Simply Awesome!!!!

 

   According to my calculations, the earliest we can expect the first egg to hatch would be Thursday, April 28.  We shall see!

Enjoy!                                                

Small Bird Diaries, Part I (9 thru 16 April 2011)

 

You no doubt are familiar with “The Big Cat Diaries” about some very large critters. 

Well, this is about some very small critters — a Mama Hummer and her babies.  

It all began on Friday, April 8.  Since Son Chris had told me he had seen hummingbirds back from their winter migration, I quickly got our two feeders up.  In no time at all, I had a couple customers — a male and a female.  Since then I have seen several — up to three at one time. 

 Here is our first hummingbird visitor, a female black-chinned.

9 Apr 11. First Hummer of the Year, a Female Black-Chinned early in the morning.

The next day, I spotted a Male Black-Chinned.   While you can see it only in the right light,

the male has a strip of pretty iridescent purple feathers on his neck.

 

10 Apr 10. Male Black-Chinned Hummingbird.

 

10 Apr 11. Male doing his "business". LOL

 Then remembering last year when the Mama started and abandoned a nest in

April, I checked the front porch support where she had built nests

the past two years.  Aha!  There was a very small amount of materials there.  Wow,

I’m thinking, maybe we will get nests three years in a row.  Then, I saw some

movement out of the corner of my eye and darned if there wasn’t

Mama Hummer building a nest on a different porch support. 

The beginnings of a nest spotted the morning of 10 Apr 11. Note that there are no webs in view at this stage.

How different this nest looks from the previous ones.  She is using different materials which

makes sense since it’s earlier in the year.  Before she used plant seeds, fluff,

and dried grass as her basic building materials.  It was more refined. 

Both incorporate a lot of spider webs as well.

The other nests were later in the year when plants had gone to seed, while this

time, they are not at that stage yet.  I’m not really sure what kind of plants she is using. 

About noon 10 April & Mama is very busy. The first webs below the nest start to show up.

At almost 5 PM, 10 April, and Mama is still working very hard on her nest.

All day Monday, April 11, the little Mama was very busy nest building. 

 

8:52 A.M., April 11. Busy day. Notice the growing number of webs underneath.

4:34 P.M., April 11, and still working away.

Time Out for a drink of sugar water. 4:36 P.M. now, April 11.

After her time out for sugar water, she is back to work wiggling around to pack things down.

Next is a butt shot.  When I enlarged this, I noticed two rounded masses.  I can’t be sure,

of course, but had to wonder if they were developing eggs??   You may be

able to enlarge the photo yourself by clicking on it……

Now, about 5 PM on Monday, April 11.You may recall that when the nest was on the other support the two previous years, the sun only hit it for a short time as it was coming up in the morning. Well, this time, it is the setting sun thatprovides the best lighting. The light is also more full and for a longer period of time. 5:11 PM, Monday, April 11.

Tuesday, April 12, was another busy day. This is at 6:41 P.M.

At 6:54 PM, Tuesday, April 12.

 

 

 

Now instead of watching through the storm door as the two previous years, we

view her through the living room window.   So far, all my nest

photos have been taken through the opening in the sheers. 

 

Wed. Morning, April 13. Notice the hummingbird on her nest in the upper right hand corner. She looks awfully small, doesnt she??

The Mama has mostly ignored the petunias I hung near her nest.

 

Taking a little rest from nest building at the end of Wed., April 13 (6:45 PM)

 WILL SHE OR WON’T SHE??

 became the big question Thursday and Friday,

April 14 and 15.  We only saw her a few times during those two

days and her visits were very brief.  We were really starting to wonder if

she was going to abandon the nest after working so very hard all those days.

Here’s what it looked like at the end of the day April 14. 

Thursday, April 14 at 7:04 PM.

 

After keeping us in suspense those two days, she showed up early Saturday

morning, April 16.  She was doing a lot of wiggling and doing some

upward stretches like when she laid an egg last year (sorry no

videos or photos this time as the light was bad).  Sure enough

I’m very sure she laid an egg.  Yay!!!  Now everything changed.  She spends

a lot of time on the nest including all night now.  

I only took a couple pictures since I thought it would

be better with the lighting from the setting sun — 

well, she did not cooperate and was off during

that time — probably feeding.

Taken 8:00 AM, Saturday, April 16, just before she laid her first egg.

  Well, that’s it for now.  We would expect her to lay another egg a day or two after the first one which was Saturday.  I don’t want to disturb her any more than necessary so I won’t be looking in the nest for a while although it sure is tempting. 😉 

Enjoy!

 

 

Winter Storm and N.T. (No Tail) Dove – Part II

This part starts with how the “Storm of the Century” effected the feathered friends that visit our backyard.  The first day of the snow, 1 Feb 11, the feeders and ground were very busy as you might expect.

Busy feeders first day of snow storm. 1 Feb 11

Busy thistle bags with house finches/lesser goldfinches/pine siskin. 2/1/11

Lesser Goldfinch with fluffed up feathers for insulation. 2/1/11

This small female junco on the patio looks like a little puff ball trying to keep warm. 

Female Dark Eyed Oregon Junco. 2/1/11

After the White-Winged Doves left, others came to ground feed. 2/1/11

House Finch in tree trying to keep warm. 2/1/11

I woke up in the night worrying about what the effects of the severe cold and snow would be on the birds and other wildlife.  I decided about the only thing I could do to help was to try to make food available for the birds.  The smaller birds could still use the the feeders, but what about the ground feeders?  The food I put out earlier was now under several inches of snow.  I hit on the idea of putting a tray on top of the snow near the patio so I didn’t have to wade out into the snow.  This worked very well — so well in fact that I had to fill it four times that one day.  I left it there even after they were able to get to the ground near the tree.  There was such a feeding frenzy with my expanded ground feed areas and because of the desperation of the birds trying to find food, there were so many white winged doves I quit counting after 75.  Normally, we have a white-winged dove maximum count of between 30 and 40 at one time.  This was taken shortly after I put the oval tray filled with bird seed out.  They were even landing on each others backs at times.

Feeding tray full of White-Winged Doves. 2/2/11

2 Feb 11. A Male Dark Eyed Oregon Junco comes to feed.

2 Feb 11. An Inca Dove hopes to find something to eat.

These two really cold mornings found some birds roosting on our patio furniture — something I had never seen before or since.  All but the smallest tree limbs had snow piled up on them — not so good for roosting. 

Birds roosting on the patio furniture. Early 3 Feb 11

The several species of birds we have visit us on a regular basis were not the only ones looking desperately for food.  I happened to look out the door and got a surprise — a hawk came rapidly flying under the patio roof right past the door.  In spite of the large number of birds present then, I don’t think it got any as I saw it land up the alley right after.  Not sure what kind it is.

Hawk of unknown species on 5 Feb 11.

A few days later on the 9th., I started out the back door only to catch a hawk eating a dove just off the patio.  It rapidly flew off with its prize leaving a pile of feathers behind.  A little later that same day, I noted that there was only one house finch on the feeder.  Just then it took off and suddenly a hawk caught it in mid air and flew off with it.  Then the next day,  after we got home after being gone a couple hours, I opened the drapes.  What a surprise to find the patio strewn with lots of dove feathers.  A hawk had to have eaten a dove right outside the door.  Well I guess they are hungry, too.  When I told my son about the hawk activity, he told me of seeing so many Harris Hawks up his way recently.  When he talked about seeing 5 of them together and had witnessed two and three hunting together that sounded very odd for a hawk.  I checked it out in my books and sure enough, they are indeed social birds even down to two males helping one female with nesting duties.  How strange.

We won’t know the full effect of the extreme cold to the vegetation until things come out of their dormancy.  We do know some evergreens have started turning reddish which means they are damaged or dead.  Also, it appears many of the non-native palm trees people so often use for landscaping will die.  I’ve also seen that much of the cactus is all droopy.  Not sure if it will recover.  Only time will tell.  Here’s the ones near us in the alley.

Beavertail Cactus (note snow still left in shade). 11 Feb 11

Prickly Pear Cactus suffered from extreme low temps. 11 Feb 11

BTW, in case you’re wondering — the temperatures have been very nice the last several days.   It was a more normal near 70 F today.

The rest of the blog is about another odd bird sighting.  On 31 January, I spotted another white-winged dove with a little melanistic markings.  Then I realized that it also had something else odd about it — NO TAIL.  Now that was a first I’d seen a dove without one although we had a sparrow without a tail a few years ago. 

31 Jan 11. Melanistic Markings & No Tail White-Winged Dove.

Dove with No Tail at top of photo. 31 Jan 11

Doves - Tail to Tail (Less). LOL 31 Jan 11

Butt Shot of Tail-Less white-winged dove back on 2 Feb 11

Oh, wait -- it does have a one short feather tail. Does that count?? LOL

No Tail White-Winged Dove is kind of cute methinks. 2 Feb 11

Well, that’s it for now.  Hopefully we won’t have any more snow shots to share this winter!!!    😉      ENJOY!!

Winter Storm and N.T. (No Tail) Dove — Part I

Some folks are calling last week’s storm the “Winter Storm of the Century” for this area.  And it truly was mind-boggling to have such extreme low temperatures.  Just the day or two before it hit, we were outside in our shirtsleeves.  It started Tuesday, February 1, with some snow and cooler temperatures.  Then Wednesday we got even more.  I measured it out here that morning and it showed 8″ on the wall.  I heard reports that there were as much as 13 inches in some areas.  Then that night, we hit record low temperatures that were unbelieveable for our desert Southwest.  It was -13 F here and I heard others say they had from -9 F to as low as -18 F.  I talked to a guy that lives in the mountains and he told me it was down to – 28 F in some places up there.  See what I mean about “mind-boggling”?!?  Our power went out for an hour during the coldest time which was scary since we didn’t know how long it would be off.  We were luckier than thousands of others.  Many had no gas for days and others were subject to rolling blackouts for their electric service.  Of course, with those kinds of temperatures, there were many frozen and busted water lines causing havoc.  It was just unreal!!!  I took some photos, but naturally didn’t venture out very far with the snow and COLD temperatures.

The Gazing Ball in the side rock garden predicted snow starting Tuesday, 01 Feb 11.

01 Feb 11. The Gazing Ball predicted snow (Thanks Jeanne).

2 Feb 11. The Gazing Ball was so correct about the snow coming.

Later Wednesday, 2 Feb 11.

2 Feb 11. 8" snow depth for us. Some had up to 13".

The center peak of snow in this photo is on a bunny figure sitting on top of a short post.  If you look carefully, you can see the very front of its face (gray).  The peaks on either end are some of the short posts without anything on them and the mound to the left of center is on top of a claret cup cactus.

2 Feb 11. Bunny in middle of wall. Posts on end. Cactus mound.

2 Feb 11. Mountains have disappeared behind the falling snow.

2 Feb 11. Icicles off patio roof.

2 Feb 11.

2 Feb 11. Sun came out in afternoon a while. Bird Bath.

2 Feb 11. Looking N.E. in afternoon.

2 Feb 11. Some icicles were very long like this one off porch.

2 Feb 11. This "curtain" of icicles hung off the porch roof.

2 Feb 11. Close-up of odd shaped icicle off front porch.

2 Feb 11. Another odd-shaped icicle.

2 Feb 11. I call this one "Forked Tongue". 🙂

2 Feb 11. Close-up of "Forked Tongue" with sun hitting it.

Following are three of P.J.’s photos of Sierra Blanca Peak.  There hasn’t been as much snow as usual this winter, but of course, with last week’s storm that changed.  As of today (12 Feb 11), the season total is 56″.  They report that there are 40″ currently in mid-mountain.  Lots of great skiing at Ski Apache on the other side from what we see.  With enlarged photos or binoculars, you can see the upper terminus of one of the ski lifts from this side.  Ski Apache, as well as the resort and casino at Inn of the Mountain Gods, is run by the Mescalero Apache Tribe.  During the storm, the mountain was covered by clouds.  What a beautiful sight when it cleared.

Sierra Blanca photo taken on 3 Feb 11 by P.J.

This was quite a unique shot of Sierra Blanca peaking out above the clouds.  Taken by P.J.

P.J.'s unique shot of Sierra Blanca on 9 Feb 11.

P.J. took this last one yesterday 11 Feb 11.

Unique Sierra Blanca shot taken by P.J. on 11 Feb 11

Part II will be published soon (I hope).  🙂

Enjoy!!

Chaparral Birds, Melanistic Doves, & Other Stuff

This blog will consist of miscellaneous photos taken here and there  of this and that in the last few months.  The first photo taken 12 Oct 10 is of a Little Striped Whiptail Lizard that was in our smaller rock garden.  I have to assume it is a female since the male has blue on it.  I thought the shadows of its toes was kind of neat.  I hadn’t realized that their toes were so long, but probably come in handy.  Like other whiptails, they are very fast.  I read one place that they can run almost as fast as a roadrunner all the while whipping their tails hence the name.

Back in August, I posted a photo (see below) of a New Mexico Whiptail I saw at the Otero County Fair.  I would like to revisit that.  The New Mexico Whiptail was designated New Mexico’s official State Reptile in 2003.  Actually, it’s a mixture of the Western Whiptail and the Little Striped Whiptail.  They are a part of one of the greatest mysteries of nature — they are ALL female!!  Reproduction is by cloning — its eggs require no fertilization.  Its offspring are exact genectic duplicates of the mother.  This kind of reproduction is called Pathenogenic.  Interestingly, despite being an all female species, they engage in “mock mating” giving rise to the common nickname of “lesbian lizards”.  There’s a theory that this behavior stimulates ovulation as those who do not “mock mate” do not lay eggs.  Wow!

This unusual cloud shot was taken by Paul from the moving vehicle en route to Las Cruces.

Cloud Formation from Hwy 70. 16 Sep 10

Organ Mountains looking east from Las Cruces. 02 Oct 10

My B-Day flowers. Oct 10

I believe I have seen these unusual blue flowers only a time or two before.  They are so neat as these small white flowers emerge from the center of the pretty blue ones.  The white ones don’t last very long, but the blue ones do. 

Blue/white B-Day flowers. Oct 10

Beautiful yellow B-Day Mums. Oct10

I thought these yellow textured roses from Paul were so pretty.  And oh, how romantic I’m thinking!  He had the florist use “Darling” on the card!  But, oh gee, he burst my bubble when he informed me that he spelled “Darline” out for them, but they still managed to get it wrong.  How funny!   LOL 

Beautiful yellow textured B-Day roses. Oct 10

I caught these next several shots on the fly as we whizzed past the White Sands National Monument on 06 Nov 10.  The Rio Grande Cottonwoods on the outer dunes are not quite at their full fall golden color, but don’t they look beautiful against the white dunes and blue mountains behind?

The Organ Mt. from our friends' home. 6 Nov 10

This neat rock with a root growing around it was found in Utah.  Photo taken 6 Nov 10.

We were sitting around our friends’ dining room table having coffee and chatting when all of sudden the call went out that there was a Chaparral Bird (Better known as a Greater Roadrunner) on the wall.  I was so excited since I haven’t been able to photograph any.  I don’t see them often and when I do I’m usually driving and they’re along the road, but headed off into the chaparral/desert scrub.   I ran for the camera knowing full well it would not stay put very long.  I had to act quickly and not scare it off which meant photographing it through not only a glass window, but a screened in porch.  It made for an interesting effect I thought.   After a short time, up went its crest and off it went.  It wasn’t until we were viewing the photos that we noticed a surprise — there was a second one in the background.  I was concentrating on the one on the wall so much that I did not even see the other one at the time. 

The Greater Roadrunner (Chaparral Bird) is a member of the cuckoo family.  And they are very fast runners — up to 18.6 mph or 30 Km/hr.  We have had them in our yard, but rarely.  Once Paul was doing something out front.  He thought he was all alone.  All of a sudden, he heard something right behind him make a loud clattering sound.  Scared the heck out of  him — with his heart in his throat he turned around quickly only to see a roadrunner retreating.  No, they do not go “Beep Beep”!  Their call is almost dove-like co-coo-coo-coocoooo sometimes with a clattering “whirrrr” at the end.  They eat insects, lizards, eggs, birds, rodents, carrion, snakes (including rattlesnakes) and even some fruit.   Once, we were driving home from work and noticed a little dust cloud in the desert off the highway a short distance.  When we got closer we could see a roadrunner sort of dancing around a snake.  Of course, we didn’t get to see the rest of the story…… I read that sometimes two roadrunners will team up to get a rattlesnake. 

Greater Roadrunners AKA Chaparral Birds. 6Nov10

Two toes in front and two in back.  Check out those nasty claws on the back toes.

His crest is up and he is taking his leave. 6Nov10

Melanism:  Parts of animals or birds are darker than normal.  http://birding.about.com/od/identifyingbirds/a/melanism.htm

We have seen hundreds of white-winged doves (or maybe even thousands), but it wasn’t until recently that I noticed one that looked odd.  It’s head and upper body was quite dark.  Oddly, it also had a black tip on its tail unlike the others.  I found out that it was a genetic condition called melanism.

Partial Melanistic Dove. 12 Jan 11

 

Butt shot of partial melanistic dove. Notice black tip on tail.Another shot of Partial Melanistic Dove. 12Jan11

Note:  I’m not sure what that white spot is on its head unless its a loose feather — its or someone else’s.

Another shot of Partial melanistic dove. Also on 12 Jan 11

 

Wow, what a surprise to spot another Melanistic Dove a few days later.  It was very different though and appeared to be almost totally Melanistic.  I have seen both of them more than once between Jan. 12 and 23, 2011 and even together once, but couldn’t get a photo.  When I was researching this, I ran into photos of many other melanistic birds and animals such as a black fox, a partially black tiger, a black penguin, etc.

Melanistic Dove. 17 Jan 11

Melanistic Dove. 17 Jan 11

17 Jan 11

 

Melanistic Dove came back on Jan. 23rd.

I haven’t seen either of them since Jan. 23rd – one week ago.  I’ll keep watching.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other’s Pets. Jan. 24, 2011

As many of you know, we have been without any pets of our own for a while.   I miss that, but am also amazed at just how many other people’s pets show up in my camera lens.  I’ve compiled a bunch of these for your viewing pleasure (I hope) starting September 4, 2010 and ending January 20, 2011. 

The first one on September 4th. I have only seen a couple times.  I call him/her “B&W” (Black & White).

Our most frequent visitor is a pretty orange cat with an odd tail — it’s short and fluffy so I call him “Fluffy T”.  This one was taken on September 14, 2010.

Some of you may remember Angie’s story.  The short version:  Several years ago, our oldest son & family’s dog, Maggie, disappeared.  After exhausting all means to find her, they had to give up.  Then one day they received a call that Maggie was tied up outside a truck stop on the other side of town.  When asked to describe the dog, it was a young husky — and Maggie was a cocker spaniel.  It seemed a cruel joke of someone that had seen their ad in the paper.  Then someone else called with the same description.  Our son just HAD to go see about that.  Sure enough, it was a young female husky with Maggie’s collar on.  How strange!  Our son decided to take her home and she has been a wonderful loving pet for several years.  How she came to have Maggie’s collar on will probably remain a mystery forever.  Several years have passed and now she has become an old girl, but still s0 precious.  When I saw her walking along in our son’s backyard on October 2, 2010, I thought she looked like a proud wolf.  

Angie’s buddy of several years is also getting old, but not too old to roll in the grass.  This is “Cricket”, a Padderdale Terrier and also a sweet girl.

Next is a real cutie named “Miss Penny” that belongs to our granddaughter.  She has boundless energy and can jump very high for such a little girl.  In fact, she jumps and jumps and keeps us all laughing.  😉

“Fluffy T” was back again in front of my camera lens on October 11, 2010.How appropriate for this very black cat to show up shortly before Halloween.  I’ve only seen him twice.  I call him “Blackie” — very original, huh!?!  LOLNext is our friend’s rescue doggie, “Maya”.  She has been a truly wonderful fun loving pet for them.  She fits right into their livestyle as they love to hike and explore and so does she.

Another short tailed cat that visits now and again is “Tiger” (as I call him/her).  “Tiger” most often shows up before it is very light waiting for my birds.  Of course, I run him off.

Thanksgiving brought visits from our AZ daughter and hubby along with their three dogs, “Monica”, “Hannah”, and “Juniper”.  They also brought their diabetic Abyssinian cat named “Frisco”.  Here “Frisco” takes a nap.

“Monica” is an Australian Shepherd and boss of the group (& don’t you forget it.  LOL).

“Juniper” is bursting with energy and hard to photograph since she is rarely still.  I did catch her briefly sitting so had to be quick to get this shot.

“Monica” and “Juniper” love to play Tug of War.

Warning:  The next photo is very sad.  This is Australian Shepherd “Hannah” who was my “snuggle buddy” for four years.  Sadly, she crossed the Rainbow Bridge a couple weeks after this last visit.  She had cancer of the lympth glands.  So Sad!!

Christmas brought our AZ daughter and hubby back for a visit along with “Monica”, “Juniper”, and “Frisco”.  Here “Frisco” lets me know what he thinks of me sticking a camera in front of his face.  LOL

“Monica” and “Juniper” were back at their many Tug of War contests. 

I took the next shots at son Chris and P.J.’s place on January 12, 2011.  The first male kitty is named “George” and was dumped at their place in the country.  Grrrr!  He’s a very friendly guy and makes me laugh with his funny tail.  You can’t really see it in the photo, but it looks like it was cut off and then later broken as it has a bend in it.

This kitty’s name if “Kid Kid” and was also a rescue.  He sat very quietly and watched me.

This is “Marmalade”.  She is a sweet girl and loves attention.

“Scraps” is a nice kitty, too, and likes to be petted and messed with.

I’ll end this with still another visit from dear “Fluffy T” again stalking my birds — at least he wasn’t up in the tree like he was one time.  Of course, as usual, he got run off before he could do any harm.  But still, he keeps coming back……  only to be run off again.  Guess he can’t take a hint he isn’t welcome if all he wants to do is stalk the birds.  LOL

Enjoy!!

Inca Doves Frozen in Place. Jan. 14, 2011

You all know I have a special love for the small inca doves that show up in our backyard quite frequently.  We normally see anywhere from two to eight at any one time.  They usually show up after most of the other birds have fed and left. 

Here’s a kind of cool fact about them:  They engage in an odd roosting behavior which I have never witnessed in person, but would like to.  This behavior is known as “pyramid roosting”.  Pairs or groups may huddle together with some sitting on the back of others.  The pyramid may be up to three layers high with as many as 12 birds. 

Another odd behavior I have witnessed is freezing in place when danger is perceived.  I have seen as many as eight do this at one time, but held it only a minute or so.  Well, on December 3, 2010, I started out the patio door only to stop dead in my tracks.  There on the back walkway were six incas frozen in place.  I watched them for a few minutes and then grabbed the camera.   This first photo was taken at 9:16 a.m.

Still holding in place at 9:17 a.m.

And here they are the same now at 9:25 a.m.

The last photo I took at 9:26 turned out a bit blurry, but they were just the same.  As I’m watching mesmerized, here comes the pest control guy around the house crunching leaves all the way.   I couldn’t believe that they continued to stay there even with this guy so near and making so much noise.  Then he moved something on the patio that made a loud noise and off they went.  I checked the time — it was 9:31 a.m. so I can say with certainty that they stayed in place for more than 15 minutes. 

I went out as soon as they flew off and searched the sky for a hawk; however, all I saw was a white-winged dove sitting on the very top of the electric pole looking down with curiousity.  They may have mistaken it for a hawk OR seen a real one.  Just a couple days before, Paul witnessed a hawk swooping down and grabbing a dove in the backyard.  Then just two days later, I looked out to see a hawk sitting on our back wall.  By the time I was able to get the camera, it had moved to the neighbor’s wall.  Two of the more difficult birds to tell apart are the Cooper’s and the Sharp-Shinned Hawks.  After much research, I decided it was a juvenile Sharp-Shinned Hawk.

When I told my AZ daughter about seeing the inca doves frozen in place for more than 15 minutes, she told of watching a hawk after an adult acorn woodpecker.  Then she saw that there were two youngsters on the tree.  She figured the mother took off to draw the hawk away from her babies.  She watched the babies frozen in place until their mother returned a half hour later.  Nature is wonderful!!!!

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!