Daddy Woodpecker on Baby Duty

Another family is living at our house--a family of woodpeckers. The first day we saw mom, dad, and junior all at the feeder which is unusual as we rarely see more than one at a time. Apparently, woodpeckers feed in different areas and not together. So when we saw three it was a surprise. Mom didn't stay long and went on to another place to feed. Daddy spent several days feeding junior from the feeder which has peanut butter and wheat bread in it. It was so interesting to see him feeding his baby.

Daddy is on the right and baby on the left.

Baby was being stubborn about eating and trying to eat by himself, so daddy woodpecker hopped around the back side of the tree and offered junior some food from a different angle. You can just see part of his head and beak peaking out from the back of the tree and it appears he has some peanut butter on the end of his beak.

Daddy (on the right) looks smaller than junior (on the left).

Yesterday daddy woodpecker wasn't around, just junior, so we figured he was on his own now. However, today the feeder was out of peanut butter after some squirrel eating it all! And the bread was too far away from the front of the feeder for junior to figure out how to get the bread. I felt sorry for him until I saw him back with daddy woodpecker who was reaching into the feeder and getting him some bread and feeding him again. It was like he had to go find his daddy to help him and daddy cared enough to help him out. After a bit they flew off together and I am hoping daddy woodpecker is trying to teach him to eat something else so he doesn't become dependent on just this one feeder/food.

Baby (on left)  is looking at the bread as if saying "Daddy, I can't reach it. Feed me." 

Nature Studies - Making Art

Making art doesn't have to be hard, involve a lot of materials, or even be permanent. While on our nature walk one day we collected items we found and made artwork on the ground. Preserving it was a lesson in photography, so we killed two birds with one stone. 

Below is student artwork created using items found in nature. 

A Predator Visits Our Yard

While sitting here this afternoon working on the computer I looked out the window to see the owl we have been seeing off an on for a few months looking in at me. Finally I had the camera and got a shot of what I think this is a boreal owl. 

If, in your bird watching you want to identify a bird, we found this site which identifies a lot of birds and is very helpful: Backyard Bird Identifier by National Geographic. 

A coloring page of an owl, which looks very similar to the one above, is at this link. 

For an owl handicraft, possibly make a felt owl. Find the pattern here.    

A New Family

Earlier today we watched a parent black capped chickadee feeding it's two young at one of the bird feeders. The video isn't top quality, but you can see the two young birds waiting on the rope and being fed. It's so cute.

A coloring page of a chickadee is located here.

Here are a few handicrafts based on chickadees that we are considering doing.
felt chickadee pattern 

another pattern for a felt chickadee 

chickadee pendant - this could be made with a salt dough or sculpy clay.

Wildlife We See at Our House

During our nature studies we watch wildlife around our house. Here are some of the critters we have seen this year. Besides what is listed here, we have, owls, ducks, robins, various yellow birds in the summer (which we haven't identified yet), an occasional fox, and the neighbors cat. I will post photos of them if I manage to get them, that is, except for the cat!

Vole

This little fellow likes all the seeds the birds knock out of the feeders. He likes to hide underneath the tub we store the sunflower seeds in. 

 Snowshoe Hare 

In the third picture he is sitting under the bird feeder in all the cast off sunflower seed shells from all winter long. He is starting to change color even more as the snow is melting and soon will be all brown.

 

Just look at those big feet!

 Squirrel

He likes to sit on top of the suet feeder and munch on his seeds or breads. This is one of the few times he is facing me, he usually turns his back on me while playing tightrope walker, as in the second picture. 

 

 Woodpeckers 

There are two pairs who frequent the feeders, this pair which we think are Downy Woodpeckers, and another pair which are Hairy Woodpeckers. The next pictures should be the Hairy Woodpecker. They look so similar, pretty much just being larger than the Downy Woodpeckers by two inches.

Downy Woodpeckers (a female and male)

Hairy Woodpecker

Common Redpoll

Although these little birds are usually ground feeders, they enjoy thistle and spend a lot of time on this feeder. The reddish bird on the left is a male.

Migrating Flock of Redpolls

In the spring (May) we had a migrating flock stop at our feeders. The pictures don't do it justice as there were hundreds of birds in the trees and on the ground. We had to fill all the bird feeders three extra times in just one day. They only stayed two days and were off, apparently to their summer homes. I wonder if they will be back in the fall?

I like the birds sitting on the roof of the bird feeder on the left waiting for a turn to get on the thistle feeder.

Hoary Redpoll

I hadn't seen this bird before. I thought it was an albino redpoll since it is so much whiter than the common redpoll but still has the red patch on its head.

Black-capped Chickadee

We only have a group of about 5 chickadees--4 black-capped and one boreal chickadee which have been here a couple of years. They like the suet in the feeder and also sunflower seeds. 

Spruce Grouse

At least, we think this is a Spruce Grouse. If not a spruce grouse it must be a  some type of grouse since it doesn't appear to have furry legs like a ptarmigan and wasn't white in the snow. Last spring we had a pair that came to the feeder every evening. This spring we only have one bird. We are curious if it is one of the two from last year or a new visitor.

Sneaking about in the twilight.

Magpies

There is at least one pair of these who frequent the bird feeders but I never see them eat from them. Their tails are long and look bluish at times. 

Raven

We don't see too many ravens at our house. They are scavengers so we try not to leave anything out which they might find interesting. This is one we saw while out one day.

Polar Bear

This isn't at our house. It was taken on the north coast of Alaska with a cell phone. Since it isn't a good idea to get too close it is pretty grainy. This bear is lying on it's catch, a seal, right on the beach.

 Moose

This was a surprise recently. We had a cow and a large calf wander through recently so we were shocked to see this tiny moose sleeping in our driveway as we headed out one morning. We figure he is no older than 10 days old. We stayed home all day to allow him to hide in safety under the edge of the pickup. Luckily it was a Sunday and no one had to be at work. His mama came back and got him late that night after he spent more than 12 hours sleeping away half hidden just feet from our front door.

This was taken earlier in the year and I think this might be the mama of the little one above. I wasn't fast enough with the camera and she is walking behind the tree. Look closely and you'll see her. 

 Flora

These are wild flowers from last spring. I am waiting for the flowers to come back this year!

A Surprise in the Driveway

As my husband headed out the door this morning he didn't get far when I heard him back at the door calling in "Get your camera and come here, fast". I grabbed it up and came out in my nightgown to see what was the need for a camera. To my surprise he says "There is a moose sleeping under Grandpa's truck." I thought he was pulling my leg. How could you get a big 1000 pound moose under the pickup? I looked anyway to see what was there, and sure enough there was a baby moose about 15 feet away sleeping partially under the passenger side of Grandpa's truck. Wow! I've never seen a baby moose so close and so small. It looked like a big dog, not a moose. We took pictures and stayed on the deck for several minutes trying to determine where mom was. Not seeing her and not wanting to frighten her or the calf, we came back inside. It's been a couple of hours and the baby is still sleeping and listening to the noises in the neighborhood not worrying about us. I hope mama comes back soon. This little moose can't be too old as apparently moose calve in late May and this is only June 1. Here are a couple of pictures of our little visitor who is staying cool in the above nomal heat we are having--80 degrees!