Angry Birds

I've always thought of birds as such friendly, happy little creatures. Even though I've heard that their cheerful chirping isn't really a lovely tune whistled for our appreciation, but a warning to other birds to keep out of it's territory, my mind still persists in believing that they're singing and probably to me.

However, keen observation and my camera are about to prove otherwise.

Here a house finch and a female cardinal seem to be peaceably sharing a meal at the bird feeder.

Then the nasty little house finch started pecking at the cardinal.

And then, probably because he knew I was watching, he left the front perch but you can just make him out slipping around the back.

And sure enough, the aggressive house finch won the feeder.

And I'm pretty sure the cardinal was angry.

Another bird that got angry was this bluebird. He very obviously hated me photographing him while he bathed.




You can barely make him out, pouting high in this tree.

And I don't even KNOW what this bird was so mad about.

This Nuthatch tried to intimidate me by flying right at me.

The red-winged blackbird scolded me.

And even this robin took exception to my spying while he bathed.

So, yeah, I guess there are a lot of angry birds but that won't stop me from taking their pictures and enjoying their antics. In fact, I think I really like angry birds.

The Birds

I wrote about the flowers heralding the onset of an early Spring. Now it's time to write about the birds.

I waited all winter for the terrible weather to save the birds by putting out the feeder. It really never came so the couple of times that we had a little snow, I put it up. And about the time the birds would get used to it being there, so would the squirrels and every time I'd look out the window there'd be one or two dangling from the feeder. So I'd take it down. You know a person should almost trap them and relocate them. Maybe I'll write a post about that later but right now it's all about the birds.

They're all back and I have pictures of a lot of them to prove it.

Of course these guys never left.

And these guys I could live without but I guess you have to take the bad with the good.

In fact a lot of these were around all winter I guess. It's just now that we're seeing so many of them. Surely it's the amazing weather.

But the ones that really fill my heart with joy? The beautiful bluebirds.

They don't visit the feeder so I have to enjoy them from a distance but that's okay. I just love bluebirds.

And I promised to include a picture of the hyacinths in my Flower Power post so here it is. Later I'll go out and take a better one but this is all I have in my file right now.

I really need to get more pink. These are right outside our door so every time you walk in the house, the air is perfumed with their scent.

And, finally, Harry and I had a little getaway last week. We had a good time visiting the money stealers - I mean casinos - in Tunica, Mississippi. The weather was lovely and we really had a good time. Here we are near Rend Lake in Southern Illinois.

That's all for now. Later on, I really will write about what it would be like if we ever did trap and relocate squirrels.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Well not really things. I should say a few of my favorite shots. I found them in a file the other day. Obviously I had set them aside for a future post or two or probably a lot more - there are a lot of pictures in there. Anyway, I don't want to waste them so here are a few.

First whites:

Then texture:

Birds:

And finally, the one I should have posted on Veteran's Day - the flag at Striebel Pond.

The Astonishing Red-Winged Blackbird

I love birds, some much more than others. The bluebird is so special that for me it's beyond description. The robin, that harbinger of Spring, is another favorite. I love gentle birds and colorful birds and birds that fly on the unusual side. That's why I've never been a fan of the red-winged blackbird.

It seems like when I was young, sighting one of these was worthy of note. But in this era, I see them everywhere. Nothing special or unusual about them at all. In fact, really aren't they just blackbirds with a little color on their wings? Not so much. In fact they're so much more and I discovered this while walking around Striebel Pond, the flood basin where I spend endless hours walking and taking pictures.

The Male

The Female

The first surprising thing I noted was that they have a beautiful song especially haunting in the evening.

And then, I found them to be so friendly! They'd flit from tree to tree and post to post just to keep up with me as I walked. What photographer wannabe wouldn't love a wild creature that poses for rather than flees the camera.

And sometimes they'd playfully ruffle their feathers for me.

But while I was researching for this post, I learned a surprising fact in Wikepedia.org. "Males have been known to swoop humans who encroach upon their nesting territory during breeding season. The "perched display", with wings held away from the body, is an antagonistic behavior of the Red-winged Blackbird." (Apparently I was about a hairs breath away from capturing that ever elusive shot of a blackbird's beak closing in on my camera's lens.)

And a not so surprising fact: "The Red-Winged Blackbird can be very aggressive while defending its territory from other animals and birds. It will attack much larger birds, such as crows, ravens, magpies, birds of prey, and herons if they enter". But Wikepedia doesn't know everything. This feisty little territory protector will also attack geese. Here's proof.

They tried to act nonchalant but it's obvious the whole family was nonplussed by this surprising turn of events as they left that grassy area that belonged to a bird of another species.

Although it's a little off the subject, the conclusion I derive from this whole story is that geese aren't just annoying to humans and swans, they're also annoying to red-winged blackbirds.