The European Starlings descended on our feeders one afternoon this week.
Hmmmm, this suet seems to be a bit stale.
I only see these birds in the winter, though I read they are year round residents.
But not so stale that I’ve got it to myself.
All I know for sure is that they are pigs and will empty a feeder and eat a whole block of suet in a day. Many people don’t like them because they are invasive.
I guess we can get along and share it.
But, when the sun shines on them just right they are beautiful.
I think the prettiest bird should have first dibs on the food.
On this day the skies were dull and there was little light. But I’ve seen them in sunlight on other winter days and been mesmerized.
I think you’ve got a big head, that’s what I think.
This week I first noticed them fighting each other over the suet feeder. But soon enough they were on the peanut feeder too, a favorite with our Red Bellied woodpeckers.
Hey! Back off, the peanuts are MINE!
The woodpecker stood his ground, telling the starlings off and eventually winning the right to eat in peace.
Geeze…what’s the world coming to I ask you?
In fact, after that little run-in all the starlings moved to the ground in the backyard and then on to greener pastures.
No need to mess with that woodpecker, plenty of seed down here for us.
I wasn’t ready to go home after I visited the Veterans’ Cemetery, so I headed over to a park I don’t get to very often.
I thought maybe I’d wander the trails a bit and see what was there. But when I arrived I was drawn, as usual, to the pier that runs out into the small lake.
It was a cold day, still grey, but I was having fun using the wide angle lens, and that kept me from noticing the cold for awhile.
I took several wide shots of the scenery, but noticed a lot of smaller stuff I thought was interesting, so once I got the big picture out of the way I went back to the car to warm up and change the lens.
Mostly I was interested in the weed and grass reflections in the still, frozen water alongside the pier.
I particularly liked this clump of grass.
And these curves had me too.
I spent a long time out there on the pier, so I didn’t get to the trails. That’s my excuse anyway.
You see, Katie and I used to come here once in awhile and walk the trails…and as I looked toward the woods where we had explored I knew I wasn’t ready to go back without her.
She would have loved the cold, and would fit right in with all the reddish browns I saw that day.
I was out there to meet the Queen. I’d been trying to get an audience with her for several weeks. But she’s a Royal and follows her own rules. I’m used to that.
Anybody out there? Hey Mr. Downy, are you hungry?
You see, almost every day I’d see, on Facebook, a photographer who calls herself the “Hand of Snacks” feeding a female cardinal along the boardwalk at my favorite park.
Well, at least one bird wants a snack!
Lots of birds come down to any number of hands filled with snacks at this park, but cardinals are famously shy. Quite stand-offish. So to see this female sitting in a hand regularly intrigued me. And I drove the 30+ minutes every week or so, hoping to get to meet her Majesty for myself. Oh, I’d see her – sitting in the scrub along the boardwalk. I’d offer a treat. She’d watch me. But she never showed any interest in getting to know me better. Week after week I’d leave disappointed.
They almost always go for the peanuts first.
This Wednesday, there she was, sitting among the twigs of a dogwood bush with her partner, the bright red Mr. Cardinal. And that morning she seemed interested in me. She moved out to the end of the branch and eyed me up and down. I stood still, gifts offered. She flew to the railing, quite a far bit away from me and eyed me some more.
She’s not too sure about this.
Clearly I was not her Hand of Snacks. I was an imposter. But she was hungry. But I was an imposter. Could she trust me? Would she trust me? She hopped along the railing to get a closer look. She looked up at me and then down at the snacks in my hand. I stood still, barely breathing.
Come on sweetie, it will be OK.
And then she reached out, her feet still firmly planted on the railing, she wasn’t going to actually stand on my hand, and grabbed an oiler seed, moving rapidly away from me to eat it. I stood still.
You have options, pick your favorite!
She hopped over again and helped herself to another treat, not moving so far away this time…and then she grabbed a peanut and with a slight nod to me, she flew back into the bushes to share it with her partner.
You’re such a good Queen, taking your partner the best peanut.
And the politely waiting chickadee hopped up onto my hand to see what she had left behind.
She’s off to share. Mr. Chickadee is waiting in line.
Now I can say I’ve met the Queen. And it was everything I knew it would be.
I was standing in my breakfast room, taking a picture of this red bellied woodpecker….
A modern art image, showing off his red belly.
….when this guy showed up. He’s a male evening grosbeak.
The yellow eyebrows helped me identify our visitor.
According to my Michigan bird book they aren’t supposed to be around here. They live in the northern lower peninsula and the UP of Michigan. But last winter at one of our local bird seed shops there was talk that people around here had seen them.
Such a striking bird, he was hungry and happy that there was seed on the railing.
I’ve only seen one, last winter, just one, and just one visit. But today our initial visitor came back later in the day along with some of his friends!
He brought a friend to the buffet!
First I saw two of them on the railing. And then I realized there were three, then four males, on the railing, in the trees…
A evening grosbeak party at the feeder!
…and on the feeder. Plus one of the birds on the feeder was a female! (over on the left above)
Num, num, num…
It was so cool. I’m thrilled that I got to see them, and even more thrilled that I got some shots.
Change Is Hard 