HE'S BACK!

He's returned.  He only visited for 3 days last year.  It was the first time we had ever seen a bird like him in Missouri.  While he was here last year I was able to snap these pictures:

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com/2011/05/bird-feeder-visitor.html

I had requested if anyone knew who he was, please let me know.  I went agoogling and found what I thought was him.   I am sure now he is not what I called him.  My best clue was he has a top knot he raises and lowers like the Phoebe does.  My second clue was the wing bars.   I have now found him and found out he isn't out of his territory.  

He is a Great Crested Flycatcher.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Crested_Flycatcher/id

It amazes me I have not crossed paths with this bird.  I have been watching the birds since 1963.

It was so nice to see him on this cold May day in Missouri.

Other blogs by me:

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

Where I have stories of my cats and other pets

a blog about my courtship with my husband,

and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.

A "Soap box" blog where I do air my opinions.

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Blogs about our pair of pitbulls.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/

A Blog mostly about quilting and sewing, but you'll find recipes and gardening too.

All recipes, pictures, and writings are my own.

I give credit for items which belong to other people in my blogs .

Please do not copy without permission 

BLOWN OFF COURSE

We are bird watchers and bird feeders.  We even have house birds: Two African gray parrots.   Our house is perched in the woods on the side of a hill.  We have lots of large windows so we can see down the valley.  The birds occasionally fly into the windows. 
 
Our Home is located in the south western corner of St. Louis area.
 
This morning when I looked out I found a bird dead on the deck.  I went to retrieve it.  I didn't recognize the bird.  I knew it was in the warbler family but it was not like any warbler I had ever seen.
 
I looked in our field guides for it and it was not there.  The distinctive stripes led me nowhere.  Google to the rescue.  I googled warbler three stripes on head.  Instantly I had verification what bird I had.  I had a "Three Striped Warbler."  The catch was, this bird is only in Costa Rica and Ecuador.  There was no chance I had mis identified the bird.  It was the only warbler with the stripes.  You can see by the match book how small it is. 

The following pictures are other views of him. 



The following information is from google.

 

This is a live picture of the bird    http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1082911

 

live picture and article about the three stripe

http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Three-striped_Warbler

 

Found this in wikipedia:

The Three-striped Warbler (Basileuterus tristriatus) is a species of bird in the Parulidae family.

It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.

Another article about this bird.   It coincidently is through the Missouri University. 

http://www.biosci.missouri.edu/avianecology/cox/Cox%20and%20Martin%20WJO%202009.pdf

I can't imagine how the little thing made it all the way here and was so disappointed he had crashed into our window.  With the changes in weather and wind currents keep looking to the skies. This is the second bird we have had that didn't belong in the area. 

This is the link to the blog about our other "Blown Off Course" visitor. 
http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com/2011/05/bird-feeder-visitor.html

 For more blogs by me visit at:

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting, but cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,

New blog, tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.

New Blog about dolls.

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

Not a garden blog.  There are articles which have nothing to do with creating or gardening. 

There are blogs on the new born baby kittens we found and mothered.  It is a blog where I voice my opinions which will always be environmentally friendly.

As always, any pictures or writings are my own. 

Credit has been given to contributions not my own.

Please do not use without permission.

  

LIGHT AS AIR

It's cold and windy out today. I am not going to be out in it.  So I decided to go through papers, notes I had jotted down this past summer.   I came across this poem I wrote about an experience with a feathered friend who had ventured indoors.

Have you ever held air in your hand?

I have, the feeling is, oh so grand,

Today in my kitchen, it was a surprise,

On the floor, right before my eyes.

Was the smallest of earth's flying machines,

Of the prettiest colors found in dreams,

Its fragility, its fright, I was certain of,

I picked her up with gentle love.

She nestled in the warmth of my hand,

I rescued her from where she did land,

From the way she acted I think she was hit,

The ceiling fan knocked her around a bit.

After awhile she showed signs of flight,

I ran to release her while it was still light,

I opened my hand, her wings did spread,

With out a thank you, to the tree she fled.

To the feeder came one, was it the one who fled?

Is approaching the house something she dreads?

Or was it another, taking a sip of sweet,

Dining at our feeder filled with hummers treat.

She was not even as big as a joint and a half on my thumb and not as fat either.  It was an amazing and awesome experience for me.

For more blogs by me visit at:

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting, but cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,

 

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

Not a garden blog.  There are articles which have nothing to do with creating or gardening. 

There are blogs on the new born baby kittens we found and are mothering.  It is a blog where I will sometimes voice my opinions which will always be environmentally friendly.

 

As always, any pictures or writings are my own,

if not credit will be given to the contributor.

Please do not use without permission.

BIRD FEEDER VISITOR

We watch the birds and the birds watch us.  They watch to see when we refill the feeder, then they mob it.  We have our standard visitors, and occasionally we'll have some fly bys who grab a bite and run to better feeding grounds.  Today we have had a fly by one who was acting like they wanted to stay.  We have not been able to identify this new visitor.  Here are some pics.  I hope someone can tell us who our visitor is.

The pics were taken through a double pane glass.  He/she is about the size of a cardinal.  She is a very curious bird and doesn't seem to be afraid of us in the window.  She is not shy
The brownish gray top not she fluffs like the phoebes do. 

In 50 years of bird watching all over the country, my hunny and I have never seen this bird.  Can anyone tell us where we should look?  We've looked under fly catchers and orioles and have found none with the totally gray throat.

Possible Identification:

I went to look up several similar types of birds.  I think this is a Western Kingbird.  The following is a range map:

http://sdakotabirds.com/species/maps/western_kingbird_map.htm

You can go to this website to see pictures of them:

http://birdsbybaranoff.com/westernkingbird.htm

If this is my bird, he/she is a little off course.  Another article said that spring sitings where they shouldn't be are rare, but they can be sited in off areas in the fall.  Another internet article said they had been moving their territories eastward for the last 100 years. 

BLUEBIRDS, FOR KIDS

One of the things as grandparents we enjoy is bird watching.  We want to share our love of the outdoors and the local birds.  We built a humongous bird feeder 2X6 feet, which the kids seem to enjoy.  It is covered and the kids have enjoyed watching the birds since they were very little. 

Even the furry feathered ones (the squirrels) who steal the seed. 

ZACK AND ZEDA READY TO HANG THE BIRD HOUSE,

THE HERB GARDEN CLOSED SO WE WON'T BE INTERUPTED.

Last summer the grands came to visit and the weather was nice for once.  It seems it's either unbearably cold or pouring down rain or snowing when they show up.  Our Grandson decided he would help Zeda build and hang some bluebird houses. 

We needed to find the proper location for the house.  Blue birds like to be on the edge of a field where they can see anyone coming in all directions.  They don't want anyone or anything to sneak up on them.  They want to be about 6 feet in the air.  You want to make sure it is uncomfortable for snakes to climb up.

We found a great place, a post from an old fence line.

FIRST THING WE NEED TO DO IS SECURE THE BOTTOM OF THE HOUSE.  WE DON'T NEED IT COMING LOOSE AND THE BABY BIRDS FALLING OUT.

Zeda has a cordless drill for the job.

ZACK PUTS IN THE TOP SCREW FIRST

IT'S A HARD REACH, AND THE DRILL IS HEAVY.  IT TAKES ZACK'S CONCENTRATION.

ZEDA, I DID IT, THE SCREW IS SET.

PUTTING THE LAST SCREW IN.  THE JOB IS FINISHED. 

LOOKS LIKE THEY HAVE ATTRACTED SOME EXTRA HELP. 

With supervision, children can use power tools.  They enjoy the challenge. 

 You can find directions on making a bluebird house here:

http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/how/woodworking/how-build-bluebird-house

You can visit me at my other blogs:

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

and

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/

New blog on challah baking and cinnamon roll baking.

WATCHING AND WAITING

Gardening is on the back burner.  I should be starting seeds but so much has been getting in the way.  The amount of snow the Midwest is having is a real drag.  I am spending my days trying to put my house back in order.  This past summer I spent every waking moment involved in the garden.   This year has to be different.  As much as I love the garden and being outside I was totally burned out by the end of the season.

Meanwhile I am watching and waiting for the first sign of spring.  I am watching our skies and our bird feeders.  After the snow Friday night the feeder was loaded.  Sure wish they would stand still a minute while I took their pictures.  This is one of only a couple of Jays we have. 

 Last year we had a deluge of Jays but this year hardly any. 

We have been having a couple of pairs of Cardinals but they are very shy,

 another bird flying in startles them.

Later in the day I decided to put the food in dishes.  I used the Tupperware hamburger patty maker dishes. They worked great and the birds really like having their food separated according to kind. 

A little wren and a junco enjoying lunch.  The wren is picking through the leftover parrot food from our parrots.  We have two varieties of juncos that visit the feeder.  We tried chicken layer in one of the pans.  The birds, so far, barely touch it.  I wish I had some really great pictures of the birds but alas the light and the flighty birds aren't cooperating for taking pics.

Saturday morning watching for the birds and wondering when the snow will stop.

Meanwhile I do have to get my act together and think about seeds for planting,

as well as seeds for the birds.  I hope you are having a warm, sun filled day.

Thank you for stopping by.

WARNING, THIN ICE!

As you can see from the blog title we have been introduced to the first ice situation.  there was only about 1/10 of an inch of ice but it has caused a major traffic problem.  Starting at 7 o'clock last night.  We don't live too far from the interstate 44.  There was a jackknifed tractor trailer going west on 44 and it backed up the traffic for over 7 miles.  The people sat still for over 3 hours polluting the environment (wishing they were already to their destination). 

Needless to say with our quarter of a mile drive Hunny is waiting till later to go in to work.  Right now he is walking carefully down the drive spreading ashes from the fireplace hoping to give some traction or to start the melting process.  Being it is still around 12 degrees in our valley I doubt that is going to happen.  The drive is at least a 45 degree slope at the top and at the bottom of the 45 is a left angled turn.  If you don't make the turn, you are plowing a furrow down a 60 degree slope.

The garden is covered in the light snow from 3 days ago  The ice is sealing the crust.  All the barn cats are snuggled in their tents inside the barn.  Yes we make little cubby holes for them.  They maybe wild, but they keep the snakes and mice away and they use the litter box in the barn so we take care of them.  We feed them and there are lots of critters on the ground for them to hunt.  We have been very fortunate They do not seem to relish our birds.  We only find evidence of less than a bird a month demise.

Wish I had some photos to share,

The bird feeder is quite busy today,

They fly in and out, don't seem to care,

Don't even stop, a thank you to say.

The cardinals threaten the jays,

The chickadees could care less,

The nuthatches just want to play,

While the snowbirds join the fest.

Popcorn and dog food are a woodpeckers treat,

The small birds love what our parrots don't eat,

Fresh water is handy in a bowl near by,

We've only seen little birds give it a try.

Please give feeding them a try,

Black oil sunflower seeds are the best to buy,

They attract the most variety of all the seeds,

Get ready to see fun antics and ridiculous deeds.

Other Blogs by me:
http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/