Dec
23
2014
So far only one bird has gone into the cage inclosing the suet cake–a downy woodpecker. I have seen a number of different birds crawl up and down the trunk of the tree the cage is near but that is what the birds are used to–feeding from the trunk. Let us see how long it takes for other birds to crawl inside the cage and eat the suet cake placed there.
Dec
19
2014
I am waiting to see how long it takes for the birds to find the suet, again. For years I put some up right next to the trunk of the large white pine outside our window. I got tired of sharing the suet with the squirrels. Sometimes I would have to put up new suet once a day. My wife surprised me with not one but two cages to enclose suet cakes. It was a Christmas present she gave me before the holidays. The cages are supposed to be squirrel proof. I put up the one that had largest holes. I wanted bigger woodpeckers to be able to reach the suet. The suet I put near the trunk of the tree was finally gone. I want to see how long it would take the birds to find the suet in the cages. Today I saw a chickadee alight on the outside of the cage briefly. That is the closest I got to seeing a bird go in the cage. It might take weeks before a woodpecker goes into the cage. And they seemed to like that the suet near the trunk of the tree. Let us see how many weeks go by. Birds are creatures of habit.
Dec
13
2014
Today I saw an hairy and a red bellied woodpecker at the same time travelling up and down on the trunk of our white pine we put a suet cake on. The hairy woodpecker was an unusual visitor. A hairy woodpecker looks just like a downy woodpecker–just bigger. For months we stopped putting out birdseed because a bear visited our property one time too often destroying our gate during one visit. Our dogs were no help: they slept right through all the bear’s visits. My wife once saw the bear standing in the yard at night munching on birdseed on the ground.
Nov
17
2014
I have been putting out birdseed again for several months. I had stopped for a few months. We had several visits from a bear who was tearing down all the bird feeders helping himself. The last week was the first time I saw a red bellied woodpecker (several times) and a Carolina wren. I could have sworn I saw a brown creeper and the first flock of slate covered juncos feeding on the ground. These were all first sighting of these birds since I put back the feeders.
Nov
2
2014
I heard a tapping above me outside and I could not find the source. Finally I noted a pileated woodpecker was tapping the wood on a dead tree and he was at least fifty feet up. The tree bordered the street across from me. I only identified the bird by moving to the side of the tree. There was no mistaking its exotic red crest and large size. It was the closest I have ever been to such a woodpecker. He stayed there tapping on the wood for at least fifteen minutes. I tried to get my wife’s attention so she could see the bird but she let the dogs loose in the yard and the commotion must have flushed the bird. I have only seen several in the time I have lived in this area although I hear their wild cackle occasionally.
Nov
2
2014
The pheasant I saw to the left of me on the side of the road seemed bewildered: it did not know whether to go left or right. An hundred feet ahead was a small flatbed truck which released several more pheasants. Several hunters with their pickup trucks milled around. This was near a public game land. I felt bad for the birds. It was as if the hunters wanted to see where the pheasants went. This did not seem very sporting. Later on I returned and four trucks were parked neatly in the game land parking lot but I saw no hunters. I guess they were now hunting the pheasants. I just felt bad for the birds.
Jul
29
2014
I could not believe how big the River crayfish were at McKee Falls. I had decided to go to the bank of the Falls and explore. I saw what I thought could have been killdeer in the distance. Suddenly I looked down at my feet and I noticed at least three gigantic crayfish scurrying on the rocks back into the River. They all were at least four inches from head to tail. It was only minutes from dawn and they are nocturnal creatures. To me, it was a big discovery. I was not even thinking about them. I never did make a positive identification of the birds that were hugging the shore in the distance.
Jun
9
2014
Last night a hummingbird was looking for my nectar I usually put out for him/her. I spotted the bird alighting on a branch of the pine tree ten feet from where the feeder used to be. Since the bear tore that feeder down, I had not put any up, again. I felt so bad that I immediately made some more and filled my feeder for him and put it up again. Within fifteen minutes. I am hoping the hummingbird tries, again. I know it will take time for the hummingbirds to realize there is nectar there for them again. I felt so disheartened when a bear came in our yard twice and raided all our bird feeders. I felt helpless.
Jun
2
2014
Hopefully the black bear will stay away. He visited us twice and wrecked our gate to get over our five foot fence. Then he tore down all our bird feeders and got into the container of sunflower seed. My wife actually saw him. I am guessing his sex. I never did find the bird feeder we kept sunflower seed in. I bought another inexpensive one. The birds are slowly coming back. It had been a few days we had no feed for them. My wife was sound asleep in the living room which has a large front window. He came to our property at night. It just so happened I was away when this occurred. Yesterday a carpenter built us a sturdy gate. Let us see if that keeps the bear from entering our property. My wife is terrified of the bear and stopped sleeping in the living room. She wants nothing to do with this “critter”. This is the first time we had a bear on our property since we built a fence around part of it.
Mar
30
2014
Where do the slate-colored juncos go in the warm weather? It is still relatively cold and they still are in the yard feeding on the birdseed on the ground. There are less of them. I know they will disappear when it gets warmer and no more snow. I thought I read they migrate further north. I am really curious. I have to look it up in one of my bird books. It is usually the other way around. Some birds migrate when it become colder. Not those birds. They usually arrive when the first snow comes. It is a mystery to me.
Mar
29
2014
The wild turkey exploded from our right across our car right in front of us flying five feet off the ground flapping his wings wildly and just as quickly disappeared into the undergrowth. This was unusual: when I flush a turkey it scurries quickly by foot out of my sight. Not this time. We live on the edge of country. You just never know when you will flush one or more when you are driving your car.
Mar
29
2014
It is a mystery to me when birds come to my feeders. Sometimes the dogs chase them away. Other times I don’t know why they don’t come. There is birdseed there. I just don’t know. It is always puzzling to me that I can put out a new suet cake and the birds find it almost right away. And that is after I have been out for awhile. The birds provide such pleasure. In the spring I noted we have quite a few goldfinch. Sometimes there are so many I see them at two different feeders–the sunflower and thistle feeder. It always amazes me that one will sit on the thistle feeder for five minutes at a time feeding. The males are reverting to yellow, again. We have been having three different kinds of woodpeckers come to eat the suet: downy, red bellied and now hairy. The hairy woodpecker has become a regular visitor. In the past, we hardly ever saw one. At least one knows about the suet. The hairy woodpecker is twice the size of the downy. Though somewhat similar in markings.
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