Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

The birds are finally coming to my suet cage. I did move it further from the trunk of the white pine. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it. Maybe. I briefly had two Carolina wrens and a downy woodpecker on it. I, also, saw my first red bellied woodpecker feed on the suet. It came twice. I just got tired of sharing my suet with the squirrels. I would go through one suet cake a day sometimes. The suet cage was an unexpected Christmas gift from my wife. And she gave it early to me. I am delighted the birds are coming inside it to feed.

Tags: bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, birds inside suet cage regularly, Carolina wren, Christmas gift, downy woodpeckers, my wife, red bellied woodpeckers, squirrels, suet, suet cage
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Yesterday my wife found a nest in the garage.  Some months ago I suspected a Carolina wren had a nest nearby.  Usually when I spot the bird singing perched on top of our fence several times she has a nest nearby.  I looked and could not find the nest.  Once I found a baby bird flying around the garage.  I made sure it found its way outside.  I then suspected there might be a nest in the garage but, again, I could not locate it.  Yesterday, my wife spotted a bird nest inside near the entrance of the garage.  This is the third year in a row a Carolina wren has nested in our immediate area.

Tags: baby bird, bird nest, bird signing, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, Carolina wren nesting nearby, garage, my wife
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A pair of catbirds were hanging around.  Usually that means they might have a nest nearby.  I looked and found a nest in a large bush.  I never did see one in it.  This is not the first time we have had a catbird nesting nearby.  Another time a half grown catbird found its way into our garage and I was thrilled when my son captured it and let it go in the bush they were nesting in.  Last year we had a Carolina wren nesting only feet from our door step.  It kept hopping on top of our fence nearby and then I found out what a lovely voice it has.  I did find the nest.  You never know what bird will have a nest nearby.

Tags: A Carolina wren has a beautiful song, A Carolina wren nested nearby again, bird nest, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, catbird nest, catbirds, garage, large bush, my son
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We finally discovered the nest of the Carolina wren that we kept seeing and hearing from our front entrance.  It was well hidden:  in the back of an hanging cherry tomato plant near the fence less than fifteen feet from our front entrance.  We could only see one baby in it but we did not want to disturb it too much so we don’t know how many there are.  This is the second year a Carolina wren has nested nearby.  The baby we could see was quite big so it probably won’t be there long.

Tags: baby birds, bird nest, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, cherry tomato plant pot
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A Carolina wren must have a nest nearby.  I have seen it repeatedly hop on the posts of our fence and sing out from my front door.  It has a beautiful voice I was not familiar with it (???).  As far as wrens go it is big.  Now I am looking out for it and trying to discover its nest which is probably in the adjacent gigantic bush.  Catbirds have nested there before.  Last year a Carolina wren had a nest in a flower pot hanging from the garage door.  Carolina wrens are birds I have fallen in love with.  It was one I was unfamiliar with until I started putting up bird feeders.

Tags: beautiful voice, bird feeding, bird nest, bird nest in a flower pot, bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, catbirds, wrens
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A catbird was having a tug of war with a four inch piece of straw on the ground and lost the battle.  It then disappeared through the fence under a large bush.  Catbirds have had nests in that gigantic bush before.  I will keep an eye open for it and its nest and babies.  A Carolina wren must also have a nest somewhere near.  I saw it alight on top of our fence and beautifully sing out its distinct call.  I have not spotted its nest yet.  Last year it had a nest in one of our flowering baskets hanging from the garage door.  I will keep my eyes open for both of those birds.

Tags: bird nest, bird nest in flowering basket, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, catbird
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In a short time–twenty seconds–I saw a Carolina wren, a brown creeper, the ubiquitous titmouse and a red bellied woodpecker–all from my window.  They were feeding on the birdseed I put out on the ground plus the suet cake placed next to the trunk of my large white pine tree.  The woodpecker took a chunk of fat from the suet cake and disappeared.  I could never understand why it is called a red bellied woodpecker.  The red is on its head not its belly.  It is a big magnificent woodpecker I never saw before I started putting out suet cakes regularly.

The small sized downy woodpeckers are more frequent visitors than the red bellied woodpeckers.  Sometimes you can see two or three downy woodpeckers at one time although they maintain their space between each other.  They march up and down the pine tree stiffly like they are at attention.  The Carolina wren is a big wren as far as wrens goes–maybe the biggest and feeds on the ground as well at the suet.

The brown creeper is a nondescript little brown bird with a curved beak that does just that creep up and down the trunk of the pine tree.  It occasionally can be found on the ground but usually is found on the trunk of the tree going up and down the tree.  Of the four birds, it comes here the least.  These birds mentioned can be found here all year around.

Every once in awhile I spot a new bird and become excited.  The latest was a red-cockaded woodpecker that came every day for a few days although I saw no red on it.  It took several visits before I could make a positive identification.  It is a midsized woodpecker between the size of a downy and red bellied woodpecker.  I had never seen one before.  Watching birds from my large living room window gives me much pleasure.

Tags: bird feeding, bird seed, bird-watching, birds, brown creeper, Carolina wren, downy woodpecker, large window, red bellied woodpecker, red-cockaded woodpecker, suet cake, titmouse, white pine tree, woodpeckers
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The Carolina wrens who have a nest less than ten feet from our front door are flying back and forth usually with a worm in their mouth.  My wife for the first time stood underneath their nest and could hear the babies.  We are going away five days.  By then the babies might be grown and have flown away.  Baby birds grow so quickly.  It seems as if every year a bird has a nest somewhere near us.

Tags: baby birds, bird nest, birds, Carolina wren, my wife, worm
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The Carolina wren hopped on the fence and sang so sweetly.  This was unusual behavior by this bird but there was a nest they planted ten feet away in a wandering Jew plant hanging from the middle of the garage.  Now I knew what they sounded like.  More than once we saw the birds fly from the nest.  Several times we saw one with a worm in his/her mouth.  I could not hear any babies.  It appeared as two birds were flying back and forth from the nest.  The nest was facing the door and my wife was careful not to disturb the birds when she watered the plant.  Now I know what they sound like.  It seems as if every year some bird nests nearby our front door.

Tags: baby bird, bird nest, bird nest in a flower pot, bird sang so sweetly, bird song, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, fence, garage, my wife, Wandering Jew plant, worm
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I did not see the Carolina wren for about a week.  I had discovered a nest the bird was making then.  Today I spotted two right outside my large living room window.

That was the only time I saw two at once.  I checked my bird book:  both the male and female are identical.

One of them hopped on the chair right in front of me on the porch with several pieces of straw in its mouth and then disappeared into the large white pine branch still leaning against the house, torn off our tree during an ice storm.

The nest was on the ledge behind the branch.  I was hesitant to view it again for I did not want to disturb the bird especially if it was already sitting on its eggs.

Now I was keeping my eyes open for the bird thrilled they had not abandoned the nest.  It was a only a small moment in my day but it made me happy.

Tags: bird book, bird eggs, bird making a nest, bird nest, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, ice storm, made me happy, porch, straw, white pine, window
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The Carolina wren was all I cared about today.  I viewed it again hopping back and forth searching for material on the ground suitable for its nest.  I usually do not get that close to one.

Yesterday I spotted the nest it was building for the first time.  It hidden by a large branch of our pine tree which was leaning again our house.  The last snow/ice storm had torn it down.

The nest was on a ledge.  Now I am going to keep an (???) it and the bird.  I was feeling really frustrated with the disorder of our house.  Watching for the wren was all I cared about today.

And this bird was out of my control.  The wren did not even know I existed.  And certainly was not interested in straightening up my house.  I just liked keeping an eye open for it.

Tags: bird nest, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, pine tree, wren
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We love the large pine tree outside our living room window, which is the center of attention.  I placed a suet cage right next to its trunk.  There are a steady stream of woodpeckers mostly downy who feed on the suet.  The squirrels also come.

The downy woodpeckers travel up and down its trunk seemingly at attention.  Only one bird is allowed to feed on the suet at one time.  The others make sure of that.  Sometimes there is as much as two or three downy woodpeckers on the trunk of the tree at one time.

Occasionally a red bellied woodpecker makes its entrance.  The sight of it makes me gasp.  It is a bigger woodpecker with an one inch red stripe that goes from the back of the top of its head to its nape of its neck (at least the male looks that way).  I had never seen one before and now they are regular visitors.

The white breasted nuthatch also likes the suet as well as the Carolina wrens who I have fallen in love with.  I did not know wrens could get that big.  Occasionally a cardinal will alight on one of its branches briefly.

We get occasional visits by the brown creeper who has a long curved beak and is a small brown colored bird who appropriately creeps up and down the pine’s trunk.  And these are only the birds we remember seeing.

This year a large branch was brought down by an ice storm which became our Christmas tree when I cut off part of it.  We used the rest of it for our tree.  It was one of the most beautiful trees we ever had lit up by several hundred multicolored lights.  Both of us love this tree and consider it to be our friend.

Tags: bird feeding, bird-watching, birds, brown creeper bird, cardinal, Carolina wren, center of attention, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, downy woodpecker, ice storm, living room window, nature, red bellied woodpecker, squirrels, suet, tree trunk, white pine tree, white-breasted nuthatch, winter, woodpecker
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