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

The birds must be hungry.  There is a flurry of activity outside our front window.  I did sprinkle some handfuls of birdseed on the snow earlier in the morning.  I have seen many mourning doves and slate covered junco feeding on the ground.

We are getting a steady stream of downy woodpeckers feeding on the suet placed by the trunk of the large pine tree.  I am still waiting for the entrance of the red bellied woodpecker.  I am always awed by its sight.

There are usually a few tufted titmouse at one time coming to and fro the feeder just outside the window.  They like the sunflower seed I put out for them.  Once in awhile I see a chickadee or a cardinal.  I love watching them.

Maybe, today I will see an unusual species.  You never know.  Today I will have more time to watch the birds.  It is snowing and there is no where else to go.

Tags: bird feeder, bird seed, bird-watching, birds, cardinal, chickadee, downy woodpecker, it is snowing, living room window, mourning dove, pine tree, red bellied woodpecker, slate covered junco, snow, snow covered ground, suet, sunflower seed, tufted titmouse, winter
Posted in animals, beauty, knowledge&learning, local, nature, seasons, time | No Comments »

I still watch birds after all these years.  I love identifying them and seeing a new species for the first time.  I have four feeders which I can view from my large living room window.

The one filled with suet is placed near the trunk of my large white pine tree.  I still get a kick out of watching the downy woodpeckers come and go up and down the trunk of the tree seemingly at attention.

The beauty of the larger red bellied woodpecker still takes my breath away.  Other species of woodpeckers have come but usually it is only the downy woodpecker and the occasional red bellied.

I spotted a grosbeak feeding on the ground the last two days but I am still trying to pin down the exact species.  I had never seen one before.

I was driving once on a major highway and a ruffed grouse literally “exploded” in front of me missing my windshield by inches.

Every time I visit a friend there is the same blue heron wading in the same spot in the same pond as if it had not moved an inch in weeks.

It was not until I had moved to this state did I see a great egret, a big majestic white bird.  Now I search for a glimpse of him every time as I travel along the Susquehanna River.  They migrate South in the Fall.  The egrets usually can be found wading at the perimeter of the islands.  Usually I see the smaller white snowy egret, though.

God has made so many types of birds and I glory in his creations.  When I least expect it I see a new species.  I still love watching and identifying birds after more than a half of century.  I feel old now.

Tags: bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, blue heron, downy woodpecker, Fall, God, God made birds, great egret, grosbeak, His creations, identifying birds, love watching birds, migrate south, new species of bird, pond, red bellied woodpecker, ruffled grouse, suet, Susquehanna River, view feeders from living room window, wading near islands, white bird, white pine tree, white snowy egret
Posted in beauty, God, knowledge&learning, life, local, love, nature, seasons, time | No Comments »

I live in paradise.  My house is on the edge of the country.  There is a farm a quarter of a mile away.  Within a mile a family has chickens, goats, and horses.  I love seeing the baby goats when they are so tiny.

The view from my large living room window is another portal into paradise.  I watch a steady stream of birds come into my view.  Birds I have never seen anywhere appear at my feeders like the magnificent red bellied woodpecker.  About once a year I see the exotic fifteen-inch red crested piliated woodpecker although it is far more likely I hear its wild cackle first.

We even had a brush or two from the local black bear who now stays away.  Our four dogs who now are enclosed by a large wooden picket fence now frighten him away.

There is so much beauty here and sometimes I do not see it.  I forget I grew up in the city–a large town.  I can see cottontails play outside from my kitchen window.  My two friends, a couple I have know for years, are going to visit us next week from NYC.  To them this is wild country. I now have to view the land from their standpoint, change my perspective.  It is too easy to become blind to your surroundings.  Somehow I need to lift the veil that has grown in front of me and again see the beauty around me.

I had fallen in love with Central Pa.  I knew things had changed when once I was coming back from NJ (where I had lived for the past two decades) and I thought, “I am coming home”.  It is paradise here and I have to remind myself of that fact.  Every time I drive up the Juanita Valley, my breath is taken away by its magnificent view of the River and its surrounding mountains.  Even closer to home, when I drive into town from the back way and peer down into the Susquehanna River Valley, I can easily imagine I am viewing the fjords of Norway.  The universe is in my own backyard.  All I have to do is open my eyes.  It’s here.  I do not have to travel to Maine, Alaska or Hawaii.  It is all here.  Paradise.

Tags: baby goats, beauty, bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, black bear, chickens, cottontails, country, country-life, dogs, edge of country, farm, fjords of Norway, four dogs, goats, horses, Juniata Valley, mountain, NJ, NYC, PA, paradise, pets, piliated woodpecker, red bellied woodpecker, river, see the beauty around me, Susquehanna River, universe in my own backyard, valley, woodpecker
Posted in animals, beauty, God, knowledge&learning, life, local, seasons, time, wisdom | No Comments »

I make sure my two large bird house totems face outward, one on each side of my front door.  I want the birds in my neighborhood to feel welcome.  There are a multitude of birds that come to our five feeders, which I keep well supplied with anything from sunflower seed to thistle to suet and when the warm weather arrives I put out nectar I make especially for the hummingbirds.  That does not even include the birdseed I scatter on the ground for the birds who prefer to feed there.

Last year there were three birds nesting in our vicinity.  An eastern phoebe built a nest above the right front door light although there might have been too much traffic there for her to be successful in raising her young.  A nest was built there two years in a row.

A scarlet tanager raised a family in a bird box stationed at a large white pine a foot higher feet than my head less than an hundred feet away from our entrance although I never spotted the brightly colored male.  I had never seen one before.

A catbird made a nest in the thicket of one gigantic bush in the corner of our yard.  One of our cats found the nest and flushed the young catbird out of the bush and we shooed the cat away immediately.  The frightened baby bird hopped into the open garage chirping in fright.  My son who happened to be at my house first had to move a table and a filing cabinet out of the garage to reach the scared little bird who had hopped deep into the cluttered garage.  He trapped the baby bird carefully scooped up into a little box without touching it and safely released it back into the overgrown bush where its nest lay.

I want all the birds in our neighborhood to know they are welcome to visit our premises and raise their young.  Every day I watch them come to and fro our feeders.  Soon I will put out nectar for our hummingbird feeders and watch the miniature “helicopters” come back and forth and jostle for position at their feeders.  We will have one feeder at the window just so we can watch them closeup.

There is such a variety of birds that come to our feeders.  The magnificent ten inch long red bellied woodpecker with its gorgeously marked red head occasionally feeds on our suet feeder (which I have placed right next to the trunk of the large white pine tree) and there is his companion–the smaller downy woodpecker which stands at attention as it climbs up and down the trunk of the same tree also feeding on the suet.  Then there is the diminutive brown creeper who is aptly named who also feeds on the suet and my favorite–the fearless chickadee whose antics I always love watching.

This is, of course, an incomplete list.  I want them all to feel welcome and the birds continue to come here in a constant stream.  I joyously greet them each morning and watch them all day and never know when an odd bird makes its appearance like the indigo buntings that seem to come through here once or twice a year in flocks.  I never know for sure what I will see outside my window.  I want the birds to always feel welcome.

Tags: baby bird, bird house totems, bird migration, bird nest, bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, birds are welcome, birdseed, brown creeper, catbird, cats, chickadee, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, hummingbird feeders, hummingbirds, indigo bunting, my son, nectar, pets, red bellied woodpecker, scarlet tanager, suet, sunflower seed, thistle, white pine tree, woodpecker
Posted in animals, beauty, birds, children, God, knowledge&learning, local, nature, pets, seasons, time | No Comments »