Bird Gratitude

I'm speaking of bird behavior that clearly says our feathered friends appreciate water and food on these bone-chilling subfreezing winter days.
Today was the first leisurely day I've had at home in a while. I could add water frequently to the frozen bird bath until the sun and rising temps loosened up the block of ice that formed overnight. The combination of water, cold weather and plenty of sunflower seeds yielded a surprising list of birds for me today. Most surprisingly, this hermit thrush.
Though blurred by the double pane glass, I am thrilled with these images!
I am certainly not confident about my ability to distinquish the subtle differences between the brown thrushes and am prone to automatically think, "wood thrush". But closer inspection of photos with Peterson's guide in hand, leads me to believe this is a hermit thrush with his facial markings and reddish tail. He also cocked that tail while I was watching, making me think "wren" for an instant.I nearly stopped breathing while I grabbed my camera, afraid he would leave before I returned to snap some photos. Do you think I'm in love with this birdbath? It attracted the most amusing and surprising visitors today. So, so gratifying. Here's today's yard list:
Carolina wren
Northern cardinal
Carolina chickadee
Tufted titmouse
Pine siskin
American goldfinch
White-breasted nuthatch
Slate-colored junco
Northern mockingbird
White-throated sparrow
Downy woodpecker
Purple finch
House finch
Hermit thrush

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #20 at Birdfreak.com to celebrate the conservation of our world's birds.

White-breasted Nuthatch

After hearing his call, I waited with anticipation for this nuthatch’s arrival. White-breasted nuthatches are known to hang out with chickadees and titmice in the winter time, generally considered a safety-in-numbers kind of practice. So I expected he would arrive sooner, or later.
He first tried to land on the 4x4 post to the left of the hanging plate, but failing to find a rough enough surface to grasp, he flew, only to return seconds later and land on the plate.
True to his name, after grabbing a seed, he quickly flew to a near-by tree to slide his treasure under the bark and “hatch” it.
These guys are incredibly fun to watch. In this silhouette below that I captured in October you can see the length of his toes and sharp claws that enable him to travel upside down along the trunk.
And in his beak, a nut. Not only do they use the tree bark and lichen to hold the nut while they crack the casing, they also hide their bounty so they can retrieve it later. During this particular observation I determined that this little guy was either very careful or picky. Through the series of photos, it was apparent that he buried his seed, walked away, thought better of it, retrieved it again, and repeated the process several times until he found just the right place to deposit it.
Don’t you just wonder how they remember where they put it? And then don't you wonder how many of these carefully hidden stores are pilfered by hungry neighbors?

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly # 19 at Birdfreak.com to celebrate the conservation of our world's birds.

A Welcome to 2009!

Every year I create a list of experiences and accomplishments that marked the year's journey. Its my way of expressing gratitude for the year past and loading my mind with ideas and thoughts about what I want to do in the coming year.
One of my favorite motivational quotes comes from Neal Donald Walsh: "Yet here is a secret of all Masters: keep choosing the same thing....over and over until your will is made manifest in your reality." And when the going gets tough, which is sometimes the moment before reaching the finish line, I recite this encouragement in my mind..."just keep chosing the same thing". And whatever project or activity I'm struggling with seems to finish itself!

I also recently came across a fun way to think of these goals. Artist Karen Winters refers to them as "the things I'm looking forward to in 2009"on her blog The Creative Journey. And since I began both my blog and a facebook page in 2008, I will celebrate the launching of these two activities and the coming year by posting a few of the things I'm looking forward to in 2009.

--sending out query letters to find an agent for my novel

--finishing the last few pages of a whooping crane coloring book project and zipping it off to my layout partner in this endeavor

--spending a week of watercolor practice with Ann K. Lindsay and art friends in New York

--visiting Cape May and enjoying nature in a few other new places

--spending more time painting watercolor landscapes and the birds I've photographed

--developing a notecard series (or two) of backyard birds

--spending more time in the outdoors, hiking, sketching, photographing, kayaking

--creating a handmade moleskin sketchbook and filling it with a year's observations, stories and sketches

--creating new ways to display and market my art!Okay, that's enough for now. I noticed there is a lot of playing on my list. Welcome 2009!
Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year with many things to look forward to!

Photo: Greater sandhill cranes flying to roost at the Hiwassee Island, Dayton, TN.
Art: "The Return", original watercolor by Vickie Henderson.

Pine Siskin at the Feeder

I welcome comments from folks who know this species to help confirm this ID. This is another new bird for me!I looked at the sharp beak, the heavy streaking and the wing stripes and went through all the finch-like birds in my field guides before landing on pine siskin, a bird that winters in TN, but that is unfamiliar to me.
I would have missed this new visitor altogether, had I not been sitting in the chair that looks out on the feeder while talking with a friend on the phone. When the chickadees and titmice cleared out, this bird sat quietly for a long time, picking up sunflower seeds, dropping them, picking up another. Swallowing a few. Maybe the ones he dropped were empty shells?
When I hung up the phone, I picked up the camera and shot these images through the glass knowing that if I opened the door the opportunity would be lost. As it was, he only lingered a few minutes longer.
I would have never seen the bit of yellow on his wing without the photos, nor had the opportunity to really look at his unique beak which is so sharply pointed.
And even though my Peterson's doesn't show white wing stripes, it was that bit of yellow on his wing that steered me toward the pine siskins. Would love to hear your comments.

I sometimes wonder why its so much fun to see a new bird. But it is! I've just started a new feeder list!

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #18 at Birdfreak.com to support the conservation of our world's birds.

Personality Plus--Wren Style

Can you tell who this is?I laughed when I saw this photo. Is this attitude or what? A puff-ball with a scowl! This was one of a pair of Carolina wrens that I spotted hanging out in trees near the feeder at the corner of the house a few days ago.
Cornell says this species mates for life and the pair stays on territory together year around in the southeast. "Loud" was another description offered, which is short but accurate for the "teakettle-teakettle" song the male belts out. And if I were going to add another it would be "persistent". One captive bird was reported to have sung 3000 songs in one day. And did I mention sweet? Isn't the image below one of the sweetest?!

Northern Mockingbird Gratitude

Maybe I'm easy to please, but this Northern mockingbird's visit made my morning.

He/she was the first bird to take a drink from my new bird bath, part of my solstice celebration. On its second morning, the water in the bath was soundly frozen. So I stepped outside early to change it. As I was closing the door after removing ice and adding water, this mockingbird landed and began to drink.

Later in the afternoon, he paid another visit when I happened to have the camera in hand. (imagine that.)

Of course I can’t be sure it’s the same bird, but this is the species that gets the bow!

Winter Solstice Celebration

Well, I call it a celebration. And the party attendees are the birds outside my door who, in only one day, have found my new feeders. It seems it may be perfect timing.

What I've always celebrated on this day is that each day that follows gets longer and brighter. I take note because soon, it won't be dark when I leave the office.

But that's if you live in this hemisphere. If you are following Noah Stryker's blog, "Antartica-- Among the Penquins", it's a different story. There they are experiencing their longest day of the year with the sun at its highest point in the sky, a sun that won't set for another couple of months.

But back to Tennessee. The beach reminiscent weather of a day ago has said 'farewell' and this shortest day of the year has ushered in a blast of frigid air. I know frigid is a relative term but the adjustment can be startling. Throughout the day we've rapidly moved into our winter coats and are destined for the teens tonight.

However, the chickadees and titmice and I are ready. My first visitor was a little yellow-breasted bird that I only glimpsed and then came a parade of chickadees and titmice. This feasting followed a day of rain with no takers. So I was happy. The party has begun.

For those of you who are experienced at bird-feeding, this may seem uneventful. But then, maybe you can still remember the silence before the first birds arrive. They have certainly brought entertainment along with them! I don't know how I'm going to get anything else done. And don't we all need one more distraction this time of year?

This wire feeder is rapidly becoming my favorite. There are so many ways the birds can hang on to it.

Doesn't this tufted titmous get the "what are you looking at" award?!

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #17 at Birdfreak.com to celebrate the conservation of our world's birds.

A Beach-y Day

When I opened the window this morning, while sipping coffee, I had the sensation I was at the beach. Unlike many other parts of the country, our weather in the TN valley has slipped back into moderate temperatures, 60's (F) in the day and 40's at night.
For the past three days we've been deluged with rain, soaking rain. But on this overcast day the wind took center stage, ebbing and flowing, sometimes whispering for an instant, then roaring through the tree limbs like an ocean tide. You can feel the air changing. We have colder temps promised and snow in the forecast, so I went out to get some bird feeding supplies. More on that later.It was also a perfect morning to play with paints. Over the past week, I have sketched the golden-crowned kinglet that I photographed in my yard. The nice thing about drawing is you don't have to have a perfect image, just a good reference for shapes and habitat. And while I sketched, I rediscovered how much I enjoy drawing. I forget sometimes when I'm away from it and then I reconnect with what keeps me coming back to it over and over again.
I used my sketchbook to get an idea of the values and colors I wanted to use, to see where I want to place the darks and lights. I tried different mixes of colors, too, so that when I begin on my watercolor paper, I'm warmed up and have a better idea of where I'm going. This is a second sketch of the kinglet on watercolor paper taped to a backboard and ready to paint.