breaking up with birds: harder than you’d think
I haven’t fed the birds the past few weeks in hopes of staying focused. What? What are we talking about?…..
I had a few days off from work and couldn’t stand starving the birds to death another second.
They line up in the deck rail and stare at me.
So I fed them. And then I feel compelled to take pictures of them. And then nothing productive gets done.
Downy Woodpecker
White-breasted Nuthatch
Another Downy Woodpecker.
Female Red Cardinals. When the weather turns cold birds are competitive feeders. They’ll spend a lot of time chasing each other away from a food source, even when there is plenty of other food to eat. Since it’s cold and these two are hanging out together, they are likely a mother and daughter combo. Male cardinals feed females seeds as part of their spring mating ritual and then change to complete dick heads in the winter and aggressively chase the females away from a food source.
I don’t have a name for this sparrow, but know what page it’s on in my field guide.
I moved my stack of 20 field guides I usually keep on my nightstand. My thought was that I don’t have time to indulge in taking nature photos and identifying migrating birds this fall. (:
Melissa not dusting 
Beautiful photos – what a predicament for you!
November 14, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Love your pics girlfriend! Jeannine
Sent from my iPad
November 14, 2012 at 11:19 pm
Love your passion expressed through your photos! You will always have your amazing talent. MuAh xo
November 15, 2012 at 12:11 am
We’ve fed birds for about ten years — the first thing we do every morning is open the curtains and watch them for a few minutes at the feeders. I also feed 10 to 15 squirrels every morning — they are so cute! Each one has a different personality — and they are very good listeners. In fact, I like the squirrels better than most of the people I know.
November 15, 2012 at 1:21 am
Taking a lady’s food is never cool. Just ask my husband :)
November 15, 2012 at 8:51 am
Wonderful photos is the norm for you girl!
November 15, 2012 at 9:10 am
a big amen to this , louie louie! she will always have those special gifts and graces and talents of hers and not just in photography. love ya, Sistuh Lisa!
November 15, 2012 at 12:26 pm
You hit the nail right on the head, buddy. I love Lisa in a platonic way as well. I have been reading a series in Scientific American about can people of the opposite sex really just be friends and they are doubtful. I feel just the opposite because all of my life, starting in childhood, quite often my best friends were girls. I always despised that testosterone fed crap that males do like beating on ya means friendship. I’ve never felt that way and loved the communication I always had with girls.
November 15, 2012 at 12:36 pm
I love the photo of the cardinal taking flight. It’s an image you could never see with the naked eye because it happens so quickly.
November 15, 2012 at 11:38 am
You can come take photos at my house any time.:) Maybe I can learn some tricks
November 15, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Our male and female cardinals are a couple and definitely not fighting over food. After the male lost his long-time mate Feb 2010, he called for 3 days. Then, a younger, lighter colored (blonder) female came. He showed her “his” food source and fed her. I doubt he would dare to be mean to her.
The sparrow looks like a song sparrow.
November 15, 2012 at 10:34 pm
Your work is beautiful whether you want it to be or not…very talented lady.
November 17, 2012 at 7:53 pm
Hitting the “Random Post” link on your blog again. :-) My favorite line: “I don’t have a name for this sparrow, but know what page it’s on in my field guide.” :-)
April 9, 2013 at 7:50 pm