Thursday, May 03, 2007

Odds and Ends

I emailed Birdchick about some odd behavior I observed yesterday. I watched as a male cardinal repeatedly snatched a twig from this house wren as he was trying to stuff this nest box. The cardinal eventually went after the wren and drove it off. Sharon posted my question looking for additional comments. I'd like to post a piece of video I took showing some of the behavior but need help posting the video. Please help video-savvy blogger pals!!
This picture is begging for a caption. The winner wins heartfelt congratulations from me!

I found this beautiful heron when I took a wrong turn coming home from Molly's softball practice last night. I was frustrated at the wrong turn and running late, but this view made me pull over and stop to appreciate the "gift around the corner".

I know a lot of you have been wondering what Buddy's toes look like but were too shy to ask. Well, here they are in all their stretched out glory.

This is the view from my bedroom window where I do a lot of my backyard birdwatching. The pink tree is a Newport Plum that Art and the kids got me for Mother's Day just 3 years ago. The tree must like it's location as it has doubled in size in just 3 years. It's beautiful in spring. The blossoms all mature into little tiny fruit and then about a week later they all fall off! I've heard that's characteristic of this particular variety. We were hoping for a fruit bearing tree for the birds. Hopefully the bird-friendly shrubs I planted last fall will take off.
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12 comments:

Jayne said...

What an uber cool feeding station Lynne!! Will be interesting to hear why a cardinal would terrorize a wren.

Hmmm... caption....
"Anybody got some Gas-X??"

Mary said...

I love that feeder station! Mine is too crowded. Hmmm... My wheels are turning.

So, you saw my favorite bird, ey? Give him my best regards when you see him again, will ya?

Loved this post, Lynne. Jayne's caption is a hoot. Here's another,



Back off, crazy lady, or DIE.

LauraHinNJ said...

Pretty bunny toes! You knew I was too shy to ask!

;-)

I love plum blossoms - they don't get as much attention as cherry or apple, but I think they're so pretty!

Deb said...

I AM GRACKLE! YOU FEAR ME!!

Susan Gets Native said...

I can't come up with anything funnier than what has already been said.
Thank God I now know what Buddy's feet look like. I will be able to go on with my life.

Susan Gets Native said...

BTW: I post video with bliptv. It's kinda slow, but it's easy.
You upload the video clip, and they give you an HTML code to paste into your post.

Cathy said...

"Hey lady, you got anything for this headache? Those berries were fermented."

I promise - I came up with this before I'd read Jane's great Gas X comment.
I sure hope you get that video up and going. I REALLY want to see this.

And don't you love it when wrong turns turn out to be the right ones?

Larry said...

Excellent photos-I've heard that wrens are very agressive in protecting their own territory-sometimes damaging other's eggs-maybe the cardinal is protecting his own assets.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Jayne- My feeding station used to be the kids' swingset, made out of 4x4's! Gas-X!! LOL!!

Mary- I thought of you when I saw the "stinker"!

LauraH- I hope you'd appreciate the toes!!

Deb- The grackle looks nasty doesn't he!!

Susan- Everyone should love bunny toes! ;)
Thanks for the video tip.

Cathy- I'll try to figure out the video thing this weekend. Re: wrong turns- I never knew that little pond was even there! I'll be going back (I think I caught a glimpse of a pair of swamp sparrows!)

Larry- I never thought of the cardinal protecting a nest. I've heard too that wrens will destroy other birds' eggs within their territory. Thanks for the idea.

NatureWoman said...

Great bird photos since I was able to visit last Lynne! Don't you love it when something you do "wrong" (wrong turn) turns out so good? I love your backyard and your tree!

Anonymous said...

Since cardinals are not cavity nesters, like wrens are, my guess is that the cardinal is a bit lazy, and rather than look for his own twigs for nest building, decided he was bigger than the wren and could take hers. Is the cardinal nesting very near the wren box?

Anonymous said...

That is very interesting regarding the wren and the cardinal! I wonder if that Cardinal is a little A.D.D.?? I will send you an email regarding the video!