Stand Your Ground

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Tina

I guess this post could be renamed Stand Your Feeder but that doesn’t quite resonate. None of these birds are on the ground–standing or otherwise–one is eating at the feeder, the other two are waiting their turn. In this bit of bird drama, it’s the younger fledgling Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus, who’s in control, thwarting efforts to dislodge him and ignoring back chat from the the European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, to the left, and the Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata, on top of the feeder stand. The Red-bellied is munching away at sought-after peanuts as the two adult birds caw and carp.

The little Red-belly wins the moment–and the peanuts!

Bird feeders are hot spots of conflict where birds demonstrate their more aggressive tendencies, protecting their food source(s) and trash talking one another. Feeders invite a microcosm of natural competition that most of us don’t observe regularly, unless we notice the wildlife in our midst.

Here, the juvenile Red-belly responds to the impatient grown-ups regarding their insistence that he hurry up his snacking.

In my head, I hear Nelson (‘The Simpsons’) obnoxious laugh when I see this teenage Red-belly looking up at the interfering adults. I wish that laugh wasn’t in my head.

Teenagers. They always talk back!

In an Audubon article Who Wins the Feeder War, the authors describe the “Hunger Games-like world” regularly seen by humans who feed local birds. From observations by Project FeederWatch and Great Backyard Bird Count participants, the authors share surprising results of feeder interactions between paired birds, noting the winners and losers. It’s a bird-eat-bird world out there, as they report a FeederWatch citizen scientist’s observation of a grackle’s catching and eating chickadees to prevent their muscling-in (can chickadees muscle-in?) on his feeder. It’s not necessarily the bigger bird who wins the feeder war, but the bird who has the more aggressive personality–or more formidable beak. The authors confirm the tenacious character of a diminutive Downy Woodpecker, Dryobates pubescens, who often rules the roost–which I’ve witnessed in my own garden–and recounts a confrontation between a Red-bellied Woodpecker and the larger Pileated Woodpecker: the Red-belly is the victor. In my garden, a similar scenario played out recently: the younger and smaller Red-bellied Woodpecker kept the adult starling and jay at bay, while the teen noshed his fill. Who’d want to get pecked by that beak??

I participate in both FeederWatch and the Great Backyard Bird Count, but I admit to not always noting the bird interactions that occur. Woodpeckers are shy, but once on the feeder, demand respect; Yellow-rumped Warblers harass Orange-crowned Warblers; hummingbirds chase everyone, including butterflies; White-winged Doves are stupid. And they stomp around on my plants.

Jerks.

Back to the peanut rumpus, the starling finally gave up and winged away, but the jay was determined to feed and wait out the woodpecker, complaining to all who would listen and it’s not like we had a choice.

One down, one to go!

After several minutes of nibbling, the youngster snatched a full peanut and shortly after this shot, flew to the nearby oak tree to enjoy his treat. The chastened blue jay was a bit gormless for a time, eventually hopping to the feeder for its share of the peanut booty.

Who needs The Hunger Games or Survivor (or American politics…) when you’ve got birds in the garden, strutting their stuff and showing who’s boss?

Reptilia

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Tina

My little female cat, Astrud, stays mostly indoors. However, she enjoys brief early morning tours of the garden and relishes her garden nightcaps after sundown. I oblige her, especially with the evening forays, as the birds are done for the day, nestled in the trees and safe from cat eyes, teeth, and claws. Astrud hasn’t exhibited much interest in nocturnal critters. She watches the various moths and June bugs, wielding an occasional, lazy swat, but rarely acts upon any instinct to kill and eat. As for the toads, she looks at them from a respectful distance and with slight disgust; she has no interest in tangling with their warty hives. However, Astrud has, once or twice, dismembered and partly devoured geckos. I grieve at that bit of predator business, because I’m fond of geckos and like to see them whole and not scattered in bits and pieces. But this time of year, there is little in the way of prey that she wants to dismantle. She spends her evenings sprawled on the driveway, adjacent to the front garden, acting as guard cat, until she’s called in for the night.

Recently, well before her time to come in for the night, I was surprised to hear her collar bell jingle near the back door. I flipped on the patio light and saw what Astrud was interested in and jingling about.

It was a gaggle of reptiles! Or maybe it would be called an assemblage of reptiles? Or troupe of reptiles? I’m not really sure, especially since only one of the reptiles is actually a reptile. A baby Texas Rat Snake, Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri, had joined in a reptilian huddle on the back patio. Its cohorts were inanimate reptiles, both made of metal and which once belonged to my late father-in-law: one represents a turtle and the second, Texas Horned Lizard.

Not too many weeks before this, I’d seen an adult Texas Rat Snake at my pond, which you can read about here. Is this little one an offspring of that big adult? Are there more of these slithery beauties around? No doubt there are more, though not necessarily in my garden; like all critters, rat snakes move in where the food sources are plentiful and they have plenty to eat around here: insects of all sorts, birds (especially baby birds), rodents of all sizes, and anything else smaller than themselves. It is odd for me to see two rat snakes within a few weeks of one another, but it’s been a banner year for reptiles in my garden.

I think the baby Rat Snake was annoyed and not with its companions or Astrud, but with the clumsy, noisy (and nosy) humans. We took photos from different angles and strategized about how to encourage the snake to vacate the patio and enter the garden. After some deliberation and a squeal by yours truly (I was going to pick up the snake, but didn’t…), The Hub and I herded slinky to the garden, where it was, I’m sure, glad to be rid of us.

I don’t know if the snake has returned to visit its kin, but I’m certain it’s still around and that we’ll cross paths again, perhaps when it’s grown a bit.

The turtle and the horned lizard remain at their posts: protectors of the patio, keepers of the container plants.

These Two!

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Tina

My recent evenings are often spent in the back garden, feet propped up, camera and binoculars at the ready, unobtrusively watching for migrating songbirds as they visit the garden and pond before sundown. It’s a quiet time of day, falling water and birdsong the primary serenades.

At least, most of the time it’s quiet. A few evenings ago, these two Blue Jays, Cyanocitta cristata, landed on the peanut feeder and couldn’t, or wouldn’t, co-feed in peace. Rather than sharing the bounty, each snapped at one another, reaching around the feeder, sharp beaks aimed to intimidate, movements swinging the feeder. Both birds were belligerent and possessive of the desired protein snack.

Eventually, the one on the left flopped to the ground and contented himself with peanut bits there. The victor noshed a bit longer, then flew to a nearby branch, allowing the vanquished to visit the feeder once more, before flying off for the night.

I typically have between 5 to 7 Blue Jays coming to the garden. Though they all look alike to me, I know the number of individual Jays because in the mornings, I pour a cupful of unshelled peanuts into a different feeder which is attached to a privacy fence. The Jays come from all over, alighting in the Oak tree and along the fence, so it’s a quick count of birds as each politely flies in for a nut, grabs the prize, then speeds off to enjoy in some distant tree, leaving the feeder free for the next hungry bird. In the mornings, there’s no argument between birds. Everyone plays nicely.

I guess like all of us, birds are refreshed and easy going in the morning, a bit grumpier by the end of the day.

I’m joining with Anna and Wednesday Vignette today. Check out her lovely Flutter and Hum for garden stories.