Baby - it cold out there

With the temperature a minus 18 degrees, the trees were covered with frost but the birds and animals still had to eat and stay warm, so out in the wilds of Idaho I ventured.

The Red-tailed hawks were trying to keep warm but still had to go out and hunt for food.

 

This Black-capped chickadee was picking of frozen sap from the spruce trees.

 

The Cotton-tailed rabbits fluffed out their fur but stayed close to cover to escape the hawks and owls.

 

White-tailed deer ventured out looking for some grass poking out of the deep snow.

 

This porcupine uses its front paw to pull in a branch to strip it of nutrient-rich bark.

 

And then this Black-capped chickadee next to the Henrys Fork of the Snake River was picking buds of willows to survive.

 

Venturing out in the cold wilds of Idaho can be a very interesting activity.

Backyard birds

After going through a major surgery at the University of Utah Hospital, my doctor's told me to take short, slow walks - perfect - to my bird feeders.  Hopefully I will be able to get in the truck to explore other areas in about a week or two.

Here are some that I found yesterday at my bird feeders.

A Mountain Chickadee -  There are several with one of them very dark, but elusive.

 

A Black-capped chickadee, one that will sit on my hand and eat sunflower seeds.

 

The American Goldfinch are one of the most numerous.

 

The House finch that keep their distance when I am out there.

 

Had to show you this picture of an American goldfinch leaving it roost and headed for a niger seed sack.

 

Four of the invasive Collared doves that waste a lot of seed.

 

A Downy woodpecker that was hard to photograph because it was continually pecking and blurring the pictures. 

A great way to spend a little time in the semi-wilds of Idaho.

Backyard visitors

This past week, my backyard has seen a lot of excitement and odd visitors.  So I do not have to go far to enjoy the wilds of Idaho.

First of all came the seed crackers.  The Red-breasted Nuthatch and the Brown creeper to join the flickers, chickadees and other wintering birds.

 

Saturday morning I looked out the back window and found this young bull moose that had lost his antlers trying to enjoy the grandkid's play things.  The tree it is looking at is their favorite climbing tree and it, and the swings are part of the "Ninja" course we set up for the energetic kids during the summer.  He appeared to want to run the course.

He had left several piles of fresh "green olives" around the lawn and I suggested to the kids that we dip them in chocolate and sell them as snacks.  Their mothers discouraged that.

On Sunday morning I found the moose sleeping in my garden.  He decided to stop by the neighbor's outhouse before heading to the river bottoms, but he found the door shut.  I am sure he thought that the "R" on the R Mountain was referring to the outhouse as the "restroom."

 

There are a lot of blessings living between the Teton and Henrys Fork Rivers - and near the wilds of Idaho. 

Backyard birds

With a foot of snow on the gound, the songbirds left around my yard is always looking for food.  Today with the warmer weather, they were still emptying my feeders.

Black-capped chickadees are very numberous.  Here one leaves its perch to attack the sunflower seeds.

The niger seed sack was a battleground for the American Goldfinch.

Here a Housefinch tries to crack a captured sunflower seed.

Just another wild day in Idaho.

Backyard birds

This afternoon after I got home from church, filled the bird feeders and watched the fun and games. About 50 birds were fighting for the food.

I saw this single Hairy woodpecker working on the suet feeder and as I approached with my camera I was able to capture him on a limb.

A lot of American Goldfinch were working the niger seed sacks.

Black capped chickadees kept coming to the feeders, but the House finch and House sparrows kept chasing them away. So I stood by the feeders to allow the chickadees to feed. These little darters kept coming in and stealing a sunflower seed and flying off.

After the sparrows and finch had emptied the sunflower feeder, I went out to fill it again. The chickadees followed me to the shed where I keep the food. After filling the feeder, the chickadees followed me back to the feeder tree, flying down and taking a seed as I carried it back.

Just another wild day in the snow covered ground of Idaho.

SkyWatch Friday - Finally

After surgery on Monday and two days locked by recovery in the house, it was time to get outside.  With zero temperatures and low clouds everything was covered with frost.  Here the sun makes a futile effort to peek out of the clouds.

With the cold, most birds were fuffed up and nestled in the trees also waiting for the sun to warm them.  This American Goldfinch appears not enjoying the cold.

While my favorites, the Black-capped chickadees, continued to flit and flutter as I fed them.  A very bright spot on a gloomy day.

Landing and taking off, hiding seeds for later, and brightening my Christmas Eve.

Just another boring wild day in Idaho.  Have a Blessed Christmas Day and may you have joy that will warm you at this sacred time.  Check other pictures of the sky on SkyWatch Friday.

Chickadees - talking

Area birders are getting ready for the 110th annual Christmas Bird Count.  It is an enjoyable activity - if the weather is not too cold - where groups of people are assigned to count all the birds in an area that they see in a given time.  One of my favorite winter birds is the Black-capped Chickadee as they are so much fun to watch.  Right now I have about 10 visiting my feeders.  Here is an article I had published several years ago about the "Talking Chickadees."  I hope you enjoy some wildness of Idaho.





“Chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee,” said a black-capped chickadee as a cat strolled across the lawn toward the feeder where several species of birds were feeding. They all flew off in a hurry.

The chickadee was soon back at the feeder, alone, feeding until a flock of blackbirds showed up hording the feeder again.

After a few minutes setting on a limb above the blackbirds, the chickadee again sounded the “chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee.” The larger birds quickly left the feeder leaving the chickadee to enjoy the black oil sunflower seeds.

A recent study conducted by Christopher Templeton of the University of Washington and Erick Green of the University of Montana, found that black-capped chickadees has a complex language. Their study found the chickadee’s call may contain as many as 15 “dees” and the tone of the call indicates to other species what kind of predator is present.

In the study, Templeton and Green, examined the relationship between chick-a-dees and nuthatches by recording thousands of calls and how the birds reacted to them.

“In winter months, chickadees are faced with a wide variety of predators that vary tremendously in the amount of risk they pose,” said Templeton. “The nuthatch is able to discriminate the information from each call.”

The chickadee call has four types of syllables and can be uttered in different tones. When chickadees sees a predator, a warning call of a soft “seet” indicates a flying predator while a loud prolonged “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” warns of a perched hawk, owl or falcon said the study.

Templeton recorded the different calls of the chickadees to see how nuthatches would react to them. One of the defense maneuvers nuthatches have is of mobbing.

He attached speakers to trees where nuthatches lived, but where there were no chickadees so their actions would not tip off the nuthatches. The recorded alarm calls caused the nuthatches to form into mobs and attack the speakers.

The nuthatches acted accordingly to each distress call that was played.

“Their mobbing is not enough to kill you, but it is enough to make you want to go somewhere else,” said Templeton.

Another interesting phenomenon that black-capped chickadees have is their ability to hide, store and remember where they place hundreds of seeds. When food is abundant they will collect the food placing it behind pieces of bark, in cracks in trees and fill small crevices and cavities.

With the ability of warning other competitors about dangers, chickadees can send the false alarm causing larger birds to fly away, leaving the cheating chickadees to enjoy the food for themselves.

Birds in general respond to alarm calls of others, but the black-capped chickadee has apparently learned that “chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee” will help it keep an adequate food supply.

I wonder if the bird world has a “wolf, wolf” story also.

 

Black capped Chickadees

Yesterday after church I heard the familiar call of Black-capped chickadees calling in my back yard bushes.  I immediately prepared the sunflower and niger seed feeders and here they came.  I will enjoy the chickadees, goldfinch, house finch and pine siskin all winter long.  The cold days will be bright by the colorful birds in my back yard.

Black-capped Chickadee

American Goldfinch in its winter plumage.

House finch

Pine siskin flying into the niger seed sack.

With snow predicted tonight, I will make sure the feeders are full for tomorrow.  I want the birds to stay to keep my days bright with their colors and battles.  These are not the only ones that will visit my back yard, but they will be here every day.