Now that I am not rushing out to the Wildlife Rescue
volunteer job or any other job, early in the morning, I have time to dine with
the birds. Generally, I am up before
they are. It seemed when I turned fifty I tapped into some previous life where
I must have been a dairy farmer. Up at 4
AM, wishing I had a cow to milk but I don’t, so, I toss and turn until 5AM and
then rise.
When I lived on Cape Cod, the sun was well up by 5 AM and I
loved slipping out to walk the dog to the bog with the dawn chorus preforming at
full decibel all around me. Here in
Texas, because we are in the middle of a time zone, and so far south, the sun
never makes such an early appearance.
Yet, I still wake at 4, still don’t have a cow, or a bog to walk the dog
to. Rather, I have embraced this as a
good time to write.
When the sky finally brightens, I take my position in front
of the window that looks out on the oaks. With cereal bowl in hand, I have breakfast
with the birds. The golden fronted woodpeckers
have had a banner-nesting season and watching them feed their young is usually
the first order of the day.
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| billdraker.com |
The adult
swoops to the feeder at my window, takes a seed, and then flies off to the perpendicular
branch of a live oak where junior is waiting.
Wings fluttering in the classic begging posture of the young, he
receives his seed from Dad.
Then the adult returns for a hunk of suet, back to the tree
and down the gullet that does; it must take 8 or 9 trips before the gawky looking,
young one is sated. Now, I can’t tell which fledgling belongs to which adult,
but the adult sure knows. Once, another
young one came looking for handouts and was quickly chased away.
More “wing fluttering” going on with cardinal fledglings and
parents. Just yesterday, I saw a young
male cardinal shamelessly begging from an equally young female. “ Get your own
seed Buster! I am not your Momma!” seemed to be her response. And he eventually did.
Ah, but what is this;
a HUGE, noisy, fledgling begging from a diminutive, female house finch. The disproportionate size of the young lets
me know I am looking at a cowbird. This
species has always reminded me of Lazy Maizy in Dr. Seuss’s “Horton Hatches the
Egg.”
The female cowbird lays her egg in another bird’s nest, often one quite a bit smaller than the cowbird. Consequently, the young cowbird nestling has the biggest gaping mouth and is fed ahead of the bird’s own young. Often, they even kick out the other nestlings.
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| wikepedia |
The female cowbird lays her egg in another bird’s nest, often one quite a bit smaller than the cowbird. Consequently, the young cowbird nestling has the biggest gaping mouth and is fed ahead of the bird’s own young. Often, they even kick out the other nestlings.
Now, it is most likely the only surviving one and follows
the bedraggled mom begging and begging.
It’s an effective strategy, but still, one that makes me feel for the
duped parent.
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| cowbird with yellow warblerhttp://travelswithbirds.blogspot.com/2011/07/brown-headed-cowbird.html |
And so each morning goes, a peek into the world beyond my window. I bet a number of you get to see similar morning rituals played out. Feel free to share, for this is how the body of knowledge of bird behavior grows. “ Each one, teach one”. It’s a good motto to live and learn by.
Oops, if I read my own blog I would see that when last I
wrote, I was promising more info on the importance of water for birds. Ah, forgetful me. Let’s see if I can remember
NEXT time, that I said I would write about that next time!
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| http://fineartamerica.com/products/birds-drinking-from-bird-bath-in-summer-sunshine-gordon-wood-greeting-card.html |
Loved the blog. I always learn so much from you. The photo of the gold fronted woodpecker was absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen one. You are blessed to be able to see and observe them. I learned a lot about cowbirds too that I never knew. You have enlightened me and brightened my day with your observations of the birds in your own backyard. JKJ
ReplyDeleteand now you just might see some of the same behaviors and go , aha, I know what you are up to! the more we "look" the more we "see" it really is true. when I walked on the Cape, I would often say a line from the Creed, I believe in God, maker of heaven and earth and all that is seen and UNSEEN. And then I would ask to see the Unseen..and he knew I wasn;t asking for angels but for something in nature that would catch my eye and I might never see again. A chipmunk swimming across a salt water creek..saw it once, bet I never do again, and as soon as I see it, I say, Thank you God! Prayer answered. Try it, ask him to turn your head at the right moment to "see" something. I swear every walk held one magic moment like that, have a grand day pat
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful idea, the seen and UNSEEN! We are going to adopt that at our house, too. Lovely blog entry, I always learn something here, too. jep
ReplyDeleteeach one teach one, we all learn from each other..I imagine that was always Gods idea..
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