O_M_G - The Pileated Woodpecker

This is probably the most exciting post I am going to put here. Since I started birding all I hear about is the elusive Pileated Woodpecker and how many birders go a lifetime without seeing one.  My handy dandy Bird Book told me they were here, so of course I had the instant need to see one. I talked to Kelly about it and he basically had a deep belly roll laugh at my expense. He said that there was no way possible for me to see one here in my yard. He went his whole life never seeing one, and I would just have to settle for pictures in a book. HMMMMM...That just made me want to lure one in even more. 

Well, on this day I was happily in my room doing nothing special when I heard Kelly shout to me to come fast and to grab my camera. I did as I was told. He was at our back garage door and with a shocked faced he said, omg you are not going to believe this, look outside the window. I did and what did I see looking at me.... O_M_G!!!! I was so excited my big ole thumb got in the picture, but you can clearly see him. It was a male Pileated Woodpecker, SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, lol. This was beyond crazy. I can not even put into words the excitement I felt. Kelly was pretty dumbfounded and so was I. The pictures are total yuck, BUT WHO CARES. I have picture proof of my sighting and that is so cool. The story wouldn't be half has great if I didn't have a picture to back it up. He kept peaking up and down at us from behind our retaining wall. 

He than flew off and headed for a dead tree stump we have in the yard to get himself a little snack. Oh how wonderful this guy was to see. He was ENORMOUS, almost a bit scary at first. He definitely makes a statement when he's present. I wonder if this was a freak visit or if he will return. I willed him into my yard, which is a bit crazy. even my husband was puzzled that as soon as I started asking for one, he appeared. Maybe I'm secretly the Bird Whisperer?  I have read that once a pileated settles into a location they are usually there for life, I could only be so lucky.

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Yes Yes Yes, it finally happened and this big fellow showed up in the yard today! He is my very first Red Bellied Woodpecker. I'm hoping he is one of many that decide to frequent this year, he didn't hit the feeders, but he is sniffing around on the ground which is a good sign. He is a lot bigger than I expected him to be, and it was really a thrill to see him. I knew what he looked like from my birding books so I was hoping to spot one.  Now lets hope he brings his friends for a free buffet. I have a variety of things out that he should really take quickly too.  As you can see from this picture we seriously need to cute the grass HAHA :) 

Cleaning Up More Flower Beds

Today we cleaned the right side of the house. We had some serious overgrown weeds all over the place and some over grown ornamental grass that needed some serious attention. It was spreading all over the place and needed to be tamed.  We had done some cleaning in this area before, but today we will add the final touches. 

We needed a method for confining the wild grass and Kelly came up with a great idea to use our left over flower bed pavers to keep the grasses isolated just around the satellite dish area. I did not want the grass growing into the near by bush you see here in the above picture. It was overwhelming the bush and killing it.  As you can see we confined it! 

(Update 2014 - The above picture makes me really sad. Maddie is in the picture , The grey colored cat, and she went missing just after this picture. It was a heartbreaking lose for my husband and I. Very sad to see her in these pictures, it seemed things were so perfect than. A perfect moment in time). 

Downy Woodpecker

Today I got visited by a female Downy Woodpecker. How exciting!!! My first Woodpecker for this yard. She apparently liked my orange flavored Oriole suet, lol. I'll have to buy more now that I know that she likes it. 

I was so excited when I saw her. I'm new at taking bird pictures - my hands were shaking from the excitement lol. I also have no idea how to work my fancy camera yet either. More learning to do here.

When she took flight I tried real hard to capture it.  I didn't have my camera set to the right f/Stop, but it still came out cool.

My first 'real' bird sighting. It was a great day!

Wild Coyote

This is the third post of the day and this one is pretty special. Kelly and I ran across this Coyote on the gravel road that heads to the main highway as we were headed to Lowes to get more yard project supplies. I was lucky enough to have my new camera on me (my Canon 60D) and was able to get up close to this injured Coyote. 

I'm not sure how the injury occurred, I was not present for that. I'm also not sure of the faith of this animal because it most definitely had a broken leg. There was a couple in there truck that were at the location first, and they were dealing with the situation. If I'm not mistaken I believe they put the animal out of it's misery. Kelly and I left, I did not want to be a witness to it. Each time I look at this picture I am in awe because this is something I won't ever see again. 

Wildlife is awesome so always capture it best you can - when you can. 

SNAKE!!!, Run as fast as you can.

I know I have mentioned in a past post the importance of keeping tall grass trimmed down from the base of trees in our yard. When the grass is too tall it is an open invitation for a black rat snake to come visit.  Well as  you can see by this picture, the grass at base of tree was way too high.  Of course since this incident, Kelly has done an awesome job keeping the base of trees clean of brush, but that is now and this was then. 

I was out just minding my own business at this tree checking out the bird feeder above attached to it. I think I was trying to determine if it needed refilling. I got REALLY close to the base of the tree and before I knew what was happening this snake popped out and whipped it tail and scurried back down. I must have startled it when I approached the tree, but in the process it's tail hit my lower leg. Oh boy did I freak out. I even called Kelly at work crying, LOL.  The feeling of the tail touching my leg haunted me for days. I still feel a bit queasy just thinking about it - HAHAHA :) I was smart enough to grab my cell phone and snap a few quick shots. I was so not going to have Kelly tell me I imagined it all. I also had never seen a black rat snake up close before, and the size and girth of it had me shaking in my shoes. Here is the tree with and without the snake hiding around it.

I highlighted in the red box where he was hiding. Look at how alarmingly thick it is. It looks thicker than a garden hose. I feel faint looking at the picture, lol. That nasty thing touched my leg. For weeks I could not hang my legs over the sides of anything (the bed etc) even in the car with my legs hanging over the sea without fear of something coming to get me!

That same day Kelly cut down the grass the surrounds this tree :) 

Birds Chronicles for Today

As I mentioned this is the second post for today.  It was a super busy day with a coyote, flowers and birds. Yes I said Coyotoe so stay tuned for that coming up in the next post. This is the bird portion so let's hop to it, or is that let's Chirp to it? I have really started LOVING birding so I decide to load up the yard with some fun foods to see what I can attract. I did a ton of research so that I was at least close to putting out the right foods. Similar to everything else in this yard this is all an experimentation and a learning experience. It takes years sometimes to set up strong stable habitats in your yard, so I figure it will take me a while before I find a winning combination for feeding the birds here. You have to start somewhere.

I added so many bird feeders the last few weeks, I kinds of lost track, lol. I have a feeder for each of the birds I am trying to attract. Here is a bare bones list of what I am hoping to see:

1. Any type of Woodpecker
2. Oriole
3. Hummingbird
4. Cardinal
5. Goldfinch

Below is a window. It looked like a good idea, and I figured my cats would love the close up view, but it didn't hold well to the glass. The suction cups could only do so much before they let go. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. I also see I need to clean my windows HAHAHA.

The day started rainy and dingy. The pictures have a little too much contrast for my taste today. I don;t mess with editing them, too much work! The sun finally breaks out in the afternoon, and the picture quality improves tremendously.

I did have one cute little visitor today, but it was a butterfly. He was not quite a bird, but he will do for now. As for the birds, the buffet is now open. Please line up single file and PLEASE no pushing. Everyone will get a plate :)