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Saturday, February 14, 2009

inches & finches: another layer of winter . . .



. . . four white inches and counting. The birds that had been away scouting easy food on the land for 10 days are back and gorging at the feeders. I counted 30 finches at this one maple tree alone. There weren't any perches left for this amazing hanging goldfishfinch. A split second later he was clutching the tree bark waiting his turn. I get the feeling the other finches are looking at him like "wow, how do you do that?" I know I was.

These three - American tree sparrow, goldfinch and downy woodpecker - managed to share the tower. How's that for Love Day behavior?


60 comments:

Loring Wirbel said...

The robins have started wintering in Colorado, supposedly because of global warming. Nice to see them in February, but scary.

I won't even mention woodpeckers. We have so many that have fallen in love with the house, I have to run around the house constantly, hollering in a loud voice to scare them. One perches on the Ponderosa pine in front of the kitchen, and as soon as I run to the back to yell at his friends, he comes right back to the kitchen deck to start pounding. Shameless.

♥ Kathy said...

aww the poor cold babies :( beautiful pictures though! Happy Valentine's Day Ruth :)

Dutchbaby said...

I live the goldfinch in mid-air!

I stopped putting out suet because the squirrels always manage to knock down the feeder and they somehow are able to open it and eat the entire cake in one afternoon. I swear they have opposing thumbs, unless they get help from their raccoon buddies.

Dutchbaby said...

I meant I love the finch, not live :)

Ruth said...

Loring, when I sit here in the family room alone and the house is quiet, I hear them pounding on the house too. But nothing like your gang, wow. I haven't thought of them as pests yet, but I can see why you would!

Thank you for the image of you yelling at them.

Ruth said...

Happy Valentine's Day, Kathy. I'm still a little stunned by your post about that lady with the 2-foot fingernails. :|

Ruth said...

Funny, Dutchbaby, I read "love."

I hear about these squirrel stories from my town friends. They are rare out here on the farm for some reason. But raccoons, now they are another story. Don't leave anything on the porch you don't want eaten (read sunflower seedlings).

rauf said...

There's a war going on at every inch of this earth Ruth, on land or under the sea. Herbert Spencer was not wrong when he said its the survival of the fittest.

You have made their survival a bit easy Ruth. No need to fight. And i say wow ! how did you do it ? You caught one in the air. Imagine him doing some very fast thinking. He has to decide in a fraction of a second.

Tiffany said...

RUTH!!! Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you have a fabulous day!

Dakota Bear said...

Happy Valentine!

With the weather warming I am starting to see more birds at my feeder as well.

It's interesting how that one finch is just hovering.

Haven't seen the first Robin yet, but I thought I heard one singing.

ds said...

Fabulous photographs, Ruth! How did you capture that little guy in midair?
Happy Valentine's Day!

Anet said...

That is a great shot Ruth!
Also the last one with the three different birds. I love when that happens.
I wasn't too happy to see the snow this morning, but I shouldn't be surprised, we are in Michigan.
I hope your day is filled with tons and tons of LOVE!

Gwen Buchanan said...

That is too cute Ruth.. The Magic Bird shot!! Glad you couldn't resist sharing it!! you are such fun!!

photowannabe said...

Your mid air bird is quite amazing and that he would hang on the tree bark is even more so. I love all the different birds that call your place home.

Cindy said...

Love the bird photos! Love reading your blog daily.
Thanks for sharing.
Happy Valentines Day
Cindy

Jane Lancaster said...

thanks for coming to visit! i'm so thrilled that you like my blog enough to make a comment. happy V day! i will pass on your regard to my kooky mum and dad!

Susan said...

I think that goldfinch must have taken lessons from a hummingbird! Great shot, Ruthie! Spring can't be too far away. The goldfinches are starting to get some color. I love watching them turn from olive green to bright yellow.

We lucked out this time and only got a dusting of snow.

Speaking of sunflowers, I saw a beautiful almost-white one in Johnny's Seed catalog. It is beautiful!

Anonymous said...

We call that your Valentine`s day
"a day of a friend" and a friendship and sharing are in your photos.

I just got to hear, that the father of our daughter - in law has died last night. Now our son`s family is there, they were coming here just today, now I don`t know, what will happen.

Beautiful Sunday to you!r

Coffee Messiah said...

We had heavy thick snow yesterday morning and a few hours later it was all gone.

All except the flooding rivers ; (

Nice photos! Cheers!

*jean* said...

ooo i love bird posts...i can hear the cardinals already this morning....and we have seen a robin here in the last week...very surprising.

we drove to our camper yesterday to check it out and while we were winding our way through the woods, we saw a pair of bald eagles....

spring will be here soon...hope you had a nice day...

Ruth said...

rauf, good reminder about Spencer when everyone is thinking of Darwin on his 200th birthday.

Sometimes I question putting birdseed out for them, don't want them to depend on human provisions.

Ruth said...

Thank you, sweet Tiffany! I hope you had a loving day. Your post was so COOL.

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Fine cohabitation so far from our so awful "selected immigration" !
immigration choisie in French.

Ruth said...

Hi, Dakota Bear, in the warmest days last week the birds were completely absent here. The ground was open, uncovered by snow, so they must have found food easily. When the snow started Saturday morning, they were fighting over the feeders.

Ruth said...

Hi there, DS! It was pure accident to catch the bird like that, believe me. If you take enough shots, one or two are bound to offer sweet surprises.

Ruth said...

Anet! Thank you so much, I feel the love.

The sun is gorgeous today, and the sky is so blue. I hope you're having fun with your family this weekend. You have been busier than ever with Noah, even with your increased work hours. I hope you're feeling good.

Ruth said...

Gwen, this was a better situation for me to shoot the birds as I was sitting in the car, not out in the little blind. :)

Ruth said...

Hi, Sue, I think we've counted about 40 birds here. The energy and quick maneuvering abilities they have is remarkable.

Ruth said...

That's very nice, Tom and Cindy, thank you. Happy belated Valentine's Day to you too. I hope you have sun in Indiana today like we do in MI.

Ruth said...

Good, Jane! Kookiness is hereditary you know.

Ruth said...

Susie Q, I was thinking of the color change yesterday when I was shooting the birds.

Today it is gorgeous here, bright sun and blue sky, so the snow is glorious. (Did I say that?)

We ordered our seeds from Johnny's, but I don't remember seeing one that's almost white. We ordered online, maybe that's why.

Ruth said...

Leena dear, I am very sorry about that news. Your grandchildren have lost a grandpa, that is a sad time.

Your amaryllis for VD is a healer.

Ruth said...

Coffee Messiah, you must be down south of me somewhere. Our fields are in standing water too. We just had snow after snow after snow all winter.

Ruth said...

J and Z, a robin in Minneapolis??

I have never seen eagles, you saw two at once. Are you sure you're not in CO?

Ruth said...

Deslilas, do you mean we are inviting certain birds here? I'm not sure I understand. :|

GailO said...

What a great capture of the goldfinch in mid air! Perfect timing!

We aren't getting snow here in S. New England....it seems mud season has started early:(

Tiffany said...

Thank you so much Ruth! My day was full of shopping and movies! I will send you an email about how I did the photo montage.

Tiffany said...

Okay that didn't work...I wasn't able to email you so here you go:

1. Go to photobucket.com
2. Type in a search term. Example: Love
3. Pages of images will come up
4. Skim through until you find an image or photo montage of your liking
5. On the right side of the screen towards the bottom there will be a section called "Image Link Code". This will have a variety of ways to transfer the photo or montage to your blog. I used the HTML code and pasted it into my "Edit HTML". You can get to that when you make a new post. Instead of the "Compose screen" you just click the tab for "Edit HTML". Always make sure you preview!

I hope this makes sense.

Have a wonderful evening!!!! Did you and your husband do anything special?

christina said...

They are so cute! I want to warm them up. : )

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

The Finches have arrived here as well. Like little yellow jewelry in the trees. No snow, though. Still hopeful.

sandy said...

Gorgeous pics, especially that top one!... Hope you had a great V day.

PeterParis said...

The view of the finch "sitting" in the air waiting for some available space is just fabulous!

Always amazed to see how different kinds of birds often seem to live well together (not all kinds of course!)!

Was this the last snowfall?

Ruth said...

Hi, Oliag! I just snapped away and got lucky on a couple of the shots. They are moving so fast.

Ah, mud season, time to take out the wellies!

Ruth said...

Tiffany, I appreciate the information about the cool photo montage. I was impressed.

Ruth said...

Oh, I forgot to mention. Don and I went out for V Day a week before, to avoid the crowds. We had a great time at our favorite restaurant. Then on V Day we had special friends over for dinner and had a fantastic conversation!

Ruth said...

Lovely Christina, I think we have a thing or two to learn from our birdies. I would love a layer of feathers or down like they have.

Ruth said...

Pamela, are you hopeful for snow??

Tree jewelry, ah, that's a memorable description. Thank you.

Ruth said...

Thanks, Auntie Sandy, we loved watching it snow all day and seeing the birds go nuts. I am so lazy compared to them. Well I'm lazy period.

Ruth said...

Peter, we've seen around 40 bird species here at the farm. Not all hang together though.

No, I doubt very much that this was the last snowfall. We will have more even in March and maybe in April too.

Anonymous said...

i love those pictures!!!

did u see the photo of a koala and the fireman?

Edward Yablonsky said...

It is amazing just to observe the creatures of God, these birds ,and what they can teach us in volumes and that in just a few moments of time.

Ruth said...

Thanks, Renaye. Yes, that photo was very heartwarming!

Ruth said...

Edward, one of my favorite types of discovery is when I read a science article about doctors or scientists using methods learned from Nature's patterns.

Tiffany said...

Anytime, Ruth! It sounds like ya'll had a great time for Valentines day! I just stayed in and enjoyed some me time.

Edward Yablonsky said...

I just attended a Steven Horne webinar on herbal healing and the body with which I will share with the group later,with your approval .

humanobserver said...

wow they look so cute.

Ruth said...

Tiffany: :)

Ruth said...

Edward, if you mean here in a comment, no need for my approval!

Ruth said...

Hi, Deepak, they are cute, and they have a world of skills beyond me.

Edward Yablonsky said...

Following the way of natural healing and observing nature is also a form of healing. I would like to share the wonderful herb for healing:red clover. Exotic remedies grow simply in our own back yard. And so it is with Trifolium pratense. Nature the great healer. Here is the quote from the newsletter. It is an herb one at least ought to read abour:

Herbally, red clover is a blood purifier and is often used to clear up skin conditions like acne, rashes and eczema. The herb is also used to treat overactive, dry, irritable or inflamed skin because of its soothing, cooling and moistening properties. It is typically combined with other blood purifying herbs like burdock and yellow dock, as in the blood purifying formulas BP-X and Enviro-Detox. It is also in the laxative formula LBS II.

Red clover is a mild expectorant. In Russia, folk healers treat asthmatic patients with red clover. It is used in Ireland for winter colds. It has also been used for coughs, whooping cough, wheezing and bronchitis.