Here's another shot of a fledgling
cardinal having lunch with dad. There are plenty of cardinals around these days (as usual.) In addition, I've definitely seen a
blue jay feeding a chick & a cluster of 5
tufted titmice, 2 of which were fluttering for food (note that it's rare to ever see even 2 titmice here at once.)
We still occasionally find leftover
mourning dove feathers in the feeding area, evidence of their demise by hawk, cat or what have you. It's not unusual & as they say, nature's red in tooth & claw. The other day, though,
Charles found some unusual feathers in our driveway. Further research revealed the owner to be a
red-bellied woodpecker.
I'm definitely more sentimental about "our" woodpeckers than I am about mourning doves (which are the most prolific birds in the U.S.) Red-bellied woodpeckers were the first birds to come to our feeders. We've always enjoyed watching them & their progeny over the years. Young woodpeckers need to be taught how to peck & their first efforts are humorously clumsy.
There are few birds who seem to retain their prehistoric heritage to the degree that woodpeckers do. Watching them land on a tree is like watching a magnet thrown at the fridge. I'd noticed recently that I hadn't seen the adult male lately. Nor have I seen any young yet this year. Regardless of who we might have lost, it's not "just another dove" this time.
Far worse than the loss of "our" woodpecker, this article regarding
the carelessness of contractors cleaning up the oil spill makes me sick to my stomach. I suspected that brown pelicans would end up back on the endangered species list & if the "care" taken by the cleaning crews trampling these nests are any indication, I'm probably right.
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