Sunday, January 7, 2007

The Birding Gods Were Smiling


Active Feeder
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.
I walked out with camera in hand to my front feeders. I thought I'd try to get a shot or two from outside and see what would happen. I knew the Chickadees would come -- brazen as they are.

I stood still for a moment -- just looking and heard a loud, but unusual cheap from above me. I look up and there is a Pygmy Nuthatch. Chirped hello at me and then flew in to the feeder. Thank goodness for burst mode! They are super flitty birds. I love this shot of both species at my feeder.

Later in the day, I saw two Pygmy Nuthatches at the same time. So, I have a pair here. Yippee! I saw them last year too but haven't in ages. Cute little flitty things!

Another exotic bird for my east coast friends!

Oh, and then I turned and noticed all this going on on my maple tree trunk. Beautiful and fungal. Somehow I thought of my blogging friends and hoped that they enjoyed it!

Fungus amoung us

11 comments:

Mary said...

Liza Lee,

"Chirped hello at me and then flew in to the feeder." Now, how COOL is THAT? It certainly was a great bird day for you... Now you have a pair of Pygmy Nuthatches. That's even better.

That fungus is very artistic. Looks like ice crystals to me. I like it.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your Pygmy Nuthatches!
I love your maple tree funugs - it looked like snow at first! Are there also lichens and moss on it? Very nice!

LauraHinNJ said...

"Another exotic bird for my east coast friends!"

Sure, rub it in!

;-)

Susan Gets Native said...

Your birds are so interesting...
If I saw a pygmy nuthatch at my feeders, I would fall out of my chair.

Birding is weird right now. Birds aren't where they are supposed to be. Strange.
I'm glad the birding gods were smiling on you today!

Susan Gets Native said...

BTW: thanks for the fungus pics...I am hooked on fungi now, thanks to Pam.

Unknown said...

Glad you all enjoyed them. Pygmy Nuthatches are fairly common in this area. At my parents' feeder (in the high Sierra), I saw a Pygmy and White-breasted Nuthatch at the same time. That was cool.

The fungi is totally cool and I thought of you guys immediately. Yes, I loved that shot -- fungi, lichen, and moss. Can you tell I live in a rain forest?

My winter is pretty normal -- a *little* drier than usual but not too bad. We usually get hit with rain from January through March so we're just about to have winter start here. So far, I'm not seeing any uncommon birds here and there really aren't that many being reported on the local birding list either.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Oooh- I love your maple tree fungal/moss thingy!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Lynne!

robin andrea said...

I've been out trying to photograph Golden-crowned kinglets but discovered Bewick's Wrens and Bushtits instead! I also thought I saw a Nuthatch, but later found that it was a Brown Creeper. It's been quite exciting, even when I'm not seeing what I set out to see!

Thanks for stopping by the Dharma Bums and contributing to the discussion. It's much appreciated.

BTW-- Roger and I lived in Santa Cruz for 15 years, before we retired and moved to the Olympic Peninsula in 2004. I worked at UCSC for most of those years.

Anonymous said...

Good bird photos. But, what is that white stuff?

Unknown said...

Thanks for the compliments!

Robin Andrea -- so nice to hear from a former local! You won't think my birds are exotic! :)

Sandy, that white stuff is some sort of tree fungus. Weird stuff, huh?