Category Archives: Beyond the Yard

Today’s been a funny one, on the birding front. On the positive side, I had black-capped chickadees round my feeder for the first time ever, this afternoon. On the not-so-positive side, an aggressive sparrow flew in and pecked their heads. It also pecked a house finch, a pigeon, and several other sparrows, at various points throughout the day. You’d think the bully bird would be a male, but it’s a loud, bloodthirsty little female, which seems to think it’s a shrike. Maybe it’s auditioning potential mates, and beating up the ones it doesn’t fancy. Or maybe it’s simply a birdie curmudgeon, on a tear. (Do birds have individual personalities, to that extent? Can they be disagreeable? I certainly wouldn’t want to get on this one’s bad side. At one point, it had another sparrow’s face pinched firmly in its beak, and wouldn’t let go, even when the victim tried repeatedly to take to the air. It left a nasty cut beneath the finch’s eye, and took a feather from the pigeon. The chickadees ignored it, and kept feeding.)

I tried to get pictures of an epic sparrowfight which broke out just after lunch, but the combatants kept falling off the railings and rolling about in the weeds; conditions were hardly optimal. There were three or four males standing about, apparently enjoying the spectacle, while the bully bird picked on her latest target. At one point, she forgot which sparrow she was trouncing, and went for a different one, which promptly flew off shrieking.

This little sparrow looks like butter wouldn’t melt in her beak. Looks can be deceptive.

You’d think the angry-looking sparrow puffing himself up on the…eh, thing — what is that? Some sort of outdoor cooking device? — anyway, you’d think he’d be the bully bird. But he’s the bullied bird.

For all his masculine posturing, this sparrow didn’t stand a chance.

On a much quieter note, I found a pair of mallards, on my afternoon walk. They were splashing about in the fountain across the way, but they got out when I approached.

A pair of mallards, out for a stroll.

And here are some flowers, because I know Mother’s reading:

What are these? They’re quite appealing.

I think this one’s a camellia.

I was tempted to pick one, but I’m not sure that’s allowed.

Today was a good day for chickadees, but a bad one for chickadee pictures. I found a flock of them in a tree, but they weren’t just basking in the sun, as one might hope. Rather, they were whirring madly from branch to branch, pecking something out from the leaf-buds (insects, perhaps?). They remained on each new perch no longer than three seconds. For a while, I tried to follow them with my lens; then, one of their number, probably attracted by the sparkle of sun on glass, landed on it, and wouldn’t leave. I gave the camera a shoogle. It pecked the lens-hood. I stuck my tongue out. It cocked its head to the side. I started walking away. It finally flew off, rejoining its friends in the tree. After that, I just stood and watched. I don’t often get to see that many chickadees, all together.

I wanted to get a picture of a chickadee in THIS tree, with all the flowers, but the wee berks kept rocketing off, just when I’d caught them in my sights. I got a lot of flower shots, though.

Quite the acrobatic one!

I think this is the one that mistook my camera for a perch.

I know this is a bird blog, not a bug blog, but I also found a plume moth, today: I simply must share my delight. I’ve been looking for one since last year — I caught one then, too, but at that time I didn’t know they had other wings, fringey ones, hidden under their big, flat upper wings. So I wanted to find another, and make it show me its plumes. In that, I was partially successful: while it never spread them out all the way, I did get a little keek, a hint of fronds dangling down:

I found a plume moth, lurking about my desk. I blew at it for a while, hoping it would unfold its wings all the way, but it never did.

I’ve got a plume moth.
…Jealous?

Oh, and I got mocked by some dude in the lift, on my way down. I wasn’t expecting company, when I got in, so I must’ve jumped a little. This, apparently, was grounds for amusement. “Oh, no! Someone in the elevator!” “Always expect someone to be there; then, you’ll never be surprised.” “Of course, it’s just you and me living in this building; why wouldn’t you be surprised?” Very funny, random lift guy. I’ll be watching for your Comedy Central special.