All The Winged Neighbors

They are all around us. Some of the most prolific and visible life forms on the planet. In the south, we wake to the songs of the Cardinals and Carolina Wrens singing bright, vibrant song to herald the arrival of the new day.Another benefit of living in the south is that many of us have been privileged to have been dive bombed if we mistakenly walked too close to a Mocking Bird’s nest. The tiny, plucky Carolina Wrens make nests in literally anything they can fit in, and don’t mind trespassing in your garage while they do it. But, many other of our winged neighbors are less conspicuous.

Most of my blogs have something to do with wellness and the first responder and veteran worlds. Not this one (directly at least). I’d like the point of this one to be the beauty of our natural world, and, if I am successful, encouraging readers to take the time to enjoy that beauty and examine it more closely. We all lead busy lives. Some of you reading this probably couldn’t care less about birds. I’m fine with that. That said, if you slow down and take the time to listen and look, you’ll be shocked and who shows up in your neighborhood.

We have had a family of crows visiting us for some time now on a regular basis. I have previously written about them, but it is worth revisiting briefly that they are incredibly intelligent, caring, family oriented birds. As far as I can tell, this group is a father, a mother and adult child. The not-so-great picture above of the two preening each other are the father and mother. He brings her food, preens her and frequently comes down to check things out before anyone else. They frequently utilize our bird bath to wash their peanuts before consuming them and leave the discarded shells in the bath. I know people who could learn a lot from these birds. By the way, if you want to feed them, they love unsalted peanuts in the shell and dog food kibble.

The large birds are certainly show stoppers. They grab everyone’s attention. But, the small birds can be strikingly beautiful and have an array of colors that are remarkable..

The images above include: goldfinches in early plumage and late, a downy woodpecker, a red bellied woodpecker (often mis-identified because of its red head), the always stunning blue birds, a white breasted nuthatch (looks like a cartoon character to me), and a yellow romped warbler and tufted titmouse sharing space on a feeder. I also included a shot of the goldfinches doing their thing at the feeder. The camera often opens up windows into the lives of these animals that we could never imagine otherwise. Go figure what those six birds might be saying to each other…

The majesty of large birds is unmistakable as mentioned above. There is a reason that they find their way to being our national bird, sports team mascots and the subject of many SWAT team logos. They are smart, selfless, family orient and fierce apex predators. They are also all around us if we bother to pay attention.

Some of these birds are difficult to photograph well. I have come to appreciate the clear, crisp, colorful photos often found in wildlife publications more than ever. I used to take them for granted, but as I have tried to check more of these winged creatures off my list, I recognize that sometimes they just don’t pose for me like the female Red Shouldered hawk in the above right panel. The American Kestrel is a strikingly beautiful little predator, but the angle, lighting and general overcast nature of the day does not lend itself to showing that in the above photo. Sometimes, I get what I get.

If you live close to the water, the water birds are a mater of life where you live. They live on the water, near the water and fly over it and around it all the time. Many of them can be graceful and elegant in the water and much less so out of it.

I suppose I would be remiss in closing out this already lengthy blog without including our tiny friends. The hummingbirds are amazing creatures with wing beats so fast that high speed cameras have difficulty capturing them in flight. They grace us with their presence during the summer and then migrate across and around the Gulf of Mexico for the winter. It’s difficult to believe that a creature that is so delicate and so small that it would easily fit in the palm of my hand, could make a journey of that nature. In North Florida, we primarily have Ruby Throat hummingbirds. The females are less colorful and larger than the males. I also found out that the females bully the males away from the feeders, making it quite difficult to obtain a good photograph of a male. But, as with many birds, the insertion of a camera into the lives of hummingbirds reveals aspects of their lives that we would otherwise never know. They duel with each other, joust with honey bees, pose elegantly on branches between feedings and have the most delicate, jeweled, iridescent feathers.

If you made it this far, thank you for your interest! I hope something along the way inspired you to look outward and up, listen, or even put up a feeder. Our natural world is all around us filled with beautiful creatures living side by side with us. Watching them can teach us a great deal, relieve stress and distract you from the daily grind. In addition, they are a plentiful, whimsical reminder that we are not the sole inhabitants of this planet.

As I frequently try to remember to do, I’d like to remind you to please share as you feel led to do via email, social media etc. We never know what is going on with our fellow human beings and as you forward this content, there just might be someone out there who receives it who needs it. If you are reading this and not subscribed and would like to be, you may subscribe by filling out your email in the icon on the home page on the right hand side. Some people find that tricky, if that is the case for you, please contact me and I’ll take care of it for you. I hope the New Year is full of blessings and new adventures for all of you.