Birds of Wrightwood [Slow loading-lots of photos]

[Wrightwood]

More Steller's Jay
It's amazing that these babies are more than likely
the same as the adults shown below. The nest photos were taken on 5-29-01.











Hopefully some additional species will be visiting my bird studio
soon as I put out a new suet feeder from Mt Hardware today.

[Wrightwood]

[Wrightwood]

More Northern Flicker photos at the new suet feeder







A good illustration below that shows how a
woodpeckers head can distribute the impact.

[zelicaon]

[Mountain_Witch]

I agree Pinescent, as it is really hard to tell without seeing any color under the tail or wing area, but my guess would have to be the Red-shafted Flicker also. I always love to watch these guys go after ant mounds in the summer, they are like anteaters with wings.

Somehow, I knew it wouldn't be long before someone broke down and decided to feed more than just the Jays and Acorn Woodpeckers.   Just watch were you hang those new suet blocks as the squirrels will be helping themselves to them as well.
I can't wait till you get visited with a family of Pygmy Nuthatches. They are so cute and friendly,  I also luv the way they vocalize in a group, almost like a swarm of squeaky toys.  

Congrats on becoming a  new proud owner of a suet feeder and may you be blessed with many new feathered friends for years to come.

Warning! Bird watching can be extremely addicting with many different side affects. Here are a few signs to look for:

A bird house on every tree on your property.
No room on the second shelf in refrigerator due to storage of suet blocks.
No room in your vegetable bin in the refrigerator due to large bag of thistle.
A compulsion to buy a new feeder every time you come across one you think is cool.
Taking trips to the pet store and spending $30.00 or under on your pets and $50 or more on wild bird feed and supplies.
Having a panic attack at Costco when they move the peanuts to another area, making you think they are out.
Owning 6 or more books on birding and always having cravings to buy more.
A pair of binoculars in every room of your house.
Talking to yourself in wild excitement whenever you identify a new bird that you've never seen before.
(further studies are still being done, as some people may suffer slightly more than others)
And whoever came up with the saying "time flys" must have been a bird watcher. A short break from yard work always ends up being half the day spent just sitting around by the feeding stations.

[artology]

Great pix!! I love our WW birds. One day while calling into the office (didn't have a land line then), I was sitting in the sun and watching a couple of Flickers at our suet block. I thought they were red-shafted flickers. Meanwhile, my boss is saying to me on the phone (we get cell service on the hill behind our house) "Oh, you must be so cold and uncomfortable sitting outside somewhere to call me." Little did she know how heavenly it was sitting in the sun outside and watching the birds!!

We've seen Rufous Hawks, Mountain Bluebirds, Olive Flycatchers (?), Robins, House Finches and of course Stellar Jays, Scrub Jays, Acorn Woodpeckers and sparrows. Out in Summit Valley we saw a Bald Eagle last winter.

[artology]

PS. The birds with the bright red markings look like the Flickers we saw. They had the red on their tails--so according to my bird book they are the Red Shafted Flickers.

[Wrightwood]

In this photo you can see the red underside of the wing
which confirms that they are Northern Red shafted Flickers.

[Mikeswave]

I dont think i have ever seen better pictures than these. They are great congrats to the person who took then good job

[naturalist]

Have you noticed the difference between male and female flickers?  The males have those red "mustaches" and the females don't--the yellow shafted race (which you occasionally see up north) has black mustaches and a red nape.  Of course, the underwing color makes it easy when they fly-that lovely salmon orange color of our red-shafted race of Northern Flicker is so gorgeous.

A good illustration below that shows how a
woodpeckers head can distribute the impact.

Woodpeckers have some amazing adaptations that allow them to turn their heads into jackhammers:  They have extremely long tongues which rather than going down the back of their throat like ours, split into two and wrap around their brains, anchoring in the upper bill while they are pecking, adding crash-helmet like padding!  Of course their beaks are strong, their heads are hard, their necks are strong, but their stiff tail feathers allow them to use the power of the lever... they anchor on their feet, with two toes forward and two toes back and long curved claws for a stable fulcrum, and prop their stiff tail feathers against the tree allowing them to put more force into their pecks.  Adaptive "engineering"!

[Wrightwood]

Pygmy Nuthatch visit the ever popular suet feeder.
Their rapid and constant movement make them difficult to photograph.
They love taking turns bathing in the water fountain.

[Mountain_Witch]

I just adore those little guys, when they come around my feeder they sound like a flock of little squeekie toys.

Once again, great pics Wrightwood.

[Mountain_Witch]

Well, the Blue Birds seem to think spring is just around the corner or they just came up to do a weather check. While out in my backyard yesterday afternoon, a family of 5 or 6 Blue Birds paid my bird bath a visit for an ice cold dip. Before they flew off, 3 of them decided to check out some of my Blue Bird houses and I surely hope they were just looking for a place to get out of the cold and not seriously thinking of nesting quite so soon. Has anyone else noticed any Blue Bird activity yet?

[Chris]

[Snowbird]

Great photos - wowww!!! Thanks to everyone posting them!
What cameras were used, and how close were you to the birds?
If you please would let me now - thank you!

[Wrightwood]

Great photos - wowww!!! Thanks to everyone posting them!
What cameras were used, and how close were you to the birds?
If you please would let me now - thank you!

Let me answer a few of your questions, then I'll give you a link that has more details on the camera(s) I'm using.

I'm using Canon D60 and 10D. They are professional quality and are costly. The camera body (no lens) for the 10D is $1499. Both cameras are 6.4 megapixel and I love them. Would I recommend them, absolutely if you want to put $2,000 into a camera after you buy the body and a lens.

With that said, I would suggest for someone wanting to take good quality digital pictures to get an Olympus from Costco. They have a couple of models and one runs about $350 or so and is excellent. Many of my older pictures were taken with a similar camera. In fact all the close-ups of the baby Steller's Jay's were done with a $350 Olympus.

Here's a link that better describes some of my existing camera equipment.

http://www.wrightwoodcalif.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Webmaster;action=display;num=1046494605;start=

[makgirl]

The Orioles are DRAINING 4 feeders (two hummingbird, two oriole) every other day!  Anyone else having this wonderful problem?  I am spending my summer making gallons of sugar water.  Mountain Chickadees also have been drinking from these feeders. 

[Stitches]

makgirl must have all my hummingbirds.    I've had a feeder out there all summer and have only had a handful of visitors.   Maybe you should share your recipe as my nectar is below par.   

[makgirl]

Stitches- the hummers barely can get at the feeders with the orioles around.  I use the same sugar mixture for both: 4 cups water to 1 cup sugar. 

[lagomorphmom]

The Orioles are DRAINING 4 feeders (two hummingbird, two oriole) every other day!  Anyone else having this wonderful problem?  I am spending my summer making gallons of sugar water.  Mountain Chickadees also have been drinking from these feeders. 

You have to post a pic or it didn't happen ;-)