A Christmas Present...

 Who's my new visitor?

 SO, I've out visiting area parks lately trying to get a good shot of one of these visitors from Canada with no luck. I saw one briefly, then poof it was gone. Three different parks with no luck.

The first thing(well almost...) I do in the morning is check the feeders and see who's chowing down on my peanuts and suet. Go figure, after traipsing around parks for the past few weeks, a Red-breasted Nuthatch shows up at my feeder! I'm not leaving home again.

This little feather ball has been here a few days now and he makes number FIFTY on the apartment feeder bird list. I can't wait to see what fifty one will be...

 Ho-ho-ho by the way.

 I think he saw me in the window...

Lucky for me he doesn't care...

See you again soon!

Spring is on the wa...nevermind...

This Red-winged Blackbird arrived on February 19th.
That's the earliest date in our garden for him!

Hi. You can call me "Mr. Negative." I find it really difficult to post anything when the world is going to hell in a hand-basket (to put it nicely.) My Fatbirder rating went from about 215 to 312, oops...I better keep up with the posting!

Anyway...here's some of the birds that have been as confused as me about whether spring is nigh in our gardens. Looking through these pics, I would see snow, then no snow, then snow...then LOTS of snow...the past few weeks have been a little crazy...weather wise.

I am in desperate need for WARBLYS!!! Stay tuned...

Can you tell I just finished clearing the driveway...for the second time?!
This was during Fridays "little snow event"...
Guess who didn't make it to work?

Believe it or not, this was taken after midnight in the dark.
It's amazing how many species we get here with a freeway, train tracks and a storage facility in our backyard!

"How's a Blue Jay supposed to eat with all you House Sparrows flitting about?!"

The ever present Dark-eyed Juncos, always playing in the snow...

You've heard of "Groundhog's Day"?
We have "Chipmunk's Day" here...spring is on the way!
Oh no...that means Bobb will be back!

The Doodles spotted this Eastern Towhee tonight!
It's been awhile since we've seen him.

The House Finches wait ever so patiently for the feeders to clear out so they can have a turn.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker was cleaning up the suet...
and pecking the brains out of the Starlings!

Yep, I feed the stoopid squirrels too.
As you can tell I tripped in the snow...and over the feeder and broke the warning sign...
Graceful.

The White-throated Sparrows love those evergreens!
A great little get-away to eat seed in private.

This is a new White-throated Sparrow in the garden.
He was much whiter than the normal gang.
By the way, this shot was taken on the day the snow melted, before the big storm came...again...

Speaking of butts...

Rambling Rant...part one...
So, trying to be the good citizen and wanting my voice heard...I send a letter to Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. This letter was very clear on my feelings of support of the EPA and what it does for us and my extreme dislike for mountain top coal mining. Apparently, Senator Portman, being a good Republican and listening closely to his corporate sponsors, got a little confused about what exactly I said.

The following is copied directly from the response he, or someone working for him, sent to me:

"I share your concern that the federal government, including the EPA, has been headed in the wrong direction on energy policy. I was concerned with the recent retroactive veto of an existing permit for the West Virginia mine mentioned in your letter. This kind of regulatory overstep has characterized the current EPA and is part of what prompted me to recently introduce the Jobs Creation Act of 2011(S. 12) which would, among other things, institute a one-year regulatory freeze for the EPA, with an exception for cases impacting health or safety."

So, Rob, what you're saying is, pollution and destruction of our one and ONLY planet is good, as long as there are a few temporary jobs, big profits for "clean coal" and a little cash in your campaign fund...great.
Thanks...a lot.

Angry and Agitated About Accipiters!

Bob the Coop says "WHAT!!"

I am unable to be kept accountable for the inaccurate accounts of the avifauna we call Accipiters as my ability to accidentally identify them is abysmal. I have now accomplished my alliteration assault and shall not assail you any, aaahhhh, more. Ack.

Coop?

Coop again?

Oh, great. Spread your stoopid wings and hide your tail.
Like it's not hard enough already to figure you out!

This is my first Accipiter shot from 2004...Coop or no?

This was the first of our semi-annual Cooper's Hawk
Thanksgiving Dinners!

This is also in our front garden.
He was late for Thanksgiving, but he showed up for Christmas.
He's looking for his gift...

This was Christmas Day 2009.
He was so polite to wait at the French Cafe in our back garden for his meal.

Amazing, this is the day after Christmas last year!
Everyone should have a Holiday Hawk!

My favorite Sharp-tailed from a few posts ago.
Once again keeping the inventory in control at the feeders!

One more European Starling down the hatch!
We saw this guy in a heavy rain while visiting a friend in Chicago.

Even he's angry about his identity!

This is the no longer hungry Sharpie from a few weeks ago.
All of the birdies can relax and go about their business now...

It's not that I like this photo, I just didn't realize I added it twice and I'm too lazy to delete it.
I could have just left it here without saying anything to give you something to comment on, but I thought it would be more interesting to leave it in and make a comment on my own about the fact that this is here twice and on top of that it's a little fuzzy, do to the fact that it was kind of far away and I can be quite the crappy photographer when I feel the mood strike, speaking of striking, I sure am glad this guy didn't strike me, it could have scratched my lens not to mention damaging my hat or the little hair that is still clinging on for dear life on top of my tete.
Okay, I'm done...for now.
Yeah, done...

Oops. Did I do it again? Gosh, can you believe that I would do that twice in a single post? It's like I have nothing else to post today so I'm filling up space with my rambling nonsense about these wacky Accipiters and how their identities make me angry and agitated.
Oh, there I go again. I'm sorry. I'll stop now. Really, I will. Okay, now. Or now. How about NOW.

Boy, I can get some real doosies, huh?

A sign of spring...maybe...

No, this IS NOT a sign of spring!

Amazing. Last Sunday it was 45 degrees, and the snow was melting. You could even SEE the grass! What kind of sick joke is this? As you can tell, we have a little snow...again. We live on the west side of Cleveland because it doesn't snow much here...well, at one point in time it didn't.

So, you're wondering about the first sign of spring. It's not the Robins, they've been in and out all winter. They sort of fly south for the winter, about two or three blocks south. You don't want to tire yourself out. It could be the Song Sparrow singing, or the Tufted Titmouse singing, but no...

In this shot by Doodles the spy, you can see how much snow has fallen this week...and it's still snowing! Argh.

Here's the first sign of spring!
No, not the Starling, the Red-winged Blackbird!
They look a little angry. Red should have checked the weather report before flying back.
I'm surprised his flight wasn't canceled.

The White-throated Sparrows are still here.
I could here him yelling at the House Sparrows "Hey, I was here first!"

The sleepy Mourning Dove was saying to the confused Titmouse "My names not Peter!"
It's rough having noisy neighbors...

This little Song Sparrow has been roosting in the privacy fence on the side of our back yard and house.

I can hear him singing out there now!

The usual suspects at the feeder. Pigs.

The Northern Cardinals and the others love the evergreens we planted out front.

It's a great place to watch the world go by and escape the snow.

Here's our farsighted American Tree Sparrow. "I know there's a seed in here somewhere!"

He really needs to get new contacts.

I better get back to my full time job...filling the feeders for the feathered pigs! See ya!

Where my seed goes...

"Are you lookin' at me? Are you lookin' at me? You must be lookin at me, I'm the only one here!"*

*Say that with your best Robert DeNiro voice...

I owe an apology to the @##@*&%#@! Starlings that attack my feeders on occasion, that occasion being most every day lately. We were going through seed like it was water, fill them in the morning...completely empty by the time I got home...what the...! Of course I blamed the Starlings...the #@&*#*@! Starlings.

Then I discovered the truth. Sunday morning as we prepared for our walkies to the park to see some REAL birds...I saw him! Sitting there on the feeder, outside our dining room window, with his massive bulk causing the feeder to sway to and fro. Looking at me. Laughing. I heard him. That evil cackle. You've heard it before. Unnerving.

Do you know what it's like to have an American Crow laughing in your face, feeling helpless to do anything but watch...as the feeder is quickly depleted of lovely, energy packed, delicious black oil sunflower at you-know-how-much per pound! I watched in horror. I also took a few photos for evidence. I'll remember you! Beware the wrath of Loopy! You, you, you big piggy bird you!

"I look mahvelous!"*

*Do Billy Crystal now.

"Your seed is crap and I spit it at you...and your father is a hamster!"*
*Said with your best Monty Python voice.

"I shall rummage through and see if I shall find a seed worthy of my particular palate!"*

*Said in the voice of the Queen. God save the Queen.

"Yes, this single seed, by royal decree, shall be worthy of my regal beak!" *

*Repeat voice of the Queen. God save the Queen.

My little Chickadee...

"Hmmm, this one is just right!"

October 1st, I miss summer already, but I am excited that we are only 6 months away from spring migration! You have to put things in the proper perspective every once in a while, to keep one sane as I watch the leaves fall, waiting for me to rake them up, and pick them out of the little ponds before they clog the pumps, and clear them from the gutters...and...

The White-throated Sparrows are back en masse today! I watched them under the feeders and bushes in the back gardens upon my arrival home from the 'grind.' I went for the camera to make a feeble attempt at hand holding "The Beast" and getting a few shots of our feeders. Those little buggers sure can hide in the foliage when they spot a camera! Put it down and they continue to feed, lift it up and adios! I nabbed a couple before the sun began to set in our jungle of a yard.

The good thing about having a heavily planted(that's what I call it!) yard and gardens is the number of birds and wildlife that you can attract, even in an urban area like ours. The bad thing is, with all of the landscaping the birds have too many places to hide, and who knows what other feathery friends are lurking within!

After he picks the perfect seed, he whizzes within feet of my head to his favorite branch to open and savour his special treat.

Our birdies know that when I get home I'll be filling the feeders for them, and they wait in the bushes and low trees calling back and forth.
Very impatient...

This poor little House Sparrow, newly on his own and being ignored by an adult.

He just wants a little help getting started!

My buddy the White-throated Sparrow.

Of the half dozen or so out this evening, this was the slowest of the bunch.

Either that or he was just so hungry after travelling from Canada(Hi Susan!) he didn't care if I was watching!

Yak-yak-yak!

Our White-breasted Nuthatches are the noisiest eaters around!

As you can tell by the leaves in front of the camera, I was trying to hide so I could sneak a shot of Mr. Downy.

He doesn't like paparazzi...

If anyone needs any Eastern Chipmunks, we have WAY too many! They don't even care about our attack Squirrel anymore.

It has had a bad effect on the Squirrels ego...