Al Larson Photography

For the last two years there have been Red-breasted Nuthatch nesting in a cavity in the old pine snag I placed in the yard. This year the cavity in the pine stayed vacant. Although the nuthatches made frequent to my seed feeders I wondered if they were ever going to nest. Then one day last week one showed up on the suet feeder. The suet had been out all winter but nothing seemed to be attracted to it. A couple days later I noticed an adult and two fledglings at the suet. The adult was feeding bits of suet to the young. Yesterday one of the youngsters was helping itself. The birds had found another place to nest this year.

These little guys seem to be everywhere in the wild. They may be found in forests, deserts and farm lands. They have found my bird feeders and sometimes there are as many as a dozen of them gleaning the seeds that have fallen to the ground. They get quite tame at their feeding areas. It is not unusual to find a nest of them in a box I’ve set out for bluebirds.  

Like all rodents they are predators.  One revolting sight I witnessed was a chipmunk dining on a hummingbird. I assume that the bird was caught while it was still in its nightly torpor.

There are probably many species of them but they essentially all look the same. They are small little critters with a body perhaps three and a half inches long and a fuzzy looking tail. The striped cheeks and back are the main identification features.

Every once in a while we hear a commotion outside. Startled birds flee and oft times hit the window. All this activity may be triggered by a marauding hawk. In this case it is a Sharp-shinned Hawk. It is member of the hawk family of accipiters. These birds specialize in capturing smaller birds for food. It’s no wonder that our song birds beat a hasty retreat when the alarm goes out that the “sharpie” is coming. The bird in this photo is about eleven inches long.

Here is a view from my back yard looking toward upper Daggett Creek. Yesterday storm clouds dumped two inches of snow here. Today the sun came out, temperature rose and the snow melted. The huge cumulus clouds to the west indicate, “There is still moisture in the air.”  I enjoy shooting these massive picturesque formations.

While traveling to Prairie the other day we stopped at Willow Creek to use the facillities there. As is often the case a Yellow-breasted Chat popped up at the top of a cottonwood tree and proceeded to serenade me. This is the largest of the warblers in North America and is also the loudest. There is no mistaking its song once you’ve heard it. Oft-times this bird skulks in the heavy brush refusing to put in an appearance. It is a treat when this bird comes out into the open and performs as this one did.

I’m sure glad our mosquitos are not all this big!

Perhaps I need a better camera. I was in the process of photographing this Say’s Phoebe perched on a power line. It gave me a grand pose. I tripped the shutter and this is what I got. The camera delayed long enough for the bird to launch itself into the air on extended wings. For identification purposes a bird is best observed in a static position. Seldom does one have time to study details of a bird in flight. In an instant the bird is gone. At least this is an opportunity to count the flight feathers