Seeing What's Not There - Day 20

Silhouettes in Black and White  

Silhouettes and Shadows of a Flock of Redpolls

-  are emphasized in a grayscale image       

The birds that stayed for the winter are joined by more coming for the breeding season. The trees have been busy with birds flying in waves through the trees, calling for territory and mates, and stripping the ground of any remaining seeds. 

Take It To The Streets - Day 25

Pigeons Make a Soft Landing   

Overwintering Birds Look for Sand and Grit

- wherever they can find it   

The warmth of the afternoon sunshine is stripping the top layers of ice and snow off sidewalks and parking lots. Pigeons and other birds of all sizes and species are drawn to spots where earth and grass are exposed, so the birds can add some much needed sand and grit to their digestive systems after the long winter.

Take It To The Streets - Day 20

Bird Perch  

The Crows and the Ravens   

- are battling it out for territory   

Crows and ravens are clever birds who know a good thing when they come upon it. Each species puts spotters up in high places to keep on eye on what's going on. It gets lively when the spotters notice that there are intruders about. 

     

Take It To The Streets - Day 15

Redpolls Feeding in the Snowfall  

Overwintering Redpolls Feed in Birch Trees  

- they travel in flocks to stay warm and look for food  

The overnight heavy accumulation of snow does not stop these redpolls from feeding off the last few seeds left on these birch trees. A flock of twenty or thirty birds goes through our part of town every day, looking for seeds in feeders and  in any trees that have food left. 

    

Birches and their Neighbors - Day 29

Red-polls and Catkins 

Acrobatics in the Branches   

- and it's all out in the open   

In the winter, without the leaves in the way, you can see a lot of what goes on in the branches of trees.
All day today, a flock of red-polls has been making its way through these trees - fifteen or twenty tiny acrobats perching right-side up and hanging up-side down and pecking out seeds and insects as they go.
Spend some time to watch it now, because in another few months, all this activity and entertainment will be hidden from view by spring greenery.

Birches and their Neighbors - Day 28

Tracks Left By a Mourning Dove 

A path in the snow  

- with a cone from a tamarack tree  

Easily identified by its long tapering tail, and light beige coloring, the Mourning Dove is a common sight in tree branches and on telephone wires. The name "mourning dove" comes from the birds' long-drawn-out coo-coo-coo call that has been described as sounding like a lament.
The Mourning Dove's diet is mostly small seeds, which the birds peck from the ground, moving quickly to hunt for more food and avoid predators. But they don't stay on the ground for long, zooming back to their secure perches again. These tracks are the evidence that they have been here.

Birches and their Neighbors - Day 27

Catkin Rosettes

(This is the jpg - 100kB - is there a perceptable difference?)

(This is the png8 - 373kB - is this one that much better?)

Tiny pieces of birch catkin mulch, or could it be breakfast cereal?   

- or maybe a jigsaw puzzle?    

We haven't had snow now for several weeks, and the catkin detritus is drifting into piles along the surface of what snow there is, accentuating rises and falls on the ground.
These cross-section exposures of the centers of catkins show the geometric layering of three-lobed nutlet upon nutlet in the catkin, nature's redundancy.
Let them accumulate! In the spring, these piles of organic matter will provide a rooting material for newly-sprouting birch seeds.

Birches and their Neighbors - Day 24

Touseled, Tattered and Torn

Winter Catkins  

- starting to show signs of wear  

As the birds and the wind and weather have their way during the winter, the catkins will give up more and more of their seeds, and the geometrically-ordered array of nutlets on the stalk will gradually fall off.

Birches and their Neighbors - Day 22

Look Up! Red-polls Overhead

Red-polls Feeding on Birch Catkins  

- and a shower of nutlets 

I'm standing still taking photos of catkins in the early morning golden light, and I hear a whistling whoosh, and then I get a shower of something - and I look up.
It's a flock of about a dozen red-polls in the trees above me, digging into the birch seeds, and making quick work of the job.
So, picture your head cranked way back as you look a this photo, and marvel at these tiny birds - these two could spread out quite comfortably on the palm of my hand - who have to find, and are able to find, vast quantities of food to keep themselves going throughout the winter.

Art Every Day Month - Nov 19 -

Alders for Winter

Alders for Winter - food for overwintering birds 

Source Photo

Alders, birches and poplar trees provide food for birds and small animals during the winter. It's fun watching the red polls and chickadees peck at alder cones like this to release the seeds hidden inside.  It's a natural bird feeder.

Art Every Day Month - Nov 9 -

Dogwood Berries for the Birds 2

Red Osier Dogwood Berries for the Winter Birds 2  

- backlighting from early morning sunlight on overnight snow

Source photo

Golden early morning sunlight silhouettes a cluster of Red Osier Dogwood berries, food for the overwintering birds. Migrating birds have already picked the neighboring clusters bare. That fluffy cap of snow with the glowing light behind it will melt during the day, but this photograph saves the fleeting impression.

Art Every Day Month - Nov 8 -

Dogwood Berries for the Birds

Red Osier Dogwood Berries for the Winter Birds - early morning sunlight on overnight snow

Source photo

Flocks of migratory birds passed through here earlier this fall, stripping most of the wild fruit from the trees and bushes. However, some bird species stay here all year long, feeding on what is left on the trees, like these berries of the Red Osier Dogwood bush. Before the winter is over, even these bird-raisins will be eaten, and the birds will be foraging in some other trees.

Art Every Day Month - Nov 7

Squashberries for the Birds

Squashberries for the Birds - black and white conversion from color photograph

Source photo

Digital cameras take full color photos, and normally strip away information to give the image the user wants. I'm pleased with the original color image, but I wanted to show the berries as gleaming gems, hanging on the branch, tantalizing for the birds. By taking away the color, I hope that the viewer can concentrate on the shape and the weight of these juicy pearls. Oh, and squashberries? That's the local name for the high-bush cranberry, Viburnum edule. Humans like them too.

On My Back Door-Step #9

White Berries for the Birds (#9)

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Watercolor on paper 11in x 15in
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It's been chilly for the past few nights. I guess the birds know that it's time to get ready for their winter migration, and they have been descending on the trees and bushes fattening up on berries and bugs.

I have been watching this particular red osier dogwood bush for several days. There have been mixed flocks of adult and juvenile robins, white crowned sparrows, fox sparrows, juncos, chickadees and yellow warblers, and probably more birds that I haven't identified. It's comical to watch the smaller birds zoom in between the branches and the huge robins shake out the entire bush searching for berries and bugs. Those robins can manage to get an entire white berry into their beaks at a time, all the while bouncing around on a bent-over branch.

It's a great comedy to watch!

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