Feeding and growing...

But something is nagging me here... This little guy above seems to be the "runt of the litter" and yesterday dad was, dare I say, almost trying to peck at him and get him to go away? I thought there were three babies, but I saw this little guy with his sibs yesterday. He seems smaller and not as well developed? Has anyone heard of bluebirds purposely ignoring one of their brood? He's feeding the others like crazy. What gives?

Nuh-uh! Say what?

As I was sitting sipping my coffee yesterday morning reading all my favorite blogs, I saw something large out of the corner of my eye walking across my front lawn. Thinking it was most likely a big crow, I turned to pick up my coffee cup, and almost spewed it across the keyboard. Did I just see a Wild Turkey strutting across my lawn? Yep, I most certainly did!
I ran to get the camera, and was outside stalking her across the lawn to the neighbor's yard and then into a thicket next to them. Not great images, but she was a fast girl!



As I laughed and turned to walk back to my house down the street, she obviously became bored with our neighborhood and took off over my head in flight. I aimed the camera skyward only to see this silhouette of her as she left to find better pecking ground.

A good waiting game

We used to have a serious fast food addiction. Well, we still do, but now, for the most part, Sam only gets McDonald's on Fridays after school. It's sort of become our "ace in the hole" to ensure he does well, follows directions, and is co-operative at school during the week. Yes it's bribery, but it works. If he thinks for one minute he might not get to go there on Friday, he'll become the model student. Sneaky? Yes. But very effective, and a fairly cheap motivator.

Well, for whatever reason, on Friday the place was packed. We pulled in and were behind probably 8-9 cars in the drive thru, and there were just as many people waiting inside. I told Sam we were going to be there for a while, but those were the choices... wait patiently (which has its limits with him) or don't get McDonald's. He was getting frustrated, but chose to wait, so wait we did. And wait, and wait, and wait a minute! I suddenly remembered a game my sister and I used to play when we were waiting and bored. I told him, "We're going to play I'm Going to China, Sam!" It starts with the first person saying, "I'm going to China and I'm going to take an apple (or anything that starts with the letter 'A')." Then the next person says the same and adds something that starts with a 'B'... and so it goes. You add an item each turn, but have to repeat all the other items already added. I knew he'd love this as his brain/memory is so strong, but I was not at all sure my poor 45 year old brain would be able to keep up. We had a ball! Yes we were in line waiting interminably, but we were giggling and laughing as I struggled to remember everything, especially by the time we got to the letter L! We ordered and pulled up to the window after paying. We only had X, Y, and Z to go!

So, by the time we were halfway home, we were going to China and we were taking... deep breath.... an apple, a bear, a cracker, a dinosaur, an elephant, a fox, a giraffe, a horse, an ice cube, a jack, a kite, a ladder, a mouse, a nut, an octopus, a pig, a quilt, a robot, a snake, a tie, an umbrella, a vest, a watermelon, a xylophone, a yo-yo, and a zebra!!

Once we got home, he opened the bag to find that the french fry holder was only half full of fries and he immediately fell to pieces.... oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. That, as Oprah says, is another show.

Rainbow feeder

This four-tray feeder from Wild Birds Unlimited has been a smashing success. The birds simply love it. I usually put in sunflower kernels or nut/seed mix (and even mealworms last week) and it attracts a host of birds which would not normally come to my feeders. Thanks to my sister for a wonderful birthday gift!

The Bunting is back!

I got home from picking Sam up at school yesterday and looked out to see a blue colored bird at the cup feeder. I quickly grabbed the camera and initially thought it was the Blue Grosbeak, but then later realized that the size and beak were all wrong. It was the Indigo Bunting returning to sample the goodies! Honestly, I have no clue why all these life birds for me are showing up in this one month, but I am feeling very blessed indeed.

I was so happy to be able to get some closer shots of his blue, blue plumage.
What a beauty... WELCOME back pretty one!

Hoping for a return

When I came home from church on Sunday, husband told me "there was a little blue bird at the feeder while you were gone and I got a picture." Huh? He assured me that it certainly was not the Blue Grosbeak, as it was smaller and brighter. An Indigo Bunting? Could it be? I've only seen one at my old house, and only one day when it was raining, so I was unable to get a photo of him.

We hooked the computer up to the camera and loaded two photos he'd taken. Neither was in focus as he was in a hurry to get it before the bird left, but it was most definitely a bunting as you can see below!

We began eating lunch, and I was keeping my eyes peeled towards the feeders, when he came back with a friend! Two males were on the feeder at the same time! I jumped up with the camera, but by the time I tip-toed out on the deck, one flew away. The other (above) was so far down in the almost empty feeder cup, you could hardly see him. Drats! We've not seen them since, but it was a nice visit while it lasted.

On a happy note, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak seems to like it here, and yesterday he brought a friend. I had two males on the feeders together!

And the magic continues...

Husband came home for lunch yesterday and we were sitting at the table talking about the two, yes two, male Indigo Buntings we saw on Sunday. As I was about to take a bite of vegetable soup, I looked out towards my feeders dreaming that they might come back. Lo and behold, look what was there! Another lifer for me... a beautiful Rose-breasted Grosbeak at my feeder! Thankfully he stuck around long enough for me to sneak out on the deck and take a million shots. I am here to tell you... living on Chickadee is simply magical to me!

Oh baby, baby, baby!

The week I had my surgery, my first nest of bluebird babies hatched. I had not taken the time to check the nest to see how many there were, and I worried so much about them during the cold snap we had. Could they survive it?

Typically, I'll see them start to poke their heads out days before they fledge, but this brood stayed down in the nest until it was time to fly. All of a sudden, I noticed mom and dad were not feeding at the nest any longer and were instead flying up into the tall trees next door. I was able to see one baby with my binos, but had no idea how many there were. When I went to clean out the nest box, I found one egg unhatched.

Yesterday, I saw the male and female going to a lower limb on a pine in the tree line behind my house and zoomed in to see three babies sitting on the limb! (Click to see them larger.) I watched as they flew up to feed their new brood and got the shot below just as dad fed some mealworms to them.

I am so happy they survived the cold. Now, mom and dad are busy building nest number two!

Warble on...

"Hearken to yon pine-warbler
Singing aloft in the tree!
Hearest thou, O traveller,
What he singeth to me?"

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spring here... again?

Thursday evening, Sam was complaining of a sore throat and not feeling well. Normally, I would just keep him home, but this is CRCT week, and he simply had to finish out the test. He was not running a fever, so I did not feel it was due to Strep, and so I gave him some Tylenol for the discomfort and told him that after he was done with the test Friday morning, I'd just have them call so I could pick him up. Because school is 17 miles from here, I planned on staying around the area and doing some shopping while I waited on him to finish.

I started my day at Panera Bread eating a wonderful whole grain bagel with honey walnut cream cheese and drinking some coffee while I read Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott. I am savoring it slowly as I love to read anything she writes.

The temperatures are finally supposed to be back up into the 70's for the coming week which gives us hope that this odd late cold snap is over and we are indeed back into some sort of normal spring. So, I decided to bite the bullet and go to the local garden center. I found these pretty planters, which are the ones which have the look of concrete, but are actually made of crushed stone and resin which makes them very light to move. Hmmm... what to put in them? They had some beautiful New Guinea Impatiens, but you could not pay me to take one home. They simply lay down every other day with thirst and can't consume enough water! So I settled on some hearty red geraniums and threw in some giant white bacopa to put in the front of the pots. Turned out pretty!

On the way to the garden center, I stopped at a home decor/floral shop to check out their wicker. I did not find a chair I liked, but they had so many beautiful wreath creations, and this one caught my eye immediately. Check out all the little nests with eggs that decorate it around the twisted grapevine! A very fitting front door decoration for Chickadee Drive. OK spring... don't let me down. Say you're here to stay?

Finding a way to survive

(An early visitor to my feeder.)

I put my hummer feeders out on April 1st because here in the southeast, if the weather has been mild, you can expect some early arrivals. Well, by April 7th, I saw the first male visit the small window feeder, and so I put out my larger feeder as well. It's a good thing, as just after that, the temps plummeted. I can imagine if some feeders were not already out, these guys would certainly have perished for lack of nectar due to very wilted early blooms.


The drive to survive is innate I suppose. We just do what we can do. This was brought home to me again yesterday when I was pumping gas. As I stood there, I noticed adjacent to the gas station, there was a stall of sorts set up where some young guys were cleaning up cars just fresh out of an automatic car wash. I saw a gentleman waiting for his car to be cleaned up and another gentleman walking towards him who only had one arm. His other one was gone from the shoulder down. He had a smile on his face and was chatting with the waiting man. I pondered how he'd lost his arm. Was it a birth defect or a traumatic injury which changed his life forever? I imagined how hard life would be with only one arm and one hand, and wondered what he did for a living. How did he get by? How did he survive?

Just then, a van was moved which the guys were also working on, and there on the side of the stall was a sign, "Lefty's Car Detailing".... I smiled broadly. Sometimes we just have to make the best of our situation and keep on flying, just like my early hummers.

What a difference a drape makes

Last week, we had installation of the drapes in our study. We've had a special challenge in this room as this huge window faces the front of the house and during the day, the sun just beams into this space, creating not only heat, but such glare that you can't sit in front of the computer. So, when we chose a style it was important to us to be able to pull something over this window at peak sun times. The only solution were panels which went to the floor.






We chose this pretty gold fabric with some crackled looking wine fabric as an accent, and I could not be more pleased! The entire room just feels so different now. The acoustics are wonderful, and we no longer have to squint to see in bright sunlight!

It is amazing to me that with a proper guidance (thanks Michelle), you can pick out fabric by looking at a small swatch and it somehow becomes this! Thus far, I have been so pleased with the choices we made and am so glad we did not rush out to just buy something to slap up there.

Those LBJ's!

LBJ's (Little Brown Jobs)... I am getting better and better with ID, but they can still sometimes be a challenge for me. Thanks to Mary who had recently seen the sweet Chipping Sparrow at her feeders for the ID help. They are so tiny in comparison to other sparrows. LBJ's that blend into the brown mulch... a perfect camouflage!

Dad finds dinner

Last Friday, I stopped by Wild Birds Unlimited to get some thingies for my feeder pole system to keep the feeders from swinging around in the wind, and... shhhh.... don't tell husband... to get yet another hook to add to it so that I can have six different feeders hanging (I have two tube feeders with seed mix, a thistle feeder, a peanut feeder, a suet feeder, and my four way cup feeder.)... oh, the glee. (He has said that our backyard resembles Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds at times.) ;c)

While there, I was talking with the clerk about the snap of cold weather and how the birds must really be confused. When I turned and saw the little frig there with mealworms, I quickly added a bowl of them to my order so that I could treat my bluebirds and supplement feeding of their brood, who should be getting close to fledging.

Once I got home, I put some in the top feeder cup of my four way feeder, and within minutes, the male bluebird found them (click on him to see him larger). It was so funny to watch him stuff as many as he could in his beak before flying to the nest. He made many trips and I am sure filled all their hungry tummys. I've been putting some out morning and evening since which are quickly consumed. These babies may be so fat they can't get through the entrance hole...lol. Oh, and the extra two feeders have been hanging now since last Friday and nary a word has been said. Tee hee hee.

Isn't technology grand?

I think I have mentioned on more than one occasion that I am married to a certified tech whore. So, when my current washer started going kaput (numerous class action suits against the manufacturer are in progress) and streaking our clothes with grease while growing mildew in the drum, we knew it was time to get a new one. Husband went to the Consumer Reports web site to check out all the ratings. After reading and researching and speaking to his brother who just got one, our choice was to order the new LG TROMM steam washer and dryer. They are more of an investment on the front end, but they are also so water and energy efficient that it seemed worth the investment.

Well, my new set arrived last Thursday, and husband got it all hooked up. He is not one to enjoy doing laundry, but I knew since it was a new toy, he'd enjoy it for a while at least. These things are amazing people. First, when you turn it on, the LCD lights up with a smile which says, "Life's good" and that can make even me smile when doing laundry! But the magic starts when you push start. The washer uses so little water and spins so efficiently that when you take the clothes out, they are only slightly damp. The dryer is just as efficient, and since the clothes are not sopping wet, it takes only a fraction of the time to dry. I put in a load of jeans which, I kid you not, were dry in just over 30 minutes. And, they smell so clean! Maybe I have been smelling like mildew forever? This time, I am happy that technology makes my husband so giddy. I am feeling quite giddy about this new washer and dryer. Got any dirty clothes you need to have washed?

Still pinching myself!

Honestly... I thought I was going to pee my pants.
I saw him at my suet feeder initially, but then
my male Bluebird ran him off into the trees.
A lifer for me...A Blue Grosbeak! Oh, my...

Doing the best you can

(An Eastern Kingbird all fluffed out in the cold.)

This coming week, kids all over America will be subjected to standardized tests to determine what they know (or how well teachers have taught to the test). We use the CRCT in Georgia. The problem is that the CRCT is very gray in its content and requires a good bit of inference. Not good when your child is more of the black and white persuasion. Just attending to three hours of testing a day is struggle enough, but imagine if you felt deflated from the get go because you didn't understand how the questions were worded. Can you turn to the teacher for help? Nope, because then it's not standardized. For a disabled perfectionist, it must be overwhelmingly frustrating. For my disabled perfectionist, it causes way too much undo stress. Oh, and did we mention that if kids in your school don't do well, we'll add you to our "didn't make AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) list" because you know we are all about the current administration's NCLB (No Child Left Behind) policy. So, consequently, teacher's and school administrator's jobs are dependent on how well their students do on this one test. It's insane.

We have all sorts of modifications in place written into his IEP. Sam gets one on one monitoring, he's able to take frequent breaks, the instructions can be repeated to him, and he's able to answer in the booklet instead of having to bubble in an answer sheet. But still, he usually fails miserably. Doesn't matter that he makes all A's and B's with his daily school work, only how he performs on this one test. If you opt out of your Special Ed child taking this test, they can't get a regular ed diploma and truly are supposed to be so impaired that they require instruction in a self-contained classroom. Well, that's not us either. It's so very frustrating that there is no alternative assessment for kids like mine. I hate that his score will pull down the school's overall rating, but what can we do?

I asked them if he does not do well if he won't be allowed on to the ninth grade, and they all just smiled and said, "We as the IEP team determine his placement." In other words, they really don't care how he does. They'd love to see him meet the standard, but he'll go on to high school regardless. So basically, I've told him, as he's started stressing about Monday to just read each question carefully and choose what he thinks is the best answer. It's all I can ask of him. Sometimes you just do the best you can.

I'm free!

Two weeks ago right now, I was sitting in the waiting room at the hospital with my ID band on awaiting my surgery. Everything about the experience was good, and I wrote the hospital administrator to let her know how very pleased I was with the care I received. People rarely write to give compliments, and I am of the mindset that we should all strive to let people know when they do have it right and are doing a great job.


That first week was spent letting my body just rest, and rest it did. By the end of that week, I was feeling some stronger. This week, I have pretty much felt like myself again, and had to remind myself not to overdo or to lift anything heavy. I was a compliant patient and so I have not driven for two weeks. Husband has taken Sam to school and my parents (God love their souls) have picked him up each day and brought him home. But today, I am freeeeeeeee!

I see Dr. M at 10:45AM for my post-op check, and then.... who knows what I'll do! I am so happy to have all this behind me. Happy that it was as uncomplicated as it could have been and ready to proceed with my life before this speed bump in the road. Thank you all again for your love, your support, and your prayers. As the new quote on my sidebar says, "Sometimes grace works like water wings when you feel you are sinking." (Lord, how I love Anne Lamott.) Your words have kept me afloat these past weeks, and I am forever grateful.

Finding balance again

(Sunrise off the back deck earlier in the week.)

I have been really disconnected in my faith recently. I know exactly why, and I've been reluctant to change anything, so I should not be surprised. I am usually very mindful of Lent for it is a time of reflection and striving to do better. This Lenten season, all I could think about was my large uterus, and so was not mindful during the season at all. I usually am fully engaged in Holy Week services and find Good Friday to be especially moving. There is nothing like the transition from hearing the death bells toll to coming back to find the church decorated in Easter lilies and shouting "Alleluias" again. It is a very symbolic time and it's powerful. This year, I was home recuperating and did not give a second thought to the week at all.

But it was not just the impending surgery. I have not been using my prayer beads like I once did on a daily basis. I have not felt worthy to pray the fruits of the spirit intentionally. Felt sort of like a fraud even picking them up in many ways, for I knew what was separating me from feeling his love, and yet did not want to change things. Nope, I simply turned my back in many ways. Just like any sinner would. Don't look at me. Don't let me see your eyes tell me what I already know about myself. It smarts too much. Do I know what I need to do? Yes. Am I on the road to doing that? Yes. Anything out of balance can start wobbling, and I have been wobbling for some time. I am ready to find my sure footing again. It's a process, but at least I can admit my equilibrium has been suffering before I fall over completely. But that's the nice part. We can fall, but grace allows us to get up, dust ourselves off, and start again.

Just three words....

Isn't she lovely?
I saw her fly up into a pine across the street and then snuck over stealthily to capture these images. I am sure she has babies somewhere. Oh, to see them...

Quandry...

I looked outside yesterday to see something rather large sitting on top of this Trex bird house where I now have a Brown-headed nuthatch family. At first, I thought it was a raccoon or something, but on closer inspection, realized it was this calico cat we see roaming around occasionally. Mind you, this house is nailed to a tree probably close to 7 or 8 feet up. So, the cat climbed the tree to get on there. I watched as he then started leaning forward to try and put his paw in the entrance hole. Did I mention I have babies in there????

So, here I go, out the deck door, yelling and flailing my arms to run him off. He has a collar on, so he belongs to someone in this neighborhood. The idiot just stares at me, a crazy woman yelling! Once he realized I meant business, as in... you ARE getting down from there RIGHT NOW... then he seemed perplexed as to how he might descend. Huh... you weren't thinking of that when you climbed the tree, now were you, you monster. He finally just jumped, but still took his time moseying off as he looked back at me now and again as if to say, "I was just having a bit of fun...sheesh."

Now, I don't want to harm the vermin little darling, but what can I do to make sure he stays off this house??? Any tips to dissuade his climbing and trying to find a new toy to play with/eat? Because if I find dead baby Brown-headed nuthatches, I will be a tad more less than willing to compromise a solution.

Getting what we need

"You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need"

Whenever I hear this song, I think about the movie The Big Chill which came out when I was in college. That movie's soundtrack was etched in my mind and I remember purchasing the cassette tape of it. We could tap our toes and sing it by heart, and I probably still could. Wonderful music!

I've been thinking about those lines for the past few days... You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need. My MIL used to say to my husband that "your wants won't kill you" when he'd whine about not getting something. That makes me smile. For some time now, I've been frustrated by things I can't have. Yes, maybe I want them, and think things would be so much better with them, but I can't have them. Does that negate what I do have? Once I started thinking of it like this, I started realizing that in so many ways, I have exactly what I need, which may be more important. What is it they say? The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence, but they have to mow their lawn too? I think so often, we get so used to what we have that it seems so ordinary, and we wonder if there could be so much more. And yet, when the rubber meets the road, we find it's exactly what we need. Only then can we start to appreciate the subtle nuances of the ordinary and embrace it as enough. I am counting my blessings today...

"Seeing" the need...

As I was reading the Sunday paper, I ran across a wonderful article about a blind man who creates bluebird houses. What a labor of love...

From the article:

"Jimmy Sparrer is a bluebird's best friend. During the past 35 years, he's built about 3,000 nesting boxes for the brilliant bluebirds he never sees.

Blind since a hunting accident in 1953, Sparrer, now 84, crafts bluebird nesting boxes in a lean-to style woodworking shop near his home in Seaford. He uses power equipment - table saw and drill press - and a hammer to assemble the boxes. His hands guide his every move."

..."It's his favorite time of the year - birds are hunting for homes and the weather is warm enough for him to hang out daily in the workshop. During winter, he pretty much stays put at home.

"When my hands get cold, I can't see anything," he says."

~A Joyous and Happy Easter to All!~

You can enjoy a very wonderful Easter sermon today, even if, like me, you can't attend church. Thank you Songbird, for your wisdom and grace.

Look who showed up today...

He flew all the way from South America to enjoy... our freezing temps?
But he's here!!! (Not a great image as it was taken through the kitchen window, but the Ruby Throats are here! YAHOOO!!!)

Best laid plans...

(Playing around with the macro lens in the morning dew.)


We typically get our last frost around April 5th, but the past weeks have been waaaay too warm. We literally had several days in the mid to high 80's. We've all been lulled into thinking we were home free and that spring weather was here to stay. As I type this, it's 27 degrees outside as that huge mass of cold air has descended upon us. I tried to cover my about-to-burst daffodil bulbs at my mailbox bed with some boxes as I knew a sheet would not cut it. We awoke this morning to find the boxes in the front yard where the wind deposited them. :c(

I suppose I should be grateful as many of you are covered with late season wet snow at this point and spring has had a hard time coming in all together. But it just seems cruel of Mother Nature to let everything bloom out and then snap it back in frost. What is the lesson? Be happy with what you have while you have it. Breathe in each day, each moment, and appreciate the view you have right here, right now. Tomorrow, things may be very different. Savor and soak in the beauty to be found each and every day.

He's in there... somewhere

(Do you see my hidden visitor?)

Yesterday, was a milestone day of sorts. Oprah finally did a show on autism. The autism community has, for years, sent all sorts of pleas and ideas for shows to raise awareness which seemed to fall on deaf ears. Now that the incidence is upwards of 1 in 150 kids, and the CDC has deemed it a "national health crisis," people are talking. Or, it could have something to do with Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child diagnosed with autism. Bob Wright is Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of General Electric, and Chairman and CEO of NBC Universal. He and his wife apparently are real movers and shakers, as the autism community has been exploding with media coverage recently. The Wrights, with their substantial ties and resources, have created Autism Speaks which has become the premiere voice for families impacted by autism. Check out the Autism Every Day video on their site. It's heartbreaking. One line by a mom haunts me.... "He's in there somewhere."

In 1995 when Sam was diagnosed, we were handed a box of Kleenex and given a pat on the back. As in... sorry, there's nothing to offer, but here, cry a while and you'll feel better. I knew no one who had a child with autism. There was little if anything about it in the media. All my research was done on-line and I became part of this almost underground network of parents located throughout the country who refused to believe there was nothing to be done for their children. They were my lifeline, my oxygen, in those early years. We embarked upon intensive ABA therapy for Sam, and he progressed like wildfire. I shiver to think what my life would be now if we had not done what we did. An out of control 3 year old does not seem nearly as tragic as an out of control, self-injurious, non-potty trained 14 year old. There but by the grace of God, go I. I know how lucky I am that we were able to reach Sam in many ways, but so many families don't have these results. Their lives are simply taken over by this disability.

There is still no real known cause, and no one-size-fits-all treatment. Some kids will progress with therapy, others minimally so. It's a true spectrum disorder and runs the gambit in terms of level of functioning. But, I do know this... if every day in America 67 kids were just disappearing, we'd really see it as the national health crisis that has become. Someone would be determined to figure out what is happening in the brains of our kids.

Embracing grace

(Phlox in the morning dew.)

When we left the hospital Saturday, Dr. M. uttered words which were hard for me to hear. She said, "This first week at home is all about full and total self care. I don't want you doing any more than you would if you were still here, OK?" I smiled and nodded that I understood, but am not sure I was really ready to embrace this. Why is it so difficult to surrender to your body's need for rest and recovery and just "be?" What is it in me that for so long has not allowed myself to be fully cared for? I can easily care for others, and do it with glee. But when it comes to simply allowing others to be there for me, I struggle.

I have been overwhelmed at the outpouring of love and concern from people. I have received countless e-mails, cards, and phone calls. I was discussing all this with my wise friend Mata last night, who has faithfully called to check on me. I told her how hard it's been to allow myself to be cared for, and she had a wonderfully insightful reply. She told me that allowing others to care for us and graciously accepting it with surrender is allowing grace to come in. It allows God to work through them. Not accepting it is not embracing the grace so freely offered to us in the expression of His love. Wow... chew on that a while.

So, I have done pretty much nothing. I have slept, I have breathed, I have read, I have kept my feet up, I have held my face up towards the sunshine and wept at the love and care so freely offered to me by those around me who really have been concerned about my welfare. Grace is flowing... and I am worthy to receive it just because "I am."

Downy Morphs?

Here is a typical Downy Woodpecker on the left that I see at my feeders. Well, on Sunday, as I was looking out my window, I saw something that looked like a Downy, but the coloration was all off. She was on my suet feeder and where there should have been white, she was all tan and an almost glimmering gold? For a while, I was not at all sure it was a Downy at all, and I looked for her to come back so I could get a photo of her to study. She finally arrived later in the day and I got this shot below (click on her) from the back deck door. I kept studying the photo, and even wondered if the aberration was due to my trying to rid my body of all the drugs from surgery, but no, there was definitely a color difference I'd never seen before.


Yesterday I was out on the deck reading in the sunshine when I saw, what I thought was her, return. I ran in (well, walked gingerly) to get the camera so that I could get a better shot. Imagine my surprise when I loaded them onto the computer and saw that I was looking at the male version of this color morph. You can see his red cap better in the bottom photo below.

I sent the photos to my very helpful bird expert, Mike, who very kindly informed me that this coloration is generally seen in the more western species of the Downy. So what on earth is this pair doing in northwest Georgia? Were they on the way to Arizona when they took a wrong turn?

Regardless of why they ended up here, I think they are just fascinating and I am so glad they stopped by to enjoy some suet.





***Update: I shared my photos with Don and Lillian Stokes and got this nice reply:

"Here is more technical info from the new "Stokes National Field Guide to Birds" which we are writing:

There are seven subspecies of the Downy Woodpecker divided into 3 groups.

The "interior western group" does not seem to have the brown. The "eastern group" covers everything from north central Alaska to northeast Kansas and east, and Downys in the eastern group can have the brown staining on them. Downys in the eastern group have more heavily spotted wings than the other groups and yours nicely illustrate this. In the eastern group there are two subspecies. Your subspecies is "pubescens", found from southeast Kansas to southeast Virginia and south.

The only other group that has this brown stained coloration is the coastal pacific group which has reduced spotting on the wings.

Obviously the brown staining is not that usual, or we would all be seeing Downys like this.

So lucky you."

"Sam-ism"

Last week, I was cleaning the house before my surgery so it would be clean and be one less thing to worry about. I was upstairs cleaning Sam's bathroom and pulled back the shower curtain. As I was removing the shampoo and such in order to clean, I realized that there was no bar of soap in there. I picked him up from school later and this conversation ensued...

Mom: "Sam, when I was cleaning your bathroom today, I noticed that there was no soap in your shower. Where is your soap?"

Sam (after a momentary pause): "Mom, it just got smaller and smaller and smaller...."

Mom (now laughing and shaking her head): "Sam, you need to ask Mom to get more soap when it does that, OK?"

Sam (also laughing now): "OK, Mom."

I have no clue how long he's been showering without any soap.... (sighing)... oh, my concrete child.