New houses in the neighborhood

My neighbor that tends to the woods put these two nesting boxes up today.  He's two doors down.  I saw similar boxes on a flat area on the edge of the woods close to our house that he put up as well.  It's still time to attract Eastern Bluebirds.  They are close together which is advised if you want a variety of birds but two pairs of the same type of bird will not likely co-exist.  The example I saw online is that Tree Swallows will nest close to Eastern Bluebirds.

You can count on updates.  I wish they were a little closer but it should help with activity.

 



Happy First Day of Spring

Honestly, I forgot it was the first day of Spring until later in the day so I don't have anything "springy" to post.  I did take Russ to the groomer who is now in Adel so it gave me a chance to drive along the Raccoon River as I made my way back to the interstate.

There is a boat access point called Puckerbrush Access.  I drove down to see if I could see anything interesting.  I saw several Red-winged Blackbirds and saw two Great Blue Herons fly to a sandbar up the river.

 

 

 

I wonder what the story is here...

 

 

A barn along the way...

 

White-breasted Nuthatch and a Downy Woodpecker

The Nuthatch are my go-to birds on the feeder.  I haven't captured as many Downy Woodpeckers this winter season.  Today I was fortunate to get them both on the feeder for one picture.  I like to call these "combo" shots...

 

Notice the feet...



Evening sun

Russ is a bit of a chameleon.  He can look grayish and he can look more brown.  The evening sun helped him appear more brown and his eyes really stand out here.  What can I say, he's a good subject...

Bark

This is my river birch in my backyard.  They are a common landscaping tree.  I find the peeling bark and changing colors interesting.  The morning light helped...

Corny pics

I saw this Fox Squirrel on my walk this morning.  It was making off with a pretty good haul.  I just missed getting a real nice close-up with it holding it's prize.  So much for sharing...

A different view of a Black-capped Chickadee

Chickadees are small birds and appear small.  But seeing this one perched in a tree from the front makes it look a little fuller than you would expect...

Ash tree removal

Des Moines has surveyed trees that are at risk for the Emerald Ash Borer.  The removal continues in our neighborhood.  We're losing eight trees between Lower Beaver Rd and Sawyers Dr alone...

 

Happy 10th Birthday Russell!

We haven't had him 10 years (8+) but we know that Rusty turned 10 today.  We helped him celebrate with our traditional Spring Break game day.



 

"Go fish"

 

 

 

Letting the neighbor dogs hear it...

 

Our handsome boy...

 

 

 

Jake brought over his new camera and I showed him where I get my pictures on the feeder.  Here are a few nice pics of a Black-capped Chickadee he got...

 

Bird show this afternoon

I counted at least 13 different types of birds from my back window this afternoon and a possible 14th.  It was a sunny afternoon and I had the feeder out but for a short while it was just popping with activity.  I had a Northern Cardinal on my feeder at one point and that rarely happens.  I saw at least two Eastern Bluebirds and I think I saw more.  I saw a Red-tailed Hawk fly through the woods and up in the sky I saw a Bald Eagle.

I'm still working on better pics of the Bluebirds.  I've seen male and female.  Here's what I got today...

 

From my back window today:

Eastern Bluebird

Downy Woodpecker

White-breasted Nuthatch

Black-capped Chickadee

Mourning Dove

American Robin

Dark-eyed Junco

House Finch

American Goldfinch

Northern Cardinal

Red-tailed Hawk

Bald Eagle

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Possibly saw:

Hairy Woodpecker (I feel pretty sure I'm seeing two difference sizes)

Got some pretty snow overnight

Somewhere between two and three inches but it was the kind to pile up on the fence and branches so I couldn't wait to get outside this morning.  Here are a few images converted to black and white...

 

Same photo...had to include color