More on Big-Beaked birds

Jim Sims picked up the story of my backyard big-beaked Hairy Woodpecker, writing about it in the October issue of Muskrat Express, the newsletter of the Williams Lake Field Naturalists.

Read on at   http://www.williamslakefieldnaturalists.ca/newsletter/Muskrat%202011-10.pdf

Big-beaked Hairy Woodpecker

I'm no bird expert but for 12 years I've been watching and photographing the birds in my (Cariboo) back yard. Among our most frequent visitors are the hairy woodpeckers. I'm not sure I could tell one from another, except that the males have a red flash on their crown.

So, when I saw this one, I did a double take, thinking it was probably a variety I'd never encountered. But other than a beak three times as long as all the other Hairy visitors (see inset), he was the same. Nothing like this in the bird guide and our local bird guy, Tom Godin, agreed.

He's a regular visitor, gets on well with the other Hairys and seems to manage OK with his long beak. I think he even has a bit of an advantage getting deep into the suet cage, though my impression is that getting food down his beak and into his body is a little more time-consuming.

Have you ever seen a Hairy woodpecker like this? Either way, I'd welcome your comments.

For more about my birds: Birds from a Backyard Deck.

Birds from a Cariboo Deck No.11: Hairy Woodpecker

Looks similar but is much larger (around 9 inches) than it's smaller version, the diminutive (around 6 inches) downy. An early lesson in my birdwatching: "Huge Hairy, diminutive Downy".

Spring brings the Hairy woodpecker pairs out, chasing each other in spirals around the Douglas fir. As the young grow into their adult plumage, you can still see the adults feeding them from time to time.

More Birds from A Cariboo Deck

Birds from a Cariboo Deck No.10: White-crowned Sparrow

The bird of the moment: our back yard is presently filled with these cute, little birds.

More Birds from A Cariboo Deck

Birds From a Cariboo Deck No. 9: Ruffed Grouse

This was the grandest-looking of a family of four that visited in the fall; so, probably the adult male. They are not the most refined of flyers, especially when startled: flying into fences and walls. Fortunately I saw this one in time.

More Birds from A Cariboo Deck

Nature Diary of a Wilderness Dweller by Chris Czajkowski

My current and recommended reading for those interested in the life and world immediately around them:

A MOUNTAIN YEAR
Nature Diary of a Wilderness Dweller

In 1988, Chris Czajkowski walked into British Columbia's Central Coast Mountains to build a homestead, a business, and a life. A Mountain Year is a beautifully-produced art book full of original paintings, sketches and diary entries, offering an awe-inspiring glimpse into the life of this independent spirit and the landscape that she calls home.

In this illustrated journal, Czajkowski intimately describes the splendour of seasonal transformation with her trademark expressiveness; each day brings new obstacles and surprising revelations. At the start of the year, she writes, "The night was bright with a silvery soup of moonlight refracted off snowflakes fine as stardust." Spring arrives with breathtaking beauty and summer brings company from abroad. In the fall, Chris travels back to her first autumn at Nuk Tessli when she views "an extraordinarily beautiful moment. The clouds hung low enough to almost touch the water . . . and a wonderful, bluish, pearly luminescence covered everything." Prepare to witness the magnificence of a year in British Columbia's high-altitude wilderness, a place of astounding natural beauty like no other.

More about Chris Czajkowski

Birds From a Cariboo Deck No.8: Evening Grosbeak

Male

Female

Those of you living in Douglas fir territory might have noticed flocks of these birds from time to time, especially if you have a feeder with good supply of black sunflower seeds. Apparently they tend to follow the outbreaks of spruce budworm (right). These are the worms that descend from the higher branches on a thread of silk, until they land on lower branches where they begin to feed on the tender shoots and buds of their host; or on bare ground, where they usually die. The grosbeaks are no doubt one of an array of natural controls and they seem to enjoy chasing the moths too.

Spruce Budworm

For more on Cariboo birds, see my Birds from a Cariboo Deck

Great Horned Owl family on livecam at Thompson Rivers U in Kamloops

Thompson Rivers University has a pair of horned owls nesting on campus and is sharing the experience around the world via streaming live video. The parents are taking care of two offspring. Urban nesting is unusual and the nesting is a little earlier than usual. The family seems to be doing well.

Live Video - Horned Owls nest on campus

More about the Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl photo by Zest-pk under a Creative Commons License.

More BC Interior birds

Birds From a Cariboo Deck No.7: Pileated Woodpecker

This is the big one around here - and reputedly the inspiration for Woody Woodpecker: not just in its looks: the calls we hear when they make their way, sometimes as many as four at a time, through the woods towards our chief attraction - suet - are pretty close to that irritating call of the cartoon version.

I say this is "the big one" but that status is among the woodpeckers. One of my most impressive backyard sites was a Sharp-Shinned Hawk chasing a Pileated Woodpecker through the fir trees: like a scene from Star Wars.

For an interesting perspective on the part this woodpecker plays in the forest ecology, read Woodpeckers, Fir Snags and Hummingbirds by Dave Neads. I chose the Pileated Woodpecker as No.7 to coincide with his publishing of this post.

For more on Cariboo birds, see my Birds from a Cariboo Deck

Birds From a Cariboo Deck No.6 - Northern Flicker

The Northern Flicker is a favourite of mine: beautiful and a little shy, it enjoys the usual woodpecker favourites - bugs and suet - and also likes to pick off a few ants on a nearby berm.
Apparently many years ago the flickers got separated into two populations: west and east. The eastern flickers developed a yellow wing colour and we in the west can enjoy the more dramatic orange.

More Birds from A Cariboo Deck

Birds from a Cariboo Deck No.5 - American Robin

A pair of robins have honoured us with setting up a nest nearby. They join others in the neighbourhood in their sweet evening singing. Aside from singing, the most popular visible activity of robins is their flamboyant bathing:

More Birds from A Cariboo Deck

Birds from a Cariboo Deck No.4 - Dark-eyed Junco

Once the Varied Thrush invasion subsided, the Dark-eyed Juncos started arriving in numbers. These birds enliven our back yard with their cheerful twitting and the little flashes of white as they fly around.

More Birds from A Cariboo Deck

I've just heard from our neighbour that he is planning to take down most of his trees - essentially the continuation of our bit of forest.

Part of our forest at dusk

This will of course have a direct impact on the fauna and flora on his property and, I suspect, a smaller but significant impact on the life on our little acre. It was only a few weeks ago that I photographed a couple of deer on his land.

Birds from a Cariboo Deck No.3 - Varied Thrush

It's been a while but spring has sprung and definitely time to feature another bird seen from my back deck. This time the honour falls to the Varied Thrush who this spring arrived in unprecedented numbers and stayed longer than ever (there are still a couple around). It's the males who arrive first so I will feature a male varied thrush here:

More Birds from A Cariboo Deck

Earth Day 2007

As the birds come north . . .

. . . celebrating the day, the birds and the air we breathe.

Photo: April 21. Birds over the Cariboo. Photo Jeffrey Newman.

More British Columbia birds

Provide shelter for winter birds: Chickadee

Those of you who've seen my Backyard Birds page will know of my interest in the feathered flyers. Winter - a tough time for birds - is almost upon us and here's something you can do to help them along:

Give Shelter to Wintering Birds

And, as No.2 in my Cariboo birds series, here's a common bird that will benefit from your assistance:

Birds from a Cariboo Deck
No.2 - Black-capped Chickadee

More Birds from A Cariboo Deck