A Feast
Not our feast... This one was all about the little animals visiting Mom and Dad's backyard. I spent as much time as possible at the kitchen table watching out the glass doors as wave after wave of furry and feathered friends made themselves busy. In the near corner of the yard is a large and lovely tree just laden in berries that was providing an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Myself, Dad, and Alexis still in pj's, getting a closer look out the living room window...
The sparrows and chickadees came first, pecking around the ground for little treats. Then came the robins and cardinals and blue jays and other lovely birds, like this one. It's crested like the cardinal or jay and wears the same black mask, but has the most lovely and subtle coloring - a pale yellow breast against soft grey with a bright stripe of yellow across the tip of the tail feathers. (Any bird enthusiasts out there whole have thoughts on who this lovely might be?) The cardinals and jays were, of course, too quick to catch in pictures...
With the larger birds came the squirrels.
Their antics and acrobatics were highly entertaining. They would run right out to the very tips of the branches in order to get the best berries, and then the branches would bounce and shake wildly, forcing the squirrels to scramble back to safer branches. At one point, I looked out and saw the white furry belly of one intrepid and determined squirrel as it held onto one branch with its back feet and plucked and ate berries with its front paws!
And at night, the raccoons...
The raccoon stayed out of the tree, probably too smart to risk testing their weight on the branches. Instead, they dug and snuffled in the leaves below for the fallen berries. I wonder if they turned up any of the squirrels' buried treasure? We saw a couple industrious fellas securing their winter food rations under the thick blanket of leaves...
Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast as much as these guys enjoyed theirs!
*Thank you Erin Joy and littlealma for identifying my mystery bird. Turns out that it's a Cedar Waxwing!
Myself, Dad, and Alexis still in pj's, getting a closer look out the living room window...
The sparrows and chickadees came first, pecking around the ground for little treats. Then came the robins and cardinals and blue jays and other lovely birds, like this one. It's crested like the cardinal or jay and wears the same black mask, but has the most lovely and subtle coloring - a pale yellow breast against soft grey with a bright stripe of yellow across the tip of the tail feathers. (Any bird enthusiasts out there whole have thoughts on who this lovely might be?) The cardinals and jays were, of course, too quick to catch in pictures...With the larger birds came the squirrels.
Their antics and acrobatics were highly entertaining. They would run right out to the very tips of the branches in order to get the best berries, and then the branches would bounce and shake wildly, forcing the squirrels to scramble back to safer branches. At one point, I looked out and saw the white furry belly of one intrepid and determined squirrel as it held onto one branch with its back feet and plucked and ate berries with its front paws!And at night, the raccoons...
The raccoon stayed out of the tree, probably too smart to risk testing their weight on the branches. Instead, they dug and snuffled in the leaves below for the fallen berries. I wonder if they turned up any of the squirrels' buried treasure? We saw a couple industrious fellas securing their winter food rations under the thick blanket of leaves...Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast as much as these guys enjoyed theirs!
*Thank you Erin Joy and littlealma for identifying my mystery bird. Turns out that it's a Cedar Waxwing!
It's a cedar waxwing! They're so beautiful - and kind of mysterious looking. What a nice way to spend a day.
ReplyDeleteYep, Cedar Waxwing! We had them on our trees with berries too, it was incredible!
ReplyDeleteHugs from Michigan - Diane