That's a lovely view, NHBabs. What kind of tree doesn't mind having its feet wet in your vernal pond?

Now that the oak and cherry leaves are blown away, my bay view is opening up. This was the view today from the top of the coastal bank just outside the house. There were at least 8 seals out there on the rocks at low tide, probably harbor seals.

With all the other seals around, it's not always easy to find a rock that's above water level. These two are coping nicely.

There was a flock of birds, mostly gulls and mergansers, feeding nearby.

Claire

Claire, the largest tree is a red maple, and typically the water starts a couple of feet below its trunk at the highest levels, and in dry seasons, the whole pond gets mowed. I think it must have a fair number of roots growing up the slope to the left where it is drier. There is also a second smaller red maple behind it and a pussy willow behind that.

A couple summers ago in Maine, I watched a flock of or so mergansers herding fish into a dead end by flapping and splashing in order to raise their chances of getting dinner. It went on for 20 minutes or so and was quite entertaining. I had no idea that they would work as a group like that. Have you seen anything similar?

If Houzz had a heart to click, as Facebook does, I'd click heart for those seals! Leafless(ness) does allow many more views of all that we have, but often do not see. Excellent!

Claire, maybe you will see a Puffin this Winter.

That would be lovely, Pat, but not very likely here. Puffins apparently sometimes winter offshore in Massachusetts but they're not seen close to land unless blown in by a nor'easter.

There's a report on WCAI By MARK FAHERTY • FEB 17, 2016

Heading Offshore to Catch Sight of One of the "Holy Grails" of Massachusetts Seabirds

Mass Audubon agrees

"The Atlantic Puffin is a rare but apparently regular offshore migrant and winter resident in small numbers in Massachusetts; it's most often seen during severe nor'easters."

I'm wondering how to photograph a bird during a severe nor'easter when the salt spray is coating the camera lens... and my glasses....

Claire

NHBabs: I've never seen it myself, but cooperative fishing is apparently common among red-breasted mergansers. I found this report about activity in the Chesapeake Bay:

Mergansers offer lesson in cooperation

Claire

Thanks for that article, Claire. I will see if I can manage to figure out uploading a video to share. Ir’s blurry and somewhat distant since I didn’t want to discourage them from fishing, but might be interesting if I can get it uploaded.

It's that time of the year. A simple exchange.

And the same old, same old dance of hopeful Thanksgiving love.

All the best to all.

Dizzy turkey

Jane

That's a fine example of giving someone the runaround....

Stay warm, and thanks, Jane, for your excellent contributions, and thanks to everyone who enjoys this thread.

Claire

Jane, about your new green-roofed hopper feeder and your new seed, please: Do you find a larger variety of birds, or more birds eating at this new feeder? And, are BOSS and millet missing from your new food?

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on here

Pat

Hi Pat,

Here is my feeder setup:

Suet feeder on the left is filled with a variety of suet cakes and pleases more than just woodpeckers. Carolina Wren, Nuthatch, 4 of our 5 species of woodpeckers - downy,hairy,red-bellied,flicker,sapsucker - all come to it, but I have not seen a pileated on the suet.

The tube feeder currently has Lyric Supreme seed mixture in it which does have some yellow and white millet for smaller beaks, but also a variety of other high protein seeds and nuts.

In the hopper, I have a Wild Bird Unlimited blend called "TreeNutty® Plus Blend is loaded with chopped tree nuts, shelled peanuts and sunflower chips along with oil sunflower, striped sunflower and raisins. It also contains added calcium, an important ingredient that helps promote strong bones and eggs." WBU Seed Blend

Yes, Pat, I think this buffet attracts just about every species that lives in our area that will come to a feeder. Not everybody is comfortable at a feeder, like the Brown Tree Creeper, Am. Robin, Cedar Waxwings, et al. But for those birds who are good at 'take away' meals and don't overtly object to the human population, they come daily. Last time I counted for Cornell's Project FeederWatch, I had 18 to 28 species regularly frequenting our yard.

In addition to the buffet, I firmly believe that the shrubs and fruit-bearing trees I have planted over the years, in addition to the heated bird bath, creates as best a yard for bird feeding that I can manage. There is far less available on the ground by using the above feeder styles and seed blends. The squirrel population is not as happy at it was with straight BOSS in an open feeder which spilled onto the ground, but there are plenty of acorns nearby. A few weeks ago, the opossum ate the jelly doughnuts I put out for him and now some lattice under the deck has been broken where he goes into his house. I saw him/her going back to his nest under the deck, so I know where he lives. Apparently jelly doughnuts are fattening for everybody.

Long answer to a short question, but there you have it. :)

Jane

Thank you, Jane. Very helpful!

Just a personal observation: I truly believe that losing any number of old, familiar trees, for whatever reason (age, weather, clueless cutters, etc., ) is so traumatic for birds that it takes more than just a few seasons to come close to regaining any semblance of place for them. In my next life I might think twice about moving into a home surrounded by only very old trees.

Sometimes the obvious just isn't obvious to you.

Northern Flicker centered on the seed tube spied the suet cake right close by.

Off we go...

Not comfortable! Not secure! Mistake!

But, oh my, that stuff looks great!

This isn't working and I already have a cramp in my neck.

Oh, no...that's a long way down...

As I spoke through a window - "It has a tail prop".

A what?

Sparrow suggested he move down one square and center himself..ohhmmm

Sparrow knows all about centering.

Jane

Very nice, Jane. Tail props really work.

Claire

Since we don’t have feeders, I most often see flickers on the ground, I suppose eating grubs. That means once we have snow, I typically don’t see them at all, though I do see other woodpeckers all year. I will have to research to see whether they winter here or only farther south in New England. Great series of photos, Jane.

Straight out of the camera, bluebirds are spectacular au natural. I do not adjust the color of feathers. That's Nature's job. Suet with berries is a hit.

The Tandem Brothers

His color is that dense - again, straight from the camera

As she waited patiently nearby

Jane

Somebody broke some lattice work off the bottom of the deck. Judging by the breaks in the wood and the position of it on the ground, it looks as though some was broken as an animal came out from under the deck, but...no pictures. However, I put the trail cam in view of the entrance to see if it would capture the resident(s). I'll have to lower the camera for tonight, but last night it was these two:

I'll leave it open for the winter to give residents some protection. They get 1/2 of my daily apple and it's gone each morning. I snow blow the deck - boy, that must be scary for them! One year I put a tarp over some chairs on the deck and we could see possum prints in the snow leading to and fro under the tarp. Maybe I can find some straw...

Jane

Hello to both of you, lol. (Are you sure there are lurkers in here? - you better chuckle.)

Kinda nice to know that indecisiveness is not exclusive to humans. They all do this painful choosing dance over this fruit and nut food. If they were here just once, okay, I get it. But they're in and out of there 800 times a day doing the same thing, lol. This is successive shooting, time runs 12/09/18, 4:29:28 - 4:29:32 - that fast. But he did make a choice!

No, wait - there's a better one in back

No, wait (mid air) is that one bigger?

Yeah, this one is good

He did take that one

But they all do it. A titmice nearly toppled over himself carrying away a full cashew.

I like this shot - even if your tail is a tad shorter, the prop is nice.

Can I count this guy as a yard critter? It's a neighbor's and I'm the only one who can see it because of the way the street is built. A made in China vinyl Santa in a permanent faceplant position on frozen ground is a sad thing. (No, I'm not going to rescue him, Claire.)

Jane

Jane: That's a downside of the take-out, grab-and-go style of eating that chickadees and titmice insist on. If they could just relent and have a sit-down dinner once in a while they could have it all. I wonder how much extra energy is expended by flying up to a tree to eat and flying back to grab another morsel.

I guess it's not a big deal since there are an awful lot of chickadees and titmice in the northeast.

I certainly agree that you have a yard critter next door; maybe taking a nap since he's primarily a nocturnal critter? I doubt that there are many Santa predators around, although some dogs might enjoy a new toy.

Claire

Jane, oh, dear, what a sad view for the Santa photo . . .

Photos like the chickadee series make me wish for feeders.

It looks like the tail prop suet feeder is a hit! What is the little brown bird?

The turkeys were wandering around on the plowed shop drive last week and though they were in too much shade for good distance photos, they left a series of dinosaur-like tracks.

NHBabs, it’s a Carolina Wren. The turkey prints are great. They look like they belong in Lascaux, French cave art.

My guess is red-tailed hawk on the night shift for a mouse under the bird feeder. Hard to say, but I like the ethereal illusion of wings no matter who or what is wearing them.

Jane

“Ethereal illusion of wings” is a lovely turn of phrase. Cool photo, Jane. Maybe you have a barred owl which is about the same size as a red tail. I haven’t seen hawks active at night.

Jane: As NHBabs suggests, Barred Owl sounds more reasonable than hawk. Your image can be compared to this one in All About Birds.

"ethereal illusion of wings" is an evocative description (unless you're the prey).

Claire

You're right - let's go with barred owl. Been here for 44 years, hear barred owls often, never seen one. Here it is in our yard and I STILL didn't see it, lol. Thank you both - my neighbor said the same - barred owl...still my elusive illusion, hahahaha.

I haven't been seeing many turkeys in my yard this year, just 3 or 4 at a time, but I was driving in the neighborhood today and I was stopped by a flock of at least 25 turkeys, some toms displaying.

They took their time meandering across the street and over past the barn.

The last time this happened I had a car behind me so I felt pressured to get out and shoo them along. This time I wasn't stopping traffic (vehicle traffic, that is) so I could enjoy letting them do their thing and photographing them.

Claire

They picked the right time (and driver) to cross the street. Nice to live in an area where wildlife is part of our daily view.

Every couple of weeks I make a big pot of vegetable soup. On Sunday, I took the vertical strip peelings from the carrots and parsnips and put them under the bird feeder for any hungry traveler. She came alone, ate most of the offering, did not stand up to eat the nuts and fruit from the hopper feeder, and left alone...as she had entered. We come, we eat, we leave.

Jane

And the same to you, Jane, no matter how fowl the weather may be.

Claire

Jane, that was just perfect for my state of mind! What a nice giggle.

You guys are the best .

Stepping on your brother's butt during takeoff is just not a good idea. Starlings have stars, but these two?... not so much.

Jane

Seems early to me, but the Robin gang of 5 thought otherwise. They sampled more than once, but in hors d'oeuvre fashion, not entree. The entree is usually in January in one fell swoop of dining.

Can't imagine how the berry felt.

Shopping

Plucked. I'll never know why one chokeberry over the other, but it's not my gullet.

Perhaps not a classy ending, but a robin's fluffy bottom is nicely finished, artistically, that is.

Jane

So nice to see the robins noshing on fruit, Jane!

In a normal year I'd be seeing the robin scouts testing out my winterberries now, but this year they were all gone a month ago. Maybe all the temperature fluctuations ripened them early?

All of my volunteer crabapple fruits are gone too. These must be a particularly tasty variety since I have many volunteers in my yard (presumably bird-planted).

I still have American holly berries and Carolina rose hips untouched. I should check to see if the Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) and blue hollies (Ilex meserveae) still have berries.

Hopefully the robins will still come in to my yard for the bird baths when it gets colder.

Claire

I responded earlier, but apparently either I didn’t hit submit or Houzz is being wonky.

Beautiful photos as always, Jane. I am assuming that because of the mottled white on the orange breast feathers that this is one of this year’s fledglings? I wonder if first season birds spend more time experimenting with food.

Good observation, Barb. May well be. This article references juvenile feeding behaviors, and certainly, a lack of proficiency was exhibited by those I saw this afternoon. Also, I saw no throat/esophagus storing.https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/amerob/foodhabits

As much as I dislike callery pears, they don’t thus far seem invasive here. So I can appreciate the ones planted locally outside some large windows when a visit last week allowed a wonderful eye level view of robins, starlings, and cedar waxwings as they enjoyed the tiny fruit. They were hopping around for a good period of time, and made me remember how much I enjoyed seeing the same thing with crabapples at my last house.

The kousa dogwood outside the kitchen windows just isn’t quite hardy enough, but I have left it there despite winter damage because it brings the birds up to eye level. It may need to be replaced with a crabapple or other small to medium tree if I can find one I like locally. The Kousa gets plenty of birds in warmer weather, but isn’t popular now for the most part, so a crab with its ornamental fruit may be the right choice.

For those of you with one of the thornless hawthorns, do they attract birds? I know that Jane’s chokeberry is popular as is Claire’s holly. What other trees should I consider for winter fruit that the birds will eat, either now or in early spring as they migrate north? With this exposed location, it really needs to be zone 3 hardy.

Just wrote out a lengthy reply to NHBabs's post above and again, got the houzz "error ID:500" notification. Okay, with no fanfare, try abnativeplants.com, . I searched for songbirds, zone 3, ornamental fruit and the search came back with 162 plants, shrubs trees. Sorry my fist attempt didn't post, let's try this one!

Jane

Thanks, Jane, for the link. I will do some rummaging around there.

I have started doing a copy and paste before hitting enter, though it will only copy text, not photos. Whoever does Houzz’s tech work I think needs to find a different job . . . I lost a post with 3 photos yesterday, and since each photo takes about 5 minutes to upload with my connection, it involves a chunk of time. After that I started doing one photo, submitting, and then editing to add the next so I could only lose a 5 minute commitment.

Unfortunately, it feels as though we are seeing the point of diminishing return with houzz. Not sure, but since joining GW on Jan.8,2008, it seems to me that within the NE Forum, this thread may be the longest continuous running thread. I find it more erratically difficult to post, so we’ll see how it goes. Despite the increasing digital hiccups, you created a great thread that has been attractive to many viewers,Claire.

Jane

“How do birds survive the cold?” From Cornell’s All about Birds

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/how-birds-survive-the-cold-feathers-food-warmth/

This morning on my drive to work I saw two redtails on the flood plain of the Merrimack River in Concord, NH.

No question, white-tailed for sure.

Good friends

Jane

(Have no idea who owns that cat or the other night-visiting cats. Were they mine, they'd be in bed! Pet door in our garage has been closed since Ivy crossed the rainbow bridge.)

Just sharing with fellow critter watchers. How to Be a Good Creature

Nice article, Jane. I'd really like to meet an octopus....

Claire

I have read one of Sy Montgomery’s books, The Good Good Pig and I enjoyed it. She lives only about an hour from here, and so she was recently at my local book store (Gibson’s in Concord, NH, highly recommended if you are in the area), though I wasn’t able to make it to her talk. I will have to check out this new book.

Yesterday afternoon was windless and sunny, in the mid20’s, so I went for a walk in the field along the river. A pair of mature bald eagles flew out of one of the large pines along the bank and right over my head a couple of times as they gained altitude to clear the trees farther upriver. I only had my cellphone, but at least low flying eagles are large enough to be visible in the photos.

All fall and into early winter I have been seeing mergansers on the river, but I haven’t remembered to grab the camera, and they are too far to photograph with the phone because it is a long riverbank. The males have had a good amount of white well into December, so I wonder if that is from last year’s breeding plumage or for this coming year. There was ice starting to form on the river yesterday and I didn’t see the mergansers, so they may have decided to move somewhere that the water will remain open during the winter.

Great photos, NHBabs! And there's a moon there as well.

Claire

This thread is getting long and slow to load for some, so I'm setting up another thread. As always, you're welcome to continue the discussion here, but please post new material on the new thread (Birds and other mobile features in the garden 2019 #1).

Claire