They're Back!!

Two years ago we found one of our much loved red-headed woodpeckers dead on the road out front. There was a burst of young ones and we were hopeful, but the numbers of European starlings have been steadily increasing and last year, we didn't see or hear a single woodpecker. It is one of my favourite sounds in summer and I loved to watch them catch their meals on our electricity poles in front of the house. They were sorely missed. Once a fairly common bird for this area, they are slowly being driven out of their natural habitat by the starlings. For several weeks now I have heard a woodpecker but hadn't yet seen them. A few days ago I recognised the sound of a woodpecker working away on the electricity pole, the regular sound is accompanied by a slight metallic echo as the pecking builds up a rhythm that vibrates  the transformer case. Excited, I walked around the base of the pole only to see a small black and white woodpecker...no red head! I didn't recognise the species so went online to look it up......... I am thrilled to say it was an immature red-headed woodpecker. Their return enriches our lives in a simple but meaningful way.

I am not a bird watching enthusiast but different species of birds illicit different emotions and they play a role in marking the phases of our daily lives. There is the first sighting of robins each spring that is the forerunner of all the signs that winter is over, followed by the long lines of geese migrating north again as the waterways thaw and open up opportunities for them. The raucous sounds of yellow headed blackbirds remind me of my Mother's first attempts with her new camera and her impressive photo:

 

Raptors that are a wonder to watch also threaten our chickens, but our sheepdog, Jake, is immediately alert at the sharp shrieking sound of the hawks and chases their shadows, never allowing them to focus on the chicken yard. Starlings chatter in the tree grove, geese couples strut across the road as they prepare for their babies, later to be followed by a line of goslings eager to keep up. When we mow the lawn, blackbirds follow us, when we work in the garden robins keep an eye on us waiting their turn to catch a juicy worm or steal a young onion. The birds that share our corner of Paradise are a source of pleasure, an indicator of weather, give us clues as to the health of our tree grove, add colour to a landscape that is full of hidden treasures. The woodpecker may be one of my favourites but we derive just as much pleasure when we are visited by Blue jays, more often we hear the jays as they protest the presence of hawks but since we have been planting bushes, the jaybirds will leave the safety of the tree grove and strut around the shrubs.

I can't talk about our birds without mentioning the swallows. There is even a swallow's nest in the chicken house. They line up on the wires that carry our electricity as the afternoon turns to evening, waiting for the mosquitoes. Sitting and relaxing watching them swoop and swipe at the bugs is doubly sweet as we count the bugs unable to bite us. As we watch the swallows it is easy to forget the killdeer also feeding on the bugs, yet there would be something missing if we removed the sound of the killdeer from our landscape. Their comical behaviour draws our eye out to the pasture as they attempt to draw attention away from their nests. As we look out to the pasture we may see the mourning doves out on the roof of the granary, or the flocks of wrens or sparrows leaving the barn where they have been feasting on the goat feed! One year we had a female wild turkey help herself to chicken feed then as winter gripped the chicken yard she moved to the barn and helped herself to the goat feed. We didn't begrudge her the feed, she was a welcome addition to our homestead and we wish she would return.

Many of the birds we see I am unable to identify, many I haven't even mentioned, such as the meadowlarks or the owls that watch us and whose sounds accompany us to the barn in the evenings. Many of our plantings have been to encourage the, as yet, unseen hummingbirds. 

Birds are an important part of our daily smiles here!