Learn something new every day

Male wood duck

Yesterday morning while looking out the bathroom window on the second story, I noticed an unusal bird in a tree at my eye level. I saw that the bird was not alone, further along on the branch was another which I assumed to be its mate. My husband managed to get these shots of the two birds. They aren't the best as they were taken from some distance but it allowed us to make an identification - wood ducks. Ducks up in a tree? Well, it turns out wood ducks often will nest in a tree or man made duck boxes. Their young when ready to leave the nest will hop down to the ground or water below the tree. I did not know that. You can learn something new every day.

Female wood duck

Bird Songs

Smells evoke memories or so they say, but don't sounds as well? There is an early morning sound that I associate with spring, and I heard it again today and was determined to figure out its source. I am speaking of course of an early bird's song. Being a tad old fashioned I first went to my book shelf for my copy of Judy Pelikan's The Music of Wild Birds: An illustrated, annotated, and opinionated guide to fifty birds and their songs adapted from the work of F. Schuyler Mathews. At first I thought it was the American Robin making the sound based on a line of poetry quoted, "Cheer up, Cheer up." That led me to technology and an on-line search for more information. I started by looking up F. Schyler Mathews and listening to the sound links there for the robin. That's not who I was hearing. Next search took me to eNature field guides and the real culprit the black capped chickadee.

I was confused. I was familiar with the chickadee's name sake call, but not its song. That's when I learned that there is a difference between a bird's song and its call. The call is used for communicating a warning or identifying a location. The song on the other hand is used for finding a mate. With it being spring, and mating season, the chickadee is using his song more than his call. Mystery solved. Now I know who to say good morning to when I'm out the door early and on my way.

It's April You Fool

Spring in New England is always a surprise. Yes, you can get snow in April. Yesterday, on April Fools Day we received a few inches of heavy wet snow and this morning it is already melting away. In fact in order to get this photo I had to rush outside before all the snow melted away.


Just when I was ready to have a Saturday available to work out in the yard it has to snow and make it too muddy to do anything. Here in New England we classify the seasons by Winter, Summer, Fall, and Mud. By Monday everything should be melted away, but then I will be back to work and too busy to get anything done. Let’s hope next weekend’s weather will be more cooperative.