You Can't See Me! (Monday + Tuesday)

Oops, I missed Monday and Tuesday, but there wasn't really much to report.  Monday afternoon (my window is dirty and I can't clean it, because it's sealed closed and there's a window in front of it that's also sealed, so it looks greyish), we had a special guest star!  Mr. Bluejay!  Maybe it was Ms. Bluejay, but I couldn't tell.  He kept to the bushes and checked out the suet feeder I set up.  I put it in the bushes closer to the window so I could hopefully get some pictures of the birds eating from it right in front of my kitchen sink window.  I also set out a big plate of peanuts and black sunflower seeds in an open spot near the other feeders to feed the other poor birds who can't fit on/in the other feeders I have.

As advertisement ("FOOD HERE!  DINE AT EM'S!  ALL YOU CAN EAT!") I put out an onion bag filled with shelled peanuts!  I'm not sure why Mr. Bluejay wasn't taking peanuts out of it, but I'm sure the suet and plate feeder were probably less work for him.  My hubby tells me one of the sayings of Judo is, "Maximum efficiency with minimal effort".  I think that applies to a lot of things....like eating food that you don't have to fish out of a bag.

As you can see here, I'm not the only one who likes to watch the birds!  There's a bench that I set up in the rear foyer/mud room before you enter the kitchen that the cats and dog love to sit on.  I frequently find my dog sitting here during daylight if there's a lot of activity at the feeders, along with Murdock (the kitty).

I opened the window today to distract them from looking my direction, and Sacha dipped his nose down into the snow that had been trapped between the window and the screen.  He's so cute, see how rapt his attention is upon the birds outside?

Guess who I saw!!  Mr. Cardinal was back!  On Monday night, Mrs. Cardinal was also in the bushes, but I couldn't get a good, clear shot of her, so I gave up trying eventually.  They're really wary, and they notice the slightest movement of my bathroom curtain, which is frustrating, because sometimes pictures are at a better angle from there than the kitchen sink.

On Tuesday, Peaches called me up around 11:30am-ish to ask if I wanted to go to lunch at Peaches Cafe, but she was going to go to the craft store, too, so she might be a while.  I excitedly told her that I'd love to go to the craft store, and she came over to pick me up.  There were people installing her new furnace, so there was a lot of annoying noise, and she just had to get out of the house.  I couldn't blame her!  I got up and went through the routine of getting dressed, feeding the cats, taking the dog out, and whatnot, when she called me to let me know she was waiting in the driveway...BUT...that there were a lot of amazing birds at my bird feeders!

I ran for Miro (my camera), and walked calmly to Peaches' car, then got in and waited for the birds to come back.  It was such an awesome little moment, and we were both so excited!  We rambled on and on about how cute the birds were, and kind of talked to them through the windows... Apparently if you sit in the car - because a car has never tried to attack them or chase them before - they're not scared of it!

This means...my ploy to watch my birds on the feeders is to open the North side garage door, drive out, turn left and drive back up my South side driveway, then sit in my car, taking pictures!  It sounds weird, but if it means I can get great pictures, then that's what I'll have to do!  Peaches had never seen this kind of woodpecker before, and it was so cute!!  I didn't bring my bird book out with me, but I looked it up earlier tonight (err, Tuesday night).

It's a female red-bellied woodpecker!  She's so cute!  Her wing patterns are just amazing!  I had heard a woodpecker up in the trees, and there's one tree that has a ton of holes in it, but I wasn't certain what kind it was until now.  The poor bird was clinging onto the edge of the feeder, because she was so big, she really wouldn't fit!  I'm planning to put some mealworms out in a dish when I wake up to see who else joins the feeders.  Peaches also said that I had a little nuthatch come to eat out of the Sky Cafe, along with several European sparrows, and my beloved little chickadee!

I've named him/her Nibble, because she's not even bite-sized - she's barely a nibble!  I've only ever seen one, so I'm pretty sure it's the same one.  She was grabbing black sunflower seeds from the big plate, then carrying them off to the big black walnut tree to crack them open.

Dang you, Mr. Bluejay!  Come out and let me take pictures of you!  Here he is hiding in the bushes, munching away on the peanut suet!  I had originaly planned to remove these bushes, but with all of the wonderful bird activity, there's no way I could ever remove them.  I've even considered the idea of planting Mountain Ash, though I don't think it's very pretty for my garden, just so the birds will come eat it.

And just because Mia hasn't had a cameo yet, here she is :)  She always looks surprised or startled, but it just makes her more adorable.

After running around with Peaches, hitting up the craft store, eating at Peaches Cafe (which is really tasty, by the way!!  And the waitresses are super nice...), getting snacks at Mona Lisa Cafe, hitting up Lowe's, then heading over to Weggers for grocery shopping, I'm exhausted.  My legs generally don't see so much walking/standing, but it was super fun to get to hang out with Peaches.  We have so much in common - she even wants to open a coffee shop with her brother, which is something my hubby and I really wanted to do.  It's so nice to have a friend to do nerdy bird things with and talk to :)   My hubby and her hubby are actually quite similar in personality, which is really funny, but also cool.  Maybe they can hang out together and be friends...!  I'm generally not social - sometimes I can be like a black walnut: difficult to get out of my shell.  Once I'm out and about, I do really well, though.  It just takes a bit...

Now that it's almost 5am, I really should sleep.  I'm expecting a package at noon!  Yikes...