Posts Tagged Tufted Titmouse
Birds and Blooms
Posted by piedmontgardener in Native Wildlife, piedmont gardening on May 9, 2020
A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak atop the feeder with a female Red-bellied Woodpecker enjoying the suet.
Wonder Spouse and I don’t live in a suburb. Thirty-one years ago, we found five acres on what was then a country road. Now that once-quiet road roars with traffic twenty-four hours a day. Dozens of new subdivisions connect to it; multiple schools were erected nearby; even a fire station is now staffed 24/7, so trucks and ambulances, sirens blaring, pass by at all hours.
Our five acres are a haven of peace amidst the ever-growing chaos, especially because a growing beaver-built wetland adjoins our land on two sides. Wildlife abounds because of the wetland, and because we’ve spent 31 years planting native trees, shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers well-adapted to our land. My brain explodes at the mere thought of trying to count every native species now living nearby or on our land, and that’s a good thing.
One of the ways I know our efforts to build suitable habitats have been successful is by the creatures that visit. Most species that nest in my region nest near or on our land. Waterfowl overwinter in growing numbers in the wetland, and migrating birds stop by in spring and fall to refuel before heading off to complete their journeys.
Male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
This spring has been exceptional most notably for the prolonged visits of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Today makes the nineteenth day in a row that male and female birds of this species have visited our feeders and foraged in our trees and shrubs. These visitors are much more shy than the year-round birds that routinely scold me if I let their feeders go empty. I had been unable to get any photographs of them, so I asked Wonder Spouse to get out his long lens and tripod to capture these beautiful visitors. Yesterday, he set up his camera indoors in front of the window with the best view of the feeders. He got a number of decent shots, but unsatisfied, he eventually took his apparatus outdoors to try for shots unobstructed by a pane of glass. The grosbeaks did not visit the feeders in the same numbers or with the same frequency, but he did get some very nice photos I’m sharing in this post.
While he was outside, Wonder Spouse couldn’t resist photographing some of the abundant blooms currently open these days. I especially wanted him to shoot the Tangerine Beauty Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata ‘Tangerine Beauty’) growing on a sizable loblolly pine and blooming ten feet above my head where my camera couldn’t do it justice. He also couldn’t resist the abundant and colorful water-loving irises blooming on our increasingly wet floodplain. Most of them are Louisiana iris varieties; a few other water-loving types are also blooming happily in the muddy water. I’ve lost track of the variety names of the irises, but who cares? Their vibrant, colorful presence is all I need.
Tangerine Beauty Crossvine blooms
Without further explanation, here are some of the photos taken by Wonder Spouse yesterday. I think we can all agree that his many talents include strikingly beautiful photography. Remember you can click on any photo to see a larger version of it, and that doing so will reveal captions that identify most photos. Enjoy.
Birds Visiting Our Feeders
A Few Blooms
A Hero’s Tale: Tufted Titmouse vs. Window
Posted by piedmontgardener in Native Wildlife, piedmont gardening on February 28, 2018
Mr. Titmouse glaring at his enemy
We all know what an extraordinary February it’s been. The April-like temperatures have caused countless trees, shrubs, and perennials to begin blooming at least a month ahead of their normal schedules. The weather has also affected the birds, including this feisty Tufted Titmouse, who has been battling his reflection in our garage window for a week now. He was at it still this morning before the rain began.
We’ve had this problem before, but not with this species. The last time was 2011, when an Eastern Bluebird spent several weeks battling his image in this very same window. This window is quite high up; there is no easy way to cover it to reduce its reflectivity. The birds don’t seem to injure themselves, but I worry at the enormous waste of energy they expend doing battle with themselves to win the admiration of the attentive females that sit in the flowering apricot and watch the show. For hours. And days. And weeks.
I can hear Mr. Titmouse uttering his challenges as soon as I step out my door. It’s a very melodic whistling — not the least bit ferocious to my ear. I wonder if at that point he is calling to his prospective mate — a “Check me out, baby” come-on to draw her closer for the show.
I was unable to manage a photo of Mrs. Titmouse; she is quite shy, and as soon as her hero flies away from the window, so does she. So if I wanted a shot of him, I missed her. But trust me, she is always nearby taking in the machismo displays of the Toughest Titmouse in Town.
The battle is always the same. First, Mr. Titmouse sounds the challenge to his magnificent reflection as he sits on a branch. When he is sure his prospective mate is watching, he takes to the air and throws himself against the window, wings beating in a blurred frenzy.
After each round, he rests briefly on the window sill and assesses the interest of his lady love.
He tilts his head and sings to his lady.
Then it’s time for a brief rest between rounds, so he flies back to the nearby branch to collect himself before his next heroic display.
A motion-blurred flight back to recuperate for the next battle. And yes, the white blotch in the corner is exactly what you think it is.
In 2011, Mr. Bluebird did this for over a month. I think Mr. Titmouse will likely continue his battles until the angle of the light changes about the time of the vernal equinox. Every time I walk behind the garage — which is often — I implore Mr. Titmouse to behave more sensibly. He flies away briefly, but as soon as I’ve moved a few steps away, he returns to the battle. Whether it’s birds or humans, I’m afraid it is true that hormones and sense do not mix. The battle rages on…
Love’s Labors Lost … and Won
Posted by piedmontgardener in Favorite Plants, Native Wildlife, piedmont gardening on February 14, 2012
The price of excess enthusiasm
On this day that has come to serve as an acknowledgement of love, I thought I’d share a few pictures that illustrate how the amorous intentions of flora and fauna in my Piedmont, NC yard are faring this year. You may recall the precocious flowers of my Royal Star Magnolia that I documented here.
As you can see from the photo at the top of this entry, the groundhogs got their revenge yesterday just before sunrise, when the temperature on my hill registered 15.7 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s plenty cold enough to zap delicate white petals floating twenty feet in the air. I count that as a love labor lost; those flowers won’t be getting pollinated. However, fat fuzz-covered buds still abound on this tree, so perhaps love — in the form of new blooms — will win, as warm air returns to my area today.
The blooms of plants close to the ground, such as daffodils and crocuses, were unimpressed by Nature’s latest little cold joke. My Lenten Roses, though completely neglected by me so far this year, are cranking out flowers in profusion:
Hellebore love laughs at cold weather
The Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Aurora’ that I planted last November is showing off just a few lovely orange-and-yellow strappy petals. I can testify that they are as deliciously fragrant as advertised, and quite impervious to cold snaps.
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Aurora’
Many of the birds that live in and around my yard are talking about love these days. The Barred Owls proclaimed their territory and ardor a month ago. I suspect they are nesting now, because I don’t hear them much these days; birds tend to be much quieter when they are nesting.
Likewise, two weeks ago, a female Wood Duck paddling on the creek adjacent to my yard was shrieking in annoyance every time I accidentally got too close. Now she has gone silent. Did our absurd winter warmth coax her into early nesting?
Also two weeks ago, I watched a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks build a nest in a tall pine near the end of my floodplain. Two years ago, a pair successfully raised four chicks to adulthood, nesting in a Sweet Gum that we could see from our window. Wonder Spouse took some excellent photos of this family, including this shot of Mother Hawk with her brood:
Mother Hawk and brood
Last year, a pair of hawks refurbished the same nest, but we are fairly certain they did not succeed in bringing new life into adulthood. We watched the pair take turns sitting on eggs for about three weeks, then all activity stopped — love’s labors lost.
This year, we are hoping that the pair nesting in the pine will have better luck. I’ve read that Red-Shouldered Hawks mate for life, but they don’t live long, averaging only a little over two years most of the time. I don’t know if we’ve been watching the same hawks every year, or if perhaps the hawks on the pine nest are new to our yard. They may be offspring of the successful nest of 2010, because I watched the female borrow sticks from the old Sweet Gum nest, relocating them to the Loblolly Pine nest. Would offspring be more likely to notice and use their birth nest than an unrelated hawk? I don’t know.
Shortly after nest-building in the pine stopped, I tiptoed down there and tried to photograph the nest. It’s about 35 feet up, securely lodged between sturdy branches, with plenty of needle-covered branches above it to shelter the nest from weather and sun. It’s not a great shot, but this is the best I could do:
New Red-Shouldered Hawk nest
Woodpecker drumming started up a few weeks ago too, and I’ve spotted several newly excavated holes near the tops of dead trees on the other side of my creek. At least one hole is the rectangular shape characteristic of Pileated Woodpeckers, which we hear and see regularly. The woodpeckers and nuthatches have been devouring huge quantities of suet from our feeders lately. If they aren’t yet actively nesting, I’m thinking they are just about to.
The male goldfinches have not yet started to brighten their plumage to summer sunshine standards, and mixed winter flocks of chickadees, titmice, and warblers still actively forage in our yard. We’re in moderate drought here, so the bird baths that I keep stocked with clean, fresh water are very popular.
A Tufted Titmouse stops by its favorite watering hole
At least once a day, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds that has been noisily inspecting nest box options for several weeks stop by to bathe, splashing out two-thirds of the water in the process. The pair that nests in the Purple Martin house every year always raises two broods — love’s labors won twiceover!
If a love lesson can be drawn from observing the plants and animals in my Piedmont yard, I’d say it is that persistence pays. Love is hard work, but successful labors of love yield lasting beauty in the comfort of family. That’s a Valentine’s Day sentiment I think we can all endorse. Happy Valentine’s Day, Wonder Spouse — and to everyone else out there laboring for love.
Piedmont Gardener 