Recap of the Seed and Insect Eating Birds

Recap of the Seed and Insect Eating Birds




This post is going to be a little different then what I usually do, why? Just because! This is going to be a recap of the blog posts with photographs of the Birds who are primarily seed and insect eaters. Keep in mind I have been doing this since 2010! In that time I had a host shut down, close their doors, so I took a break from doing this for I was not sure what I was going to do? I have not gotten all the old post at this spot (mrsroadrunner.com).... not sure I will?

Male Red House Finch Feeding Mate

"Up in the apple tree, as snow is on the ground here in the high desert of Oregon, we see this."

Black-headed Grosbeak by Coralie

"The Black-headed Grosbeak is the monarch butterflies worst enemy!"

Young White-Crowned Sparrow Winter Behavior

"This is a young White-Crowned Sparrow. This species of sparrow winter here in our part of the high desert with us."

Yellow-Rumped Warbler Bird

"This Warbler stopped in to check out what was here to eat and to get a drink."

The Tale Of The Bread Thief

"As I was sitting in my spot watching the birds,butterflies,bees just enjoying the nice weather we have here in the High Desert"

Spent Some time with this hummingbird

"Thought I would spend a little time with this hummingbird on this day.

Showing up with his/her click click lets me know this one or the others are around. Typically in the apple tree and coming out during the day. Fortunately for me, they all get hungry about the time I am outside doing my chores then doing my photography!"

Mountain Bluebird Encounter Oregon Bird Watching By Coralie

"We went to a marsh Sunday where I found this Mountain Bluebird.

The bird was acting rather funny, when seeing the Northern Harrier I instantly understood! "

Hummingbird On The Honeysuckle

"Honeysuckle is very popular with the hummingbirds!"

Red-breasted Nuthatch by Coralie

"We had yet another visitor to the garden just the other day!"

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Washing Himself

"Folks who keep up with my photography know home is where the heart is and I spend a lot of my time just watching the visitors show up."

Downy Woodpecker Catching a Meal

"Meet the Downy Woodpecker. The smallest woodpecker in North America."

The Golden-Crowned Sparrow in Need

"This is the Golden-Crowned Sparrow. Biggest sparrow we have here and we have big flocks of them at times here at the house. Beautiful song comes from these song birds!!

The Golden-Crowned Sparrows are also a smart species, like all sparrows I guess? Seen at bird feeders, or gardens looking for that something to eat as the one in the photograph is doing at one of our little ponds. I watch these sparrows quite a lot for they are one of the common birds here at the house."

White Crowned Sparrow Visiting The Garden

"The White Crowned Sparrow can be found for some time here in our gardens and our wild bird area."

hummingbird and the foxglove flower bloom

"Some shots I caught of this hummingbird feeding on the foxglove flowers!"

Female Spotted Towhee in Her Natural Environment

"This is the natural environment for the Spotted Towhee. The species blends in very well to it's environment which is their way to survive."

Northern Shrike High Desert of Oregon

"This Northern Shrike was photographed on one of my walks here in our rural town back in January of 2014, High Desert of Oregon"

Hanging Out With A Ruby-crowned Kinglet

"This is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Very small and quick bird!"

White Crowned Sparrows Wintering in the High Desert

"These are the White Crowned Sparrows that winter with us here in our part of the High Desert of Oregon."

Lewis Woodpecker of The High Desert of Oregon

"This is the Lewis's Woodpecker I photographed here in our part of Oregon perched on a old fencepost."

American Dipper or Water Ouzel by Coralie

"The Dipper is a great bird to find around unpolluted fast moving waters. I happened to catch this one along the Metolius River."

Mountain Chickadee

"Meet the Mountain Chickadee! Unlike the other chickadee bird species this one has white stripes upon its small head."

European Starling of the High Desert

"Meet one of the most hated birds in our area, the European Starling, or just plain old Common Starling."

Harris's Sparrow Bird in The High Desert of Oregon

"I want to introduce you to a new bird, for me as well! Meet the Harris's Sparrow!"

Junco Bird in White

"Meet the Junco Bird who spends time here at the house."

Flying Western Meadowlark

"Meet the Western Meadowlark."

Pheasant At My Garden

"Meet the Pheasant, a common game bird who is found in Oregon as well as many states here in the USA."

Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert

"Meet the Cedar Waxwing! A very pretty bird in my opinion and when a flock of these fruit loving birds show up they have a very distinctive call! They sometimes arrive in good sized flocks of a dozen or more to the fruit trees! The Cedar Waxwings seam to like our honeysuckle we grow here as well."

Robin Bird Fledgeling

"Meet this baby Robin Bird! I have several posts about different Robin bird fledgelings that are waiting for their meal"

Spotted Towhee In The High Desert

"Meet the Spotted Towhee! The Spotted Towhee has been a constant resident here in our garden in winter clear into spring!"

This all for now! I still feel as if I missed some posts.... however as I said I have been doing this for a while (where has the time gone?). Keep in mind, all my posts are my observations and photographs. I am a HUGE believer in thinking for yourself. Researching yourself! I am only human and do make mistakes, really haha!

I am thrilled when folks link to my blog, photographs etc.! Doing this for a while now, I have seen folks come and go... some days coming up with something to write about is a interesting process! I thank you for coming by and checking this out!

Coralie

PS now that I looked this over I know I missed some posts.... oh well hope you enjoyed this recap!

Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert




Meet the Cedar Waxwing! A very pretty bird in my opinion and when a flock of these fruit loving birds show up they have a very distinctive call! They sometimes arrive in good sized flocks of a dozen or more to the fruit trees! The Cedar Waxwings seam to like our honeysuckle we grow here as well.



The rest of these photographs were taken around our small pond that is under our fruit tree. The chain link fence made for a great perch !



I have a tenancy to be outside most of the days when it is nice outside here on the High Desert when I am feeling good, which means the birds do get used to me doing my gardening or just hanging around.



The shot above was taken before we put in the prefabricated ponds due to the drought conditions we here been experiencing here on the High Desert fearing 2015 will be a worse year for drought conditions.



There are many more photographs in the Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert album if you would like to see more photographs. You can hear the distinctive call of the Cedar Waxwing Bird here . You then can hear why I start looking around in the trees and in our lilac bushes / trees for this pretty bird! In 2014 we had the Cedar Waxwings clear up until the little snow we got started falling! This surprised me and the photographs are still in my archive.

Thank you for coming by and seeing my photographs of the Cedar Waxwings we had visiting our garden in the high desert! Make sure to check out their call so you can see them someday too! They really are pretty birds!

Pheasant At My Garden

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Pheasant At My Garden




Meet the Pheasant, a common game bird who is found in Oregon as well as many states here in the USA.



I believed I made a post about this Pheasant, however guess I just spoke about him in social media not making a blog post about him at all!



This Pheasant was living across the street on a farmers property who I know likes to see wildlife on his property. The Pheasant was coming over here to find things to eat in our garden, walking on our walking path that is one of the ONLY patches of grass we have butting up to the neighbor property.

We used to hear this Pheasant and of course see him over here. A couple factors as to why we no longer see him, hear him anymore? Main factor might be that he did not survive hunting season? If this Pheasant will come around me, he would come around someone with a gun in their hand. Heck, he could have been raised by irresponsible people who set him "free" ? People do such things, ending in death for the creature they raise to set free. If it were part of a state program to introduce more of the birds into the area there would be more Pheasants. Or I would think.....

Another factor might be, one of the coyotes, hawks or other wildlife got a hold of him? Even someones roaming pet?? We do have more activity going on in this town, perhaps with so much people moving about the bird thought it was a good time to move on? Whatever reason I am glad he visited!



I like the Pheasant bird I think they are pretty, always have and I have not seen to many here in the High Desert! Over the mountain I was with someone who hunted them as well as other game animals. The Pheasant nests also got ran over by the tractor. I would feel badly for the birds. We had quite a few over the mountain in the valley where I grew up.

Both Guy and I are bummed we no longer see or hear this Pheasant anymore! Big flashy, colorful birds!

Thank you for coming by!

Swallowtail Butterflies and The Zinnia Flowers

 Swallowtail Butterflies and The Zinnia Flowers

The swallowtail Butterfly is a larger species of butterfly we have here on our small plot of land.

It is about that time to plant for some of us, some flowers have already bloomed or are growing. Seeding time for us here in the high desert of Oregon is getting near and I can hardly wait!!

To attract these lovelies to the garden is not real hard, just need to find the flowers they like to feed on. The Zinnia is the first of these flowers I would like to speak of for they are pretty and found at most stores in the garden area.

I personally leave the Zinnias in the ground from start to finish. This gives the butterflies something to eat even though to us the flowers may no longer look desirable, however we are not butterflies!

As for photography, I like photographing the butterflies when they first come from their cocoon. All butterflies are the most colorful , vibrant and unharmed from predators at this time.

Zinnia flowers come in all flavors. These zinnia flowers of ours are "dahlia", zinnias.  They grow oh, two feet tall.

I personally spend a lot of time outdoors when the weather gets nice and everything is blooming. What I find interesting about the butterfly and other insects is the details of day to day life. This of course means I have a lot of photographs that to the untrained eye are not different. However, for us who love detail we notice each photograph is different and lots of activity going on!

After some time of being out in the Zinnia flowers the swallowtails do start to ignore me, going on with their day to day life's. Of course depending on the competition they have for the flowers!! One or two swallowtails, ya they may just fly off. A dozen or more swallowtails and they tend to not care so much about what I am doing.

I also do not see one color of the Zinnia flower getting more attention from another color of the Zinnia flower from the Swallowtail Butterflies. The Zinnia Flowers even have several different insects feeding off the same flower!

One thing I have not noticed is the Swallowtail Butterfly laying eggs on the Zinnia Flowers. I do not have any proof though I think the Swallowtails would much rather lay eggs in the Lilac bushes and the trees that give the caterpillars a much better food source then the Zinnia Flowers.

Sometimes more then one Swallowtail Butterfly can be captured with the camera.

Mostly though, I like to get right up and personal with one Swallowtail Butterfly. For photography folks out there, I do use manual settings AND no tripod. Manual lens for the auto just does not cut it for me. Just a personal choice and using the tripod is to restrictive for this type of photography for me. Keep in mind this is a personal choice..... As for the natural light, well we can not dictate to butterflies, Swallowtail or otherwise when it is time to being active ! We are in their world. The butterflies are NOT in our world if we want to capture with the camera their day to day natural life.

If we want to attract the Butterflies we have to find the flowers they like to eat. We also need to keep in mind their water source. If their is a food source and no water source for them, we may get some to our garden. Then the butterflies have to leave for a drink. If we supply the butterflies with a water source, and a food source well..... we will see a increase in the butterfly activity. We water two times a day and leave a muddy area for the butterflies and other insects. Not real fancy, nor does this way of ours cost us any money other then the water we use.

I will do a series of the Swallowtail Butterfly here in our garden and what flowers I have found that the Swallowtail like from my own observations. Might give you some ideas of what to plant in your own garden?

I do have MANY more photographs of the Swallowtail Butterfly that are common here in the High Desert of Oregon here

Thank you for coming by and spending time with me! I do sale my photography. Find my facebook page  Facebook fan page (give a like??), of course Twitter .

The Tale Of The Bread Thief

Coralie aka Mrsroadrunner | The Tale Of The Bread Thief

As I was sitting in my spot watching the birds,butterflies,bees just enjoying the nice weather we have here in the high desert of Oregon I looked over to one of our ponds and seen the swimming young frogs wanting their piece of bread.

Well, I can not just feed them one day and not the other right? I admit I am against feeding the bigger wildlife, however these smaller wildlife do not have much of a life span and are not typically hunted.

So I headed in and got them their bread breaking it up into chucks to get water logged which is the only way they can consume such a thing. Went on with the other thing I found to do, which was photographing a spotted new species of frog who showed up.

Not to stress out my little visitor I left the spotted frog to go back to my chair. Folks I am sure understand that photographing wildlife can be a thankless thing with a lot of waiting around, and waiting and waiting!

As I wait, I observe the activity around me. There is so much activity! I looked over to see how the swimming young frogs were doing with their bread. Geesh, quite a bit of it was gone!! They never ate their bread this fast before! Something was up!! So I give a dirty look at the dogs, thinking one of them got into the pond and ate the little pieces of bread even though the dogs have never did this before!?

So I wait.

Soon a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds showed up!

As a bird as smart as these blackbirds are, this Brewer's Blackbird being no different, the female walked out into the pond grabbed a piece of bread from the swimming frogs and devoured it. Oh you little stinker!!

That was not the end of the show! Oh no end of the show yet!

The male Brewer's Blackbird jumped onto a rock we have in this pond for the birds. He grabs a large piece of the bread and eats it right in front of his female! The female was not impressed! She ran in grabbed a small piece of the bread and flew near the other pond!

The male was hot on her tail with his remaining piece of bread in his beak!

I swear you could actually see the wheels turning in the females brain!! How do I get that bread from him?? She walks over to the edge of the water of this other pond. Walks in the water and pretends to eat something?

Well, this was just to much for the male to bare, not knowing what she was eating and all. So watching her, he moves towards her. Mind you he still has a good junk of bread left himself, but greed is getting the best of him!

He moves closer to her to see what she is eating.... she sees her opratunity and takes it! She flies to his bread, grabs it in her beak and off she flies! Whipping those wings near me, with the male hot on her tail and screaming at her!!

I just laughed!!

This is the tale of the bread thief. Hope you enjoyed it I sure did as it was happening haha!