Today's birds: Nuthatch, Steller's Jay and Downey Woodpecker

I have three new bird species to report on today.

But first let me talk a little bit about how the day went. (This is mainly for my Mom. Hi Mom! Welcome to my blog! I talked to her on the phone already but my brain was on hold at the time so I forgot to mention any of this stuff.)

Today was very busy (more than usual, that is).

I got up and before I could even have a coffee, The Big Guy wanted a ride to the Skytrain. He had to do some post-severance paperwork, turn in his badge, Blackberry, cell phone and laptop and then attend a good-bye lunch with his co-workers.

After dropping him off, I threw some laundry in the washing machine and had some quality time with the business section of the newspaper and ROB-TV. On one of my coffee cup refill trips, I noticed that it wasn’t raining and the cloud cover had partially lifted. With outdoor lighting conditions at their most favorable since it started raining approximately 23 days ago, I grabbed my camera, opened the kitchen window and prepared to capture some live action shots of the birds at the feeder (for posting here in my blog). But the feeder and the suet cage were both empty so I had to refill them first. I took about 30 pictures hoping for at least a couple of good ones. Our guests at the bird buffet today included Chickadees, Juncos, Finches and Nuthatches.

Then I had to package up all the items people bought from me on eBay over the weekend and take them all to the post office for shipping. When I got back from the post office, Andy was upset that I hadn’t brought The Big Guy back with me and insisted on checking every corner of the garage to make sure he wasn’t hiding somewhere.

I uploaded the pictures from the camera and had a look through them. It’s obvious I’m going to have to rethink my birdfeeder photography technique. Maybe leaning over the kitchen sink aiming the camera out the open window is not such a good idea. Terrible photos. Poorly focused. Lighting not so good. And the birds don’t exactly just sit around posing for their portraits. This is the best one. I cropped it and tinkered with the contrast and gamma a bit but there is only so much you can do… From top to bottom the birds are a Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Dark-eyed Junco.

After giving up on trying to fix the bird photos, there were some emails to answer: Why isn’t my stuff delivered yet? Where are the seams in the dress in this sewing pattern? If you can please help me get my zillion dollar inheritance money freed up from this bureaucratic snafu I’ll share half of it with you. Click here to find out the 10 top secret ways for guaranteed 500% returns on your investments!!!

Then The Big Guy phoned and wanted to be picked up at the Skytrain. He was all smiles and happy with his gifts from the people at work, even the bright orange thong underwear with the Alcatel logo on front.

OK, now for the birds.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta Canadensis) has a long bill, flat head and straight tail that give it a stream-lined torpedo shape. OK, maybe it's more of a *fat* torpoedo shape. It likes black-oil sunflower seeds and I have seen Nuthatches stashing seeds in crooks and crannies of the bark in trees in our back yard.

Whenever I put fresh seed out that has peanuts in it, at least one Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) is sure to soon show up. A Jay will fill its crop with as much seed as it can fit in resulting in a big round bulge under the bill. Then it flies off to hide the seed somewhere. These Jays make a very raucous screeching sound and if one is unhappy with what you (or your dogs) are doing in the backyard it will scold loud enough to inform everyone for at least 2 blocks in every direction.

Downey Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens) also come to our suet feeder. They are quite shy and fly off at the slightest movement so I don’t see them as often as most of the other birds. Here are some excellent photos of the Downey Woodpecker.

The end...must run, House is on.