Winter Survival

Continuing snow and sub-freezing weather is keeping us contained indoors, but Jeanette is keeping busy trying to keep our hummingbird juice feeder, located outside on our balcony, working. In this photo, taken yesterday, with the temperature at 18 degrees, you can see that leaking juice has made icicles! It's been quite entertaining to watch the Anna's Hummingbirds fight for control of the feeder.  For my part, I venture outside several times a day to check on the campervan where I have the thermostat for the propane furnace set at 40 degrees to keep the freshwater system from freezing. One thing I hadn't counted on was the snow, which turned to solid ice, has covered the solar panel. The batteries which provide electricity to run the furnace are normally kept charged by the solar panel. I have had to resort to running the engine several times a day to make sure the batteries keep charged.  A few more days to go before we get out of the freezing weather. 

Thursday's Bird Watch

This pair of Western Bluebirds were photographed at Dallas Retirement Village last Friday, January 5th.  The female is at the top, looking rather questioning, and the male is in a supporting role at the lower right corner.  We were especially happy to see them as we have not observed any Western Bluebirds here at DRV since October.  Our hope is that they will continue to hang around and use the nesting box at the Pavilion area as bluebirds have successfully done for the past two years. 
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

Currently, one of the most interesting and dependable birds to watch at Dallas Retirement Village is the Red-breasted Sapsucker.  There appears to be a pair that reside in a weeping cypress tree on the west-side of Tilgner Ave, almost across from the Maintenance Building.  Several DRV residents have noticed the birds and mentioned to me how much they enjoy watching them go about their job of taking sap from this tree. Although I have recently featured these Sapsuckers in previous Looking Ahead articles, I'd like to emphasize that if you want to see them to get it done in the next few months because come Spring, they will move off to better habitat for nesting.   
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

This male Anna's Hummingbird was photographed Saturday at the juice feeder on our 2nd floor balcony in the Lodge Courtyard here at Dallas Retirement Village.  His brilliant display appeared to be part of a territorial dispute that continued to go on most of the afternoon as a couple of males and one female vied for dominance of the feeder.  It seemed more vicious than the normal food dispute, and then I remembered that the breeding season is close at hand. Nesting starts for hummingbirds as early as February, so there may be more importance to this tussle than just food.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

This is a Merlin.  They love to perch at the very top of trees, and at that distance can be easily dismissed as just another European Starling or American Crow, I know because it has happened to me a couple of times recently, so its's important to take a closer look as this is an entirely different bird. These fierce little hunters are members of the Falcon Family, and journey South to us from Canada and Alaska for the winter.  This guy was perched atop a fir tree next to the Garden Home of Vern and Ann Beeson.  The Beeson's take the award as the best yard here in the Dallas Retirement Village for bird feeders.  This Merlin seems to have figured this out and is waiting patiently for his next victim.
 

Thursday's Bird Watch

 Long-billed Dowitcher

This is a Long-billed Dowitcher. You may think this looks similar to the Long-billed Curlew featured two weeks ago, and it is in that it belongs to the same Family of birds, called Sandpipers, but the Long-billed Dowitchers are much smaller, in fact, half the size of the Long-billed Curlew.  The Village Birders from Dallas Retirement Village found several of these Long-billed Dowitchers at near-by Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge during an afternoon Bus Birding Tour last month.  They are common birds here at Basket Slough, and can be seen almost year around along the water's edge of the ponds on either side of Coville Rd.  

Thursday's Bird Watch

Red-breasted Sapsucker

On Monday of last week Joyce Rosenburg reported to me that she had seen the Red-breasted Sapsucker here in Dallas Retirement Village in the Weeping Cypress tree on Tilgner Ave.  It was exciting because she and possibly a few others of us know that Sapsuckers are infrequent visitors to DRV. However, this particular tree is the one they always favor. I went in search of it the next morning and was rewarded with finding not one but two Sapsuckers! By the amount of calling going on, I am guessing that they are a mated pair. You can see their handiwork in this photo, the numerous holes that have been drilled through the bark over the years to be able to reach the sap.  Also interested in the sap on this Tuesday morning was an Anna's Hummingbird, flittering around in hopes of sneaking in for a few slurps of sap.