Oh! Oh! Oh! A tufted titmouse! They used to come to our feeder when I was little, but vanished from that part of Ontario (extreme southwest) by the time I was in my teens, probably due to loss of woodland. I understand they still reside in the Niagara region, but I haven't seen one since I was a boy.
When we went camping in Florida at Juniper Spring (Ocala National Forest) there was a nice lady in the gift shop named Mrs. Robinson who would take peanuts out on the porch and call "Peter peter peter!" and her friend the titmouse would come to her hand.
But in all my life I have never seen a woodpecker tame enough to feed out of the hand. Wow!
oh that's sad! there were many of the tufteds here- I was all in love and calling them Tufty:) so glad I got that first photo- I love looking at it now still. I kept my hand quite close to my face actually so I could get a good gaze at them as they ate so I got some great eyecontact and closeup views just with my eyes...but each one felt so brief..thank goodness for cameras.
I was very surprised when that little woodpecker landed in my hand! it seemed he was watching me feed the others for a long time and finally decided I was harmless enough? there was also another bird that I wish I had caught a photo of...because I'm not sure what it was...had a long thin beak and longer talons that hurt a little, brown and white and grey I think...somewhat stripey(?) and did not seem like one that would normally eat seeds at all- I think they are all just curious when they see the others doing it safely for a long while. ?
yep that's our boy! makes sense. now that I'm looking at more pics.I think the picture in my book before just Did Not look like him...but they vary. I remember his beak like this:http://www.flickr.com/photos/stellaretriever/2125229720/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stellaretriever/2125229720/)
It could have been a white-breasted nuthatch, too. The red-breasted is smaller (4-1/2") than a chickadee (5-1/4"), while a white-breasted is a distinctly larger (5-3/4").
yes I think it's the white-breasted...I was probably just remembering wrong about there being any brown...the one in the link I put is pretty much what I now remember. and it was larger than a chickadee.and it definitely was on the trees upside down at times.:)
yep. I was there for a long while just enjoying and amazed before I dared try to get out my camera and photograph...didn't really think I could do it...but they were so calm...so I just held the little camera very still on my left and kept clicking away figuring some of the pictures might come out- and they did:) then I put the camera away and just stayed there feeding for a long while after...it started to rain a little..but it was so peaceful I didn't want to leave...there were also chipmunks and squirrels around my feet and deer a bit further down the path...I felt like I was in a fairytale...:)
no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 11:29 am (UTC)When we went camping in Florida at Juniper Spring (Ocala National Forest) there was a nice lady in the gift shop named Mrs. Robinson who would take peanuts out on the porch and call "Peter peter peter!" and her friend the titmouse would come to her hand.
But in all my life I have never seen a woodpecker tame enough to feed out of the hand. Wow!
no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 11:20 pm (UTC)I was very surprised when that little woodpecker landed in my hand! it seemed he was watching me feed the others for a long time and finally decided I was harmless enough?
there was also another bird that I wish I had caught a photo of...because I'm not sure what it was...had a long thin beak and longer talons that hurt a little, brown and white and grey I think...somewhat stripey(?) and did not seem like one that would normally eat seeds at all- I think they are all just curious when they see the others doing it safely for a long while. ?
no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 12:19 am (UTC)They hang out with chickadees and are nearly as unwary, but not as shy as woodpeckers.
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Date: 2008-11-08 12:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 12:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-08 01:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-07 05:14 pm (UTC)I loves it! <3
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Date: 2008-11-07 10:49 pm (UTC)did you take photos with one hand? ;o)
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Date: 2008-11-07 11:06 pm (UTC)then I put the camera away and just stayed there feeding for a long while after...it started to rain a little..but it was so peaceful I didn't want to leave...there were also chipmunks and squirrels around my feet and deer a bit further down the path...I felt like I was in a fairytale...:)