A Finish to Share

Design - "Little Birds Calendar - Chaffinch - March"

Designer - The Little Stitcher

Fabric - 32 count Vintage Country Mocha linen

Fibers - DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 15 April 2018

Finished - 18 April 2018

I am pleased with this finish.  Several folks have asked about these charts.  The Little Stitcher has a Etsy store - the charts are $7.00.  They are four pages.  The cover page is in color, the actual chart is in black and white.  The charts are easy to print off from the PDF file and very easy to follow. 

Here's a photo of a Chaffinch so you can see how cleverly the cross stitch design replicates the bird.

I am ready to share bird photos - no finches - woodpeckers instead. 

I could hardly believe my eyes - a Downy Woodpecker after months without seeing one.

And it even came to the suet feeder.

You can see how much smaller it is than this female Hairy Woodpecker.

It was nice to see her too.

I even got see a male Hairy Woodpecker.

All three Acorn Woodpeckers have been active.

The most I've been able to photograph at the same time though is a pair.

Male

Female

Female

Male

Both sexes for the Northern Flickers too.

Female

Male.

Here's hoping sometime soon I'm able to share photos of a Sapsucker and / or Pileated Woodpecker.

Sunday's Hummers

The males are dominating the feeders.

I think the females are nesting / raising babies so are catching insects.

It's not such a bad thing to have this handsome Anna's at the feeder frequently.

He no longer pays much attention to me. 

I do see a female once in a while.

This is a female Anna's.

She was getting a drink early in the morning.

The male Rufous Hummingbird is also omnipresent. He is still courting and performing all kinds of aerial stuns and acrobatics. 

Then he refuels!

He is a studly little bird!

The male Anna's has found one of our flowering current bushes.

The native currents (ribes) provide early season nectar for the Anna's and returning Rufous Hummingbirds. 

He made for a Study in Pink!

I wish the light had been a better... 

Saturday's Critters

Look!  Look! Who's sneaking up on the patio?

Chester Chipmunk that's who.

Yes, he is eating out of a cat bowl.

Dainty little hands.

Oh and here's David the Douglas Squirrel.

He's a meany and runs off the chipmunks to hog the sunflower seeds.

Robin liked me bunny / quail photos, so here are some more for her, and you, to enjoy.  

Kind of a Peaceable Kingdom scene.

This bunny was eating blackberry leaves for breakfast.

A rather prickly affair I would think. 

But apparently, it's quite tasty.

I like this - Bunny Amongst the Daisies.

And deer - yes, we have deer - six of 'em in this photo.  

Brazen gals.

Early Sunday night a bear came by.  My sister heard it, though I did not.  It dug this large hole, treated my bird feeder saucers like Frisbees, and torn up an old (from last summer) quarter plastic container of fish emulsion fertilizer.  Good thing I'm taking in the feeders each evening.

House Hunting - The Extreme Edition

I found the missing DMC color, so I'm back-tracking and working on January's European bird, a Coal Tit.

Now here's what's going on in western Oregon.

On Wednesday morning, the Violet-green Swallows were out in force.

I counted as many as 14 birds and each couple was intent on establishing ownership... 

...with multiple couples fighting over the same property.

Bidding wars? 

This house has been used by Tree Swallows two of the past three years. I think I heard Tree Swallows, but that the Violet-green Swallows ran them off. Grrr!   

I have nine swallow houses, so right now everyone should be able to find a home. 

Some of the birds appeared worried nonetheless.

Others did their best to stake out their claim...

...or just claim ownership. 

Violet-green Swallows are such fun to watch. They are wonderful fliers and they chatter non-stop this time of year.

It'll be a week or two before all this settles down and nest building commences.

Eight of the nine houses have prospective tenants.

 They like to line their nests with feathers and dried grasses. With the rain over for a while nest-building and insect hunting will be much easier for the swallows.