Monday, June 16, 2014

It's a Boy!

Design - "Bee Mine"
Chart - "The Bee Book"
Designer - Stitches From the Heartland
Fabric - 32 count natural linen
Fibers - DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads
Started - 12 June 2014
Completed - 14 June 2014 

This is from an older chart I pulled out of my stash.  I like the colors used, and I added the four bee buttons at the corners.

Last week I looked out the front window and this is what I saw...

Three Acorn Woodpeckers!
My first thought was two babies on the left and a parent higher on the right.

But it was hard to tell, and maybe there was yet another Acorn hiding at the back of the tree that I could not see.

In this photo I thought a there was a parent bird - the father, and a baby bird.

Later last week I saw two Acorns on the gravel driveway.
Again a fledged baby and a parent.

This time it's pretty clear the baby is a boy and the parent is the father. 
The top of head is a large red patch followed by white closer the beak - that's a male.  The females have red, then some black, and then white.  So the patch of red atop the head is smaller on the females.   

Dad picked up some gravel bits...

...and gave them to his fluffy son.

"Thanks Dad!"

Below is my clearest set of father/son photos.

Dad on the left, boy on the right.

Just looking around...

Dad goes, "Ah-ha!"

"A bug!  I have a tasty bug!"

"Are you hungry?"

"I thought you might be!"

I am so chuffed that my Acorn colony has grown by at least one more bird!  Honestly, I'd been hoping for a girl to help out with egg production next year.  But hey, I'll take a boy, and I'll continue to watch...maybe there were two babies on the side of the tree.  Stay tuned!  

One year ago today Mom and I took in the Marylebone Fayre.

12 comments:

Pam in IL said...

Love Bee Mine! The buttons you added are too cute. It's great seeing how the baby Acorn interacts with Dad.

blue star stitcher said...

Those are great pictures of the dad feeding the son, how sweet!

Melissa said...

oh Beth, you must've been so excited to capture these photos and tell this story! How great. Perfect for Father's Day too!

Margaret said...

So so Cool!!!! Wow, and to see the father feeding the baby boy. Why did he give the baby gravel bits???

Carol said...

Aww... so cute! I'm sure your yard provides the perfect environment for all of these new birds to grow and thrive, Beth :)

Ann at Beadlework. said...

I love to watch birds feeding their young.

Barb said...

Congratulations on the new birdy boy!!!! How lucky you are to have the family in your area.

Brigitte said...

Old magazines are a real treasure chest when you are looking for something specific. And even more when you are just leafing through them. YOu usually find several patterns that you want to start stitching immediately, lol.

Such a nice picture story of the woodpeckers. We also see more and more fledglings that learn how to fly and that are still fed by their parents. No woodpeckers but other birds.

Maggee said...

That is a nice bee skep piece! Nicely done! Great woodpecker pictures and captions, as always. Hugs!

Melody said...

How cool to see and capture the father and son woodpeckers! You got some great shots of them.

Your bee skep is wonderful.

Melanie said...

Beeeeeeeeeeees! :)

Chris said...

Wow! Wow! What amazing pics! I love these guys. So glad you were able to capture this moment!