Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Shamrocks and Babies

Last week was a blur of activity and I got so confused that I thought Wednesday was Thursday.  That messed up my stitching rotation, but I was able to stitch on Sunday during a bus trip up to Portland. I fixed my two messed up shamrocks and stitched the remaining small shamrocks.  I stitched the word 'Love' and have started the large four leaf shamrock in the center of the design.  I should have a finish after a couple more sessions.

This is Bird Baby time of year.  

Last week I watched this rather resigned looking father House Finch and his two newly fledged offspring. 

The baby in the center was the showman...

...chattering...and fluffing her wings.

It paid off!

Papa got tired of all the begging and posturing and fed her.

Parents and kids!

I've had two birdhouses on the east side of the shop for a couple of years now, and have been frustrated that they've been unoccupied.
That changed this year as a family of Black-capped Chickadees took up residence. 

The babies have hatched and the parents are hard at work feeding their brood.
They fly in to a couple of young Douglas Fir trees which are a few feet from the birdhouse.  There they pause to catch their breath... 

...then make the short flight to the house. 

They often pause there as well before entering.
The birdhouse inhabitants are making quite a ruckus - I'm guessing there are babies.  

With the exception of American Goldfinches, literally all other baby birds are fed a diet of protein, usually in the form of insects.

So while I see the adults at my peanut and sunflower feeders grabbing a quick snack for themselves, they are feeding the babies juicy green insects and bugs of all sorts. 


9 comments:

Carol said...

Your shamrock stitching is looking so nice, Beth! Great photos of the adult birds gathering food for their babies... Nothing like a fresh juicy green bug first thing in the morning--ha ha :)

FAB said...

Lovely to see the new House Finch family and I hope you get to see the Black-capped Chickadees successfully fledge.

Sharon Wagner said...

Nice worm!

Maggee said...

Wonder why MY baby Chickadees and House Finches have been on their own for weeks already? We barely had spring this year! Love to see them being fed in your photos...

Tony McGurk said...

The baby birds are so cute. The Chickadees are very lovely looking birds too. I should get a bird feeder for our garden.

krayolakris said...

I've really grown to love my house finches. They are so melodic!

Judy Biggerstaff said...

Great pics of the house finches. I have them daily at my feeders plus I have the chickadees. They are so sweet but so quick so can be difficult to capture. Great job.

Janice said...

The chickadee is such a sweet bird.

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Great mix of bird photos. I liked seeing them lined up on the fence. Adorable.