Back to the Little Guys

Design - "More Than Luck"

Designer - Carriage House Samplings

Fabric - 28 count Natural / Tin Roof Gingham linen

Fibers - DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 23 March 2016

Completed - 20 June 2016

And back to the little guys we go once again.

Male Lesser Goldfinch

Female Lesser Goldfinch

Black-capped Chickadee

Mr. Cutie-pie

AKA Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Oh My Stars and Shamrocks!

 

Design - "More Than Luck"

Designer - Carriage House Samplings

Fabric - 28 count Natural / Tin Roof Gingham linen

Fibers - DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 23 March 2016

Completed - 20 June 2016

So I've shown of the shamrocks...what made be exclaim "Oh my stars!"?

Monday afternoon my sister and I were outside and I was watching a group of birds circling overhead.  One was a Red-tailed Hawk...no big deal.

But then this one caught my eye.  What's with the white tail and head?

It was an adult Bald Eagle!

Just about the last thing I expected to see,

Wow!

I had a juvenile Bald Eagle light in a tree back in April 2017.

So this was only my 2nd confirmed sighting.

Shamrocks and Grosbeaks

 

Design - "More Than Luck"

Designer - Carriage House Samplings

Fabric - 28 count Natural / Tin Roof Gingham linen

Fibers - DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 23 March 2016

Completed - 20 June 2016

As it turned out I did not stitch on this every Wednesday as I had intended, but I did work on "More Than Luck" at least one day each week which helped me to finally finish this in a timely fashion.  I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

After having just one female Evening Grosbeak for the past few weeks, suddenly I had a couple of males show up. 

And that was great news as they are such pretty birds.

And doesn't she look like she's ready to raise a family.

One of the males has just one functioning eye - the right eye is terribly damaged as you can see.

The left eye, looks good, so I hope he is able to make do.

The other male has two good eyes.

Look at that bright yellow bird and that wonderful parrot-like beak!

Here's one of the happy couples.

We've had some pretty sunsets. 

I like watching the day disappear.

Changes Every Day

While I messed up and did not work on this on Wednesday, I did pull it out and stitch away on Saturday.  The large shamrock is now 1/2 done!

The many of the smaller birds the cycle of choosing a mate, mating, nest-building and raising a clutch of young is accomplished in 45-60 days.   

On Friday I observed my baby Tree Swallow.  It looked ready to fledge.

Saturday morning I observed an adult at work removing feces from the nest.

Then I was gone most of the day for family activities.

When I next looked on Sunday morning, the birdhouse was abandoned.  The baby had, I hope, successfully fledged and the family has now moved on to an area like Fern Ridge Reservoir with lots of flying insects to munch.  

I am bummed that I also appear to have missed the leave-taking of my Black-capped Chickadee family.  As best I can tell, they too moved out on Sunday.

On a brighter note, two of the Violet-green Swallow couple now are feeding babies.  This house...  

...and this house both erupt with cheeping when the parents fly in. 

Two other pairs of Violet-green Swallows are still in the construction stage. 

I am looking forward to more bird babies.

This female Evening Grosbeak comes to my feeders two or three times a day.

I never see, or hear, a male Evening Grosbeak.  This gal is a bit of a mystery.  Why did she stay, when all the other Evening Grosbeaks appear to have left the area?  Is there a male somewhere?  Will there be a baby grosbeak or two?  Stay tuned!

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. 

Follow the Swallow

Two weeks in a row I've dedicated Wednesday to stitching on this WIP.  Once again good progress. Four more shamrocks and the word 'Luck'. If I can continue to use Wednesday this way, I'll get some of my larger WIPs finished after languishing for months.   

I haven't reported on my swallows for a while.

I do love the bright blue of the Tree Swallows and the liquid sounds they make.

The Tree Swallows used this house last year.

They occupied it again this year and built their nest.

Mama has been sitting on eggs for a while now, and as of Monday we heard the high chirping of babies!  Now both parents are busy flying in and out of the nest feeding the hungry hatchlings. 

I had a second pair of Tree Swallows looking at this hose, but I'm not sure that it has been 'rented'.

I think there are at least four pairs of Violet-Green Swallows.

This fellow is looking down at...

...his mate who was house-hunting.

This house has been 'taken' by a pair of birds.

This house also occupants.  

The nest is built - there are bits of straw sticking out from the bottom of the house. 

Violet-green Swallows are in the nest-building stage at this house. 

The Swallow had a wonderfully large white feather to add to the nest.

But had a heck of a time figuring out how to get the feather in the house.  He dropped it at least two times and had to battle other swallows to retain possession.

I was pleased and relieved when the bird, and the feather made it safely inside the bird house.