Feeding the Birds at Mendon Ponds Park

Last Sunday Dawn and I took our first trip of the year to Mendon Ponds Park to feed the birds. Yeah, it's a little late, but it's been a busy 2005 so far, and the pace doesn't show any signs of slacking. Not only have we been tardy, but we went in the afternoon, and the weather was pretty warm, so the birds weren't all that interested in taking the bounty of nuts and seed that we offered.

Despite that, we did manage to get a few birds in hand. I had an up-close encounter with a White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), the very first bird to approach me. It took a peanut after picking carefully through the assortment of black-oil sunflower & safflower seeds, and raw peanut pieces. Of course, my camera was safely tucked away in my lumbar pack, so I didn't get a picture of the bird. I was lucky enough to shoot it as it clung to a nearby tree, though:




One of the stars of the day was a beautiful male Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) who stayed close to the Birdsong Trail, and even alit on the ground to feed on some seeds. Here he is enjoying a late lunch in the company of a sparrow (I'm no good with sparrow IDs, so I'll call it a mystery bird):


In these shots, you can really see the red ventral coloration from which he derives his name:



In the tangle of brush adjacent to the trail perched a number of Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis). This female didn't seem to mind having her picture taken:


Here's another one that I photographed in my backyard:


An unexpected visitor was this female Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus), who eschewed the retiring nature of her species, preferring instead to hang out very close to the edge of the trail. Even loud boistrous children (yes, there were unfortunately a few of them present) didn't scare her away:


The highlight of the day from a feeding perspective had to be the Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapilla), always the most accomodating, curious and bold of the birds in Mendon. Dawn fed them while I played shutterbug:

Here, another claims its prize, a nice fat peanut...


... and then makes its exit:


The shot of the day, though, had to be this Chickadee on final approach, wings tucked in, landing gear extended:


Nearly as plucky, though not as numerous, were the Tufted Titmice (Baeolophus bicolor):


And just to show that it wasn't a raptor-free day, I saw this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) perched in a tree on the drive home. The lighting was very poor, but it cried out for a picture anyway:


And of course, there aren't many better ways to cap off a day of birding than to see my old friend, the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus ) at the feeder in our front yard. This is one of a pair of males that visited:


Not a bad day, all told.