Loon Family video - Chicks R Go!

We love loons, and to have a successful hatching of loon chicks is just magical! Here is a short video that I shot over at the pond. I think the chicks are about 3 weeks old, and I checked with the Loon Development info page on the Loon Preservation Committee's website.

The wind was blowing a bit and I was at maximum zoom, so it was difficult to keep track of the loons as they swam about. Enjoy!!!! 

UPDATE: A neighbor told me that a bald eagle snagged one of the chicks for breakfast soon after I shot this video.

Loon Family on Caesar Pond (the first in 25 years)

Wowee! This is our first loon family on Caesar Pond in at least 25 years! Of course, I just had knee surgery and am confined to the shore. I had to use my camera with the longest reach to shoot some video as the loons were near the western side of the pond. This is a screen grab from one of the videos I took. At full zoom there is some camera shake and there was a breeze blowing straight at the camera. I had neglected to have Drew bring over the sand bags. But, at least I have documentation of loons!!! If you are interested, here is a link to the Loon Preservation Committee's Loon Chick Development information.

Tomato Hornworm Season

'Tis the season for the dreaded Tomato Hornworm. I found 9 of them on the Centennial Tomato plant, two on the middle tomato plant (Early Girl), and I looked on the northern most Early Girl tomato plant and did not find any, but I could see some destruction so I know there are some there. I'll have to continue my search tomorrow! UPDATE: I pulled a total of 17 tomato hornworms off of the Centennial Tomato plant!

Red Fox and Deer

We set the game camera out in the hope of seeing a doe munching on my flowering plants, and caught this fox walking through the front yard. UPDATE: on July 19, Drew saw a dead fox on the side of the road. I fear that our visitor met his/her demise.

The doe's butt was seen as she moseyed over to the main stump garden. She has decimated the majority of the daylilies, which seem to be her favorite food source. But, you can see here that she also enjoys Hosta. Look at the Hosta from the fox photo and then in this one. She has munched it down to just stripped stalks.

Yellow-shafted Flicker Chick Flick!

We absolutely adore Yellow-shafted Flickers, aka Northern Flickers. We were so excited to see that they had nested in the ash tree. We haven't documented woodpecker chicks from just after birth to fledging before. Enjoy!

Oh yes, before I forget...here is a neat tidbit of information I found about Northern Flickers. The Red-shafted flickers live on the west coast of North America and the Yellow-shafted flickers live in the eastern portion of North America. In between is a hybrid zone along the Missouri River area where the woodpeckers inter-breed and are different shades of orange. Cool!

Axelson, Gustave. “It’s Official: Red-Shafted and Yellow-Shafted Flickers Have Nearly Identical DNA.” The Cornell Lab: All About Birds, 19 Mar. 2021, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/its-official-red-shafted-and-yellow-shafted-flickers-have-nearly-identical-dna/

Yellow-shafted Flicker chicks have fledged!

Yesterday, Alpha Chick was using his beak for the first time to peck at the wood around the nest hole. He seems to be ready to fledge!

Then, this morning Drew put the video camera out at 7am. At 7:08am, the last of the chicks fledged. I am assuming that Alpha Chick, and another brother or sister, fledged earlier in the morning. Here is the chick putting his feet on the edge of the nest hole. He gave one last chirp, and...

launched himself out of the nest hole!

He flapped his wings so we could see the identifying yellow shafts and tail as he soared into the wild, blue yonder... Fly, be free little buddy! (Again, note that these are screen grabs from video.)

Yellow-shafted Flickers update

It is heartening to find that there are still at least two chicks alive in the Yellow-shafted Flicker nest. We saw two sets of beaks in the videos from today. Yay! I was getting worried...(By the way, all the photos on this post are screen grabs from the daily videos we took between July 4 - July 7.)

Here is the alpha male chick on July 4th. He is beginning to get a bit more brown coloration around his eyes.

Red squirrels are among many predators of baby birds. Luckily, on this encounter (on July 6th) Alpha Chick was able to be aggressive enough to keep the squirrel at bay. He pecked at the squirrel sending him on his way.

Mama Flicker has become more attentive to the food needs of the chicks over the last couple of days. Up until now, we rarely saw her feeding the chicks.

Here is Alpha Chick using his tongue for the first time (on July 6th). Soon he will be using it to gather food from ant hills.

As of July 7th, Alpha Chick has developed more of the typical male coloring, especially around his eyes. The feathers are more brown than grey as they had been up until now. He is one good looking chick!

Alpha Chick is also aggressive. Here he is pecking at his papa's chest and pulling feathers from it when he feels that he isn't getting fed fast enough! Papa bird is not amused! (July 7)

Yellow-shafted Flicker (Northern Flicker) nest update

Female Flicker with one baby beak poking out of the nest hole

Well, we were surprised to hear the squawking of chicks in the Yellow-shafted Flicker nest. Drew took some video grabs as he scrubbed through lots of video over several days, and lo and behold, we have chicks growing up in the nest hole! We are guessing that the woodpeckers had a second clutch of eggs???Who knows.

Male flicker with three chick beaks in the nest hole!

And, here is Papa bird with three sets of beaks present in the nest hole!

Male Yellow-shafted Flicker chick

Junior takes after his dad with the black malar marking behind his beak. Check out his bright red nape on the back of his head.

Male chick with adult male Northern Flicker

Note the coloration difference between the chick and his dear old papa. The chick has a lot more gray on his face, which will turn brown as he ages. These flickers are perfectly suited for our yard with so many ant hills. They should have plenty to eat!

Here is a photo that Drew took this morning of Alpha Chick.