Lots of Questions and NYC Saves the Last Bit of Salt Marsh

A female House Finch has a drink. I've begun to worry a little about the local group's eyes. The species is prone to a type of conjunctivitis which drastically reduces their ability to care for themselves.


The female Dark-eyed Junco doesn't have the irritated area around her eyes.

This male House Finch's eyes look even more irritated than the female's did.

Here is another female. Her eyes are wide and have some shine.

Her chest and belly are interesting. Currently the breast is speckled and the speckles then ease into organized stripes. What is the evolutionary advantage of that pattern strategy?

Here's her rump. Even the fluffy feathers of her bottom seem to have a lateral stripe.

Speaking of stripes, what is the advantage of the bright white stripes on a Chipmunk? One certainly wouldn't want a predator to go for that portion of one's body. An optical illusion of some kind perhaps?

--Is this Chewie? It turns out it wasn't. As when I later opened the garage door for the first time of the day, Chewie came racing out like a mad thing and sped across the road. Thankfully there were no cars coming.

Why does he keep going into the garage? There is plenty of seed on the patio. It certainly isn't much, if at all warmer than being outside?

The morning was filled with birds I couldn't get a camera on. Having gone most of the summer without sighting a Blue Jay in town, two from farther north have now definitely moved in for the winter. As I've mentioned before, the Blue Jays in more temperate areas were drastically reduced by West Nile Virus but their populations have yet to rebound as the Crows have.

And it looks as if the Nuthatch is going to winter as well. His little squeaky toy call is nearly constant as he raids sunflower seeds from my feeder and the one next door and stashes them. Today was about stashing the seeds in the cracks of the bark of this tree. Yesterday I saw a Chickadee raiding his hidey holes in the Goodie Stump again.

And from New York Times Link Man, Bill Walters--New York City saves the last remaining piece of the Staten Island Salt Marsh. So what if it has discarded toilets, it also has pickle weed.


NEW YORK REGION November 7, 2007

Protecting a Wild Patch of City Marshland

By ANDY NEWMAN

On Staten Island, a boggy green break in one of the city’s most industrialized stretches of waterfront is being preserved.

Donegal Browne

Chewie and the Doves

This is Chewie. Chewie the Chipmunk loves to scamper into the garage when the door is open. Unfortunately he doesn't also scamper out when the door is ajar. He waits until the door is closed and then decides it's time to leave. That's when the chewing comes into play. So far he's munched the weather striping off the bottom of the garage door--hundreds of little bits of rubber lying on the floor. That was my first clue that perhaps Chewie was in the garage and might like to get out.
Therefore I left the door open and went out to put fresh water into the birdbath. Suddenly here comes Chewie. But instead of zipping away like a normal Chipmunk should, he comes toward me. In fact he comes within a foot of my shoe. Chewie isn't rabid is he? Oh dear, is Chewie so annoyed about being shut in the garage that he's going to bite me in the sneaker? That being the only part of me he can comfortably reach thank goodness.
No actually there is also a puddle, on the concrete next to my shoe, created from a drip coming from the hose. Chewie keeps his eye on me and leans down for a deep drink. Chewie is thirsty. That's what happens when you chew all that rubber. Poor guy, there's plenty of seed in the garage but water is definitely on the sparse side. Guess I'd better keep a plant saucer of water in there from now on just in case Chewie gets accidentally incarcerated again.

5:26PM I manage to snap Doorstep Dove as she teleports in.
(For the confused, that's a joke.)
Though Little Bit, the smallest of the Mourning Dove children , was foraging earlier in the afternoon she's gone by 5:30 and Doorstep is as usual first for the evening feeding.

Then there are three.

Then four

Then six...wait, what happened to Doorstep?

This used to be the tomato plants, sunflowers, peppers, and squash vines but the cold has swept them away. Only the dandelion leaves peek out of the leaf debris. But some plants are hardier.

For instance there is...

Parsley! It doesn't look the least bit bothered by the 39F wind chill. And the Marigolds with their drying seed heads aren't nipped by the recent frost and snow flurries either. They're still holding their own.

5:34PM There's Doorstep. She's first yet again for the family's evening bird bath gathering.

5:59PM The Mourning Dove family has gathered. Four on the bath and three on the ground. One of the groundlings is visible below Doorstep, who is on the far right edge. DD Daughter is below the bowl outside the frame and Little Bit is center looking at the camera.

Donegal Browne

Winter Wear

The little ground feeding birds sporting their winter wear.


The male House Finch "red" is much more muted compared with a few months ago.

The squirrels now have their glossy thick winter fur. Their tails are fuller--and so are their backsides. Their bodies have stockpiled fat necessary for those inclement winter days when the squirrels hold up in their nests waiting for the sun.

This little guy sits with the setting sun shining on the side of his head that is damaged. It isn't clear if the swelling on the side of his head is an infected ear or an injury. He's been frequenting the feeder for some weeks and he seems to be holding his own. I'd been taking him as a yearling Chipping Sparrow marking the blackish streak through his eye and the lighter stripe above the eye but then I noticed the more pronounced white ring and somewhat pinkish beak similar to that of a Field Sparrow. The cap of winter is much less rust colored than during breeding whichever he is.

Donegal Browne