O.T. - El Toro -

At risk of really crossing the line here, I know this is not an aviary or animal site, but not too far off from what many of us have seen when working in the fields, which is part of farming. I kinda like to watch over the birds myself at times. That pileated woodpecker escaped me for years, friends always said, "you have not seen one of those, we see em quite often" I heard the call they make and there was one in the yard, darned thing was the size of a crow too !

New years eve, I heard a knock at the door, not in all that great of a mood, winter time, cabin fever LOL, I'm not expecting anyone tonight so I'm like !$#@*%.... who's messin with me out there, this is about 2-3 hours after dark. I look down, and this guy (in the photo) is on the threshold, it was him knocking on the door with his beak ! I go over and he comes right to me, then past me into a shrub, so I knew something was up, bunch of cats come around here at times, so I figured I'd best flush him out and catch him. He was ornery about it, that beak can just about break the skin, show him some food, ohh... give me that, then he bites me again... got him settled down finally, cardinals are really something else, got used to me, would sit on my shoulder and try to groom my short sideburns, got him some sunflower seed, had some grubs in some semi punked out black cherry logs I was cutting the good parts from and burning. He ate and drank water, well just hang tight we'll get ya back goin again. One wing was missing a few feathers, that beak sure was strong, but he could not lift off the ground for long, so I figured I'd feed the heck out of him and see if he improved, like so many I've helped before. 2 days, I let him roost in the open, heard him jump down into the box early in the morning, he liked to root around in there for seeds mixed in with the bedding, but he passed on. Kind of sad, but at least he got some comfort, never know, if it was a cat that messed him up, bacteria from them is deadly, if it broke the skin, new years eve no way to get him some help. Apparently people used to peddle these guys as pets before some act or treaty in 1918, they are pretty darned cool, 2nd one I've had over the years.

Photos are not great, time for a real camera, missing some really great shots, this one was a bit too close up.




Bald eagle, view from my kitchen window, he was after the deer carcass left out for the critters, I always do that to watch the red tail hawks, this time they were outranked, never saw one of these before, pretty big compared to the crow next to him, and they did not know whether to harass him or what, they are relentless with hawks, this guy had em stunned for some reason.

Water is our 20+ acre pond, most wildlife productive in the county according to the DEC agent, and those fields are still in use, rememeber long before any houses were there, some nice ground too. You can barely see our hedgerow, quite the contrast between them now being overgrown, place is loaded with wildlife, all kinds of birds migrate and nest here now.

This one smacked into the garage door window, while I was working inside one early December afternoon, eyes all bloodshot, just about in shock, amazing what some heat and food will do, she recovered nicely and went on her way in a weeks time, they can live a long time well over 15 years, potentially over 25 from what I have read.

Beautiful pictures -lifes simple pleasures !!!
Thank you!

Those cardinals have alot of personallity.Some here will chirp at the house until I go refill the feeder.They like the bigger seeds.I see the eagle.I didnt know they would eat carrion.I just saw my first eagle ever beleive it or not in New Jersey.I was crossing a river on a bridge.Birds are cool .Got the wfe new binos for Christmas.I have worked in switchyards where we put up cones around sandpiper nests in the gravel.Nobody stepped on the eggs but one morning no eggs,maybe a raccoon came through.I also saw the power company guys once put a guy by his ankles down the storm drain to rescue ducks following the mom that fell through.Would have made a good commercial for the power company.Nice pictures.

When you actually get that close to them, like these cardinals, it is kind of cool, both needed some help, so you learn something and provide some shelter for em, they're tough sometimes, not all of em make it, I'm a bit wary of that avian flu., west nile or whatever those mosquitoes spread, then of course turn your back and the darned neighbors cat gets one out of the cage, found a robin last summer, went to eat dinner and that confounded cat got just had to ruin it for me, that really ------ me off, cause the little guy just needed a few days boost or so and he'd have made it. Just happened to stumble on him, figured to catch him, I'd sneak up on him, what's he do, comes right over, hey buddy, could you help me out here ? Usually you have to chase em, for some reason he just knew I was not a threat, had him chowing all kinds of food, these will hang around even after they can fly, it is one of lifes pleasure to help em out, I really felt I let him down, now all of em I find I take no chances with, how in heck that cat got him is beyond me.



I have forgotten, seem to have a quite a few wildlife photos, kind of spread out in my directory, mostly native to the area.


I am not exactly sure what this is, thought it was a swallow, but think it really was a Swift, one odd looking bird, came back from one of my friends farm, was running their JD 2020 and tiller, go back to the fridge for a cold one, and I hear this noise in the stove pipe, yep he made it all the way down to the damper, just seems I am always around at the right time, he made it stayed the night,insect catcher I think, only gave him some water, when I let him go the next day he did a fly by, 1 lap around the house, thanks bud !

I did not think so either, I had 3 red tail hawks cleaning up that carcass first, they both seem go for larger dead animals. Fox still cleaning up on what is left, coyotes won't come this close for some reason. Woodpeckers have been at the suet or fat too, all kinds of things show up actually.

Personality all right that little guy was really something, take no crap from you either, I should have really checked him over, to see if he had any puncture wounds from a cat bite, still need to get em some anti-biotics quickly if so, might have been old age, but his feathers were not all that bright, real strong beak, clamps down stronger than a crow, might have been a younger one, feathers were not as bright as others I have seen.

We have a Cardinal that was out of his nest so a friend of my daughter brought him to my wife. We had him over 11 years. He like's banana tidbits too. Sings well too. Hal

They do live a long time, I enjoy helping em out, you know it's 6 months jail time and $15,000 fine for those cardinals if I recall correctly, it's less if you harass an eagle, $10,000, would have to look it up to be sure.

Have had a Pair of Cardinals in the back yard, for the past few years, they nest only about 4' off the ground and the cat next door all ways seems to find the young. Maybe this year they won't find the cat.

We have a couple cardinals that hang around. We have a feeder filled now with the "cardinal" mix. The other day one was out on one of the clumps of birch with dark evergreens with snow behind. Man did that red stand out. Sure was a plump one too. Got about 20 feet from him with the camera and wouldn't you know the batteries were dead. Was glad to enjoy the site though.

I will let my wife read this and she will turn him loose in the spring. It's too cold now he wouldn't survive. Hal

We have a lot of cardinals around our house. A grape vine covered shrub provides winter cover; they stand out like bits of red yarn or Christmas decorations. Very cool birds!! But then so are nuthatches, phoebes, and doves--just about all birds except blue jays.

Larry in Michigan

All those years, raised since a youngster he's probably much better off where he is, might not know the ways of things outside, they have increased their habitat quite a bit, don't think they are endangered at all. For the most part, I like to see em free, but in some circumstances, depending on if you can keep em content, I've bent the rules, had a sparrow hawk for years, found him while baling hay, no way he'd have made it outside.

Research the laws, maybe there is another alternative, he must be content having made it this far by now, they seem to be an affectionate species.

He's been very healthy for the last 11 years. I think it will be 12 years this summer. He takes food from your hand too. Hal

The cat wouldn't if it was my neighbour,they are a useful source of fertiliser if planted near fruit trees.

My wife raised a baby martin back in the 1060's that had fallen from the nest. Didn't know which hole in came from. It grew up and flew around with the other martins, but when the other birds left he didn't go along. He didn't survive even though he ate good. Hal

That was the 1960's. Hal