A Flock of Ibis

I came across these little guys while walking my brother's dog this week.

A Flock Of Ibis, Jeanne Turner McBrayer, 2015

The ibis appeared to be eating bugs out of a sunny spot on a neighbor's grassy lawn.  They looked very pretty in the sunshine.

We have had some great bird-watching off the deck of the house.  There is a small lake, and we enjoy seeing the variety of wildlife attracted to it.  Otters, ducks, herons, iguanas, even bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, and owls are all in the neighborhood.

There are two bald eagles perched at the very top of the Norfolk Island Pine, just above the first pine branch.

A couple of ducks at the edge of the lake.

An iguana is swimming across the lake.

It is a serene place to sit outside and read or just relax.  The weather is getting nicer here, less hot and less humid, making it even more attractive.

It was wonderful to be in the North Carolina mountains for the long Fourth of July weekend. Good weather, good friends, good food, good drinks, good mountain river float. It was a much smaller group than normal, since one of my nephews and his wife are expecting a baby any day. My sister's whole family stayed home to wait for the baby, who is still not here. But one of their good friends gave birth on Thursday, so congratulations go out to Amy and Mike. Mike gave us the gift of his electrician expertise on wiring the cabin two years ago. I think little Shelby may be getting a home-made gift from me!

When we arrived at the cabin, I was thrilled that some nasturtium seeds that I planted among the plastic flowers in our window boxes had bloomed and were trailing. I watered them ASAP. Little did I know, there was a nest of baby wrens in one of the boxes, hiding under the foliage.

I did not drown them, but Mama Wren was mighty glad when we left and she could feed her babies without so many people close at hand. We had our son Dave, his wife Emily, and four of their college friends all staying at our place.

I put some more perennials out where our driveway forms a switchback coming up the hill. the ferns and rhododendron are gratis from Mother Nature.

Inside, I hung up one of my Collage Mania pieces that were recently framed. I decided to leave it in the horizontal orientation. It is next to my little kitchen sink area.

We had not one, but two days of floating down the New River on tubes. It is so much fun, and what a bonus to see some of the most beautiful picture-perfect postcard scenery as we drifted. One of our college friends and his son joined us on the float on Saturday.

The past few years, we have experienced thunderstorms and even hail last year by the time we reached our pick-up point. This year, no rain at all until all the fun was over and it was time to leave on Sunday. It makes it easier to leave when it is raining. Even in the rain, I hate to see it go.

Return of the Kildeer

Brr- it is cold outside. Last weekend was shirtsleeve weather in the sixties. It snowed Monday and Tuesday nights, just enough to leave a dusting on the grass and roof. On Saturday, it is supposed to be 68 degrees again. Today is SO COLD- but beautiful outside with crystal blue skies. There were many birds scurrying around, including ones I rarely see at the house, like a towhee and a brown thrasher. http://www.birdsofoklahoma.net/archive/BrownThrasher0467.jpg

We have spring bulbs coming up and camellias trying to bloom on the warm days. Our seasons are so mixed up. With the small lake down the street frozen except for the mouth where the spring waters flow in, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Mallard Duck attempting to start their family. Now, really!

When we first moved into our house here in Wake Forest, it was a former farmland with only seventeen houses. (Now there are more than eighty.) We frequently saw all kinds of wildlife, including deer, fox, and owls. We also had a pair of killdeer. I had to look them up, as I did not know this bird. They have two black stripes on their neck and chest, reminding me of a North Carolina lighthouse.

Anyway, this pair decided to nest along the side of our gravel driveway. Clever of them in a way, because their speckled eggs looked just like the hard gray rocks in the drive. Not too smart of them with teenage drivers and riding mower operators in the household. I used to put stakes around the nests with red streamers to safeguard the nests. When I would walk to the mailbox, the adult birds would either do the "broken-wing" drag, or puff up their feathers and act scary to try to deter me.

I bet I had not seen the killdeer in twelve years, until the last couple of days. They have been checking out locations in the neighborhood, as I have seen them in three different neighbor's yards. Today I could not spot them, but just as I got to our house, I heard the distinct cry of the killdeer overhead. He landed right next to a ditch by the side of the road.

I'm glad they are back! Getting my nesting stakes ready in case they decide to live here again.

I was surprised to find many videos on YouTube documenting the protective acts of the killdeer.

Cool Facts from All About Birds

• 
  The Killdeer is one of the most successful shorebirds because of its fondness for human modified habitats and its willingness to nest close to people. Because they live so close to people, however, they are vulnerable to pesticide poisoning and collisions with cars and buildings.



• 
  Gravel rooftops attract Killdeer for nesting, but can be dangerous places to raise a brood. Chicks may be unable to leave a roof because of high parapets and screened drain openings. When adults lure chicks off the roof, the chicks may die from the fall. However, some chicks have been observed leaping from a seven-story building and surviving.



• 
  The broken-wing act used to lead predators from the nest would not keep a cow or horse from stepping on the eggs. To guard against large hoofed animals, the Killdeer uses a quite different display, fluffing itself up, displaying its tail over its head, and running at the beast to attempt to make it change its path.

All Things Birdy

Textile Bird by Michelle Bonds

My friend Michelle Bonds began her blog at about the same time I began All Things Quilty. Michelle is an amazing artist who specializes in recycling found objects like bottle caps and even toilet paper and paper towels into jewelry, postcards, quilts, and other objets d'art. Anyway, I loved Michelle's birds when she posted pictures of them on her blog. Much to my delight, I received a package in the mail this week containing my very own Bond-Birdy! She is made of a dyed fabric that has been stamped and painted. The wings are made from a map of North Carolina that has been painted and stitched. They gleam and glitter! Thank you, Michelle, for such a generous gift that truly brightened a rather bad day.

Hummingbird, Felt-tip markers, by Kyara, age 9

Bird #2 was created by one of my third grade students. She made it to illustrate a story she wrote about a hummingbird. Kyara traced the outline of a bird from a calendar picture, and then went wild on the plumage! I think her Mexican heritage is showing through in the bright colors and swirls. To me, it is reminiscent of a Mola. I would have to say her variety of bright colors may be because she loves my scented markers, and wanted to use as many "flavors" as possible. The kids in my classes often walk around with little colored dots on their noses from smelling the markers a little too closely!

Six baby bluebirds

Last bird's-eye view of the day is this brood of baby bluebirds that live in my front yard. I don't remember ever having six in the box at one time. I think they are about a week old now. When they first hatched, they looked like little fuzzy thumbs with beaks. Starting to look more like birdies now!

Springtime

What a beautiful day! After a cold start to the week, it warmed up nicely this afternoon. The third graders went on a field trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art, so I only had one class today. It was a good feeling to get lesson plans done and student folders reviewed.

After taking a photo of this lovely pot of French lavender in bloom, I noticed a bird flying off the floral arrangement hanging above it in one of those iron scroll work pots. I got out the stepladder and took a peek. Yes- seven little blue speckled eggs in a hidden nest! That's a whole mess of eggs for one little bird!

So far, no picture of Mama Bird. I checked my bird book and decided she was a house wren. I don't remember ever seeing one before. She is too nervous to stay on the nest when I open the back porch door. But we have had a Carolina wren nest on top of our vertical propane tank for the last couple of years.

And here is another new nest that I removed from one of the bluebird boxes long enough to take a picture. I'm not sure what kind of bird made this nest, but I've never known the bluebirds to add moss to line the nest. Looks a little like a mini Green Man to me!