...this one's not cute...

A friend mentioned that I only show cute birds doing cute things on the blog and wondered if I ever photographed non-cute birds doing non-cute things.....

...well, as a matter of fact, I do.

...it's just that I usually don't post the non-cute acts. I did post a Red-shouldered Hawk eating a vole last January after Matty spotted him, but usually, the gruesome shots stay tucked in the archives. I photographed this guy in my backyard last week and decided to post him. After all, a hawk has to do what a hawk has to do to survive, and this guy was doing it very well. I was amazed at how quickly and efficiently he plucked through the bird's feathers.

After clearing the feathers, he ripped through the skin.

Hawks are definitely not cute. They are magnificent...fearsome....beautiful...but not cute.

Beak Bit

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Bird's site explains that Cooper's Hawks kill birds by squeezing them to death with their feet, not biting into the bird until it's dead. They also list that Cooper's Hawks have been known to drown birds before eating them too...

To see bird photography from all over the world, visit:

From birds…to Little Wooden Dolls?

I have lots of birds lined up from the past week to post, but I just had to pass this on! Look at what my Aunt Diane made me for my birthday—a Little Wooden Doll with a “Birding Girl” outfit! Can you believe it? She designed this little outfit just for me. “Birding Girl” even has a little leucistic bird perched on her birding hat, and if you check the pocket in her birding vest, you’ll find her own field guide (featuring Red, of course!), and in those slim-line khaki pants it looks like she found a feather along the way...

Thanks Aunt Diane. I love Birding Girl!

There is a long story behind this doll that goes all the way back to 1967 when Aunt Diane created the first Little Wooden Doll just for me. I was in the first grade then and absolutely fell in love with them. I thought they were so special since Aunt D had made them, and I still have them, complete with the little armoire that held their clothes! Little Wooden Doll has come a long way since 1967!

Groovy, baby! I dig that bathing suit!

Over the years, Aunt Diane modified and upgraded the Little Wooden Doll, and in the early 90s I drew several doll faces for her. Can you tell which concept she ended up going with?

…and just recently, she started a blog (I wonder who talked her into that?). So head over to Aunt Diane’s blog, home of the Little Wooden Doll, and say hi. She barely gets any visitors because she’s so new, and I think she’s tired of just getting comments from me. So say hi and welcome her to the blogging world.

The Little Wooden Doll is like a paper doll, but her clothes are fabric. Aunt Diane designs and makes all the clothes. On top of that, Little Wooden Doll is quite literary. Here are just a few of her posts…

…Merry Making at the Thomas Hardy Ball. This post includes “The Darkling Thrush.” The year both of my grandmas died I used this poem in my Christmas card. It’s such a beautiful poem full of hope…

…Christmas Dinner with Mr. Darcy. Since I’m a Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice freak (Aunt Diane is too), I love this one…

...and of course, Birding Girl...

P.S. Aunt Diane has already appeared on the blog way back in March of last year when we had our family winter picnic and birding party. You can also catch a glimpse of Aunt Pat and Joni (my mom) who together make up "The Three Sisters..."

Winter robins...they like Cheerios too!

Last weekend during the Great Backyard Bird Count, this American Robin was keeping an eye on me as I photographed him. It was snowing hard, and I first spied this fluffy robin from the kitchen window. He looked beautiful in the snow, so I quickly put on my coat and boots and went out to photograph him. He was sitting in a Cleveland Pear tree. You can see the damage to the bark the 17-year cicadas (Brood XIV) left behind during the summer of 2008 as they greedily sucked sap from this tree.

At one point I ran out of seed, but before I could run to the store to get some more, I just put out some Cheerios. The robins were the first takers. They were maniacs for the Cheerios, which seemed to be the perfect size for their mouths.

...daintily picking up a Cheerio...

...positioning it...

...and then swallowing it down the hatch in one gulp!

Check out bird photography from all over the world at...

Little bird...big song...

...continued from Monday's post on the Breadcrumb Fairy at Pine Hill Lakes.

Carolina Chickadees are never afraid or timid. They always fly right up and tell you all about it...

Perched on a bun, this fellow was very enthusiastic with his chatter

until he finally nipped off a piece of bread and flew off with it.

...adorable faces, adorable sounds, adorable antics...

Chickadees sprinkle cheer wherever they go!

...his little song melts into my heart every time I hear it.

...in the dead of winter the chickadee's song is just too perfect for words.

...for an older post on the beauty of a chickadee's song, click here.

Tufted Tiddlywinks and the breadcrumb fairy...

Today, AGAIN, it snowed, snowed, snowed...and it's still snowing now! It’s very pretty out there, but maybe not quite as pretty as it was 4 snows ago……. Anyway, all this snow makes for great sledding, so a few days ago I took Matty and his friend sledding at Pine Hill Lakes Park. I was hoping the breadcrumb fairy had shown up again and left crumbs under the big pine tree by the parking lot so I could photograph some of the birds. There were no breadcrumbs tucked under the tree that afternoon--but there were buns…big and fluffy, and covered with sesame seeds…and lots of them! So our local breadcrumb fairy was not a one-shot deal. Somebody was taking care of the Pine Hill Lakes birds on the sly!

20 or 30 large buns had been left under the tree for the birds.

Birds were flying in left and right to nip off small pieces of bread and pose for a photo, so I plopped down in the snow just under the boughs and sat still (thank goodness for Spyder snow pants and coats...warm and waterproof!). The birds soon became accustomed to me as a nonstop procession of titmice, juncos, cardinals, white-throated sparrows, chickadees, and even a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a very cute Carolina Wren took turns grabbing a bite to eat. In the distance I could hear screams of excitement as kids raced down the snowy slopes, but here, under the pine boughs still heavy with snow, it was very quiet and still. Now and then tiny bird sounds would drift down through the branches as feathers whisked against pine needles, knocking clumps of snow to the ground. Of course, when the Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, and the Red-bellied Woodpecker arrived it wasn't quiet. They announced themselves regularly with their wonderful songs...

This Tufted Titmouse was very friendly. He studied me for a

while before grabbing a bit of bread and flying up in the tree to eat it.

My cousin, Curg, calls these guys Tufted Tiddlywinks. (Hi, Curg!)

...for some reason that really seems to fit, so Mr. T Tiddlywinks it is!

After about 45 minutes my battery died. Grrrr…. It had only one bar of charge when I left the house, so I was lucky to get 45 minutes out of it. The last time I photographed the breadcrumb birds I filled up the card and didn't have a replacement with me. Well...Matty's school was just called off for tomorrow, so another snow day awaits us. Yeah! I bet we will go sledding again.

Painting #15 - A Happy St. Valentine's Day Sandhill Crane...

A Sandhill Crane walks around with a Valentine's heart on his face every day!

He's the perfect bird to wish you a Happy St. Valentine's Day!

This is painting #15 in the...

The Art of the Flying Fan Dance...

Just outside my kitchen window, this Northern Flicker showed an intruding Starling who was boss. We don't normally get to see such a grand display of those beautiful yellow feathers!!

A male Northern Flicker takes on a classic threat display to make himself look bigger and stronger. The starling didn't stand a chance and soon left.

The Northern Flicker is a new bird for the kitchen window feeders, and this winter marks his return. Flickers have been absent from our yard for about 3 years. Yesterday was a snow day, and I was in the living room when I heard this fellow announcing himself in the side yard. "Don't move Matty, I hear the Flicker!" Poor kid, he gets that a lot. I quickly grabbed the camera and snuck up beside Matty to snap the photo. It's a hard-to-reach window just above the sink and a step stool, climbing, and balancing are needed to get into the sink to get the angle on this feeder (you've probably done the same thing to get that kitchen window shot!). When his friends are around, I stay out of the sink with my camera...

An American Tree Sparrow in the Snow

A little American Tree Sparrow rested in a crabapple tree just outside our family room window Saturday morning. He seemed very pleased with the additional five inches of snow. After all, he is a bird from the far north and is well adapted to our cold winters. This spring he will pick up and head back home, flying over 2,000 miles to reach his breeding grounds in Manitoba, so we have to enjoy him while we can. He's our special part-time bird with a wintertime job of brightening our cold, grey days. The warm chocolate brown color that runs through his feathers and the cheerful, rusty cap on his head fit his happy self perfectly and help him do his job. I also love his two-toned bill and dark stickpin in the center of his chest. Last year our little winter flock numbered about 20. This year it seems a little higher...maybe 25+. Last winter the flock stuck to the feeders outside my kitchen window, but this winter they have ventured to the feeders in the front of the house outside my office window and to the feeders in the back outside the family room. Wherever I go, I can catch a glimpse of them, twittering and hopping around...

Beauty and the beastie...

Here's the beauty...

This little female Northern Cardinal was so pretty in the snow as she rooted around looking for breadcrumbs.

...and then she tilted her head and gave me that sweet expression--totally melting my heart...

And here's the beastie...

Not really...he's one of the most majestic and beautiful birds that visit my backyard. I always look twice when I see our hawks zipping in and out of branches as they try to nab one of the feeder birds.

...or when I walk into the kitchen and see him sitting in the half-dead weeping willow, seemingly looking right in on me. He hears me every time I click that camera. I don't think he approves. You'd think he would be used to it by now...

Beastie forgives me as he goes back to looking for his lunch.

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk

At first I assumed this guy was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk because we have a lot of adult Cooper's Hawks in our area, but he's a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk! I was just now looking out the window, and a juvenile Cooper's Hawk flew up. His tale had wide bars in it--a definite difference. This fellow's tail has small bars. He would be our first ever juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk! Yeah!!! Last winter, we had an adult Red-shouldered Hawk fly in our yard twice, once on January 17, 2009 and again on January 26, 2009. Maybe this is an offspring of that bird. Exciting!! Thanks Roy (from Roy's World) for mentioning the tail...and thanks Mike (from Everybody Funny) for corroborating!

Hot off the press...this Cooper's Hawk just landed in the backyard. Look at those wide bars in his long tail.

Weather Report...

It's snowing like crazy here. We may get up to 8 inches! I hope so. If we do I'll be out tromping around with my camera tomorrow. There's nothing like fresh fallen snow. (We did get snow through the night--about 5 or 6 inches of it. Rick is outside shoveling now. I'm getting ready to put on my snow gear and head to the Little Miami River. I love snow!!)

Painting #12 - American Goldfinches on a Thistle Feeder

American Goldfinches eating thistle seeds on the feeder outside our kitchen window.

Even in their dull winter plumage, enough yellow remains in our goldfinches' feathers to brighten the greyest of Cincinnati days. This small flock of goldfinches visited our thistle feeder during the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2007. Rick (the Reluctant Birder) was the photographer back then, and he took the photo I used for this painting. These sweet birds didn't mind the snowflakes at all as they meticulously pulled one tiny thistle seed after another from the mesh screening of the thistle feeder.

This is painting #12 in the...