The woodpecker feeder is the hot spot at the Sunday Buffet these days, a great place for friends to meet up for brunch and a good time.
Sometimes old friends meet up and decide to catch up over a meal…
Hey bud – long time no see? How’s the little lady?
She’s great, she’s on her way here now. You should call your girl – let’s have a double date.
Too late, I’m already here! The pine post is my favorite spot.
Mine too – I love the appetizers!
Today I sat out on the porch in the glorious December sunshine – I had my camera ready to capture some cardinals, or woodpeckers, or maybe even the eagle that’s been circling over the mountain for the last week. It occurred to me that even as I try to find the right feeder to attract those snobbish cardinals, as I build feeders to bring the woodpeckers closer, as I buy food I think will get me flashier birds – I have been neglecting one of the most majestic and loyal species at the buffet.
The first birds to come to the buffet were titmice. Those first couple of weeks I was thrilled to see any birds, but before long I was caught up in the search for the flashiest and began to ignore my new friends. The titmice continued to come and entertain me, even as I quit lifting my camera, after all, it’s just another titmouse.
Today it occurred to me that I have these amazing little birds right here in front of me. They like any feeder, any food, and I think they actually like me. They get incredibly close and talk back at me. As I walk across the lawn to my car each morning they call to me and they greet me when I come home each evening. How could I be so distracted by some red feathers or flashy patterns?
Cardinals may come and go, but titmice are in this for the long haul.
Noble
Content
Cute
Curious
Cheery
Silly
Industrious
Bold
Wistful
Balanced
Content
Chatty
Friendly
Proud
Clever
Who needs a lot of red feathers and fancy patterns? I need to learn to be as content, as friendly, as happy as my faithful friends, the titmice.
Since I opened the backyard buffet I have been trying to attract Cardinals. Sure, there are tons of cute titmice and chickadees, but that red bird caught my eye the very first time I visited the property. I knew they were in the woods and had even used my iPhone birding app to call them forth in vain attempts to capture them with my camera. I learned early on that they didn’t care for a typical pegged feeder, they need to either feed on the ground or on a larger flat surface.
This summer I discovered the pottery of Julie Windler at the Norberta Philbrook Gallery – I wrote a post about it here. I loved the glazes and they were perfect for chickadees. I keep one filled with suet and one filled with seed on the buffet.
Julie mentioned hoping to see a shot of a cardinal at one of my feeders and I gave her a few parameters of what I thought they would need to feed. I have been seeing them on the patio or feeding in a pie plate I put out on a table. Julie said she could make me something that would work. It’s very simple, it’s a small plate with three holes to suspend it from with drain holes so that the seed stays dry after a rain. It was a little small so I was skeptical. Right off the bat the titmice loved it.
Today I filled it with songbird food – a mix of seed, fruit and nuts – it actually looks pretty tasty. I settled in with my camera hoping to get a shot or two of something feeding at the new addition. I heard the distinctive sound of larger wings flapping while I was focused on a titmouse feeding nearby. Without moving I looked up and found my first customer at the new station. I actually saw 4 cards at once, but focused on just this pair.
Mmmmmmm tasty!
This new feeder really classes up the joint.
Let me take a look around.
I think the coast is clear.
Let me double check.
No one over that way.
I’m going in!
Get your feet off our food, you moron! I can’t take you anywhere!
Busted.
You know the song.
Since Thanksgiving you’ve heard it a hundred times. Listening to the lyrics it’s not explicitly about Christmas, but it is from a movie we watch during the holidays. The list in the song is not my list. I’m not big on whiskers – I prefer the rest of the kitten. I don’t think I need mittens when using a kettle – it’s all a bit disjointed. Lyrically it’s genius – in practical use it’s not my cup of tea.
So what would my list be? I decided for my 100th post to share the list of things that inspire me behind the lens.
Raindrops on…
Anything.
Naked Lady in the rain.
You can see my house inverted in this raindrop.
A newly opened dogwood drenched in the rain.
Lilac buds shining after a shower.
I love redbuds – the first color of spring.
I’m not so much into bright copper kettles, but I am fascinated with…
Rust.
This is the rust and patina on my copper fire pit.
This hay rake was in my woods when I bought the house – every surface is beautifully rusted.
This padlock was on the jail in Midas Nevada. The lock spoke to me more than the shack it was attached to.
I don’t even know what schnitzel is – it sounds odd to me. I know it’s odd to love…
Dandelions.
I like the delicate structure and I like to find a way to look at them in new ways.
The structure of the actual flower is pretty amazing even before it goes to seed.
The substructure is so intricate. I shot this with a manual macro lens from the 70s.
I grew up in the desert so the idea of sleigh bells is foreign to me, but door bells make me think of home. I have a strong bent towards…
Sentiment and Kitsch.
I love kitsch and I love it unusual places. I have had lawn flamingoes in the front lawn of every home I have ever owned.
These are my Grandpa’s keys. I love shooting things that belonged to someone special.
My Grandma taught me about purple glass, I love to shoot things that are transparent and have color.
My great-grandfather carved this out of a peach pit. I love the surfaces of handmade things like this.
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes. I like snow, but not so much for its photographic opportunities. I prefer…
Spring Flowers
Crocus – the first color on the ground, often before the grass starts to green up.
Cherry Blossoms opening skyward captivate me.
Daffodils have amazing color before we even notice them.
Lilacs open as the sun hits them – here for too brief a time.
Hyacinths – My garden fairy planted a few of these a couple of years ago in a spot were there was once a cistern. I love them.
Cream colored ponies and dogs biting. I’m not too far off here. I love the company of…
Dogs.
Sunshine is my Goldendoodle. He’s a lovely goofball and is a bit camera-shy, I like to catch him when he is unaware of me.
These are my brother’s pointers – I shot this one Christmas when Vegas had a rare snow. I loved the sheer joy the pups exuded as they ran in the frosted desert.
These are my two female terriers. They hate each other’s guts unless they are sleeping – they are precious when they sleep.
This is a pup I met on a trip – I love that he was interested in my camera. Curiosity is a favorite thing to capture in an animal.
Zipper was my first Kayak dog – he was so relaxed on the water.
Brown paper packages, blue satin sashes, silver white winters – there’s a lot of color in this song. I love color and am drawn to vivid colors. One color draws me more than all the others.
I shoot anything that is…
Orange.
The color of this car drew me to it – hundreds of cars and this was my favorite.
I’m pretty sure I chose this hard drive for that orange bumper.
In the shop where I work I see lots of color, but this set of mixers caused me to go get my camera.
These Tiger Lilies grow wild around the Ozarks. I have them pretty thick in the spring – right at the edge of the woods.
This sunset was so vivid that I missed an appointment when I stopped to shoot it.
Now that winter is here and it’s a grey day, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so … bad.
It was a glorious sunny 70+ degree day – perfect for Sunday Brunch at the Bird Feeder Buffet. this weeks special – suet served up to shy woodpeckers.
Woodpeckers are cautious and flighty. But, like most of my guests at the buffet, their appetite urges them onward in spite of their concerns. Interestingly, it seems that the females of the species are the trail blazers in this regard. If you want to know more about these feeders check out my post on feeding woodpeckers here.
The red-bellied woodpecker is a pretty good size bird, a little less than twice the size of a cardinal. It has the saddest call, but the sweetest expression. As new ones stop by the buffet, they always send a scout in first…
She decides that I’m no threat and digs in.
These feeders are perfect for woodpeckers. Very few birds have the ability to scale tree trunks, so with the exception of the nuthatches they have these feeders all to themselves.
She’s followed a few minutes later by her mister. He’s been here before, but is skittish and shy, so shy that he tries to sneak around the log instead of just scaling it like his mate. A lot more work for him, but it allows him a better field of vision.
On the other end of the buffer the downies are feeding. This female is a regular visitor and has almost no fear of me. I shot this from a rocker 6 feet from her.
Her mate was spotted at the buffet for the very first time yesterday at Sunday Brunch.
He very carefully checked things out…
And decided to go for the suet feeder instead.
We do our best to make our guests comfortable at the buffet, but sometimes a fella has to be prepared to eat and run.
The Beaver Moon shining bright through the trees at the Stone House.
Good morning, my little Chickadees, the Bird Buffet at the Stone House will be open daily throughout the winter, but make sure to stop by for our award winning Sunday Brunch!
Dead tree trunks packed with suet for all our nuthatch…
and woodpecker friends…
On sunny days be sure to swing by and check out our all new winter menu…
Wintering goldfinches, we are stocked up with fresh top quality Niger seed…
Titmice, come prepared to feast on the finest black oil sunflower seeds…
And dine at our special platter feeder designed to help you forget about those fickle buntings who left you to spend the winter in Mexico…
No need to worry about squirrels at this buffet, Velcro is standing by to dispatch any rodents. Nothing will spoil your dining experience at the buffet…
As always, we welcome cardinals, even if they are thankless snobs who lurk until we close for the night.
4P5JS7W8AGS6
A question – how many goldfinches can you fit on a feeder?
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
I bet a few more would fit if only the feeder were fuller.
The color here in the Ozarks is almost completely gone. Sometimes you’ll find a dogwood deep in a hollow – but the show is essentially over. Here are the last of the stragglers and my attempt to find something interesting or beautiful without a lot of color.
This hickory was one of the last holdouts. More leaves up than down.
Today even these are on the ground.
Some maples hung on in spite of the recent wind and rains, sometimes the sky was visible right through them.
Today the maples have all joined the oaks on the forest floor.
A crunchy carpet of tans and golds a foot thick in spots is all that remains.
Driving west I saw this field full of something fluffy. The sunlight and wind made it dance.
The puffs were actually quite delicate – like dandelion seeds. Even so they hung on in the wind.
On my way back to town I stopped by to see this old friend – fully exposed amidst its now barren trees. It makes me think of that transition from Fall to Winter.
It’s just holding on to what little color it has left.
Fall is fleeting and I miss it already.
I was born with no sense of smell. None, nada, zilch. If someone is using a solvent like acetone or something, I can taste something in the back of my throat – but that taste is the same as someone spraying Fabreeze or perfume. If I walk into a restaurant or even into a house where someone is cooking, I cannot identify what kind of food they are making, I just get a sense of moisture in the air. Italian, pot roast, Mexican, Thanksgiving dinner – all the same.
Bath and Body Works is a mystery to me, so is Yankee Candle. I make my choices by the colors of the products – will it look good in my home? Friends are always putting things under my nose and saying how good they smell. I don’t want to make them feel bad so I just sniff away getting nothing from the experience except that there was some sort of sharing going on. That’s thoughtful and I appreciate it.
If I were picking a sense to lose, it would be smell. I hear people talk about bad smells more than good ones. It seems smell can really set people off. I hear complaints about body odor, chemicals, the chicken plant down the road. I am happily oblivious.
Sometimes I get to find the beauty in something that stinks, like the ginkgo tree.
Last month I read a post by Mrs. Fringe about autumn in New York City. She talked about the fruit dropped from this stunning tree in terms of it’s vomit-like aroma.
Here in Eureka Springs the ginkgo is one of the last trees to show off it’s color. We have several located downtown right near the post office. For years I have headed there late in October to take in the glorious color of the last of the fall.
Every year I see scads of photogs milling around the fading maples on the other side of the street. I seem to be the only one who loves this tree.
I heard a friend mention the annoying fruit – there is sooooo much of it on the ground in the late fall and they are not pretty. Apparently this friend didn’t see the need to mention that the fruit stinks. My friends always forget that I cannot smell anything.
So every year I wander through that fruit without worry, with no clue that I am crushing fruit that smells to high heaven underneath my shoes.
This year I took a friend with me to shoot this wonder. As I stood in the grass shooting upwards I heard her exclaim, “That smell, there is dog crap somewhere nearby, and lots of it!” You see I had forgotten all about that informative blog by Mrs. Fringe and was once again blissfully unaware of the stink I was in.
I kind of like my fragrance free world.
the eff stop 