HONOR’S HAVEN NATURE ALMANAC 8

Date: 02. 14. 2011

With winter comes shortened days, freezing weather and the harsh reality of snow and ice. The brilliantly colored leaves of autumn have fallen and are little more than a decaying brown mass on the forest floor. Many animals that we see in summer disappear into subterranean dwellings waiting for spring. Most of the birds have migrated south. Still, there is great beauty in the snows of winter, and when the sun shines, the reflection off the snow makes it brighter than a mid-summer day.

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Along with the beauty of the snow, winter affords the opportunity to see some of the birds that do remain in an up close and personal way. This is done by setting out bird feeders. Honor's Haven has bird feeders on the back patio, and near the lobby entrance. Here the birds (such as the Black-capped Chickadee on the left) can be observed as they feed. Many of the regular birds to the feeders like the Juncos, Chickadees, and Mourning Doves may be attractive, but they are not very colorful.

However, with a little patience, one will be rewarded by the appearance of one of the more brilliantly colored birds such as the male Cardinal, or the Red-bellied Woodpecker pictured on the right. I am often asked why the Red-bellied Woodpecker isn't called the Red-headed Woodpecker. After all, its bright red head is what is prominent. There are two reasons it is named as it is. First if you could see between its legs (a view you don't often get) you would see that its belly there is indeed reddish. Second, there is another woodpecker whose head is completely red thus earning the name Red-headed Woodpecker.

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Along with the song-birds, our feeders attract others as well. Squirrels love bird feeders. The one pictured on the left is a black phase Gray Squirrel. While black phase Gray Squirrels are not rare in the technical sense of the word, they certainly are uncommon. Our squirrels only get the seed that falls to the ground, they cannot get the seed directly from the feeder. The reason for this can be seen by looking at the first picture in this article. Note the decorative metal leaf above the chickadee. It is more than decorative, it is functional. If a squirrel jumps on the feeder, its weight causes the whole metal cage apparatus to descend so that the metal leaves cover the seed holes preventing the squirrel from getting to the seed.

Some birds are not attracted to the bird feeder by the bird seed at all, but by the birds and squirrels that are drawn by the seed. Two such birds are Coopers Hawks (pictured on the right) and Sharp-shined Hawks. Both are magnificent fliers. It is amazing how birds of this size can weave through a maze of tree branches in the forest to catch their prey. Most other hawks glide over the countryside and dive on their unsuspecting victims from above. In contrast, Coopers and Sharp-shined Hawks bolt from their perch to get their prey

While it is different, the beauty of God's creation is very much on display in the winter, and much can be seen from the warmth of the Honor's Haven Hotel simply by taking the time to look at our bird feeders.

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