King of the light pole: Brown-headed nuthatch
I have a hard time accepting the arrival of fall. Summer, with its long days, heat, and greenery, is by far my favorite season. Leafless trees and short stretches of sunlight depress me. At least I have my cashmere addiction to get me through the darkest months. And brown-headed nuthatches. They never really left us this summer, but suddenly there are dozens of the little buggers zipping around squeakily in our pines. This light pole is the site of countless games of Nuthatch King of the Pole. Birds of all kinds try to dominate this pole, but when there’s a small herd of BHNuts, forget about it, it’s theirs to give away.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Stew // Oct 11, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Brown-headed nuthatches are extremely cute. They’re year-round here, though. Have they been hiding this summer? I swear I haven’t seen one in about a year.
2 Iris // Oct 11, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I don’t know what the deal is with these nuthatches. I’ve had BHNuts all summer, and loads more lately, but not a single white-breasted nuthatch. The red-breasted nuthatches last winter were kind of a fluke, but I don’t get where the ubiquitous whiteys have gone. Weird.
3 Mary // Oct 13, 2008 at 11:11 am
We have them all year, too, but I don’t see them much during the summer months. Seeing them often lately and it’s good! So cute…
4 Dave Heiser // Oct 13, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Cute picture! I’ve never seen those guys in person, only in photos. They look fun, like a chickadee or something else small and curious. What do you put out to attract them?
5 Iris // Oct 13, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Dave, You need tall pine trees to attract these guys. They rarely come to my feeder (very occasionally for sunflower chips) and mostly spend time in the highest reaches of the pines. I hear them more than I see them. They’re LOUD, so you can’t miss hearing them!
6 JT // Oct 16, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Pine trees? Seriously? That means I’ve been doing my naked hula hoop routine for nothing.
Drats!
7 Dave Heiser // Oct 20, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Ouch! No tall pines in our yard. Oh well, thanks for sharing it.
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