Feed me!

Trevor was begging for crickets when I woke up this morning. I love his bright red belly.

Sleeping Beauties

Woke up to see my girls sleeping all in a pile.  I couldn't resist a couple pictures.

Brazen Birds

At my family's cabin, we often put out a few unsalted peanuts for the local Steller's Jays to enjoy.  The antics they get up to are quite fun.  Last weekend, I noticed that there was a Jay who hung around and seemed quite comfortable, even to the point of sitting only a few feet from us when we were outside on the deck.  Upon seeing how brazen and comfortable the bird seemed to be, I turned to my family and told them that I could get the bird to take a peanut out of my hand, he seemed so tame.  While this was said in jest, they told me I would never get him to do it.  This was a challenge I couldn't resist.  Here is the fruit of my endeavor.

For those of you out there who are worried about a wild bird being fed by humans, the peanuts are a treat and in no way do they make up the entirety of the birds' diet.  Typically there are half a dozen or more who stop by to get a nut or two, because of how much birds need to eat, a few peanuts can not possibly suffice for their entire diet.

Troublesome Rat

A few months ago my parents bought me a little rat who I have named River. She has been trouble since day one. I've had roughly a dozen rats over the years, so I'm not a stranger to socializing these critters. However, I am at a loss as to what to do about River. I have my hands in the tank every day to give them food and water, I let all three of my girls climb around and sniff my hands, and without fail, River bites me. I let my girls out for a little bit every day, at the very least I will hold them all for a few minutes or let them run around on my bed. I have never grabbed River (I can grab the others without traumatizing them), but she still freaks out around me. Tonight she bit hard enough to draw blood. I'm stubborn, and I love her dearly, so I won't get rid of her. Does anyone have any suggestions for helping to build trust with a rat?

Birding at Caswell State Park

It's Easter (or Spring) break now, and typically that means I use the week to catch up on work and projects at home that need to be done.  Today my brother and I took a break from work to spend a few hours at Caswell State Park, located in the central valley of California.  This beautiful forest is lush and green and runs along the Stanislaus River.  It's what is known as a riparian woodland, which just means it's the lush green woods typically found around a body of water, like the Stanislaus River.

Here's a copy of their brochure, for more information:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/557/files/CaswellMemorialbrochure.pdf

We saw some amazing birds today. Unfortunately I was unable to get good pictures of the birds with my personal camera.  I will list the birds I saw and suggest that you look up the birds on the Audubon website: www.audubon.org

Here's the list:
Spotted Towhee
White-Crowned Sparrow
Bank Swallow
Wood Duck
Great Blue Heron - white morph
Belted Kingfisher
Swainson's Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
White Breasted Nuthatch
Black Phoebe
Nuttall's Woodpecker
American Crow
Western Bluebird
Western Scrub Jay
Marsh Wren

I was definitely most excited about the Heron and the Kingfisher.  They were very hard to spot and very shy.  Almost as soon as we found them, they would take off and hide again.  The hawk was amazing, too.  It was quite close and screamed several times.  I hope you look up pictures of these birds, and perhaps next time I will have pictures of my own to show you!

Fun Front Yard Birds!

My family and I were coming home from breakfast one morning when I noticed a handful of birds with unusual profiles (unusual to me).  I could see a slight crest to the feathers on the back of their head, and I got kind of excited, so I ran inside, quietly so as not to scare these birds away, and grabbed my binoculars, camera, and bird book.  I suspected they might be waxwings, though I had no real idea why I thought so.  I'd seen pictures of the waxwings in my bird book while looking for other birds, but I had never studied the pictures or read any of the information about them.  Turns out I was right!  A small flock of Cedar Waxwings called the tree in my front yard home for about two weeks.  They were there everyday.  I sat out on my front porch for almost an hour studying these birds, watching their behavior, practicing taking close-up pictures with my sad little point and shoot camera.  It was a great time.  Scroll down for pictures of these pretty little birds.  Here's a link to their information on the Audubon website:
http://birds.audubon.org/birds/cedar-waxwing
(I have no affiliation with the Audubon Society, other than finding their information most helpful)

Notice the crest behind the head

Yellow tip on tail feathers

There is a small red spot on the wings, this is not always visible

Happy girls

Donna and Rose were thrilled when I let them out this morning.

Sadly River is still not so happy when I take her out of the cage, so while I was cleaning the cage out, she sat on my shoulder in an attempt to socialize her more.