Rondeau Ric

Off with his head! , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. I made a suet feeder for woodpeckers and nuthatches. I drill holes in at a 45 degree angle and then hang the feeder, either at a 45 degree angle or horizontally. This keeps most of the black birds, such as grackles and redwinged blackbirds from emptying the feeder in about 15 minutes. The woodpeckers have no problem hanging on the underside to eat but the others have to hover to get anything. This is a chipping sparrow who was absolutely determined to get at the suet. He did get a small amount but it was worth it to watch his aerobatics. spizella pusilla

Seeing double , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. Recently large numbers ot Tiger Swallowtail butterflies appeared in our area. The Canadian Tiger Swallowtail is an avid mud-puddler and sometimes hundreds will gather at the same small puddle, jostling for position. In this case we had four but there was a steady stream of them coming and going. The Tiger Swallowtail is one of our most recognizable butterflies. You can identify it by its large size and bright yellow color with black tiger stripes. Male tiger swallowtails have a few orange and blue spots near the tail. Papilio canadensis

A bird in the hand , a photo by ricmcarthur on Flickr. We were sitting out back when we saw a hummingbird fall to the deck. We assumed it was a window strike. It just lay there but was still breathing. We have omnivore chipmunks that will "disappear" a bird, so action was needed. Anne picked it up and held it in her hands and sheltered it until it revived. It started to move its wings and Anne could feel the breeze on her palm just as the hummingbird lifted off and flew to a tree. After it rested it flew to the feeder and had a meal. Hopefully it is no worse for the experience. Archilochus colubris