The End of the Trail

Beyond the fence pictured below is a large meadow, a habitat for a variety of fascinating birds; however, walkers are not permitted in that area, so, officially, the fence marks the end of the trail. 

Overhanging one end of the fence rail is a tree, a gathering place for cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, and many other birds that fly into the tree and, from the tree, down to the fence post where they compete to see who gets to perch on the post, making this a wonderful spot to observe the antics of the birds and a great place to hang out with my camera, looking for photo ops.

HERE ARE A FEW PHOTOS I CAPTURED TODAY.

A red-bellied woodpecker

flew down from the tree to see if there were any seeds

stuck in the crevices of the fence post.

Sunflower seeds, peanut chips, safflower seeds, she wouldn’t be picky.

INCOMING!

 It looks like there are no tasty tidbits, but, nevertheless, Mrs. Cardinal decides to challenge the red-bellied woodpecker for the top spot on the fence post. She (the RBW) doesn’t seem to be aware that company is coming.

UH-OH!

Suddenly she realizes she has competition for the top spot,

and, from the look on her face, she isn’t too pleased to have company.

TIME TO VAMOOSE!

The cardinal gets the message and decides

that It’s time to make a quick getaway.

But before long she returns, this time bringing company.

So now, the woodpecker has two challengers for the top spot:

Mr. and Mrs. Northern Cardinal.

The RBW doesn’t give up easily and neither do the cardinals, but …

…in short order a new bird,

 the bossy blue jay, enters the picture,

and he means business.

NOBODY MESSES WITH THE BLUE JAY!

The jay is the undisputed boss of the birds,

 unless, of course, a hawk or some other large bird of prey swoops in

and takes up his post in a tall tree.

If that should happen,

the blue jay will sound a raucous alarm,

and the small birds will go suddenly silent and disappear from sight

(Thankfully that didn’t happen today!)

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So that’s what I saw along the trail in Chagrin River Park today.

Thanks for joining me on my photo walk.

Skip aka Carolyn