Many years ago I created this BATIK of a white pelican. I had never seen one however and created my design from a friend's photograph. I had assumed I would have to travel some in order to see one. HOWEVER I have learned that they come to the Monterey Bay Area, near Moss Landing, during the summer months. So my quest is to see my very first White Pelican which I will document on this blog.

This original design of a White Pelican is available through my Etsy Site as a large PRINT ON CANVAS 24 inches by 32 inches mounted on a gallery wrap frame. It is quite stunning. I can send multiple pictures. Just let me know.

Pelicans are such interesting birds. Being more familiar with the Brown Pelican, I plan to learn more about the WHITE PELICAN which I will share with you. I do know that they do not DIVE FOR FOOD as the Brown Pelican does. It is my understanding that in shallow water, white pelicans form a circle around a group of fish and use their wings to CORRAL the fish and then they gobble them up.

INTERESTING FACT:  White Pelicans have a wingspan of about 95–120 in (240–300 cm) which is also the second largest average wingspan of any North American bird, after the California Condor. This large wingspan allows the bird to easily use soaring flight for migration.

I have created a new series of Chestnut-backed Chickadee Watercolors. I call them THE PRIMITIVES.  I offer these designs in the form of greeting cards and silk prints which can be viewed on my Etsy Site. I am committed to sharing my love of the little birds, whom I call the BIMBY: Birds...In...My...BACK...YARD.

The chestnut-backed chickadee is the smallest chickadee in North America. It is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. We see them here in Santa Cruz County year round, a common addition to gardens that have trees and WATER; fountains particularly are a huge attraction. We often have a small flock of 8 or 10 bathing with other members of the tit family: bushtits and Oak Titmice. They also are very fond of black sunflower seed as well as suet. Providing feeders with seed and suet will encourage them to come to your yard. 

INTERESTING FACT: As I was looking up more information about these sweet little birds, I find it notable that a passerine is any bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. A notable feature of passerines is the arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back) which facilitates perching. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders, with over 5,000 identified species.[1] It has roughly twice as many species as the largest of the mammal orders, the Rodentia.

I checked on them daily from start to finish! A couple of days before they fledged, a small branch had fallen on them. I oh so carefully removed it only to have the babies jump out. Their coloring made them completely invisible; they totally matched the ground with its leaves and rocks. I was really overwhelmed as to what to do. I knew I could not move my feet! But I gathered my wits about me and without moving a foot, found the first one and  put it back in the nest only to jump out again. This time I put it into an empty clay pot I happened to have handy, one that the little bird could NOT jump out of. Then I proceeded to look for number TWO. He/she had gone into a storage area and had attached itself to the spokes of my son's bicycle. I carefully removed it and put it into the clay pot with the other little bird. I needed to compose myself and figure out what to do next. The nest was at the end of a very scrawny branch about 5 and a half feet off the ground. So I decided to put a 4 foot ladder beneath it and then on top of the ladder I put a very large, probably 24 inch, plastic tray for a large potted plant. (See the picture below.) Then I put the babies back in the nest together. They were hugging each other and this seemed the best way. They were fine for a bit and then one did jump out again but ended up in the tray, so I was able to put it back right away. MOM never skipped a beat. I know there are tales of birds leaving their young if a human touches it, but apparently hummingbirds do not have a sense of smell. So even if that were true, it would not have affected this situation. The babies remained in the nest from then on until they fledged 3 days later. MOM continued to feed them after they left, up in the trees for a couple of days. I do not know if they have ever returned.

Here is the tray. If you look directly above, you can see the babies.

My husband and I bought our Victorian in 1981. It looked just like you see here. We planted 23 trees on our corner, city lot here is Santa Cruz, CA. When we moved here, there were no trees whatsoever, no homes next to us, nada. The property that our home stands on was subdivided by the family that we bought the house from. Two empty lots were created: one next to us and one behind. They were quickly purchased and two new home went up. So much has changed since that time........

Thirty three years later, we have created a habitat for birds. I plan to do more and will add to this blog.  I am working on a hanging feeder that will be visible from my kitchen windows which are on the second floor. Our main floor is our second floor for a real bird's eye view.