Quick Update
Still waiting for the new modem to arrive so I’m extremely limited to how much I can upload before the worn out piece of junk I’m currently using craps out again. I have discovered that blowing about half a can of air through the vents cools it down enough for me to stay online for as much as 20 minutes before it gets so hot it shuts down again. I think this time rather than following the tech support weasel’s advice to just toss the old one in the trash I’ll keep it. Since the average life span of the cheap junk our ISP provides is about 6 months it’s anyone guess when I’ll need spare parts. Maybe next time I can build my own modem (or even a Borg drone) while waiting for a replacement to arrive.
Buddy is in the pet hospital today so the house is unnaturally quiet. No, he’s not ill or injured, he’s getting neutered……poor guy. While I understand the need for such a thing it doesn’t make it any easier for me, as a man, to contemplate. I can’t help wondering if the pitch of his voice will change……or if eat all my shoes for leaving him in that place and letting them remove what are apparently his favorite toys.
My shutter button finger hasn’t been idle while the modem slowly melts down. This is the first Nuthatch I’ve seen this year and I managed to get a few frames shooting through the bedroom window again. I just hope I haven’t included too many images with this post to publish before the modem quits again. We shall see…….
These little guys have a unique way of feeding. They start at the top of a tree trunk and walk down, head first, pecking at tasty morsels hidden in the bark.
That is, they feed upside down when foraging for food.
When they’re getting their fill on the feeders they’ll eat upside down, backwards, sideways or any which way they can! The weather guessers are calling for more winter weather in the next few days so I should be able to get some good shots of the feathered gluttons as they put away as much free food as possible ahead of the weather.
Okay, now to see if I can get this published before the modem quits again. I’ll be around to visit all of you and respond to any comments you’ve left as soon as I get my new equipment. In the meantime y’all play nice. Don’t make me stop this car!
The Pine Ridge Philosopher 
Awe… Buddy & Abi can howl together for each other this week. She has an appt. to get spayed Thursday!
I hope your new modem comes in soon Chip. I know how hard it is to be without the net for awhile..you get to jonesing in no time!
Love the little Nuthatch! I haven’t seen too many here at the feeders but I see them climbing the trees alot. Cute little fellers!
January 24, 2011 at 5:53 PM
don’t worry too much, Buddy will keep his voice like Bongo did, and he was just 6 month young when it happend to him, but can growl like a bear and bark as if he was twice as big, he even lifts his leg – wich seems to be very important, I think ^^
btw. your birds pics are always so amazing!
January 24, 2011 at 6:13 PM
Pood Buddy – actually, come to think about it, think of all the bother it might have saved me.
We’ve got nuthatches over here – they’re a bit different but you can see the family resemblance – http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/n/nuthatch/index.aspx
January 25, 2011 at 8:37 AM
Oh dear, poor Buddy, still , he’ll be fine I’ve always had my dogs ‘done’ and never been the worse for it, though my last German Shepherd was nearly 12. it was a macho thing with my ex, none of his bl**y business though. Tell you a funny about it, I’d put him in kennels, and when I went to fetch him the kennel maid said ‘hasn’t he got big ****’ I said, yes they are aren’t they, ever since a pup’ she said ‘has one always been bigger than the other ?’ No, I said, I’d have noticed anything that odd’ well she said, just lift his tail and you’ll see……………..uhuh I thought she said PAWS. As it was one was bigger, so he had both off, for health.
Loved the nuthatches and as Sandy says, ours are different.
January 25, 2011 at 10:35 AM