Those flocking birds

First thing I noticed this morning was the flocks of birds. This is a change that I was expecting. They seem to be sparrows, but they were feeding so high, it was hard to see. I never like photographing birds; they are so flighty and never hold still when the perfect picture is there. They appear to be feeding on the long cottonwood flowers.

I have a picture of those from a couple from a days ago. The nice thing about the early morning stroll, is the clear nature sounds, before the naked apes get up and start up their engines (literally). The sounds of the tree bud casings being levered away sounds just like someone eating peanuts. Under the old gnarled trees, a steady patter of shells fall down. The flock is small, but pretty methodical as they travel together along the tree tops.

A small bird that I will call a nuthatch (until corrected) is living in a hole that a woodpecker bored into an old branch. They are hunting insects up and down the rough tree bark. The scrabbling and tearing sounds as they search and probe carries quite clearly in the early dawn stillness.
When I walked through my front door this morning I caught a face full of spider web that a tiny spider had optimistically spun. Spun fiber is important to insects for many reasons. Spiders use it to catch prey, but other insects use it for protection.

This misshapen lump is the remains of a web-worm, or tent caterpillar colony. The moth larva band together and spin a tent, then they sit inside and munch all the leaves in relative safety. This tent is a year old, and long abandoned. The threads are impressively durable.

In the middle of this picture is a bagmoth in its camouflaged coccoon. 

The camouflage comes from the small leaves and sticks the larva attached last fall when it looked like this.

The bird crowds appear to be changing their composition again. Now the seed eaters are coming in, The doves feed on the ground and seem to be hunting for the maturing elm seeds that are being shed everywhere in drifts. They are not very vocal yet, probably still wary of the abundant coopers hawks in the area as they fly low, and fast.