Changes in the Neighborhood

As 2008 creeps upon us and the weather turns wintery, the neighborhood is changing too. You can see one of these transformations at the top of my blog-- a new name and banner. I decided it needed a name that was more reflective and metaphoric. I also thought it was time for a new banner image.

With snow covering the ground, Tessa and Quest are back in their element:
     

We've had some changes around the house too. Out back, the low hanging bough that held my seed and suet feeders came crashing down a few weeks ago. I found another branch for the seed feeder, but the logistics of re-hanging the suet cage didn't work out, so I ended up mounting it on a pole. While I was putting the feeder together, this sub-adult female Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) came looking for a meal. She landed quite boldly on top of the privacy wall of our deck, only ten feet (3m) from my window:

This shot through the sliding glass door isn't the sharpest, but it turned out alright. It occurred to me that if she was willing to approach so close to the house, I could probably anchor the suet feeder closer than I'd had it before. The feeder atop its mounting pole, went in just a couple of feet farther away.

It was an immediate hit. The pileated visits at least twice a day. Her brother prefers our front yard feeder, and I have yet to get good shots of him. One surprise was a pair of male and female Hairy Woodpeckers (Picoides villosus) that have been frequenting the feeder in the back:
     

Here's the female. Presumably they're a mated pair:


The two of them usually arrive together, as you can see:


With autumn's abrupt exit, the suet feeder has become a popular destination. Along with pairs of woodpeckers, our little outdoor avian bistro attracts a pair of Carolina wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus). I'm hoping for a shot of the two of them together, but for now I only have solo shots like this one:


Sometimes the birds have to queue up and wait for their turn:
          

The nuthatches are back as well:



Downtown, the falcons' neighborhood is undergoing its own changes. Next year construction will begin on a townhouse complex. It's location on the site currently occupied by the Kodak Visitor parking lot on State Street may impact our ability to watch them effectively. The visitor lot was an excellent place to watch the newly fledged falcons in the late weeks of June. That spot will be closed to us, but the surrounding sidewalks should be useable, provided the construction doesn't close them off.

Right now, another icon of the falcon's neighborhood is coming down. The center smokestack at the RG&E BeeBee station is being dismantled. This complex task began several weeks ago with the removal of the catwalk:


Today as I drove toward the office I could see that the smooth crown of the smokestack had been disrupted:


I drove up to Mill Street for a closer look. The yellow contraption hanging from the crane has a claw that appears to be chipping away at the brickwork bit by bit:
     

The blue control cab hangs safely below all the masonry-crunching above:


I'd guess that the demolition will be complete in couple of weeks, as long as the weather cooperates. Though the skyline will change for the falcons, as changes go this one is definitely positive. Access to the center smokestack is available only by descending about two stories below ground level through a treacherous tangle of rusted metal and other rubble. I've been down there twice to rescue falcons that missed their landings and fell into the smokestack, so I won't be sorry to see it go. Maybe they can repaint the sign on the High Falls smokestack while they're at it.