Feeder Birds on a Snowy Day

3/23/18

Hi All,

We awoke to 6 inches of snow this morning.  As I had taken my snow tires off a couple weeks ago, we were not going anywhere today.  And as it is Friday, our normal day to go galavanting off since it is Rosie’s one day of the week off, our plans have changed.  Funny though that just over in Monmouth, only 10 miles away, they had rain.  So as we are stuck at home, I thought I’d relieve the boredom by snapping pics of some of our feeder birds and beguile the hours with a new blog.

During the winter we have about 15 species every day, and another 10 which make the occasional visit.  Dark-eyed Juncos are the most common and we usually have about 25 first thing in the morning, waiting for me to fill up the feeder.  This morning I had to shovel a space for them to eat.  Also, all the photos were through the window, so are not as clear as I would normally like.

I went out onto our front porch to take a shot of the snow and as soon as my shutter began the burst, this Anna’s Hummingbird hovered right in front of me and so he was captured in the frames.  Once in a while you get lucky with such.  He is hard to see, but is in line with the cedar tree on the right. 

Lining the power line were Mourning Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove and a Red-winged Blackbird

Here is a Pine Siskin.  We have up to a dozen this winter.  In some winters there can be a few dozen

There is no red on his wing.  With an all black plumage and yellow eyes, this is a Brewer's Blackbird.  There are only 3 this winter, and the other 2 are females.

 Red-winged Blackbirds.  Male on the feeder, female on the suet.  We have had about a dozen all winter.

This Dark-eyed Junco may have had a collision with something

The bird with the light brown sides is a Spotted Towhee.  There have been up to 6 at our feeder this winter.  The other birds are Mourning Doves and Dark-eyed Juncos

Notice how the Mourning Dove on the Right has puffed out his feathers?  This is how they can keep warm in the winter.  We call it "Dead Air Space."  We have had about a dozen all winter.

This is a Eurasian Collared Dove, a relatively newcomer to the west.  We have had up to 10 this winter.

Another shot of a male Red-winged Blackbird.

This male House Finch and his mate have been here all winter, the only ones to represent that species

The Scrub Jay is KING of the feeder, but only when the Acorn Woodpeckers are not around

Acorn Woodpecker.  We have 3 regulars and 3 who are usually absentees.

This is the only Song Sparrow who patronized our feeder this winter.  It has been just wonderful to hear them singing on a sunny days of late.

Black-capped Chickadees are my all time favorite birds.  We have 4 of them every day.

A Band-tailed Pigeon.  This was actually the first to visit our feeder this year.  They leave the state for a warmer climate each fall (Hmmm, I should follow their lead), and I had been wondering when they would show up.  They are the largest North American pigeon, measuring about 14 inches.



When my daughter Esther realized we were snowed in, she sent me this cartoon.

Below is a pair of Norther Flickers, who showed up later in the morning.  We have 4-5 birds each winter.  The top bird is a female whose moustache is light brown, where as the male below her has a red moustache.

This White-crowned Sparrow has only been here for a couple weeks.  I wonder if his feet get cold in that icy water?

If you are going to feed the birds, you will undoubtedly have some you don't really want, like this House Sparrow.  Luckily he is the only one so far this winter.  They were brought over from England to New York about a century ago and now they inhabit all of North and South America. :(