Enjoying The Birds

Hungry Blue Jay.

Since the snow arrived we've had a significant increase in the number of birds coming to our feeders.

There are large groups of blue jays and mourning doves coming now, instead of just the usual one or two.....

.....and plenty of juncos. I think they're so cute, with their coats of grey, white bellies and plump little bodies.


Some of the mourning doves are quite friendly and don't mind posing for a few pictures.

This is the first time they've come in large groups. I don't remember seeing more than about 4 at a time previously. Mostly they come in pairs.

The gold finches are still in their olive drab colors, but the males will begin to turn bright yellow as we get closer to spring. They were noticeably absent when the ground was still bare, as were the juncos and mourning doves. Notice the woodpecker is busy at the suet.

American gold finches

We're lucky to have quite a few downy woodpeckers that come regularly. I love to watch them move around in their erratic manner, heads jerking to and fro....like little clowns. I saw a hairy the other day. They look almost identical, but bigger, and more timid, so it's very difficult to get a photo of them.

The sparrows are always around...leaving their trademarks all over our porch, messy little birds! A bird's gotta do what a bird's gotta do. I just wish they'd choose another place to do it. I enjoy their cheerful songs though, so I can forgive their messes.

The perky little chickadees are always friendly and will come to the feeders while I'm standing close by. They chatter at me as if to say, "Hurry up with that seed, will you please!"

Ross built this feeder tray that fits over the porch rail, to bring the birds closer for me to photograph. It works well!

I always know when the blue jays shows up for breakfast. They have an unmistakable shriek that you can't miss. If I need to fill the feeders, they'll let me know :)

Here's another mourning dove and junco.

I notice the doves will peck at the sparrows to chase them away, but seem to be compatible with the juncos. I wonder if there's such a thing as avian prejudice :)

There's a woodpecker at the tube feeder. They love sunflower seeds.

We've seen a very large red tailed hawk flying over the hedgerow across the road. Last week it sat in a tree for a long time so I was able to get a good look at it. I wonder if it's the one that hung around the farm this past summer. The crows chase it all the time, but it doesn't seem to be phased by them.

I also saw a kestrel last week (they used to be called a sparrow hawk).

The birds keep us well entertained during these snowy days of January. I hope we get to see a cardinal or two soon.

I hope all our European friends are safe and warm after the storms we've been hearing about. The weather seems to have been wild everywhere....dreadful winds in the UK, snow in Southern California, frigid temperatures in Northern CA, ice in Texas. Some areas here in upstate New York were without power because of ice storms earlier in the week, but we were lucky and didn't have much ice at all. We finally have plenty of snow and I'm remembering now how much I dislike the cold. Yesterday the winds were frigid!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!