Cardinal Colors

Mr. Cardinal graced us with his bright red presence on the front porch this morning

and stayed long enough for me to snap a couple of shots.

Our very snowy, cold weather this winter has brought lots of hungry birds to the feeders.

I've been counting for Project Feederwatch on Fridays and Saturdays since November. It's not too late to sign up to count. It goes through to early April and is a great winter passtime. You can read information about the project by clicking the above link or the button in the sidebar. 

Today the feeders were busy with 15 different species.
Some come in large numbers but we usually see only a few Cardinals. Lately though I've observed up to 8 at a time, which is quite a treat. They look like bright Christmas ornaments in the big Sugar Maple and surrounding shrubs, and of course are absolutely stunning against the snow.

They come early with the house sparrows, tree sparrows and juncos.

Mrs. Cardinal is shyer than Mr. C. and

doesn't usually venture as close as the front porch. She's sharing the tree with a chickadee and sparrow here. 

Mr. C. gives me more photo opportunities. I think he likes to pose. Those green blotches you see are Christmas lights in the foreground.

Mrs. C. spends a lot of time feeding on the ground
with her friends...house sparrows and a junco here.

And here with a mourning dove and male house sparrow.

It's not often that I manage to catch Mr. and Mrs. together.

Mr. C. likes to gossip with the crowd on the pole feeder tray....a mourning dove and house sparrows here.

Even the bossy bluejays will stop by for a chat.

Mrs. C. likes to socialize on the tray too.

She rarely comes to the porch feeder tray like Mr. C. though.

He's just a friendly guy!

And we're awfully glad to have him and the missus and all their feathered friends to brighten things up around here.

Out of the Ordinary Visitors

Watching the feeders a little more closely this winter has shown me some unusual visitors that I haven't noticed before, although that's not to say they haven't been here previously.

This chubby white-throated sparrow has been coming regularly since mid-January.

That's him to the left of the photo, with a tree sparrow, cardinal and house sparrow (right) on the tray.

He often feeds on the tray by himself, as dark is descending.

That's when I first noticed him. All the other birds had gone to roost for the night, and there he was, pecking away in the semidarkness. He's easily distinguished by his white throat and the stripes on his head, with dabs of yellow (called lores) near his beak.

He's quite social and doesn't startle as easily as some of the other birds.

Here he's hanging out with the goldfinches, and a couple of tree sparrows.

And here he's sharing the tray with tree sparrows (front left), goldfinches (right) and a house sparrow (rear).

These pine siskins are also new-to-me guests. The two birds on the right are our friendly chickadees.

At first I didn't realize these fellows were not goldfinches, as they almost always show up with a group of them. When I looked closely I realized they were quite different than the little yellow finches.

Now I see that they're easily distinguished by their brown streaks and there's a touch of yellow in the wings and at the base of the tail. The latter is not very noticeable in any of these photos.

(click pictures to enlarge for detail)

This little chap was visiting just after New Year when the Christmas lights were still up.

Recently I was rummaging around in the deep snow below the front porch looking for a suet cage that had been blown down by strong winds, when 3 little siskins came to sit on the line directly above me. They chatted and seemed very interested in my activity. I laughed and chatted back to them, delighted by their friendliness.

These sweet little birds show up quite often but never stay long.

I wonder if they were around last year but I failed to notice.

Best buddies - goldfinch and pine siskin.

This little guy is a common redpoll. Initially I thought I was looking at a house finch, but then I realized that this bird is smaller, has a black chin and a red cap.

He hangs out with the goldfinches too. I haven't seen the redpolls since early January. Hopefully they'll come back one of these days.

The female's breast lacks the red. Cute, isn't she, with her little red cap?

Remember, this weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), from February 13th through 16th.

If you are counting for Project FeederWatch your counts can do double duty if you enter the same tallies into the web site for GBBC.

Find out more here:

http://www.birdcount.org

Count for Fun, Count for the Future!

And enjoy nature while you're at it.

It's good therapy for the winter blahs :)

Our Feathered Friends

Watching the birds during these wintery months is a pleasant alternative to gardening.....and not nearly as much work (although I do miss the gardening)!

Since November, I've been counting birds at the feeders on Fridays and Saturdays for Project Feederwatch. You should try it. It's lots of fun! You can choose any 2 consecutive days to count.

Our front yard has been filled with very busy birds fueling themselves against the cold and snowy weather. They truly are a joy to watch, providing plenty of entertainment for the seed that we supply them with.

I probably spend far too much time photographing them ;)

The tiny chickadees are very social.....

...gathering on the line when I go out to fill the feeders.

I tried offering seed in my hand and they happily accepted.....friendly, trusting little souls that they are.

Hubby is watching from inside and has the camera ready.

The other day one was on the suet and as I slowly reached my hand up it stayed right there and let me touch it. Amazing!

They seem quite fearless.

The cardinals have been coming every day for the past week.

Not only do we have a pretty female,

we now have four males that are coming each day!

They occasionally eat at the wooden feeder, but most of the time they feed on the ground.

Quite often one will hop up onto the snowy porch to eat the seed that drops from the tray.

The bossy blue jays are constant visitors. I counted ten of them today...more than usual. We had snow flurries for most of the day, and the temperatures were cold, with a high of about 17ºF (-8C).
There's also a red-bellied woodpecker on the suet to the left of the photo.

(All the photos may be enlarged by clicking)

The blue jays are so funny the way they boss each other around :)

I put some pieces of stale hot dog buns on the tray the other day, and the blue jays gobbled them up very quickly. But this fellow interrupted Mr. Cardinal while he was eating.....

...and received a royal tongue-lashing.....

......a little taste of his own medicine :)
"OK, OK, I'm going!"

This poor male hairy woodpecker whacked himself soundly when he flew into the sliding glass door recently. Hubby and I went out to check on him and found him sitting by the BBQ, rather dazed. He sat for about 10 minutes on the porch.

I offered him some water, but he didn't drink any.

After a while he flew over to the maple tree and stayed still for a while longer.

But soon he was back on the suet, seemingly no worse for wear. I wonder if birds get headaches. Poor little fellow.

A few days later I heard him hit the door again (can't be sure it was the same fella, of course)...this time not so hard, thankfully. When I looked out, there he was tucked up tight against the post (doesn't he look scared?)........and a hawk was flying away. I was very relieved to see that no small bird was clutched in the hawk's claws.
I had suspected that might be why the woody hit the door the first time, because I've seen a hawk around recently. It's amazing to see how quickly the birds disappear, or they freeze in place.

Here you can see the difference in size between the downy (on the left) and hairy woodpecker. Also notice the hairy's beak is longer. These are two females.

The female red-bellied woody has been coming almost every day as well.

Here she's sharing the suet with a downy female.

She's quite shy and doesn't stay long.

You might be interested in this event coming up very soon....

THE GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

Count for Fun, Count for the Future

February 13-16, 2009

A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this free event is an opportunity for families, students, and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards, and local parks, and, at the same time, make an important contribution to conservation.

Find out more here:

www.birdcount.org

Since joining Feedwatch, I've noticed a few different birds that have probably been here before, but I just wasn't looking closely enough to realize what I was seeing. I'll show pictures of them in another post soon.

I hope you're all enjoying the weekend!