Sunday, January 27, 2019

For the birds

This neighborhood seems to be a haven for lots of bird species. Since moving in two months ago we've been astonished at the variety and sheer numbers of birds visiting the feeders. I think it's the close proximity to a creek and some wooded walking trails that make them happy here.

First and foremost, we see huge numbers of Northern Cardinals. One cold and wet afternoon I counted 19 males in our back yard, and I don't know how many females. The feeders are continually mobbed with these bright red feathered visitors!



The other frequent feeder guests are Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, and House Finches.










We also see quite a few woodpeckers. The Red Bellied Woodpeckers were a species we were familiar with, but the Northern Flicker pair are the first we'd ever seen:








So far we've also seen the occasional Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, Juncos, and American Robins. We've heard (but not seen) owls at night in the neighborhood, too. I'm anxious to see what species the upcoming nesting season/spring migration will bring!

Do you feed wild birds? And if so, what kinds do you see?

25 comments:

  1. I saw a Flicker in my backyard ONCE in 15 years here on the north shore of Long Island and it was the most amazing sight. Mine was bright yellow with the most wonderful polka=dots, I couldn't believe it was real.

    I go through 40 pounds of bird seed a month. But the Blue Jays love the dry cat food put out the best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 40 pounds of bird seed month! Holy cow that's a lot! We see a pair of Northern Flickers here almost every day. They really are gorgeous birds!

      Delete
  2. Your bird photos are gorgeous. I do so love to feed the birds!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I must confess these photos came off the Internet! I don't own a camera capable of taking good bird photographs! Thank you for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. Greeting Jennifer!
    I happened upon your blog from Anne Marie's blogroll and your title caught my attention. To say I get birds and feed them is a understatement. I have done several post on my usual suspects. The tricky part is getting the pictures!! I live in a second floor apartment and feed then on the sills. I am amazed that even birds that don't feed from sills or feeders land there like goldfinches, that like thistle socks. I get a huge flock of junco's and mourning doves, two varieties of woodpeckers, Blue Jays, cardinals, titmice,Nuthatches,Eastern Phoebes, wrens, starlings, cowbirds and this fall had waxwings. My robins wont return till usually march or April. My favorite to watch and hear or the nuthatches and the chikadees. Last spring I documented a robin family that build a nest on the bedroom sill. And I do get the occasional red tailed hawk that left some carnage in it's path last year. I love hearing all the chirping and tweeting. My only rule is they all have to get along, although the red bellied woodpecker sometimes nips the poor doves in the backside.

    I enjoyed reading about your birds! Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow! Thank you for this wonderful comment! I can tell that you're a serious birder and I'm impressed with your list of "usual suspects". :) We see red tailed hawks occasionally but so far we haven't seen them get anything at this house. I'm sure it's a matter of time.

      Delete
  4. we get all of the same birdies, jennifer. maddie lives 45 minutes from me. I too can go through 40# of seed in a month. in the winter, the deer and squirrels like the seeds; I keep checking those species for wings, but...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a mind blowing (and budget busting!) amount of seed! Fortunately we're not feeding squirrels and deer, thanks to the dogs. If we ever start going through 40 pounds a month it will be goodbye to the fancy fruit, nut, and premium seed blend we currently use! Haha.

      Delete
  5. We do feed the wild birds although sometimes one or two of the chickens flaps up to eat the seeds as well and of course, the squirrels must have their share. We get most of the birds you have. I am just noticing a great many cardinals myself and today my backyard was filled with robins, roosting in the trees and flying about. Such promise they bring! What a joy the birds are to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Watching wild birds really is a joy! I wish we had room to keep chickens, not that we could right now anyway with our two crazy dogs.

      Delete
  6. At the old house I had almost a dozen feeders out and fed the birds year round. All spring and summer there are nesting birds feeding young. If you do that and have wrens, keep an on on those buggers. Daddy Wren goes off a new direction each time he's back to the nest. Those philanderers can be raising half a dozen nests at once. Hummingbirds are fun, too. They are pretty mean, and very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Philanderers! That comment about male wrens made me laugh! Half a dozen nests would be an astounding amount of work to maintain!

      Delete
  7. Here in France, our garden birds are rather plain in comparison to your beautiful Cardinals. Sparrows, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Finches, Magpies (hooligans), occasionally Hoopoes, Blackcaps, Blackbirds, Woodpeckers, Wrens, Doves, and Jays. I'm sure I've omitted a few.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cardinals are so common here that most people don't notice them, which is a shame because they are beautiful birds.

      Delete
  8. I see "mumbai escorts" have found their way to your blog, too, like to several others I regularly visit...
    Back to topic: Your bird pictures are great! I was about to compliment you on them when I read your reply to Kay's comment. Like you, I can not take such great animal pictures, as they are usually too fast for me and I never seem to have a camera (mobile phone or other) at hand when I see them.
    Of course, my wild birds are different from yours, as I live on a different continent; all the more I enjoy looking at yours which are really exotic to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PS: How does Marco react when he spots them through the window?

      Delete
  9. How exciting! Those are some of the birds we regularly got at our feeders in Connecticut. We could watch them for hours.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We have painted buntings at our feeder in Central Florida right now. Very exciting! That top photo should be our Christmas card next year! Really nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooh! Painted buntings are gorgeous....lucky you!

      Delete
  11. Of course I'm getting completely different birds here in Europe -- correction, England, LOL -- but I'm familiar with all your birds from my years in Florida. It's great that you live in such an active area! Bird feeders provide no end of entertainment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We enjoy the feeders every single day. A nice return on the cost of bird seed!

      Delete
  12. Marco will watch the feeders from the window with some slight interest, but I don't think he considers them all that remarkable. Obviously parrots are superior creatures, you know! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment was in reply to Meike. Blogger is acting funny this afternoon.

      Delete
  13. I love wild birds and I am jealous you get so many cardinals in your yard. How beautiful, especially the red birds against snow. A big attraction is the water source/river near you, as you said. I do have a bird bath for them.

    ReplyDelete