It's downright frigid out there, but the birds don't seem to mind. We've had a Yellowlegs and a Common Snipe appear at the pond, and a Yellow-rumped Warbler darting in and out of the cedar tree outside the kitchen window. If a penguin shows up, we'll know it's really, really cold out!
So nice to see the birds that are visiting your pond Jane. The little Yellow-rumped Warbler is a handsome little fellow and must look even better when it's in its breeding colours. I hope it keeps visiting so that we can see it again in the spring.
Great pics, Jane! ! ! DH's work??? If so, he is getting really good with that camera... Love y'all, Hank..
Yes Hank, my dear husband is the photographer in the family. I can barely turn the camera on, much less take photos. It's complicated with different settings and zoom lens and such. I just encourage him to get out there and take photos!
We have only had about a third of the birds we normally do. Usually we have many cardinals and this year we have had about 6. All here are the regular year round birds,,we have had none of the winter migratory birds. Are your numbers about the same as last year MG ?
Mart, no our numbers are not the same as last year's--we have the same number of species, but fewer specimens of each (except for the Red wing blackbirds and the cowbirds--nothing seems to deter them!). Our White crowned sparrow count, cardinal count, even English sparrow counts are down. We've had migratory birds, but fewer and for less time. An ornithologist friend and his colleagues say that the weird weather patterns are to blame. We may be stuck with an over-supply of suet cakes!
Same here. We have a few but nothing like last year.. Just stick those suet cakes in the freezer,, you can use them next year.
Oh, I liked seeing those birds, Jane. You guys really are coming out with some special foto's lately.
We fed the birds in Texas and had a lot of cardinals every winter. Here we have smaller birds, sparrows, some wrens and some larger ones that I can't identify from the window and if I go out they leave. dr feeds them wildbird seed and sunflower seeds every day and hangs a variety of suet balls or cakes. I did see a cardinal yesterday eating from the ground under the feeders. We have a family of squirrels eating there, too. I have counted as many as five squirrels. They chase the birds away but when one of the bigger birds show up, it dives at the squirrels and they leave. We are at the edge of a small woods so have plenty of birds that come to the feeders. dooley
Squirrels are annoying, I caught about 400 now and taken them down to the woods. Always have a couple around though.
