Mysterious Feathered Friend

With our basement all packed up and in the garage, I don't have access to my bird book that was given to me by my friend Danette. Can anyone help me in identifying this adorable feathered friend that was on our deck today? I've never seen one before here. He is so beautiful!

Mr. & Mrs. Oriole

I know there are some of you who cannot stand posts about birds, but there are an equal amount of folks who have missed them. So, if you're the non-bird reading type, please disregard this post and wait until you see pictures of two cute munchkins accompanying the posts.

After the busy-ness of the beginning of May went away, I actually had time to fill my bird feeder and make the homemade hummingbird nectar as well.  It's as if the birds had been waiting because once I filled everything, they all "tweeted" (yes...pun intended) each other to let them know that the delinquent Jooses had finally done their job and remembered their feathered friends. Their motto is: "If you fill it, we will come."

It is always fun to see who drops by. We have our usual visitors that you have seen before: cardinals (Mr. & Mrs.), goldfinch (Mr. and Mrs.), woodpeckers, hummingbirds, blue jays, chickadees, nuthatches, grosbeaks, mourning doves, tufted titmice and even the occasional wild turkey! In the past we have had a rare appearance of an oriole, but have not had the camera handy when they have dropped by momentarily. I have never been able to really get a great picture of them. Because they so rarely come by it's always a sight to see when they do. The other day I was working in the kitchen when I noticed a vivid orange on the suet. I looked and saw Mr. Oriole! He must've been hungry because he stayed and pecked for quite a while. I snapped away with my camera. Then, to my surprise, Mrs. Oriole came too. By the time I noticed her and grabbed the camera, she had flown to a nearby branch, but I was still able to capture her portrait. They have been here a few times and hopefully will return again and again. They are so pretty and we all enjoy watching them.

A Couple With Obvious Issues

It's sobering, but they must have been on the outs with each other. We had never seen them together. They each came to our home on separate occasions. Maybe they needed some counseling. (I happen to know a great pastor who would be willing to sit down with them and talk.) However, they must have been able to put aside their problems because we finally saw Mr. & Mrs. Brown Headed Cowbird together at our feeders this week.

(Note: I snapped the best shot of Mrs. Cowbird earlier this week. She tends to sit at the feeder with her backside facing me. Her husband finally showed his face on Sunday, not too far away from his lovely wife...It's about time.)

My Little Friends

The hummingbirds are back and frequenting the feeder. They are such cute little friends and we enjoy watching them zoom in and out.

Turkey-Lurkey Anyone?

I guess today was a day of firsts. We had an Oriole couple at our feeder today, something else is a first today, but that's my next post, and then, this evening, we saw a wild turkey in our backyard! He ran quickly once he saw us, but not before I grabbed the camera and captured him on "digital film."

Shaylen said he would have tasted yummy.

A Brand New Couple

Today I was chatting with Taigen, discussing what all needed to be done or packed in order to help get us ready for our upcoming WA trip. I turned to glance outside and noticed an Oriole at our feeder! These are not frequent attenders. In fact, I can only recall one other time that I've seen one. I quickly grabbed the camera and hoped he would not fly away. He went away from the feeder as I focused the lens, but only went up to a nearby branch. I snapped a few photos of him and noticed the female close by. Unfortunately, she flew away too quickly for me to get a picture of her. I'm so excited for the new couple in our neighborhood. I hope they come back.

Mystery Bird

Any of you bird enthusiasts have a book or the knowledge to help me figure out what this feathered friend is? My guess is either a Brown-Headed Cowbird or possibly a Gray Jay? It doesn't seem dark enough to be a Gray Catbird, nor does the bill seem long enough. He/She was all gray and was content to just sit on the feeder for quite a while. I was never able to see the back feathers. Any suggestions?

A New Feathered Friend

You've got homework! Can you please help?

On Saturday I heard some beautiful chirping outside and looked to see which bird was singing. What I found was a bird that I hadn't seen before. I quickly came downstairs to get the camera and try and snap up a few shots of him. I'm confident that it's a "him" because of his brightly colored feathers. Since I had to take the picture through the window, the picture didn't come out very clear. It didn't help that it was also somewhat dark outside too.I tried to zoom in as much as possible in the picture software. It made the picture fuzzy, but I'm hoping it's enough for you to try and decipher what kind of bird this is. It's either got to be a House Finch or a Purple Finch (why would anyone name a red finch a "purple finch", is beyond me, but I'm not in charge).

Any thoughts? (Remember:You can click on the photo to view it in larger form. Just click the back browser to bring you back to the blog's main page.)

Our New Red-Bellied Friend

A while back, Taigen mentioned that he saw a new bird at the feeder. When he described it to me, I thought it was a Downy Woodpecker. This one is black and white with a small patch of red on his head. Taigen insisted that it was a large patch of red on the head. He looked in the handy-dandy bird book and pointed to the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. I told him that we've never had one at the feeder before. This was exciting news! We spotted one that same week and when I went to go get the camera and turn it on, the batteries decided that it was time to be charged. I missed him entirely!

I had noticed this morning that there was some activity at the feeder. The Tufted Titmice and Blue Jays were going back and forth and the Juncos were gathering up leftovers on the ground. I looked a bit more closely one time and saw our new friend swinging on the suet! I grabbed the camera and started snapping. He is so big and beautiful! The pics of him on the suet didn't turn out well, but he flew to a tree and was still long enough for me to grab a couple of shots. I'm delighted he came back!

Sunday's Storm Pics

After all was said and done, we got about 14-15 inches. It was so beautiful to wake up and see a fresh, new blanket of white on the world.

In With a Bang!

Winter is officially here and it has come in with a bang! The snow started in lightly this morning, but by the time we left church this morning, the snow was accumulating quite a bit. Taigen announced this morning that we were going to cancel the evening service. Travel home was slow.

All the weather stations had put out a severe storm watch starting at 6 pm tonight. That's hilarious because we've already gotten about 5-6 inches already. The worst part is still to come. We could get up to 14 inches of snow!

I've been enjoying it all afternoon from the comforts of my heated home. To my surprise the birds have been at the feeder all day! They are all fluffed up and cute. We've seen a woodpecker, the tufted titmice, chickadees and juncos.

Our deck is covered again. You'd never know I shoveled it yesterday. I found it funny that the snow is so wet and sticky that it is clinging to the decorative, spinning "thingy" Dad and Cathy gave us to hang up in our yard (what would you call this?).

The Christmas program is tentatively rescheduled for next Sunday evening depending on who all is still in town that is in the program and what the weather is like. There is another (smaller) storm scheduled for Christmas eve! I'm hoping to be able to do it this year, but in the meantime, I get in an extra week's worth of practice. Whew!

Feeder Friends

It's been quite a while since I posted on any birds in our backyard. That's probably because there haven't been too many since the weather turned cooler. Lately it's been a lot of Tufted Titmice, Chickadees and woodpeckers and no new friends. The Chickadees like a particular pine tree that is right outside our school-room window and I see them going back and forth, hopping from branch to branch. The kids don't notice, which is good, but I take great delight in watching them!

Sunday afternoon I noticed two new birds underneath the feeder. I got the camera out and snapped a couple of pictures. Turns out that it was a male and female dark-eyed, slate-colored Junco. They were content to peck on the ground and I was able to get a couple of good shots. They are tiny and beautiful.

Bird Cam

I just wanted to share these three great shots of this Ruby-Throated Hummingbird that I got yesterday afternoon. They are so small and so beautiful. We've had a ton of them at the feeder this summer. They love sitting on the very last tip of the Oriole "branch" (the first picture) and just look around and around. Then, when they've seen all that they want, they go and get a couple of sips and zoom away. They are fascinating to watch.

Our Latest Visitor

It seems that our feathered friends haven't been too hospitable! We haven't been seeing any new birds lately. We've been keeping an eye on the feeder but have been able to name all that have come to munch.

This morning while I was doing the breakfast dishes I noticed a big bird sitting on the ground beneath the feeder and ran to get the camera. It is a woodpecker, specifically a Northern Flicker. I think I'm going to like having them around because, according to my book, they like to eat ants. He is welcome to come and eat as many as he wants and as often as he wants!

Um...Just What IS This Bird?

We were finishing up with breakfast when we heard (as Shaylen put it) an "awful noise". I peeked out the front screen door to see a strange looking fowl on our front lawn. I took this brief video and then walked outside to see if I could get a closer look and a couple of pictures. I've never seen anything like this before.

I can't find any turkey, grouse, pheasant, chicken or ptarmigan in my bird book that looks even remotely similar to this bird. Does anyone have a clue? Marshall thought that maybe it was a dinosaur (which cracked me up). It has to be the strangest looking bird that I've seen for quite some time.

Mystery Bird

We are at a loss of what this bird is that we saw at the feeder yesterday. He/She was pretty fearful of me and flew away shortly after I snapped this shot. Any input? My guess was a Northern Mockingbird, but it's not a clear enough shot to be absolutely sure.

I got this picture today (07/05) and added it to this post. Does this help at all? Very skittish! It is definitely not picture friendly.

For the Birds

It's been busy in our yard since Mom was able to set us up with the handy-dandy squirrel proof bird feeder. Mom would probably have not wanted to leave if she knew all the activity we were going to get. The squirrels are probably a bit miffed since they can no longer pig out at our expense. Now they only can munch on the crumbs that are spilled over the edge by birds that are skittish or in a hurry (Blue Jays and White Breasted Nuthatches) or by those who dig around rummaging for their favorite seeds (Chickadees).

While Paul and Sandra were here, we looked out at the bird feeder to see a beautiful bird that we had never seen before. It was a Rose Breasted Grosbeak (Pictured Above Left). He is a fairly large bird and has a very distinctive beak! I was thankful that he wasn't afraid of me so that I could get right up to the door in order to photograph him. I love his colors. The very next day we were able to see the female Grosbeak at the green feeder. She sat there and munched for quite awhile (Right).

Today we noticed that the feeder was quite busy. We saw lots and lots of Blue Jays flying back and forth, Chipping Sparrows, White Breasted Nuthatches, a Gray Catbird & several Tufted Titmice. I looked outside while sorting through some music and noticed some activity at my suet feeder. Hoorah! A new bird! I quickly grabbed my camera and hoped it wouldn't fly away before I could snap a shot. Come to find out, it was a female Hairy Woodpecker. She came back several times and I was able to manage to get a picture that I really liked.

After a while, I moved from the loveseat to a chair in front of the patio door so that I might catch any other newcomers. I worked on my music and glanced up now and then to see what was going on at the feeder, camera in hand, ready to snap photographs. (Call me strange, but it IS fascinating!) Another new bird came to the pole and gradually worked his way up. It was a male Downy Woodpecker. He was quite a bit smaller than the female Hairy Woodpecker. He cautiously examined everything before he decided on the suet as well. Doesn't this picture on the right make you imagine that he is saying, "Hmmm! This looks pretty good!" He is looking at the grape jelly that we set out to attract the Orioles.

You know I've been sporadically seeing the hummingbirds out and about and always been too late to snap a picture. Not anymore!!! I was so excited to see a male and female Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (at separate times) at their feeder today. They were there long enough for me to grab my camera and walk over and snap up some lovely portraits of them. I posted larger, zoomed in photos below so that you can see how pretty they are! I am thrilled. Many, many thanks again to Danette Rogers (SC) who sent me the wonderful bird book by Roger Tory Peterson so that I can figure out these wonderful creatures.

Bright Feathered Friends

We have had a great visit with Mom. She has been thinking the entire time about what she could get us as a house warming gift. When I suggested a deck bird feeder, her eyes lit up! We have a Wild Birds Unlimited just a few minutes away from the house and so I took her in there. She had a blast picking out things for our deck. We walked out with a deck "tree", a hummingbird feeder, an oriole branch and a bird feeder.

Taigen mounted it on Saturday evening and Mom's been waiting anxiously for the first birds to come. Imagine her horror when two fat squirrels decided to be the first guests instead. Grrrr. Don't mess with my Mama! No matter how much shooing she did or how many shoes she tossed, they always came back. I knew they would. So what could we do? We ended up taking off the tray at the bottom of the feeder. There's a dome over the feeder which prevents them from hanging upside down and eating freely. With the bottom gone, they cannot sit in the tray and munch to their heart's delight. We'll see how desperate or hungry they are.

We had an oriole this afternoon. We're a bit puzzled as to whether or not it is an Audubon's Oriole or a Baltimore Oriole. He seemed a bit too yellowish to be a Baltimore. Any help from my readers? He's pictured here on the right. (Note: You can click on the picture to see it in larger form. Just click the back arrow on your browser when you're ready to go back to reading the post.)

We also had two American Goldfinches; a male and a female. They were so pretty sitting up there munching and munching! I got several pictures of them. Shaylen named them Mr. and Mrs. Buttercup. Appropriate don't you think?

Mom has also seen two hummingbirds come to the feeder. Of course, they are gone before I can grab the camera and snap a shot of them. One day though, I'll be waiting for them.

The tufted Titmouse has been visiting as well as the chipping sparrow, but we were excited to see three new visitors today.

Gasp! Another Bird Post

Warning: This post contains pictures and information about birds. If you do not like birds, or would rather view pictures of my children, skip this post and proceed to give me a hard time about how I never post about my children.

However, if you're enjoying seeing the variety of birds that frequent our feeder, you're welcome to read on. Especially if you want to see if the infamous Alaskan nephew figures these out.

Good news! I finally saw a hummingbird yesterday! He was not at the hummingbird feeder, but made his presence known when I stepped out on the deck yesterday. He stopped mid-air and buzzed right in front of me. He was so beautiful. I told Marshall and Shaylen and they got all excited. They stood at the patio doors for a while in hopes that he would come back...like the ground hog.

The other day several different birds were having a get-together in our backyard and I saw three birds that I haven't seen before. Remember me mentioning that there was one bird who prefers his seed to go? I have never been able to snap a picture of him! Well, I finally did and here he is on the right. I think I have pegged the first two, but the one pictured below has been a bit of a puzzle because he had the audacity to not look at the camera when I wanted him to!