Still Identifying Friends

A fairly new visitor to the backyard is what I believe to be a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Sooo cute !
He likes my homemade suet.
Trying out this bluebird feeder cage for suet to see if it deters the Starlings.
Well..it sorta works. Cage just makes it harder for them since the holes are so small.





Didn't know who these guys were until I went to Gardenweb Bird forum for help.
I was told they're female Brown-headed Cowbirds. Who would have guessed?
Looks nothing like the male Cowbird. At first thought they were House Sparrows.






When I captured them together you can definitely tell the difference.
Both girls are in the center. Big difference !
What's with all the female birds not being as attractive as the "DUDES" ???



Juvenile Red-winged Blackbird. Thanks for that ID Cameron.



Not too many of these Grackles so far this year.




Don't get to see this one too often...
maybe because of the abundant aggressive birds.
Tufted Titmouse



Why is it that the pretty birds are so few ?
Like this White breasted Nuthatch.
I think when it stays cold for awhile we'll be seeing more varieties.
Today it was 56 f or 13 c. It should be about 40 degrees.

Wonder of Lights

For some reason, my favorite Christmas lights are those BIG ones that I remember from my childhood. You know the ones that screwed in like a real light bulb. Maybe it has something to do with believing in Santa. Oh, the excitement of getting presents ! Memories are funny...could swear just about everyone used to put up lights outside. But now I only see about one out of ten homes that decorate. There may be less than before, but enough people do, so it's still fun to drive around to see the decoration of homes with the wonderful lights of Christmas.
Hope you enjoy seeing my neighborhood.











































The homes like my own which have modest lights with candle in the windows were too dark to show. :(
Curious...What does your neighborhood look like ?

Making a Mess !

This Blue Jay is making a mess at the feeder.


This is a better look at him.


Bullies at the feeders.
This population is 10 times more than it was last year.
I believe these are Female House Sparrows. The black guy is a Brown-headed Cowbird.







Sometimes they STAY STILL !
Northern Cardinal






Go to All About Birdsto see and hear birds. Personally needed this to know who's making all that noise in the morning :)

Send Some Cheer !

It's all about the kids....
Visit Rachel at Rosemary's Blogspot.

Through the Kitchen Window

The growing season may be over but the backyard fun is not !
For the past two years...mornings consist of making coffee then sitting by the kitchen window to see who is visiting us today. I'm still identifying winter feeder birds with the help of books and the internet...who knew how much fun it could be !
Love to be able to get clear pictures of our birds but then I'd have to sit outside and freeze my tush off...that's not gonna happen.
My camera has found permanent residence on the kitchen table just hoping to get that almost perfect picture of our different feathered friends and maybe that bird I've haven't seen before. Lately it seems like most days have been dreary with rain or just cloudy so picture taking is not so good,but once in a while I luck out and can get decent snaps of the backyard wildlife.


This little Chickadee is difficult for me to identify.
Making a guess...I'd say Cameron sent him. :)








Can't make picture any bigger than this...just gets more fuzzy.




Different Chickadees info and photos below are from
"Project Feeder Watch".

.................Black-capped Chickadee......................Carolina Chickadee

......

Baffled

Without a baffle this squirrel is having a good olde time.
I have to admit they are cute and oh sooo entertaining.
Also a welcome relief to the herd of birds (I know the word is flock)that we get.





This baffle over the suet cage was intended to deter squirrels which it does,but so far and most importantly deters the big birds.
We'll see...I'll have to get back to you on this one.


Definitely needed for the bird feeder...he and his friends would empty this in a day or so. This really works !



These pictures below are a little fuzzy...

The feeder above was swarmed with these birds which are brown-headed cow birds, grackles... and the small ones look like female house sparrows, but larger. Not sure what they are.




This guy was flying with the herd birds. I'd say this is a mutt...Starling and Red-winged Blackbird combined.
What do you think?