Yes, another bird post - but hopefully you, like me, are caring for the
sweet birds in your corner of the world, especially if it's Winter and cold.
These photos were all taken over the weekend when, although very chilly,
it was sunny and bright much of the time.
We'll probably be filing for bankruptcy if we continue buying so much bird seed!
Seriously though, we do love our garden birds and keeping them well fed and
watered is something we enjoy so very much.
All photos were taken through the dining room window - a little help with editing
from the always fabulous PicMonkey
Tufted Titmouse - male and female look the same.
Related to the Carolina chickadee but larger. Notorious for pulling hair from
sleeping dogs, cats and squirrels to line their nests!
Pine Siskin - small brown finch with pretty yellow touches, male and female alike.
Considered a Winter finch, arriving in large flocks some years but completely
absent in others. This year we are seeing many.
Carolina chickadee - male and female look alike.
A very friendly tiny bird that can be tamed and hand-fed.
A pair have been raising their family in a nesting box on our porch for
several years.
Female Purple finch and. . . . . . .
. . . . . male Purple finch displaying his brilliant red feathers.
Usually seen only in Winter in the Carolinas when flocks leave their
Northern homes to search for food - they came to the right place on
our front porch!
Pair of Mourning doves snuggled under the birdbath - the sweetest, quietest birds,
they mate for life which is seven to ten years!
The big Male Northern flicker loves the suet feeder - although it's the only woodpecker
to regularly feed on the ground, preferring ants and beetles.
Carolina wren - male and female look the same.
Long-term mates remain all year in permanent territories in woodlands
or brushy yards. Male is known to sing up to 40 different songs!
This is my favorite little bird of all. Our very own pair of Carolina wrens are still sleeping together nightly in the totally dead Boston fern hanging basket!
They show up - 5:38 pm is their current time and we can just about set our clocks by them - always announcing their arrival for bed with much chatter, squawking, and hopping about on the front porch. For some reason Saturday evening seemed quite bright still so I grabbed a camera in hopes of a photo through the window. One had already popped into the basket, and here you see its mate who flew in a minute or so later - not sure, but would think this is Mr. Wren on the outside. Funny thing is, before it became really cold, one would go into the second basket but now they snuggle up together every night in the same little space they've now worn into a comfy hole. They never fly out if we just come and go in and out the front door, however if I walk across the porch behind them, one will fly out but return later. I hear them wake in the morning, currently around 7:00 am, chattering loudly before flying out to search for breakfast. They hang out the garden all day - front and back - seems this is their home as well as ours!
The photo is not very good but you get the idea.
I just love these perky birds whose family has been inhabiting our
front porch for so many years.
front porch for so many years.
Well the garden is looking much different this morning!
Another ice storm started early and we now have a white coating frosting
the landscape.
The city is shut down, the airport is canceling flights, and driving is hazardous,
but it should warm up later today and by tomorrow temperatures are expected to be
back around 60F.
Such a crazy Winter here in North Carolina!
Here's to a fine week in your corner of the world.
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