Filling the feeder in the snow

[eve11]

Woking from home today, as (at least where I live) it continues to snow heavily when the weather channel says "light snow", and flurry when the weather channel says "clear", and generally shower us with another 3-4 inches so far. I took time to fill up the bird feeders this morning and the birds are very happy for it. I also put some seed out on a plank on the table on the patio to see if I can get some closer-up looks at some of these guys or maybe get some pictures if I'm lucky.

There is a lull right now, but so far I've seen quite a few different kinds (some of which I had to look up-- www.whatbird.com is an awesome site for North American Birds, btw)-- juncos, tufted titmouses, mourning doves, chickadees, a pair of cardinals (male and female), a guy that is either a red-breasted or white-breasted nuthatch (I think white-breasted), and couple of different kinds of woodpeckers-- downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, a bigger guy I think is a red-bellied woodpecker; he doesn't look dark enough or big enough for a pileated woodpecker and he doesn't have the tuft on his head, and his head isn't red enough for a red-headed woodpecker, so I think he's a red-bellied one. No blue jays-- we used to get them all the time back east where I grew up but I've yet to see one here. Still, it's pretty cool to see all the woodpeckers; we never used to see them where I grew up. Hear them, but not see them.

Comments

[snonsumr.livejournal.com]

You'll get blue jays out there. I used to see them all the time at my grandparents' (former) house.

[eve11]

That's good to know. I haven't seen any yet but I'll keep my eyes open. We have a literal army of Juncos. One of them just got so excited it flew into the patio window, and then flew drunkenly away again.

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

Yay for a day at home. And for birds. :)

Juncos are so beautiful.

[gunhilda.livejournal.com]

Unless you live in a heavily forested rural area, it's probably not a pileated woodpecker. They are very big and need a lot of space. Red-bellied woodpeckers are pretty common. Aren't they pretty, though?

Woodpeckers and nuthatches love suet, also, if you ever consider putting that out.

[eve11]

Well, we're not waaay out in the sticks like, say, Montana, but we are probably surrounded by a couple hundred acres of woods, though they've been logged in the past so the trees are kind of sparse in places and in the summer there's ferns everywhere. Township can't build a lot on steep hills, so there's some houses at the top and the town at the bottom by the river, but we're amidst a good swath of no-man's land between. Not rural enough for bears (um, I hope), but for deer, turkeys, raccoons, etc. But if we're talking like, state forest or game land, we're probably not rural enough.

I'm pretty sure it's a red-bellied woodpecker. I have some pictures-- probably grainy, but I'll post them if they're any good ;) We've got one suet feeder and two seed feeders. Today was the first time I saw a woodpecker (a downy one) at one of the seed feeders instead of the suet feeder right at the treeline.

[gunhilda.livejournal.com]

Well, it sounds like the type of area where you *might* have pileated woodpeckers. It's cool that you're feeding birds. No telling what fun things you'll get!

[lem0nb0mbs.livejournal.com]

If you want more jays, put out more sunflower seeds. They love oilers! They also prefer to land on the ground or horizontal surfaces, which stinks for them, as seed placed thusly (heh, I said thusly) is usually snatched by squirrels long before they get there.