At the Park

Here are some birds I saw at the park today. I saw several warblers but they never sit still long enough for a picture!

black & white warbler

summer tanager

wild turkey

I dislike Canada geese, but I thought this was a sweet scene.

In My Backyard

Today I had another new yard bird - a Baltimore oriole. I tried to attract these last year, so I was thrilled when I saw one in my backyard tonight! I put out a fresh orange and some grape jelly in hopes of keeping him around. He may have been visiting my hummingbird feeder. When he first caught my eye he was flying from that direction, but I can't be sure. I saw him a couple times tonight, so hopefully he will decide to stay. (It was rainy and the picture was taken through the window, so it is less than stellar. )

I had a chipping sparrow in my yard a couple weeks ago. Since then I have had several more. They were quite interested in what I was doing when I was refilling my feeders today. They're cute little birds.

I also had my first hummingbird of the season last week.

Another New Yard Bird

I had another new bird in my backyard today - a brown thrasher. What makes this really great, though, is that it's a new lifer for me! It's always nice to get a new lifer, but it's even more special when it's in your own yard.

In My Backyard

I had a new bird at my feeder today! It's not a first-ever bird, but it's a first-ever-in-my-backyard bird! Here is a picture of my hairy woodpecker. Hopefully he'll be a return visitor.

As far as new-to-my-backyard birds go, I've had a couple others since the last time I posted - a red bellied woodpecker and some American tree sparrows.

In My Backyard

I have had a lot of success attracting a wider variety of birds now that my feeders aren't overrun by house sparrows. I still have a few that visit my platform feeder, but most of them have given up on even trying to visit the feeders with the wires. There is one house sparrow who has figured out how to fly under the wires. Otherwise, they all stay away. I am amazed it worked so well.

I've added a few things for my feathered visitors over the past month. I added a wreath style peanut feeder last week. I don't think my blue jays like it much because they have to work to get a peanut, but the other birds like it. The nuthatches visit it almost daily, and surprisingly the Carolina wren really likes it, too. So far our neighborhood squirrel has not made an attempt to raid it.

I received a window feeder for Christmas. I put it up as soon as I received it, but no one visited it for almost 3 weeks! Finally this week a couple house finches tried it out. They don't visit it frequently and are rather skittish when they do, but it's a start.

I also made my own suet a couple weeks ago. The cardinals seem to like it best. Store bought suet is inexpensive, but I made my own with stuff I already had on hand, so it didn't cost me anything. I'm sure I'll try it again when my current batch is gone, assuming it's still cold outside. I think it would melt if it was very warm out.

Since I started counting my backyard birds, I'm now up to 23 species! These are pictures of some of the other birds I've had visit my backyard feeders recently. Technically the hawk didn't visit my feeder, but he was looking for food in my backyard!

At the Park

In My Backyard