In early February, I put up a bird feeder that I got for my birthday – it’s one of those ones that has a camera in it so you can login and watch the birds dig through the seeds, finding the ones they like best. Every day since, there has been a feeding frenzy of redpolls, red breasted nuthatches, chickadees, Steller’s jays, European starlings, magpies and the occasional squirrel.
🙁paying my respects to the deceasedthe ravens came a few hours later
We’ve also been visited by Bohemian Waxwings as they forage for the fermented fruit of our neighbors’ apple tree. Unfortunately, one such bird got a little too tipsy and crashed into our window, despite us having placed anti-bird-crash stickers to help them avoid it.
Here is a collection of all the birds that have visited our back yard this winter.
dark eyed juncodark eyed juncoredpollchickadeenuthatchpine siskinpine siskinredpollBohemian waxwingBohemian waxwingBohemian waxwingBohemian waxwingBohemian waxwingBohemian waxwingBohemian waxwingchickadeechickadeeredpolla hungry redpoll waits for the feedera hungry redpollSteller’s jaySteller’s jay – maybe with a slight bit of avian keratin disorder: the upper part of the bill extends outward a bit too farfemale downy woodpecker visiting our back yardfemale downy woodpecker visiting our back yardfemale downy woodpecker visiting our back yard
I’ve also been going down to the Campbell Creek trail to get some steps and enjoy a bit of nature. I’ve seen lots of birds and animals, even during the coldest winter months. Here is a small collection of the birds I have seen along the trail.
mallardAmerican dipper chasing away a Bohemian waxwing at the edge of Campbell Creek.James Pond (common goldeneye)belted kingfisher at the pondbelted kingfisher about to splash downeuropean starlingcommon goldeneye aka “James Pond”common goldeneye – aka “James Pond”a young moose on Campbell Creek trailA raven on trash dayducks at the pondMallards coming in for a landingEuropean starling in the neighborhood on a frosty morningmale downy woodpecker along the trail at Campbell Creekcommon merganser flyoverjuvenile bald eagle perched on a tree by campbell creekjuvenile bald eagle perched on a tree by campbell creek
The other day I put up the bird feeder that my wife had given me for my birthday last month. It’s one of those feeders with a camera so you can see the birds up close.
Within 2 hours, we had a squirrel and shortly after that, chickadees, nuthatches and redpolls. I’m getting more than a hundred pings each day with all the hungry birds that come to feed.
Here’s a drawing of one of my visitors, a chickadee who came to rest on one of the lower branches of our oak tree. I drew this on a sticky note to save time and show that you can draw with any kind of supplies that you might have lying around, even when you’re taking a short break at work 🙂
