Birdwatching in our backyard

I am not an avid birdwatcher, as I don't go hunting them down, but I do love to see them in my yard, especially after a snow as they are so stricking against the snow. I was glad that for once I remembered to go and get some more birdseed and actually got it put in the feeder before the storm. It took a while for them to come out and find it, but it was worth the wait. One Wed., 2/10 we had a lot of visitors. Some of the names I knew, some I was advised by friends and some I found in my Field & Guide to North American Birds.

Chickadee

Blue Jay
I love the markings on his back - Beautiful!

Junkos (aka snowbirds)

Tufted Black-crested Titmouse

We even had a little tift between the Downy Woodpecker and the Titmouse - Downy started it!

Northern Cardinal (female) and sparrow

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Then on Thurs., 2/11 we had some different birds show up.

Northern Cardinal (male)

This is the only squirrel I have seen out since the snow.

He was enjoying the seeds with the birds.

Sparrow

Dove

Rofous-sided Towhee

Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker

Harold was excited to have seen 3 different types of woodpeckers. Those are his favorite along with cardinals and mine are the blue jays.

Mockingbird -This one is normally to be found in the front yard terrorizing all of the other birds (and squirrels) and keeping them away from the holly bush and its berries in front of the house. She eats the ones in the neighbors yard that she lives in during the winter and mine is in reserve for the spring. She won't let any other birds near it.

More of that White Stuff

Well, this weekend we got some more snow...we still had a few inches left from the last one that had not melted off yet in the yard. We got at least another 20 inches. It was beautiful to look at, but we lost power on Sat. around 2pm. One Sunday we went over to my friend, Mary's house to take showers, warm up and watch the Super Bowl. We had planned to go over to Margarethe's and stay at her place that night as it was going to be colder than it had been on Sat. night. However, luckily (per our neighbor) the power came back on during half-time and we got to return home after the game and stay home. We still have a lot of our camping equipment from when George was in Scouts - camp stove, battery and propane lanterns and a propane heater. I did cook dinner on the camp stove on Sat. Here are a few pictures of the snow on Sat. and Sun.

Harold decided to clean off the grill after he finished clearing the heat pump.

This is the holly bush on the corner of the front of the house...I love how it looks covered in snow with the red berries on it. You can't really see them in the picture, but they really stand out in real life.

The front of the house after Harold cleared some of the snow.

The back yard on Sat. Kinda gloomy day, but it was still beautiful.

This is how it looked on Sunday morning about 9:30 am., but the snow on the bushes was melted off by mid-day.

I did finally get birdseed in the feeder before it snowed again, but I think the birds decided it was too cold to come out and were hunkered in their nests trying to stay warm...The squirrels did come out and try to get some the next day. Sure the birds did too, I just didn't get to look out to see them.

Today it started snowing again in the late afternoon. More of a sleet/snow mix, but is to change to fluffy snow during the night and possibly back to sleet/snow tomorrow. They are estimating 6-8 inches for us. I guess we just have to be happy that we aren't getting as much as they are just a little further north, towards DC.