One of the nice things about being snowed in is the ability to slow down and savor what is in your backyard. We have been watching the comings and goings of the winter birds. We have a feeder and have put out extra pans of food. We also have two suet cakes which are very popular and the two hummingbird feeders.
Today the sun came out and the bird visitors increased. We even had a visit from a local hawk.
Here are some of our visitors
Male Red Shafted Northern Flicker
Female Red Shafted Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Bush Tits
Male Anna's Hummingbird
Hawk
Comments (8)
Marta! Today I had three yellow tailed black cockatoos! One was ten feet away outside my front door. They are 2 feet long.
I have never seen one before. :)
Posted by Leslie | December 22, 2008 11:08 PM
Posted on December 22, 2008 23:08
Wonderful photos, Marta!
We occasionally see a hawk at the tiny pond in our backyard.
Posted by Chris | December 23, 2008 4:25 AM
Posted on December 23, 2008 04:25
Wow, those photos are amazing! What a lovely variety of species you get to see from your window. It is very strange for me to see a hummingbird in the snow! Those delightful little birds are long gone from NS by the time snow flies.
Posted by Anne | December 23, 2008 4:25 AM
Posted on December 23, 2008 04:25
Bee-yew-tiful! You're not kidding that the suet cakes are popular! LOL
I used to see a hawk occasionally perching on the trumpet vines at my old house, but haven't seen one since I moved. Wonderful photos, Marta - thanks!
Posted by colleen | December 23, 2008 11:14 AM
Posted on December 23, 2008 11:14
Amazing photos, Marta. Ok, one question, how can you tell the male birds from the female ones??? I have hummingbirds that come almost daily but I can't tell if they are male or female... LOL
Posted by Eden | December 23, 2008 12:23 PM
Posted on December 23, 2008 12:23
Eden - the males are typically more colorful. It doesn't show up in my picture really well, but the male hummer has a large bright red/maroon neck. In my picture, it shows up black which is what it looks like when the sun isn't shinning on it.
The female has a little spot of red under her chin but not as wide as the male. The alpha male's red feathers are so wide it is flares out on the side.
You can tell the male flicker the same way. He has a red tear drop on his cheek. The female doesn't have any red on her face.
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December 23, 2008 12:55 PM
Posted on December 23, 2008 12:55
Amazing photos! The second one is my favorite. Poor things. They are probably not too thrilled with all the snow.
Posted by girasoli | December 23, 2008 11:09 PM
Posted on December 23, 2008 23:09
I love these photos! It's fun to compare east coast and west coast bird. The only one of yours that I've seen recently is the downy woodpecker.
Posted by Annie | December 24, 2008 1:11 PM
Posted on December 24, 2008 13:11