We have several bird feeders on our deck, right outside a bank of kitchen windows. I love having little feathers friends and I'm a sucker for a pretty brass bird feeder. Our yard also backs up to a Wetland habitat with a large open field that draws lots of non-bird feeder types.
So the Boys have grown up watching our daily visitors. A couple of Christmases ago, J was given an Audubon Bird Guide and the NG Field Guide to Birds. These really help cement a love for casual birdwatching. And they made it much harder for me to let the feeders run empty.
Both books are lacking front covers now and the two oldest boys have become quite proficient at picking out the important details needed for identification. My MIL has watched in wonder as 6 pairs of cardinals have perched all around the deck. (She never gets them on the farm and they are her favorites.) Lately, we've had Red-Bellied Woodpeckers at the feeders and picking at bugs between the deck boards.
It's quite entertaining to see a big woodpecker trying to perch on a feeder that the Cardinals barely fit on.
One morning we awoke to a Blue Heron in the back yard. We often see Turkey Vultures riding the thermals in great packs. We occasionally have a family of Canadian geese stop by but none live in the wetland. Red Tailed Hawks search for rodents, as does Max the Cat...but he seems to specialize in moles. Fat Mourning Doves sit on the Deck Rails waiting for food to drop. They've learned that they are just too awkward to even try to perch on the feeders.
We see Robins hunting for worms, Little Black-capped Chickadees hopping nervously, and Field Sparrows have claimed our front porch as prime nesting real estate.
Thrashers, Warblers, Sprarrows...all eating and fighting around the back deck.
So today I looked outside and spied something I hadn't seen before. (or so I thought.) I yelled for J to come and see this new little bird with black on the top, white on the bottom, and an orange stripe under its wing.
"Mom...It's just a female Tufted Titmouse. They come all the time."
Shoot. How could I miss a Tufted Titmouse
2 comments:
HOW COOL!
We hope to build bird feeders in the next month or so and start watching. I can't wait, and now you've got me all excited!
Dy
That made me laugh. Deja Vu comments.
Yes....The wetlands I am talking about IS the one that is near Zaxby's (Hence my hatred of Zaxby's.)
We back up to the area called the "upland area." Since we have both forest and open areas, we get a variety of birds on the deck. And we can see down into the clearing to watch the hawks hunting.
Cool huh?
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