Wednesday 23 January 2013

Winter Birds

There's not much happening in my January garden outdoors, so I've been taking a few photos of the birds that have been visiting my patio feeders. Most of these have been taken through my dining room window and doors and let me tell you, it is a real challenge to keep the glass clean and lint free, not to mention all the reflections. The first photo is one of my favorite birds, the black capped chickadee, always difficult to photograph because they're always on the go. They live here year round and sometimes I'm blessed to have them raise their family right in my backyard.
Next up is the most common BC bird-feeder visitor, the Junco. These birds like to eat seeds from the ground, helping to clean up the mess other birds leave behind.
Black Capped Chickadee
Junco
Pine Siskin
Sometimes I get large flocks of these little finches called Pine Siskins, and boy can they empty a feeder fast! One day I counted 30 on my patio.
Another one of my favorites are the Anna's hummingbirds that live here year round. I don't see much of them in the summer, but two little females come by regularly in the winter, about every 15 minutes or so. They don't like to share, and chase each other off whenever they both show up at the same time. One day last week I was blessed to have a male come by. I grabbed my camera real quick and took a photo even though I was several feet away from the window. It's also interesting to see how different their feathers look in the sun compared to in the shade.
Anna's Hummingbird

In the Sun
The Male Anna's Hummingbird
House Finch male
Here is a male house finch at the sunflower feeder. They sing a lovely song in the spring.
Below is a small flock of bushtits hanging from my suet feeder. Feeding upside down is no problem for these little acrobats.  The females have yellow eyes. 
Bushtits
Stellers Jay
The pretty blue Steller's Jays still come around to collect their peanuts.

10 comments:

  1. Most of these birds actually look cute haha. Nice photos!

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  2. Great pictures of your feathered guests.

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  3. Thank you and birds are cute, Alyssa :)

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  4. Leona, I enjoy your beautiful pictures of your birds and garden......you have such a gift! Thanks for sharing :-) Lovely!

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  5. Love all your pictures of the birds from your yard. I've seen some of these in my yard but didn't know the names of them. Love the chickadees...so cute!

    I put a little birdhouse out last year and hoping this spring it gets used. :)

    Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Thanks Tina and Cathy. I enjoy having a place to share my pictures with those interested. I hope your birdhouse gets filled with cheeping birdies Cathy :)

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  7. we had 100's of wax wings in the yard the other day..they were so cute and very noisy!!! Your photos are wonderful!

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  8. Thanks Tootsie. Those waxwings must have been amazing to see. I've only seen waxwings once and that was while I was driving my kids to school years ago.

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  9. Beautiful birds! You have a nice group at your place....

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  10. Thank you Weekend Cowgirl :)

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