DAILY PICS VOL. 264

Turkey Vulture.

A few Cowbirds.

Here's my mockingbird, still being the bully this morning.

Rain is over The sun is trying to come out. Lots more color in the pics.

oh that mocking bird is cool. I never knew they had white on the wings like that.

I have been mobbed by birds today since we got about 6 inches of snow.

and a downy…

And even though I'm not happy about the starlings being such piggies at the suet, they are certainly comical.

and lastly, these Mourning doves are also funny to me.

Mrs. Ed:
Here is another shot that shows the mocker's two toned feathers. Not a great shot. It's a throw away actually. . Submitted for educational purposes only.

And here is a gray catbird. If you look closely you can see the red rump feathers.

You couldn't see it? Here's a better view.

A male cardinal in all his radiant beauty.

Eastern phoebe that comes to see us about this time each year.

Well, learn something new every day! I didn't know about the catbird either.

I find it funny, that I've only seen a Northern Mockingbird while I was in Mexico!

Burd, great shots of the geese and cormorants. Sure looks cold there.
GP, love your dove and ibis shots. Cute cowbirds too!
Dave, nice one of the mocker and the Bluebird couldn't be any sharper-beautiful. The catbird, cardinal and phoebe are great too. Glad to see that new lens is working so well.
Mrs Ed, your finch and wp look so cute and so cold. That's a clever way to catch the suet drippings for the birds. The doves couldn't be any cuter!!

Here's one of my Oak Titmice.

This younger titmouse couldn't figure out how to get back up straight.

The sun makes it look nice and warm but the thermometer still read 25 degrees. This Turkey Vulture was trying to warm its wings.

Awesome shots everyone! That 1st shot of the titmouse on the statue is a National Audubon Society Mag cover candidate 4/sure!

Downy

Great pics everyone!

GP, Your Hawk looks like a Red-tailed.

Nice snow scenes Mrs Ed! Love the male House Finch!

Dave, Your Bluebird and Catbird shots are gorgeous! Are they with the new lens?

Duc, Great Turkey Vulture shot!

Love your Downy WC!

Burd_Fotos - nice Canada Geese. I see lots of them down here.

gardenpom - cool White-winged dove. All I ever see are mourning doves.

2dCousinDave - your throw-away Mocking bird is one I'd have bragged on if I'd taken it. :)

Mrs_Ed - that bird with the red on front, right about dave's throw-away, isn't that a male house Finch?

ducbucln - I'd say that little Titmouse is in a bit of a pickle - funny.

WaterCan2 - nice, sharp, snap of the WP.

Hack

Nice shots everyone!
GP, nice variety, I agree with Pelle Red-tailed Hawk on your 1st pic.
Mrs_Ed, that snow is what I'll take right now. Storm hit here about 1:30pm. but no heavy snow (so far) and Ive got tree branches laying everywhere from the wind gusts. Your Mourning Doves look like there full. lol
Dave, great shots! Really like Cardinal, and the first Catbird shot is crystal clear. (free eye exam.) lol
Duc, really like that 1st. Oak Titmouse shot! Does he have a seed? Didn't know they used their feet like Chickadees, well that's the only small bird I seen use its feet to eat with that is.
Nice shot of the Downy Watercan, nice and clear.

Cr@ppy weather here for the next couple of days, took the feeder's down because they were soaked, then cleaned them up and letting them dry real good for a couple days. It was raining here until the temps dropped this afternoon from 45 to 32 in half an hour. 21 for the high temp tomm. its 21 right now. lol

Hi Hack!

That is indeed a Male House finch. And boy are they chatty!!!

Now today it is 0º and feels like 23 below! So I'll probably get lots of those puffy birds today, Burd.

It's just darned cold all over! I think I'd rather have snow than this continual freezing.

Here's a Red-breasted Sapsucker feeding on a frozen apple. At least the cold brings the birds around.

A Spotted Towhee checking me out.

9 degrees here right now. Not sure what the windchill out here is. In Indianapolis it is like 12 with a -6 windchill. It is colder out here where I live. Nice pics y'all. I have to unload the camera and see what I got yesterday at the feeder.

A Steller's Jay looking for a place to drink.

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet, busy as always. Never would face me long enough to snap the shutter, darn it.

Tigerlily, love all your photos! I've not seen a sapsucker and they're beautiful. Love that one of the jay too. When we see them here, they're always in the shade of the trees. Your little kinglet is pretty too, love the red on their head. Great shot of the towhee.

I have a pair of crows that stay close to the house pretty much all year. This one was watching the other one that was on the side of the birdbath.

Only problem is that the birdbath was frozen solid and this crow wasn't able to dunk its piece of bread.

Wonderful shots duc and tiger!

I was going to go see the Spotted Towhee at Palmyra Nature Cove today but it is way too cold with high winds.

American Goldfinch on the feeder yesterday with the wind and blowing snow!

Gust of wind blew just as I shot this one...Whee!

Man, you guys are having some COLD weather. Around here it is only expected to reach 51 today, but at least skies are clear. Nighttime temps are in the low 30's.

Mrs_Ed, you said something I picked up on. About the puffy birds. I was wondering why some birds were looking "fatter" than the birds I see - thought I wasn't feedin' 'em enough. So, they puff up their feathers to keep harm, makes perfect sense to me.

tigerlily - nice pic of the R-b Sapsucker, I've never seen one.

ducbucln - nice crow shots. Around here crows are very "stand-offish" - hard to get close to.. Your bird bath is frozen solid and you're in CA. For some reason, I didn't think it got that cold there.

nanny_56 - even though the wind blow it, your camera stopped the motion nicely. Cute Chickadee.

Hack

Edited to add nanny.

This message was edited Dec 10, 2009 10:42 AM

Great shots everyone!!

Here's a shot from the storm yesterday. The bluebirds tolerate this Hairy WP but not the Downies. Weird....

Beautiful shot sacar! It does seem odd to see those two types together.

Wow nanny that looks really cold! We got all rain from the storm w/ lots of flooding around. They said if it would have been snow we would have gotten 20 inches!

A picture of a Sharp-shinned Hawk in the trumpet vine just before the storm. I think he is the smallest I've ever seen here.

Bad pic here but look who was playing "chicken" just a few feet behind the Sharp-shinned, a Titmouse and Chickadee!

Yes Hack, they puff up feathers and that can keep them as warm as 70 degrees. I researched for an article and discovered that. They also have an amazing circulatory system in their feet/legs.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1961/

Great shots on this thread everyone...it is cold here too but luckily the snow missed us.

A belated thank you Dave for the beautiful start of the new thread and I am most envious of your new lens. Congratulations!! I can't imagine the beautiful surprises that you will be posting for us. I told Santa I needed a 600mm lens and he laughed at me...LOL...he's still laughing!!

We have lots of puffy birds here too and lots of them...they are eating us out of house and home but I am not complaining, I love it!

Here are some shots from my most recent trip to the brush pile last week...first one up is a male Cardinal.

There are so many birds on this thread that we don't get to see here...seems most of ours are just the usual.

Here is the female Cardinal...I love her subtle coloring.