Daily Pic Vol.164

Funny pic del. The goldfinches on the right look like they're thinking "what the heck kind of seed is that big red one?" I have a Tractor Supply Co. about 15 minutes from me, and they have only two of the bowls left. They're open 'til 9 so I'm running right on over - $19.99. Now that's a bargain. My little birdies were waiting for me this a.m. (I could hear them chattering in the trees.) to clear away the snow so they could get to the seed. They'll be so happy to have fresh water, too.

Thanks Nanny for the info on the heated pet bowl.i've been having trouble keeping the ice out of my birdbath and I feel bad when i see them trying to drink and its all ice. I need to ck out the tractor supply store here.
Rose I also have seen two little birds with no tails.They come in with the flock of sparrows but not sure of their specific name. I was also wondering if it was a mutation or sone kind of weird accident.i

I saw one Fox Sparrow today! I've seen them other Winters here, but this was the first one for this Winter! Haven't seen any American Tree Sparrows yet, but I've been looking for them every day.

Haven't seen any White Crowned Sparrows, yet, this Winter, but I'm looking out for them too.

burn,

Love all the beautiful birds you get! The Redpolls, the Pine Grosbeaks and the Evening Grosbeaks. Lucky you!!!

We don't get the Pine Grosbeaks in our area, but according to the Cornell website, the Redpolls and the Evening Grosbeaks winter in our area, but I've never seen them before.

Julie,

Great pic of the Brown Headed Nuthatch! Thanks for sharing your pic. I've never seen one before (he's not in our area), so it was great to see your pic of that little cutie!

Met,

Always a treat to see your wonderful pics! Always so clear and 'lifelike'! Like I could be standing outside there looking at them myself!

Rose,

Love the pic of the 'tail-less' White Crowned Sparrow! DH and I would call and refer to him as 'stubby'! Looks like you got at least 3 WC Sparrows! :-)

Adorable little Carolina Wren! Great shot of him! I've seen ours on the old wooden post, that I smear Jif extra crunchy peanut butter.

mrw,

Love that adorable little Goldfinch pic! I love those little guys in our yard! They're so sweet and charming, year 'round!

nanny,

I looked for that blue bowl last Winter at local Tractor Supply store, but they were sold out at the time. Forgot about it and haven't looked for it again, but maybe sometime in 2009. They mentioned it as a dog dish, I think.

Have you ever had any squirrels eat your suet from the feeders that you hang onto the tree?

Great pics!

edited to mention..... I forgot to add that I saw a Red Tailed Hawk sitting on the grass in my backyard yesterday. I was so surprised! We usually only get the Coopers Hawk or the Sharp-shinned Hawk here, not the Red Tails, but I've seen them in our area.



This message was edited Dec 22, 2008 6:31 PM

This message was edited Dec 22, 2008 6:34 PM

My squirrels will reach in and grab handfuls of suet. If they can possibly do it, they tear the cage off of the tree and run with it. I try to keep them "well fed" enough to keep them away from the bird feeders, but with this super cold, they are bellying up to the suet bars and the BOSS feeders.

Today, I counted 4 -6 deer late afternoon coming to eat the birdfood I scatter on the ground. They were really cold and hungry! We went from an unseasonably cold 3 degrees F this morning to a cold 20 degree F for the high today. Brrrr!

The squirrels, for years, have always been coming to eat the birdfood.

The birds were really flocking into the yard today to eat. Because of the wind advisory we had till noon today, I didn't go outside till 12:30 pm to do 'resupplies' of the fresh food, but I still had food outside for them to eat.

I add to the feeders, to the ground and to the post, I smear on nutty peanut butter every day.

This message was edited Dec 22, 2008 11:32 PM

Met...sorry just got back on! I don't have the measurements of the bowl but it is large and to deep so you must put rocks in there for them so they don't drown. I wouldn't say they are flocking to it, but it is getting used by more birds everyday. I am sure as the winter goes on and water harder to find, more birds will use it. The goldfinch found it first.

I missed out on getting one last year. So I made sure I got one this year. Am going to get a timer for it next week.

Carolina Chickadee found it today!

This silly little bird is roosting in the Christmas Garland out on the front porch!

LOL nanny!

Do you know what kind of bird it is?

Here's a shot of the American Black Vulcher

Here's a picture of one of my buddies the Cardinal

His companion - Lady Cardinal

And the Mockingbird was just hanging around with the Cardinals

Here's a little fella I got back in the summer. He was up on the Mobi eating nyjer seeds.

Here's my little Chicadee. It reminds me of my "litta shuga bunny" - that's my daughter. Cute and Cuddly.

Resin,

I think you're right about it being the House Finch!

You can order the blue heated pet bowl online at Tractor Supply, and I bought it at the local store for the same price $19.99. It has a 6 foot power cord, but I used an extension cord even though it says not to. Hopefully nothing bad will happen. It says it won't warm the bowl until dropping to 40 degrees. It's in the teens today so I'll see how it works.

Met - It's round - duh! diameter is about 8 inches. depth approximately 5 inches. Says it holds 5 quarts - that's a lot of water. I, too, put a stone "uni-lock" brick in it.

Great pics! I love the Vulture! I have to put more feed out. I used to have a nice suet feeder, but 'someone' figured out how to take the cake out!

Hi Anita, See if you can find "hot pepper" suet. Squirrels etc. won't want to take that flavor.

Met, Great shot of the Black Vulture!

Great shot's everyone!

Nice shots Met...love that Vulture and yours and Nanny's Chickadee..ours are very scarce this year for some reason.

The Red-winged Blackbirds show up periodically in numbers...here is an immature.

and the Brown-headed Cowbirds show up with the Red-winged Blackbirds...here is a female Cowbird.

We have tons of American Goldfinch and they really gobble up the feed!

we also have tons of White-crowned Sparrows...this one landed on the Autumn Clematis. Theyseem to sing constantly and when they left the area last spring I really missed the sounds they create in the yard. The silence without them was very noticeable.

Here is a pair of Goldfinches on the heated water bowl.

and a female Bluebird.

I have big flocks of Starlings coming in so I'd rather have the Cowbirds and Blackbirds.

Love seeing all the Goldies!

You don't have any squirrels Rose?

Is the green feeder w/ the Goldfinch a new one? I've seen that one too.

Love the last Goldfinch and Bluebird shots.

Beautiful pics !

Mockingbird and Dove trying to stay warm in this 6 degree weather. Bev

Another of the Mockingbird

Those are sweet shots Bev and the birds sure look cold!

Pelle...no we don't have a squirrel problem here. For some reason they rarely come into the yard. I am glad the Starlings haven't come back yet except a few to eat suet. The little green feeder is new and I use it for sunflower chips...the Goldfinches really flock to it. I set it on a makeshift table and it draws a crowd. I need to get a good pic of it and post on the feeder thread. I got it on sale for $8 but can't remember where I got it!! I like it because it is easy to clean and fill...a major part of my buying decisions!!

Here is the female Cowbird at the blue bowl!

I agree.. House Finch in the garland. You are right resin ...not silly at all!

Nice BV Met!

I am getting very jealous of all of you that have Mocking Birds. Nice one Bev

I think I had a female Purple Finch or a female Red-winged Blackbird the other day, but it flew off before I got a pic.

Getting lots of closeups of the Goldfinch!

They remind me of baby chicks...

Wow! I was gone for a couple of days… you have been busy. I'd love to comment on all those pix, but sooo many!

Here is a female downy that has been visiting the suet feeder quite regularly. She has some red on her ear and wing. I thought it was blood, but it's been bright red for a couple of weeks. Margaret thinks she would probably have preened it off if it was blood.

White-breasted nuthatch

Female Red-bellied visiting the suet again.

Beautiful pictures -- loved the pine grosbeak - I wish I could get some of those around here. Here is another goldfinch picture -- I saw over 30 around the trees today. The flock is in.

And… recently IDed on the ID forum, an American Tree Sparrow (first for me).

YAY Mrs. Ed!!!

I need to start counting up my life list!

Is this a yellow bellied? BEV

Bev...yours is a female Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Nice pics Nanny, Marna and mrw31. Congrats on the new bird Marna...I've never seen a Tree Sparrow.