Innocent Snow Goose Vandalized By Elves

I found this Snow Goose in a corn field near Lyman's orchard this morning and I must say that I am disappointed that those pesky elves would take things this far. I can understand decorating Santa's reindeer but leave the poor Snow Geese alone!

Snowbound

The Christmas count that I was to participate in this past weekend was postponed due to a snowstorm. I took a break from usual birding routine and watched the birds at my feeder for a change. I enjoyed watching birds that I don't always pay attention to like this Mourning Dove which appeared to be taking a bow.

The most common birds under my feeders this weekend were White-throated Sparrows. Watching them interact with each other and scratch the snow for food helped liven up a cloudy, grey day.

The male Northern Cardinal ate seed while hiding in the middle of my brushpile but the female visited the feeder several times.

I kept busy catching up on yard chores before the holidays and before I knew it the sun was already setting.

-

I was recently listening to Bob Dylan's Desire CD and was surprised to learn that Emmy Lou Harris sang background vocals on it. Harmonizing with Bob Dylan and still sounding great couldn't have been an easy task. I found a Christmas CD by Emmylou at our local library titled "Light Of The Stable". If you click on the link you can listen to samples. She has subtle but unique tone to her voice. It should be the perfect CD to play on Christmas Eve while sipping a glass of eggnog by the fire.

click to play

Just a reminder-I will be counting all the species of birds that I see in Connecticut during the month of January. I invite you to do the same in your home state or area.

This will be my last post until next week so I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Season's Greetings From The Snowbirds!

click to play
It's been quite a while since I've had a chance to really see what's going on at my feeders. It's dark when I go to work and dark when I get home on weekdays. On the weekend, I'm out birding somewhere while the birds are most active at the feeders. Last weekend, we had a substantial snowstorm. I wasn't excited about all the shoveling but it was nice to watch the backyard birds for a change. Yeah Yeah-I know nobody likes starlings but they do have that just snowed on look don't they?
One of my favorite winter visitors at the peanut feeders are the Carolina Wrens. We've had two of them visiting our feeders this winter. This one looks like it's frowning. Maybe he could get a starring role in "Grumpy Old Wren"!

Wrens have such quick, jerky, movements that make them fun to watch. I'm always compelled to take a look at them through binoculars. They have such interesting fieldmarks with their white eyebrow, curved bill, and cocked up little tail. The two wrens in my yard have been working as a tag team, calling back and forth to each other. "Hey Caroline-There's a fresh batch of peanuts over here"!

Blue Jays are underrated if you ask me. It took a moment to stop and appreciate the bold facial markings of this jay.

I don't think any bird appreciates the peanuts I put out more than the Tufted Titmouse.

click to play
I captured a short segment of a Red-bellied Woodpecker at the suet. The starlings that showed up couldn't seem to get along with each other as usual.

The Downy Woodpecker is another bird that we take for granted just because they're usually the most common woodpeckers at the feeders. Still a nice bird though.

click to play
This Northern Flicker drove me crazy. I saw it on the suet and was so impressed by the bright yellow coloring on it's underside that I set up my camera on a tripod and constructed a blind out of cardboard to take photos from my breezeway. I am convinced that this flicker knew what I was up to. Every time I attempted to get the flickers photo, it flew off. If I left the house, it came back. My wife, Joan, would call me on my cell phone to give me updates. The best I could do was get this video of Mr. Flicker giving me that suspicious look as it perched on the top of the shepherd hook. I've got a couple of days off and I'm looking forward to catching up on reading all of your blogs.

-

Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays To Everyone!