To send you off into the new year,
here are the Judgy Gracks of July (a personal favorite), August, September and October. Be safe tonight and see you in the new one.
I will continue
to post the birds of the calendars in the coming days, but there are still some Gracks left for this year. July, August, September and October are always fun months. The babies emerge, and Grack babies are super cute, many birds undergo dramatic molts, and the landscape changes color too.
Goodbye, 2023!
There were fun moments this year and I absolutely enjoyed the garden this year but I hope that next year will be a bit more exciting again when it comes to birds. The last four months of the year show a Chipmunk, a Chickadee, a Bluebird and a Junco. I hope for some snow in January, just for some fun photo opportunities, and would love a return of a Chickadee nest and of course the Blues.
May for the Gracks
had to be something special, and in the non-judgy calendar, you see the OG, Count Grackula himself. He has stopped coming this season, and I think he may have just gotten too old, but his white markings made him very recognizable. The good thing is, the legacy is carried on, there are more like him with white spots. All other photos show why I had to make two Grackle calendars, I just like their poses but they are so awesomely goofy when they look straight into your face.
All calendars will be on sale from tomorrow until January 2nd 2024 here: https://tinyurl.com/ff6bj43m
The summer months
are one of my favorite times for birding because it is the height of variety, and there are so many baby birds too. For July and August, I had a hard time choosing photos, so here you see some of the alternatives I considered, along with the two final choices, the Red-bellied Woodpecker and the dramatic Blue Jay (taking a sun bath). The immature Orchard Oriole was a fabulous surprise, and I always love the look of the immature Red-winged Blackbirds. Well, and I love Blue Jay babies in all their loud, demanding and adorable glory.
When the warm weather returns,
Grackles also make a comeback here, they are one of the earliest migrants to arrive. The weather is wild during the early months of the warm season, which means that there are tons of great Grackle photos with rain but also their beauty sticking out in front of the barren yard. Here are March and April of the regular Grackle and the Judgy Grackle calendars. The top two are some of my favorites I have ever taken, and I absolutely love the last one.
I am a May child,
so naturally, the calendar bird of May is something I can identify with or find particularly fun, and this time, with the regulars, it is a MoDo. The June bird is a juvenile Rosebreasted Grosbeak. I love the mix of patterns and colors that are going on with this one while the baby plumage is still there but the adult one is coming through. (The red on his beak is grape jelly.)
The Grackles
for February are for one, yet another that came on a snowy day, and the judgy one with a very intense stare. Photos like the second one are why I decided to make a judgy Grack calendar, they just have the best poses, and the world needs to see them.
March and April
of the "regulars" calendar are a beautiful male Cardinal and a gorgeous Goldfinch in breeding plumage. Spring is my favorite season, I just love when everything sprouts and blooms and great things await. I forgot to post the February bird here yesterday, so that is here now, a Whitebreasted Nuthatch with a nice big peanut. You can get my calendars here: tinyurl.com/ff6bj43m
It's getting a bit late,
but I still wanted to take the time to introduce the calendar birds. There isn’t much else going on here right now anyways. Now as you know, this year I made three calendars, so there are three potential images to grace your quarters in January. For the “Grackles through the seasons”, you’ll get a beautiful and sceptical Grack whose feathers shine gloriously against the white background. The male House Finch is the January bird for the regulars calendar. I loved the head tilt and all that snow! Choice 3 is a judgy Grackle, also in the snow. I have added links to the calendars on my homepage here.
It is always so neat
to see how different individual birds of a species can look. With House Finches, the color and vibrancy of the males depends on what they eat. We have Mulberries and other red berries as well as Mountain Ash around here, and it feels like you can tell from these two. One has orange undertones and a more subdued red, while the other is mostly red and very vibrant. The stripes on the belly as well as the non-red wing bars are certain indicators that mark them as House Finches. Tomorrow is the last day of my calendar sale, make sure to get what you want in time.
Slim pickings still
this week but the Christmas deco is up and temps are going to go down soon. Here are some of the recent visitors. My calendars are all on sale this week, by the way - they are 15 % off and you can get them at the link on my home page and in my shop here.
I know it's not
everybody’s favorite but I cherish this current cold weather because it brought in the birds! The last two days have been awesome, with more activity than in the last few months. The female Purple Finch is still around, as well as a White-throated Sparrow. It felt like everybody stopped by to say Hi.
Another week
with mediocre bird activity has passed but there was a lot of sunshine, and it was nice to see the trees do their best to make everything glow before we now get into cooler temperatures. The Goldfinches have returned, now with more drab winter plumage, and the Blue Jays were ruling feeders.
In other news, Birdsy has cameras for pre-order available again, and for the first time will also be available in the UK. I use Birdsy cameras for videos and livestreaming. You can check out their offer on their website birdsy.com.
Last but not least - I seem to only sell calendars when they are on sale this year, so they will be on sale again next week. Come good into the weekend!
Calendars on sale Nov 11-12
My calendars are on sale this weekend, there are three designs available, and they come in different formats.
All of these can be found in my shop. There is also a link to the shop on the landing page here at ostdrossel.com. Have a lovely Friday, everybody!
Happy Halloween!
We had the first frost last night, and my garden is now finally done after an amazing season. The trees are losing their leafs and make it look like it’s raining gold. Bird activity is still not really high but Juncos are here and I hope everybody else will soon rediscover feeders and baths here. I am still having some issues with some of my livecams but the solution is out of my hands, so I have to wait until things are back working, which is hopefully soon. In the meantime, I have been bad at advertising the calendars, so here is a little promo I made. I will soon start introducing the birds from the calendar with the different species, too. Stay warm and have fun today if you celebrate!
Calendars are available now!
I finally managed to go through all my photos from the last year and selected those that I found worked well for the calendar. As announced before, there is more than one calendar this year. I have two Grackle-themed ones available because I wanted to get all my Grackle love out there - there is one with Grackles through the seasons and one with very judgy Grackles. Both come in different formats to choose from.
And then I also made a “regular birds” calendar like I always do. All of these can be found in my shop, and I have a promo running right now as well. There is also a link to the shop on the landing page here at ostdrossel.com. Have a lovely Friday, everybody!
It’s still lush and green outside
and the birds remain scarce. Only the MoDos have started coming in larger groups again. Better than nothing, and they look fun with their late molt. Summer will be back shortly next week, and then the weather seems to really cool down. A good time to take the pond out and set up the heated baths. And to get going with the calendars. This time, there will be two calendars, one with Grackles only 🖤
The year is coming to an end,
and I would like to take the moment to thank everybody who has been following me along. 2022 was an odd year in regards to birds for me, it feels like there was a lot less going on than in previous years. While it is nice to have more time for other hobbies, I am looking forward to a hopefully beautiful spring with an abundance of visitors. With this pensive Whitebreasted Nuthatch I am bidding farewell to 2022 (unless a super awesome bird comes tomorrow 😁).
Be safe this New Year’s Eve, love as much as you can, and see you all fresh and new in 2023. My calendars will still be available for a bit into January, should you decide you would like one.
Happy 4th advent, Hanukkah, holidays and Sunday!
A good day to conclude the introduction of the calendar birds. For December, I initially chose a female Bluebird because I just loved her grumpy expression. However, this year’s December bird is also a female BB. I try to avoid repetition and also had another fabulous photo that would work - the Queen of all Mourning Doves. If you squint, she looks a bit like a Christmas tree too 😆
My calendar promo sale ends tonight, they are available here.
