The sun was out today,
and the birds seemingly posed with proudly-swelled chests. It is still cold and gets below zero at night but the days are undeniably getting longer, and spring is starting to fill the air with bird song. Now that the darkest time of winter is over, I am pretty much ready for spring to begin, the summer birds to arrive and getting my hands dirty in the garden again.
Yesterday has been
a rather mild day. The snow started to melt, leaving a sludgy mess on the ground. This was great for bird photography because some of the ones who like feeding on the ground came up to the photo setup. And the prettiest of them all was this gorgeous Cardinal lady. Her hair game is top notch!
Finally a snow day today,
and since I knew things would thaw later, I got up really early. I was rewarded with sights of the new pretty Cardinal lady. She has so much red on her. She is in the first and last two photos. A male and another, less vibrant female, are in the other photos. I love the color combination of the female Cardinals, they are such elegant beauties.
Continuing the color scheme
was this much-beloved visitor today, one of the resident male Cardinals. There are several couples around but they usually stay on the ground or go to the bigger platform feeder that has no camera. After having been so low on variety recently, it is really nice to see my favorites back on photo.
While they are always around,
they tend to stay away from cameras during busy times but more recently the Cardinals have made it back in front of the lens. I have seen at least two youngsters too (one is in the picture with the male), and I hope to snap some shots of them soon too. In the evenings, several couples gather to eat the spills of the day.
Some more spring portraits.
The weather has been nasty but things seem to take a turn for the milder now 🤞. I have seen Grosbeaks in the last two days, but no Oriole or hummer yet. In other exciting birder news, a rare Vermillion Flycatcher has been spotted in my area. I have not made the trip to seek him out but I have seen photos, and he's quite spectacular. Spring migration can be quite amazing, and I hope there will be some surprises in my yard as well.
The King and Queen of the Yard
were having some fun trying out new “couple photo” ideas. I love this female’s eyebrows so much!
The Cardinal
is a bit of a special bird to me, maybe one could call it my “spark bird”, the one that started my interest in birdwatching. My native German eyes were stunned to see the first one, it almost seemed unbelievable to me that it was a wild bird. They have remained one of my favorites, and snowy days bring lots of them. I have seen up to eight individuals recently, and I am delighted that some have started to come to the cams. It’s two different females and a male here. One of the girls has spectacular red accents.
It is a true February,
even if it sounded a lot like spring this morning with Redwinged Blackbirds singing. We are currently experiencing an ice storm, and I hope the powerlines stay put. Activity is still somewhat slow but this lovely lady came to the camera. The boxes and tripods were all covered in ice, and I do not envy anybody who has to drive tomorrow. Be safe and stay warm!
Happy Valentines Day!
Nature seems to slowly wake up from its wintery slumber, and the birds are starting to sing more. I hope you have a great day, the best time of the year is not that far away!
It is funny how much
my backyard birding reports are sounding like weather reports 😆🤪 But here we go. Today was the last more extremely cold day for a bit. It will still be wintery but not to the point where you have to use face cream to prevent frostbite (my middle German cheeks are still sensitive to extreme cold). The wind was icy and blowing, and there was not a lot going on. A group of Starlings came over and wrecked the bird baths and shooed everybody away, but there was also sun and I got these three beauties. Come good into the weekend!
Today finally
we got some snow again, and I decided to take a break from the feeder break and put the cams out. It was still rather calm generally but there were many happy Cardinals. The entire family of the King and Queen of the Yard showed off. I counted four males and at least two females. The light was still murky but here are some of my favorites from today. Come good into Monday!
Teen birds can be
very confusing, especially when you are just starting with birdwatching. They have the coolest patterns and colorations going on, and I have to say they are one of my favorites to see. It is fantastic that it is possible to see them even into fall. The calendar birds for August, September and October are teens. There’s a Rubythroated Hummingbird with just the first parts of the gorget appearing, a juvenile Cowbird morphing into adult plumage, and a teen Cardinal, still with lots of baby feathers and the characteristic brown beak.
This weekend,
we decorated the house for the season, and I also added a bit of bling to the bird baths. Now all we need is some cold and snow. But we had some sun and the King of the Yard came for a visit. Cardis and sun are almost as good of a combination as Cardis and snow. I consider them nature-made decoration.
I have seen her
by the bird baths but never got a clear view. This is a new female, and since she has the most glorious eyebrows, I am declaring her now the new Queen of the yard. She is getting used to the camera feeder, and I hope I will get more photos of this beautiful lady.
And now that traffic
has generally slowed down a bit, some of the birds that haven’t visited feeders in a while are showing up again. I was so happy to see the Cardinal lady! She was not with her man but lunched with a House Finch 😍 Speaking of Cardinals - my fundraiser for Kentucky is still running over at my Redbubble shop, if you are inclined. Have a great Tuesday!
Kentucky Flood donation effort
We all have seen the images of the recent flood in Kentucky, and I feel like this would be a good time to get some donations going again. The statebird of Kentucky is the Northern Cardinal, so the King of the Yard will be the symbol for this one. I created some more Cardi designs in my shop, you can find them here: https://tinyurl.com/mjz3s4km All other proceeds will be donated as well. I hope you have a pleasant evening.
Good morning!
Nothing much is going on right now, in the last two days winter has returned with frosty temps. The forecast is looking good though. Gayle the Bluebird has taken a little break from nestbuilding, the Juncos are still around but there are also more signs of spring. Groundhog and Chipmunk are back, and earlier today I saw a Cardinal feeding wifey, which is part of their courtship. Here’s to a good Tuesday, stay warm!
Almost forgot!
A Cardinal finally visited the feeders too! I have several around but they have been rather elusive lately. This is not Queen Red Eyebrow but her beakstick and matching outfit are impeccable as always.
Come good into Thursday!
