Lots of rain today,
and I am gazing at the fascinating wonder of rain drops on bird feathers outside. I hope you all have a dry spot today, and a belly full of food. I am thankful to have you to share my photos and stories with, and also grateful to have the luxury of feeding birds. I hope you all have a good day today. It might be different from other years, but it is the spirit that counts. And always has, if you are being honest :) Happy Thanksgiving!
This Goldfinch
had such a cute little agistated pose. (I know I am lagging behind with photos a bit but I am busy work-wise this week, which is very welcome. The cams are out, I just need a moment to process photos.)
Come good into Wednesday!
Snow days
always make the birds congregate. And this year, for reasons we all probably somehow can relate to, I am enjoying seeing them eat together in peace a bit more than usual.
(pairings are: Whitebreasted Nuthatch + American Goldfinch, Redbellied Woodpecker + Redbreasted Nuthatch, House Finch + American Goldfinch, House Finch + Tufted Titmouse)
Hazel the resident
Red-bellied Woodpecker lady is enjoying a morsel as much as I hope you are enjoying your Friday night and weekend.
Ragnar the Bluebird man
is having a relationship with the golden morning light and the camera. There is no bird that looks better on my setup than the Bluebird. It is no wonder that they are one of my favorites. And the inspiration for my alias. “Ostdrossel” was what came up when I first tried to find out the German name for the Eastern Bluebird. An automated translation result. In reality, they are Rotkehl-Hüttensänger (“red-throated hut singers”), which is also not too bad of a name.
There seems to be no bird in my yard
with more “facial expressions” than the Tufted Titmouse. I also think puppy eyes should be renamed to Titter eyes 😆 Cause who could say No to that?
We are far away from the lunch box,
but there is now wrapping paper available in the Ostdrossel Zazzle store. You can choose between Count Grackula and the King of the Yard. They come in different sizes and styles. The store can be found here: zazzle.com/store/Ostdrossel, but I linked the photos below to the shop pages as well.
(Promo code BESTZAZGIFTS apparently takes 20 % off at the moment.)
It was picture day,
and everybody had their portrait taken. Those who are small in size got a full-body one 😃
(Eastern Bluebird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Redbellied Woodpecker, Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Northern Cardinal, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Blue Jay)
The Goldfinches are back,
and and as usual, are creating a little drama whenever they come across a fellow Goldfinch. They do play nice with the House Finches and others. The House Finch in the middle is the most interesting guy, and he seems to be a local. He has fantastic hues of red, brown and even orange in his feathers.
Video: Evening Grosbeak
WOHOOOO!!! This is an Evening Grosbeak, and the first male of this species that I ever knowingly had in my yard. (I had a female in 2018). They are having an irruption year, and everybody around me seemingly got them for weeks now, just not me. I am so happy right now, and I hope he brings his family 😀
Bird traffic
continues to be slow, but this morning we had the first slight frost of the season, so winter is slowly coming. The sun continues to give her all, making some of the otherwise more dull visitors like this Starling appear in a new light. Making me forgive them their bad table and nesting manners for a bit.
A proud Titter
with a big price. I have enjoyed these warm November days. We did some yard maintenance today because the temps are about to drop, including mowing some of the leaves. Did you know not raking all leaves will help increase the population of insects like glow bugs in the following season?
Greetings from the small crowd.
They are enjoying te relative calm at the feeders and preparing their winter stashes of nuts and seeds. Left to right: American Goldfinch, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse.
White-breasted Nuthatches
might be hard to tell apart from afar, but there are way to differentiate the males from the females. The males have a black head cap, while the markings of the females are more subtle. The same is true for Red-breasted Nuthatches, by the way. Here, you have the male in the first photo and the female in the second (with added Chickie photobomb).
Ostdrossel 2021 calendars
I am seeing a couple new followers. Welcome, I am happy to have you and I hope you enjoy the photos.
If you are looking for a gift for yourself or loved ones, check out the Ostdrossel calendar.
There are four sizes available, three wall calendars and one desk calendar. All wall calendars have the species names on the back side with the thumbnails. The desk calendar has the species names on the photos. Get yours here: https://www.createphotocalendars.com/Shop/ostdrossel
It is an awkward time
with those very mild temperatures. The birds are finding an abundance of food all over the place and don’t really frequent the feeders much, except maybe for the MoDos. So I am happy for every visitor that is not a Dove. Today, the Bluebirds showed up during the golden morning hours. I think the cameras love them as much as I do. Come good into the week!
Things are a bit quiet here
at the moment, and I wonder if this guy has anything to do with it. This is a Cooper’s Hawk, and he is way too big for the house he chose. Now that the trees have lost many of their leaves, they have an easier time to watch the feeding stations. Have a wonderful Friday!
A blue beauty
to end this day on a nice note. The angle of the sun has changed, and it just illuminates the birds in a wonderful way for a couple of hours during the day. Good night!