As someone from the middle of Germany,
I have always loved having four seasons, and Michigan is a great place to be with that. I can see beauty in all four of them, and it is lovely to have them all here. Snow days are fun because there is a bit more activity at feeders, and I love the pale background for photos too. The birds are all slightly more agitated as well, which can produce some fun shots. Here are some from today. It is wonderful to see more of the Titmouse again. The Goldfinches are still quite vibrant, and having the King of the Yard over is always a treat.
Together with the cold
these guys arrived, and as long as they can find the tiniest speck of a mealworm or fruit, they will stay, upsetting the harmony in the backyard. I know people love Starlings, and they can be fun to watch but they are also quite the handful. I never had to clean the bird bath more often than in the last couple of days. They love to take baths on the coldest days for some reason, making the lens freeze over and soiling the water. I did get some workout done just getting dressed to go outside so often, and some fun photos (that bird has an icicle beard!). Stay warm and enjoy the rest of the holidays!
I hope
you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and no bad impact from the blizzard. It was nice and cosy here, with lots of good food. We did not get as much snow as anticipated but it looks very festive regardless. Bird-wise, there hasn’t really been anything surprising. There are lots of MoDos, some woodpeckers, Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches, Finches and Blue Jays. Everybody seems to be very competitive, understandable with these frigid temperatures.
It was a day
with crazy weather day here in Michigan today. I only went out heavily bundled-up and was nervous to get on the ladder to replenish the peanut butter on the tree because it was so windy. There was good bird activity, and there is a Chickadee roosting in the Bluebird box tonight, but the light was also bad and everybody literally was out there trying to survive. Here are two photos from today though. A MoDo fighting off a Starling, and a Starling with an ice crown. These guys are so nuts they took baths today. It was so cold that the splashes froze on the lens and I had to de-freeze it several times. I hope you are all in a warm spot, good night! Hoping for snow and sun tomorrow!
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.
We had a little snow today
and there was some activity. It is so slow this winter, it makes me a bit sad. I am yearning for some frost haha. Anyways, loved the very adventurously colored House Finch, the adorable Titmouse and the King. Much to my dismay, the squirrels have found the branch cam and will not even be deterred by cayenne. Sigh.
November is an odd month in Michigan
because sometimes it can feel like summer still but it can also quickly turn to winter. This year, the trees took their good time to turn, and the backyard looked lovely, all dipped in reds, orange, gold and green. For the calendar, I first looked at the small birds, so the two Chickadees and the Goldfinch were potential choices. But then my eyes fell on the Redbellied Woodpecker lady, and I thought her size, the colors and detail would work a lot better. So that is why she is Miss November. My calendars are on sale this week, you can get yours here. Come good into the weekend!
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.
Spring and summer
are my favorite seasons because it always feels like something new happens or visits every day. July is a major baby bird month, and just like in previous years, we had loads and loads of Blue Jays. I love baby Blue Jays because they are wonderfully adorable in looks as well as behavior. For the calendar, I started thinking about July with the beautiful sunny photo of the adult, lured by the vibrancy and detail. But then I looked at photos of the youngsters. All three are cute and quite typical but I found the “mohawk” one the most interesting to look at, so that was the choice for July. The calendars are on sale starting today (once approved by the website) and continue until Sunday. Get yours here.
Happy Sunday!
I am continuing with the introduction of the calendar birds. The choice for June was a tough one. I knew I wanted an Oriole, and since this season there was an abundance of them, I also had an abundance of photos. The wet Baltimore Oriole was my first pick because it is just such an unusual look and I loved the background and lighting. However, the bird is not entirely identifiable, so eventually, it was out. The “Tequila Sunrise” one is another favorite for the beautiful colors but somehow it lacked something. The final choice was an Orchard Oriole, and I chose it because I loved the gentle pose and felt like this beautiful bird deserves some attention.
You can get my calendars here.
I am excited
for the weekend because we finally have some snow in the forecast. In the summer time, my photo setup yields up to 25k photos a day per camera, and right now activity is so low that I barely get 5k. However, there are nice moments too. Today, some Bluebirds showed up again, and amongst them was the one that looks slightly different than the others because it still has some baby markings. I am still wondering if this is a male or female. The head color makes me think female but the lower part of the wings and the incoming dark chest are kind of unusually dark. For comparison, there is an adult male too. Come good into the weekend and stay warm!
The process
of choosing photos for my calendars is always a bit of a thing I love and hate. On the one hand, it is fun to revisit the year but on the other hand it is very hard to narrow a selection down. Usually what I do is go through older posts of the year and copy the ones I may consider into a special subfolder and then wittle things down.
Of these four, the immature male Rosebreasted Grosbeak and the Bluebird made the cut - they are April and May. The Grackle is an alternative I considered for March. I love Grackles in the rain but somehow I landed on the RWBB instead. The second Grosbeak I loved because of the slightly different coloring. It appears to be a female but I also see a tiny red dot on the fold in the belly and the vibrant yellow is a bit unusual. The photo is from May (the Serviceberry is blooming), and since I wanted the Bluebird for May (my birthday month), the Grosbeak was out.
You can find my calendars here.
Calendar birds - February and March
The birds for February and March in my calendar are an adorable House Finch on a frosty morning and a Redwinged Blackbird against a dramatic sky. I loved the light in both of these photos, it created a cool mood and made the birds stick out nicely. My calendars are available in four different formats with customizable spines in my shop here: https://tinyurl.com/wa8jmt44
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.
One good part about
being very meticulous and passionate about making sure the Bluebirds can nest safely is that they may return in fall and winter. This has been the case here ever since I started putting out nestboxes, and made Eastern Bluebirds a year-round delight for me. I am aware that I am lucky and spoiled but I can also tell you that nesting season is creating tense times in this household. Anyways, with colder weather they are showing up again, and some still have the baby specks showing through. I like to pick individuals, and one of the girls looks like she has very pronounced “jowls”.
And some nice
back views. The Grackle is still hanging around, and I wonder if the MoDos are a bit miffed to have more competition from bigger guys this winter. Come good into Thursday!
The pretty Redbellied Woodpecker
is a regular now, and I am still wondering if it is a male or a female. With this species, the females have a greyish forehead, followed by red, the males have an all red forehead and cap. This one kind of has both. I guess in the end it does not matter. It is a beauty to behold, and I always get a kick out of having individual birds that I somehow recognize.
When I first saw
a Tufted Titmouse, I was instantly infatuated. These birds are utterly adorable, not just in their Disney-ish looks but also in behavior and sounds. I usually never really see them in the summer but right now, they are hanging around, competing with the Chickadees and the Nuthatches. They sound a lot like Chickadees but their voices are a bit stronger. And when they are in the mood, they loudly proclaim: PETERPETERPETER!
House Finches
House Finches are one of the more "common" birds in most of the US (their history is rather fascinating, here is a good article about it), but even they can be confusing to birdwatchers, and that is mostly due to the variety of colors in the males. It can range from faint blushes of rose to vibrant reds with pink hues and even orange. Their color and vibrancy depends on their diet. The ones I see are usually reddish but yesterday, there was also an orange one. He looked especially cool in the gloomy light.
Because of the variety in color, sometimes people mistake House finches for Purple Finches. There are some features that can help to differentiate them. I made a chart last year to help with that, which I am posting below too.
Bird activity is a little slow
due to the mild weather, so I am not getting many good photos. Things will pick up again in time but this is just as good of an opportunity to introduce the birds in my calendar for 2023. You can get the calendar here: tinyurl.com/5xd4tmzw. The year begins with a Dark-eyed Junco. Many call them snowbird around here because they appear in fall and leave in spring, being something like a sign that winter is truly coming. They are entertaining little birds that I learned to appreciate even more with video footage because it enabled me to hear them up close too. For the calendar, I went with a photo that shows one in the sun because I loved the pose, the light and the clarity. The alternative was a snow storm photo. I loved that too but it felt better to start the year on a positive note. Have a great Sunday!
