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!
Happy Thanksgiving!
This year, I am thankful for health, nice weather, my loved ones (including kitty), all of you wonderful people, and the fact that I get to enjoy Grackles a lot longer than usual but not in the overwhelming numbers from summer. I see one at least every day, but upon closer inspection, it appears that there are several individuals. I wonder if they will now actually spend the winter here, that would be a first. I hope you are surrounded by good people and have a good meal today. If you are shopping for Christmas presents, consider my calendar, it is still on sale until tonight. Happy Thanksgiving!
These are weird times.
Things have been on the slow side with bird variety and fun photos but at the same time it feels like a lot more work because of the chaos on social media with all the different platforms that people are currently trying to figure out. It will all sort itself out in time, I hope. In the meantime, I am enjoying the few visitors that are coming right now, on the photo setup as well as on my Birdsy cameras. You can see all the ones I am sharing publicly on their BirdsyTV platform at birdsy.com. Here are some of the small crowd, super busy all day filling their cache or getting into berries (that purple haze on the BB is not a photo error, there must be some berries around here somewhere.) I present: Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Bluebird, Redbreasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, American Goldfinch and Dark-eyed Junco (I love this one in particular, he also comes to the branch cam a lot - it looks like he has a kitty stache!)
I have set up an Ostdrossel account on Mastodon too, you can find me here: @Ostdrossel@mindly.social
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.
It is a little bit crazy
that we basically had summer weather until last week, but now things have returned to much more normal. While I don’t like freezing, I know how to protect myself and believe that nature in our area needs the four seasons to properly thrive year round, so I am very happy about the frosty temperatures we are currently getting. The heated bird baths are doing their work, and I noticed a lot more visitors at the peanut butter branch cam. There is one lone Grackle left. I am sure it will make it even if it stays all winter but this is a first.
Today, we had the first snow,
and even the very light dusting made me happy. The birds were happily feeding, and the Bluebird family showed up too. I know I have said this before but they are one of my favorites even just because of the faces that they all seem to make. There are few others with such distinguishable expressions. There were more nestbox visits as well.
A little fall surprise
The other day, a flock of Pine Siskins visited. From afar, they are often mistaken for House Finches but they do differ in size - they are a lot smaller, more the size of a Goldfinch - in color - they wear fancy yellow stripes on their wings - and their beak is pointy rather than curved and thick. They are one of the most hyper and aggressive birds I have seen, this photo is typical 😆 I rarely ever have them here, so this was fun to see.
Redbreasted Nuthatches
are one of my favorite fall visitors. They are constantly busy, have practically no fear of humans and make the funniest little sounds. They are so fast that it can be hard to tell if you have a male or a female in front of you. These photos show their difference. The male has a jetblack “hat” while the female sports a grayish top. (Top two here show a male, bottom two a female.)
This unusually mild fall
has resulted in the latest Grackles and Redwinged Blackbird I have seen in my yard. These two are from yesterday and the day before. I have not seen any today yet, and we had the first snow here this morning. The Redwinged Blackbird is an immature male, and I totally love his markings. (Just as I am writing this, I am seeing a RWBB outside.)
There are two woodpecker species
visiting Michigan backyards that can be hard to tell apart, the Downy and the Hairy Woodpecker. They look very similar from afar, and if you don’t see them next to each other, identification can be really tough. I have both visiting, and this week, they both came to the camera too. Both are females, having no red spot on the head. Apart from the size difference, the length of their beaks is a great ID marker. The Hairy Woodpecker in the second photo has a much longer beak. (I know the Hairy photo is not super focused but it showed the beak so well that I decided to use it.) As a bonus, there is a pretty Redbellied Woodpecker from a foggy morning.
It is very interesting
how different things are this November, compared to all the other years I have been here. Temperatures are more than mild, which I think is responsible for the relative quiet in the yard right now. Nature provides an abundance of food, there are still insects around too, so the birds seek feeders less. The Grackle and Redwinged Blackbird are still around too, and today I saw in a local birding group that someone had a Hummingbird on their feeder in Michigan. I am enjoying this mild weather but I really hope we will get some cold too. Anyways, here are some of the current residents, most of which are very busy taking nuts and seeds and hiding them for snowy days.
(Redbreasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Blackcapped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse and House Finch)
November is here,
and there are vibrant colors wherever you look. No Evening Grosbeaks or Purple Finches have graced my backyard so far but I still have a Grackle and a Redwinged Blackbird around, the busiest little crowd of Nuthatches, Titmice and Chickadees, and these guys. The Blue Jays at times seem frantic, searching the bowls for nuts by pushing everything out. It is fun to see them sharing like this, a rare sight.
According to the Winter Finch Forecast,
(see here) there may be another irruption of Purple Finches and Evening Grosbeaks going on this winter, and looking at the numerous reports of sightings in the local birding groups, it appears to be true. I heard one the other day (ID’d by Merlin) but have not been blessed with a visitor thus far. I am crossing my fingers. For the time being, here are some Goldfinches, they almost have the same colors 😆 Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
The Bluebirds
are continuing to visit and always also check out the nestboxes. The other day I saw about six around the feeders. And it is so interesting to see the different shades and patterns on them. Gayle has always been a little more pale than the other females that nested here before but it could be that her offspring carries some of that too. The one with the judgy brow is a returner too, and she looks a bit darker. Of course there are still also some with the baby specks. They seem to enjoy the smaller bird bath that I am live streaming on BirdsyTV.
Since I've been so busy with work,
it sometimes takes me a bit to go back out and refill the feeders. And that is when I get lots of photos like these that show nice different angles like the side or back. It is great to see Whitebreasted Nuthatches and Titmice again on a regular basis after they’ve been more feeder shy in the summer. (Titmouse, Nuthatch, Bluebird, Starling)
We’ve had some fabulous fall weather
here recently, with foggy mornings and sunny days and wonderfully turning leaves. I am always getting excited to see a fog warning and try to get the cams out as early as I can to capture some of the misty magic and the glorious sunshine. There are still Grackles and Redwinged Blackbirds around, and I think this might be the latest I have seen them.
I guess the first frost
was just the first load of “fake fall” because this weekend, temperatures rose again, and it was beautiful outside. The birds all enjoy what nature has to offer on these days, and there is not a lot going on at the feeder. I am trying to get the White-throated Sparrow to take a mug shot but haven’t been lucky so far. He does like the bird bath though. Anyways, here are some regulars and a traveler. The Redbellied Woodpecker I find most interesting, here for the second fall. Is it a boy or a girl? The Nuthatches are one of my favorites right now, almost divebombing me at the feeders and being very tame. Come good into Monday! (Redbreasted Nuthatch, Redbellied Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Redwinged Blackbird)
