Author: Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

A Winter Essential

It’s wonderful to feed the birds. They become friends, these little feathered visitors. But there’s something more they need – water, not frozen water, but water in liquid form. So many birds gather ’round my birdbath. I know they appreciate it.

I’ve recently had questions about what water warmer I use. I wouldn’t recommend one unless I had total faith in it and that certainly is the case with the one I use. I can’t tell you when I bought it. It was that long ago. And I’ve only had this one all these years. So, yes, I’d recommend this one. In case you can’t quite see the labeling, it says, FARM INNOVATORS, INC DE-ICER 50 WATTS 120VAC. I’ve checked on the Internet and I see that they’re still available at a variety of prices. Hoping you have a water warmer already, or can find one for your bird friends.

Seldom Seen Sparrow

A large sparrow. Its size is apparent when you see one or two hanging out with smaller White-throated Sparrows or Song Sparrows.

It will shuffle through leaf litter in a way that resembles an Eastern Towhee. Toes grabbing leaves and sending them behind, leaving bare ground and maybe something to eat.

It’s a rare treat when a Fox Sparrow or two will spend some of their winter time in my woods. And a pure delight.

Feeding the Birds

Say, “Feeding the birds” and one thinks immediately of going to the store to get shelled peanuts, hulled sunflower seeds, mixing up a batch of suet, and then getting all the required feeders.

But the Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) that are coming to my yard right now are seldom visiting the feeders.

Instead they’re enjoying seedheads, part of the past history of my gardens.

So simple. Just don’t cut back the flowers at the end of the season. They provide food for the birds. This will create the perfect garden look. The perfect look to attract birds.

Leaving the flowers to become seeds to please the birds requires no effort at all. But this last indulgence does take a bit of energy. They need water too, with a water warmer. Now, color these birds HAPPY.

Splish Splash

Splish splash, I was taking a bath
Long about a Saturday night

Mid-afternoon, today. A Robin (Turdus migratorius), looking much like it is seriously hesitating. Should it get into the water? After all the temperature is a very cold 27°. Despite very cold weather birds will still bathe.

Somehow birds know that they’ve got to keep their feathers clean and in good condition no matter what the season. Getting their feathers moist makes dirt easier to remove and the feathers easier to preen too. If water isn’t around but there is snow, a bird will bathe using that snow for cleaning its feathers.

After bathing the bird will preen, which involves adjusting its feathers just so, and spreading oil from the preen gland to waterproof those feathers. All that, yes, but the best thing is that splishing and splashing.

Orange Tip of the Tail

Imagine an introduced plant species changing the color of a beloved songbird native to North and Central America. This does happen. In the image above, you see two Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) sharing a birdbath with a Robin. Those Cedar Waxwings are sporting bright yellow tail tips. That’s what I expect to see.

But if a Cedar Waxwing consumes enough red berries of the introduced Morrow’s Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) during the time of feather development, the tail feathers, rather than being bright yellow, will be bright orange. This change in color was first noticed in the 1960s in northeastern US and southeastern Canada. Who would have thought?

More Snow!

This is the Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) between my studio and the wood shop, with 9 inches of snow dumped on it. Lovely isn’t it?! It’s a COLOR photo BTW, and this is what I refer to often — the black and white landscape of winter. I love it! This image was taken on Monday. And now, Thursday night, it is beginning to snow again. I’m ecstatic to say the least.

Robins in the Snow

On Monday, January 3, 2022, nine inches of gorgeous, wet, stick to the trees snow, dumped upon my cabin making a fairyland of the woods around me. And as if to laugh at those who say robins are a sign of spring, today, just a short thirteen days since the start of winter, a large group of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) has descended upon the Eastern Red Cedars (Juniperus virginiana) here and the birdbath which has a water warmer in it to provide them with water devoid of ice.

Some Robins do migrate but many others don’t. What they do is move in large groups to find food, fruits and berries. Those fruits and berries are their food choice during the winter, an easier meal than worms and insects.

These many Robins were the only species in the crowd today. Often though I’ll see them with Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) or Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus). Maybe tomorrow their friends will show up. I hope there are some berries left for them.

A Salamander

This past Sunday, as our visitors who had been with us for 2nd Christmas and New Years Day were leaving, I found a cute little salamander waiting to be rescued. Not a safe place to be, on the lane waiting to be run over. And here I am, picking up a salamander after a recent post in which I talked about not picking up strange creatures. This one was different though. I was rescuing the little salamander. And in my defense I picked it up with a cedar shingle – then it jumped onto my arm! In doing my research, I see that it is not dangerous to me to pick up a salamander but dangerous to the salamander.  They have skin that is quite porous and the oils and salts that we have on our skin can injure the salamander. Don’t pick up salamanders!

This precious little creature, perhaps a bit less than three inches long, is an Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus). When I put it down away from the lane, it immediately burrowed into a nice layer of leaves. That’s how they normally spend their winters, burrowed into soil under leaves. Hoping those leaves are keeping it warm now that there are 9 inches of snow on the ground after so many warm days. These salamanders grow to a length of four inches. They vary greatly in coloring with differing amounts of dark or light flecking. I have no idea if the salamander is male or female but I right away named it Sally. Hoping to see you again in the spring, Sally, when you’re out again hunting for yummy invertebrates for your dinner.

Nine Inches of Snow

It started as rain in the middle of the night, and eventually turned to what I was hoping for. Nine inches of snow, like sparkly white frosting over the landscape. The cold surely must have been something of shock to the birds. Even though it was in the forecast, that cold and snow still a surprise to me. Very warm yesterday and mighty cold today. Out in the garden the birdbath was a popular spot and this afternoon one of the visitors was an Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis). There are meal worms at the feeder just for them. I hope they stay.

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Snow in the Forecast

A Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) enjoying the seeds of Black-eyed Susans buried in deep snow. Snow that fell in 2016.

December of 2021 was incredibly warm. Now the first two days of this new year of 2022 have followed that example with precision. Not like winter at all. Tonight as I write this it is 50°. Hardly a temperature that would make one think snow is in the forecast but sure enough it is. I’m hoping the forecasts are correct.

Dark-eyed Juncos are also known as Snowbirds and appropriately show up here as winter approaches. A few hardy little ones stay year round further up in the mountains but at this elevation they are only here during the usually coldest part of the year. I’m hoping they’ll get some snow to play in, in the early hours tomorrow morning. And some snow for me to play in too!