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Yellow-rumped Warblers
An occasional visitor to my bird bath, in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata). Fondly called Butterbutts by birders. If you don’t have a bird bath, I sure recommend one equipped with a water warmer to keep the water from freezing during the coldest that winter can throw at you. These warblers…
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Hermit Thrush
After an absence of a couple months, they’re back at my berries and birdbath again. This is a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) going after berries of Smooth Sumac, which is a small tree that I really enjoy having in my yard because it attracts such interesting birds. I’ve tried to figure out how to entice…
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Red-breasted Nuthatch
A little feathered creature that I see some winters. A bird that is said to be “irruptive,” meaning it depends on the seed supply where it normally spends its winters. In years when the seeds of pine, spruce, and fir trees are not plentiful these birds will venture into areas where they are not normally…
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Flowers in WINTER!
Me — always a positive outlook. But I’m wondering about this winter. It is not living up to my expectations. Are we going to end up with the warmest January on record? Is climate change doing its thing? There are rumors from the weather people of snow next week. Be still my heart! Just now,…
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Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warblers, Setophaga coronata, have to come to visit for the winter. They’re also affectionately referred to as Butter Butts. When insects are available, that’s their meal of choice but here, in the cold months, they will settle for goldenrod seeds, and the berries of juniper, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper and dogwood. Some people are able to entice them…
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Cooper’s Hawk
A very fine (as in, “this is good”)(and as in, “the flakes are very small, but plentiful”) snow is falling out of the heavens, has been since lunch time when a Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooper, not an unusual sight in the vicinity of my feeders, came by to see what was on the menu. Luckily for…
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My Winter Birds
Perhaps these are my pets, the birds that come to my feeders. Wild birds that give me comfort just by being there. The bird you see in the picture, above, is a winter bird in my area (the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia), a White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis. He has a sweet song that is easy to remember,…
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Snow Mountain
This morning I was greeted by a tiny bit less than an inch of snow here on the mountain. I skipped yoga (!!) and spent the morning walking and enjoying the sounds of snow. Okay, mainly the sounds of birds enjoying the new, white blanket. Many were robins, and cedar waxwings gathering in the tree…
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Thistle Seed? No!
What are these seeds, that I’ve been calling thistle seed, since I was a child? These seeds that Goldfinches, Chickadees, Tufted Titmice and White-throated Sparrows seem to go bonkers over? What a surprise I had, when I looked up thistle seed on the internet. Seems thistle seed is not thistle seed at all, but the…
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Grumpy Birds
Those of you who are fortunate to have hummingbirds come to your garden, to get a sip from your feeder, or to enjoy the nectar provided by your flowers – you’ll know how intolerant they are. I’ve actually seen one hummingbird come up behind another, who is feeding, and hammer him on the head with…