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One Of Many Favorite Birds
December 18, 2025 Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus), chittery chattery noisemakers. The female doesn’t sing the beautiful songs that you will hear from the male. The female makes chattery calls, and raspy trills. Joining in occasionally with the male. A duet with her life long mate. They are non-migratory. Such a treasure to have year-round. _______________________…
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Drupes Waiting
December 16, 2025 Blackhaw drupes (Viburnum prunifolium) waiting for a hungry bird or two to come along to gobble them up, to disperse those seeds to a new spot far from the parent shrub. Blackhaw drupes don’t get eaten up quickly but later in the winter after the first frost. Aging and frost helps them become…
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Haven’t Seen You In A While
December 15, 2025 Glad you’re back, little one! A Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) finally showed up today. I haven’t been putting out anything for my friends, the birds lately. Many days ago I put out some beef suet, and I’ve been waiting. Some hulled sunflower seeds were scattered on the ground too. Finally, this morning…
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Puffed Up Against The Cold
December 14, 2025 Puffed up against the cold, a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), along with a Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) in the background. The range of the Mourning Dove is impressive, being year-round in almost all of the continental US and Mexico. Quite a popular gamebird, more than 20 million birds are shot annually in…
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Not Here Every Winter
December 13, 2025 A sometimes winter resident. When they are here, I most often see them at the birdbaths. A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata). For the most part these birds are insectivorous but of course winter can provide challenges to those that only eat insects. This Warbler eats insects during the winter when insects can…
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Cardinals In Many Locations
December 12, 2025 I thoroughly enjoy seeing Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), both the soft colored females and the brilliant red males no matter what the season, but in the winter they are most spectacular. A pop of lovely color in a black and white landscape. It’s surprising to realize that these beautiful birds don’t migrate.…
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Winter Goldfinch
December 11, 2025 A male American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), enjoying the seedheads of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) which I’ve left out for he and his many friends. Hardly the same bird that I saw flocking with others this summer. Gone is the brilliant yellow, the black cap and the bright orange beak. Now in his…