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Seventeen Species And Counting
A female Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) at the old garden gate, watching all the action. Five days with nine inches of snow on the ground. Temperatures so cold that there is no melting. And now as I sit here writing this post there is another snow event happening. During these snowy days I’ve upped the amount…
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An Independent Sort
All sorts of hubbub going on with many birds gathering around, going to the suet feeders and the hulled sunflower seeds. The snow triggered a panic it seemed. Not this Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) though. Dressed in its winter outfit the little critter was calmly going from seedhead to seedhead of Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) enjoying…
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Bluebirds At Noon Today
Many Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) gathered at the birdbath today. They live here in Virginia all year. During the summer they eat insects and there is plenty for them to eat here in the winter too, including the fruit of Eastern Red Cedar, Bayberry, Flowering Dogwood, Hawthorn, Holly, Mistletoe, Pokeberry, Serviceberry, Sumac, Winterberry, Wild Grape, Hackberry,…
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A Ristra And Snow
Next to the front door of my cabin, a ristra. Ristras are seen in New Mexico and southern Arizona. Strings of chiles hanging out to dry, for cooking and eating. Or simply to be used as a decoration. That’s the case here. A beautiful decoration representing a favorite part of this country, said to bring…
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Overnight Snow
Pure pleasure to wake up this morning to have 7.5 inches of snow and sleet covering everything as if someone had poured Marshmallow Fluff over the entire landscape. It was a busy day for the birds. I put out an extra suet feeder and loads of hulled sunflower seeds. Surely it was because of the…
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Gobbling Up The Suet
A Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) chowing down on the suet today. The suet feeder has been a very popular place with many birds feeling the chill of the season. As I sit here writing it is 19 degrees and sure to go down much further before the night is over. And perhaps they know what…
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New Year’s Eve Visitor
A Barred Owl (Strix varia) came by on New Year’s Eve. It didn’t seem to mind at all as we watched it for quite a long time, until we lost it to the darkness. The Barred Owl is native to eastern North America. An owl of medium size with a length of 16 to 25…
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Certainly Not A Sign Of Spring
Seeing a Robin (Turdus migratorius) on the second day of January is certainly not a sign of spring, particularly when there are weather forecasts of snow happening here in just a few days. Sounds for sure like good ol’ winter to me. Many Robins don’t migrate at all but stay right where they’ve been during…
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Pitch Pine Cones And Needles
These are the cones and needles of Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida). A small to medium sized tree. The needles are 3 to 5 inches long and quite stiff and sharp. They are in bundles, or fascicles, of 3. The cones are nicely round with sharp points at the end of each scale. The tree is…