Friday, March 8, 2013

More Winter Yard Birds

1. bird feeders-kab Bird Feeders in my backyard February 2013

I tired very hard to resist but it seems my collection of bird feeders keeps growing. While is they haven’t attracted any new species, it seems to have increased the total number of individual birds I am seeing. Sunny days are nice, but…

2. full feeders-kab Stormy days really increase the feeder population!

3. modo's-kab While finches feed above, Mourning doves feed below!

4. modo pair-kab I’ve spent the past few days chasing a pair of Mourning Doves out from beneath my covered patio. They are trying to build a nest in the rafters.

5. MODO in rafters-kab They already had a nest built there last year when I first arrived at this house. While it was fun to watch the birds fledge, it soon got quite messy with droppings, a situation I would like to avoid now that we are living here, and cooking and eating outside!

6. house sparrow-kab I find it quite interesting that there are very few House Sparrows in this neighborhood and the ones I do see are very wary and hide out on roof top pipes where they can quickly duck into my neighbor’s roof tiles if they feel threatened. Only once in a while do I find any bold enough to come down to my feeders or into my yard.

7. humminngbird-kab Of course, the hummingbirds are always welcome beneath the balcony!

8. Sharpie-kab Sharp-shinned hawk in Tree 2-11-13

Of course, with the winter birds come the winter raptors. While I most often see Cooper’s Hawks, sometimes I see sharp-shins or even kestrels. I had a Sharpie in the yard one day, then two days later I had a Cooper’s Hawk!

9. COHA-kab Sometimes the Cooper’s make several visits in one day swooping and diving down into the yard or through the trees. It is quite magnificent to see! So far I have not seen them catch a bird, but sometimes I do find evidence of a kill in the yard and i have noticed that the pigeon population has dropped from about 50 birds in the autumn to around 25 or less now. Most morning I count less than 12 around my yard. So far I have not had a pigeon in my yard but I have had them land on my rooftop. I avoid feeding any type of seed that will attract them, like corn or milo. I mostly feed thistle seed, suet and nectar but I have experimented with hulled sunflower and safflower seed lately. It will be interesting to see how it is once the White-winged Doves return.

10. Cooper's-kab I just love the underside of this Cooper’s wing!

11. peace-kab Peaceful Mourning Dove 2-11-13

 

12. LEGOs-kab

These are the species of winter birds in my yard:

  1. Red-tailed Hawk-occasional
  2. Cooper’s Hawk-regular
  3. Sharp-shinned Hawk-occasional
  4. American Kestrel-occasional
  5. Mourning Dove-regular
  6. Anna's Hummingbird-regular
  7. Costa’s Hummingbird-occasional
  8. Say’s Phoebe-regular
  9. Gila Woodpecker-regular
  10. Common Raven-regular
  11. Verdin-regular
  12. Phainopepla-occasional
  13. Yellow-rumped Warbler-regular
  14. Orange-crowned Warbler-occasional
  15. House Finch-regular
  16. Lesser Goldfinch-regular
  17. House Sparrow-regular

16 comments:

  1. I love watching the birds in my yard and they are almost always the same kinds. Very seldom do I see a bird of prey here although my neighbor two doors down gets them. I believe because she has many more trees and many more feeders in her yard. Nice photos.

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    1. Terry, yes, the feeders attract the songbirds and the songbirds attract the raptors! Everyone has to eat but it's hard to witness sometimes.

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  2. Very nice, always love to view your pretty images:)

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  3. Your backyard is perfect for birds! I wish I had that set up :-) and you attract such amazing birds!

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    1. Rohrerbot, you are welcome to come and watch anytime!

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  4. We had a Cooper's hawk move into our neighborhood a couple of months ago. Then, "my" scrub jay disappeared. And, a couple of times a week now I find dove feathers, so he is catching the doves, too. I only hope he is also catching the mice and critters in the neighborhood!

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    1. Cheryl Ann, how sad to lose your scrub jay! and yes, it would be nice if it cleaned out the rodent pests as well!

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  5. It's a slippery slope with 'acquiring' feeders Kathie - beware! Beautiful photos. I just posted a Mourning Dove shot too - great minds :)

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  6. What a super post Kathie! I used to have an addiction to getting new feeders but now I am gone so much I don't use them.

    Love your images.

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    1. Mia, I will slow it down for the summer, but when its cold or rainy I like to feed the birds more.

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  7. What awesome birds! Here the whole family enjoys the feeders. We just have the one for right now. But we're getting quite a lot. We've had a turkey visiting the last two days!

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    1. birdworthy, how nice to have the turkeys! They are fun to watch!

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  8. Hi Kathie

    You have a lovely selection of birds in your yard.

    Regards
    Guy

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Welcome to my nest! I hope you will enjoy spending time here with me and the birds. Thank you for your comments. I will try to get back to you as soon as I get back from counting more birds.