Signs of Spring

Tags

bluebird, clivia, downy woodpecker, house finch, photography, postaday, red-bllied woodpecker

Today WordPress is forcing me to use their new editor instead of their “classic” editor. Let’s hope this post turns out all right.

Clivia in bloom.

Male Bluebird.

Female Downy Woodpecker.

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Male House Finch.

Monochrome Monday: Downy Woodpecker

Tags

downy woodpecker, photography, postaday

Overnight wet and heavy snow fell in our area, bending and sometimes breaking the branches of some trees. Many birds came to our feeder, among them a pretty female Downy Woodpecker that looked for insects on a nearby magnolia tree. Here is a shot of her, rendered in monochrome for this Monday.

Female Downy Woodpecker.

Chickadee and Woodpecker

Tags

carolina chickadee, downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

In addition to Northern Cardinals, other regular birds at our bird feeder include Carolina Chickadees and two kinds of Woodpeckers. On the same cloudy days that brightly lit the cardinals, I was able to get several good shots of these other birds.

Male Downy Woodpecker.

Male Downy Woodpecker.

Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Carolina Chickadee. The eyes are often hard to discern, but here they are clearly visible.

Carolina Chickadee.

One more photo taken on January 1st, 2019.

Female Downy Woodpecker searching for food. It looks like a sunflower seed left under the bark by another bird or a squirrel.

Birds in Fourth Nor’Easter

Tags

dark-eyed junco, downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse, white-throated sparrow

It’s been snowing since early this morning and will not stop until late tonight. So far, eight hours into our fourth Nor’Easter only about 5 inches of snow fell, but the forecast is calling for at least double that by the time the storm ends.

As usual, I cleaned and stocked the bird feeder with sunflower seeds and all the usual birds came, emptying half of the feeder by the end of the day. I did not miss the opportunity to take some photos as they posed among the magnolia branches.

Downy Woodpecker.

Downy Woodpecker.

Dark-eyed Junco.

White-throated Sparrow.

Tufted Titmouse.

Two Woodpeckers

Tags

downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

Two kinds of Woodpeckers are regular visitors to our backyard feeder: the smaller bird is the Downy Woodpecker, and the much larger one is the Red-bellied Woodpecker. Here are two shots of them as they perched on nearby trees.

Male Downy Woodpecker.

Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Cardinal and Other Birds This Winter

Tags

blue jay, downy woodpecker, house finch, house sparrow, junco, northern cardinal, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse

Today skies are mostly sunny and snow is melting at a good pace. I took the opportunity to photograph the various birds that come to our feeder all day long.

Blue Jay, checking out the bird feeder. They rule the place and whenever they land, all other birds scatter away.

Blue Jay.

Junco about to jump.

Female Downy Woodpecker.

Female House Finch.

Male House Finch.

House Sparrow.

Tufted Titmouse, working on a sunflower seed.

Finally, the one and the only Northern Cardinal, resplendent in colors rivaling its human counterparts in Rome.

Northern Cardinal.

How to Eat Peanuts

Tags

blue jay, chickadee, downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse

Each bird has its own way of eating peanuts. Here are a few examples.

Blue Jay.

Chickadee, probably the smallest bird that is not a Hummingbird.

Downy Woodpecker.

Tufted Titmouse.

Then we are back to the Blue Jay, the most voracious of them all.

Blue Jay.

Downy Woodpecker

Tags

downy woodpecker, photography, postaday

The Downy Woodpecker is a bird that we often see in our backyard, competing with other small birds for sunflower seeds form the bird feeder. It does not eat peanuts, perhaps because those are too big for their beak. In the spring and summer, it can be heard drumming against wood, whether on trees or on our house trims!

Today one of them, a male, lingered among the magnolia branches for a minute or so, allowing me to capture it in the following photos.

Downy Woodpecker.

Downy Woodpecker.

Downy Woodpecker “Make sure you get my red patch, ok?”

Downy Woodpecker.

Downy Woodpecker.

Wordless Wednesday

Tags

american robin, chipping sparrow, downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, snowy egret, wordless wednesday

Downy Woodpecker.

American Robin.

Chipping Sparrow.

Snowy Egret.

Cardinal, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch

Tags

cardinal, downy woodpecker, house finch, photography, postaday

Scenes at the bird feeder this afternoon.

A female Cardinal was dining when a male Downy Woodpecker landed.

Female Cardinal: “Hey, I was here first!”

Female Cardinal: “Wait your turn! Scram!”

The Woodpecker flew away.

Female Cardinal: “Some birds have such bad manners!”

House Finch patiently waiting his turn.

Wordless Wednesday: Look at their Eyes

Tags

downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, sparrow, tufted titmouse, yellow-croned night heron

Sparrow.

Downy Woodpecker.

Seagull.

Sparrow.

Tufted Titmouse.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Finally Eating Peanuts

Tags

downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, roasted peanut

Temperatures are plummeting today and may reach 0° F (-17° C) by tonight, while the wind has started howling outside. I put out roasted peanuts for the birds, and the Downy Woodpecker, who had refrained from eating them in previous weeks, finally relented and started today.

Downy Woodpecker on nearby magnolia branches.

Then he landed on a deck railing.

Hmm, which one shall I take?

I’ll take half of one to start …

 

Winter Treats

Tags

bluejay, downy woodpecker, northern cardinal, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse

More snow is forecasted for several days next week, but today the snow that felt two weeks ago has melted almost completely. To help out our backyard feathered friends, I put out sunflower seeds and roasted peanuts for them. Many came out, and they did not mind me taking their pictures, even with the patio door partially open.

Northern Cardinal holding sunflower seed in its beak.

Tufted Titmouse with roasted peanut.

Downy Woodpecker looking toward bird feeder. He did not like peanuts and went for the sunflower seeds.

A pair of Blue Jays flew in, each grabbing several peanuts at a time.

Blue Jay eyeing peanuts.

Blue Jay stuffing peanuts in its throat pouch, perhaps to take back to nest.

Blue Jay gorging on peanuts.

Blue Jay: I can always fit one more down there.

Blue Jay with last peanut before taking off.

Within less than an hour, the birds had finished half a box of peanuts!

Move Over

Tags

downy woodpecker, junco, photography, postaday

It was snowing, and a Downy Woodpecker was dining by himself.

Downy Woodpecker at bird feeder.

Out of nowhere, an aggressive Junco flew in and chased it away from its perch.

Junco chasing Downy Woodpecker.

A fraction of a second later, this is what it looked like.

Junco landing and Downy Woodpecker trying to grab on at new position.

 

Lunar New Year

Tags

cardinal, downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, woodpecker

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, commonly known as the Chinese New Year in the US. To wish you a Happy New Lunar Year I am posting two photos of my favorite birds.

Cardinal in snowstorm

Downy Woodpecker

Flying Seed

Tags

BIF, cardinal, downy woodpecker, nuthatch, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

A Nuthatch and Cardinal were perched on our bird feeder.

Cardinal and Nuthatch

The Nuthatch made many trips, each time flying away with a sunflower seed.

Cardinal watching Nuthatch flying away with sunflower seed

Next a Downy Woodpecker did the same thing, under the benign eyes of His Eminence.

Male Downy Woodpecker ferrying sunflower seed to be hidden on some tree trunk

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker displaced the Cardinal, but that did not seem to bother the Air Woodpecker pilot.

Air Woodpecker

Sparrow vs. Woodpecker

Tags

downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, sparrow

I never thought a sparrow would bully a woodpecker and get away with it. But the following photos taken today show that did in fact happen.

Sparrow yelling at Downy Woodpecker

Sparrow chasing Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker in tatters

Snow Storm – Ending

Tags

downy woodpecker, house finch, photography, postaday

That monster snow storm that everyone was talking about over the past few days shifted east and spared our area. There were only a few inches of snow when I woke up this morning and by noon it was over. Using a snowthrower, I cleared our driveway in less than an hour.

I had refilled the bird feeder and many birds came and feasted, even while it was still snowing. The hawk was nowhere in sight, so the little birds ate their fill. A very cute one is the House Finch which stood out with its red, almost scarlet colors.

House Finch

House Finch

Here it is perched on the feeder.

House Finch

Another cute one is the Downy Woodpecker that I have been photographing since he was a baby.

Downy Woodpecker

Woodpeckers

Tags

downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

The past few days were the coldest ones of this winter, with temperatures in the twenties or below (around -5 degrees C). The windchill temperatures were worse, forcing many schools to close. I filled up the bird feeder with sunflower seeds and more birds took advantage of it than usual. There must not have been too much for them to eat elsewhere because they emptied half of the large feeder in less than a day.

There was at least one Red-bellied Woodpecker that kept coming to the feeder, and yesterday I was able to finally take some pictures of it. Up until now, it had been a very shy bird and I could never get a good shot of it with my camera.

Red-bellied Woodpecker and Junco

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker with sunflower seed

Every time it snatched a seed, it flew to a nearby tree, inserted the seed in the bark and pecked at it. The following photo shows that behavior, even though I could not get any closer with my lens.

Red-bellied Woodpecker and seed

Meanwhile, the Downy Woodpecker also made its appearance. We usually see more of them than of the Red-Bellied kind.

Downy Woodpecker

Birds Up Close

Tags

canon sx50 hs, downy woodpecker, junco, photography, postaday, robin

This week, I acquired a Canon SX50 HS camera which can zoom from 24 mm to 1200 mm, or 50X. This camera is used by many bird photographers who cannot afford to buy those giant lenses, some costing as much as a second mortgage on a home.

I must say that the camera has lived up to its reputation. See for yourself in these three photos that I took over the past three days.

Here’s a junco, that came to partake of sunflower seeds I put out on our deck. I shot this through our glass patio door, but it is still very sharp.

Junco

Next is a robin, running on the grass near the Delaware Raritan Canal about 1.5 miles from home. We also have them in our backyard, but until now I haven’t been able to take as close a shot as this one.

Robin

Finally, here’s a nuthatch hanging upside down a tree trunk. I thought it was a female downy woodpecker, but Jet Elliot (see her comment below) pointed out my error. Thanks, Jet!

Downy Woodpecker