Birds

Temperature: 39°F

I haven't done a bird post in a while. Today there was a red-winged blackbird at the feeder, but he flew away before I could get my camera. I'll try again.

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Birds

They are loud this morning, but that's because I'm much closer to them. The street flooding spilled over into my basement office, and I'm working in the kitchen with a nice view of the feeding station. They don't seem to mind the weather.

I am disgruntled. Water poured into the corner behind my office wall and spilled onto the finished floor. It's a mess, and my peel-and-stick tiles are all peeling and unsticking. There's a big project ahead involving moving the desk so I can replace the tiles.

Birds

Temperature: 32°F

A bunch of chozzers, they are. I filled the tube feeder two days ago and the sparrows cleaned it out. I filled it again today along with the window feeder, and they're still going at it.

One house finch was at the window a couple of days ago; the only one I've seen since the fall.

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Birds

Temperature: 11°F

While I was watching the large breakfast crowd this morning, I caught a flash of brilliant red in the bush. Mr. Cardinal was in the neighborhood, and much to my delight, landed on the snow. He flew away quickly, but almost immediately after I received another surprise: a large patch of rust in the bush. Robins don't usually hang out near the feeder, but for some reason there was one today.

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Birds

Temperature 24°F

• WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM EST THURSDAY
• ICE STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON, WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NO LONGER IN EFFECT
• WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST THIS EVENING

Nasty weather, but it's not stopping the birds from visiting the feeding station.

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Birds

Temperature: 16°F, winter storm warning tonight.

The little gray songbirds are out in force today--several nuthatches are loading up on food, along with the chickadees and titmice.

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Birds

Temperature: 19°F. The air may be arctic, but the bright sunshine and blue skies of winter high pressure makes this one of my favorite times of year.

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Birds

Temperature: 16°F
I have one starling picking relentlessly at the suet today. These guys can make short work of a suet cake when they get together. He has a bright yellow bill, but some spotting on his plumage. It's hard to tell if he's breeding or not.

It's not quite 55°F in my basement office, and I am going to have to abandon it for upstairs where it's warmer. It's just too hard to type down here.

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Birds

Temperature: 30°F

I broke the plastic hook for my window feeder trying to move it from inside the house. I was able to replace it with the hook from one of the thistle feeders, which hasn't seen any action lately. There is still one thistle feeder up outside the kitchen in case we get little yellow visitors.

I had a dentist appointment on Monday with Dr. Richard Epstein (Sometimes Classical, 2nd, 4th & 5th Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.). His office looks out over a large garden with plenty of feeders, including a window feeder in the room where I was. It was better than television, except maybe 24.

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Birds

Temperature 22°F

Score one for the little guy. Two chickadees have been enjoying a late-morning breakfast while a few white-throated sparrows clean up underneath.

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Birds

Temperature: 8°F

Blackbirds are large and in charge again today. I noticed several cowbirds mixed in with the grackles. These hangers-on don't perch on the feeder, but wait for seeds to drop to the ground. The grackles aren't aggressive, but they are visually intimidating with their huge wings and tails. The smaller songbirds have been staying away, except for a few enterprising birds who use the window feeder along the southwest wall.

I put out a suet cake yesterday and the downy woodpeckers were very happy, except they too are intimidated by the grackles. Starlings have started coming aroound, which is a bad thing. They can wipe out an entire suet cake in a day or two.

UPDATE: He's happy.


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Birds

Temperature: 26°F.

There has been a lot of activity this morning as the cold front approaches. Sparrows have dominated the feeder today, with just a flash of blue-gray from one titmouse. The noise level has been higher than usual. I was surprised to see a large flock of grackles in the yard. They swarmed the feeder and circled the yard before moving on.

UPDATE: I just spotted a hawk perched in the back yard. He was over the compost and brush piles, no doubt looking for a nice, juicy rat for lunch.

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Busy day at the feeding station

I'm not sure what caused the rush on my feeder this morning, but there were lots of visitors. Several white-breasted nuthatches and tufted titmice were at it, battling the woodpeckers. My son's favorite was the cardinal on the ground. He'd never seen a redbird before, and was captivated. When spring comes, I will have to explain that the feathered kind is good, but the bat-wielding kind is bad.

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