Saturday, February 18, 2012

Bird Talk

Last month I posted about our new bird feeders at the back of our house. I included some pictures of some of the birds we've seen there, but all those pictures were downloaded from the Internet because we hadn't been able to get any decent pictures of our own at that time.  Recently, my husband had the opportunity to borrow a fancy camera lens from a friend.  It enabled him to snap some photos from a good distance away and not scare the birds off.  After they were loaded into Picasa, I edited and cropped some of the pics in order to get some close-ups of of our fine, feathered friends.  :)


Have you ever observed an animal and wondered what it might be thinking at that moment?  I do that a lot (mostly with our dog).  It's fun to imagine what the birds at the feeder might be thinking... and saying.  I wonder if they gossip like employees at the water cooler?  I definitely get the meaning of "pecking order" now.  ;)

We managed to capture some funny expressions in these pics, especially of the male cardinal.  The next few photos were taken from inside our kitchen, unlike the others, which were taken from the lower end of our backyard.  Sorry, the screen on the porch makes these pictures a little fuzzy.

You can almost see his thought processes here. 


"Well, what are you staring at?"


"Do you mind not pointing that contraption at me?"


At this point, he's worked his way around to the middle of the feeder -- the better to stare us down.  

"Don't make me come in there."


Below is the Carolina Wren.

"Oh boy -- Bark Butter, my favorite!"


"Does this pose make me look dignified?"



"How about now?"


I think the Chickadees are adorable.  They're such fun little birds...all puffed up in this picture.


He looks like he's wearing a little black, velvet cap. :)


"Shoot -- I dropped it and that was my favorite flavor."

 

"Ta-Daaa!  Just like they do in the circus."




Haven't decided what this titmouse is saying, but I'm pretty sure he's getting someone told.




Sideline spectators...






This last picture is pretty fuzzy, but I wanted to include it; it's a Downy Woodpecker, who has been visiting every day.  The Downies are a smaller variety of woodpecker and the male has a small red patch on the back of his head.


In other bird news :), this fellow has also been visiting our seed feeder (Red-bellied Woodpecker), but we haven't gotten a picture of him.  So here's one I downloaded from Wikipedia. 


A great online site for identifying and learning about various birds is called:  all about birds.org.  This website features information, pictures, videos, and you can also hear the various bird calls.  The website is hosted by Cornell University. 

Do you like to watch the birds?  I find most animals fascinating.  It seems when we have the chance to observe them, it's a relaxing, therapeutic, and often entertaining exercise.  Which backyard animal do you like best?

Thank you for your visit and I always love hearing from you.  I'll be joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays and Shannon at Cozy Home Scenes for Your Cozy Home Party.  Thanks to both of these ladies for hosting! 

Denise 

29 comments:

  1. I adored this post! What a very special treat!

    Thanks so much, you just made my day!!!

    have an enjoyable bird-watchin weekend!

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  2. PS

    Our robins have only recently been slowly making their appearance back. I see where they've been wintering!! With you!!

    (Ohio here.)

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  3. I do love birds, but in recent years due to pesticide spraying for West Nile virus the population was wiped out. I still see robins and an occasional blue bird or cardinal, lots and lots of sparrows, crows (yuck) and Canadian geese. Your photos are wonderful. xo

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  4. I love seeing the birds. We don't feed the birds since there are feral cats that we feed...don't want them dining on the birds. We do leave the seed pods on flowers and plants in hopes they will find them. I love Carolina wrens. They have such a big voice for such a tiny bird.
    Happy Sunday.
    Babs

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    1. You're right Babs; they do have a big voice. They're quite sassy little birds. :)

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    2. We actually feed both the feral cats and the birds. The feral cats are so well fed, they just sit and watch the birds. :)

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  5. ♥ everything about this! thanks for sharing!

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  6. This post was so much fun! I sure miss our cardinals that came to feed when we lived in Missouri. I really don't see birds so much anymore in the city here in Arizona. Not a lot of trees for them.

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  7. Fabulous bird photos. I love to take pictures of the birds that come to our feeders. We have the red bellied woodpecker too, but it's red spot on its head is more of round spot rather than the way the one in the pictures. I am especially jealous of the cardinal, which we do not have in Colorado.

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  8. Hi Denise~ They are so entertaining to watch~ especially the chickadees! Love your handsome copper topped feeder. We switched to just sunflower seed at our feeders when we noticed they were picking it out and throwing the millet and the rest of the blend on the ground. Happy bird watching & enjoy your Sunday!

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  9. We love the birds who visit our feeders as well -- they are quite entertaining and even at the high cost of the seed, it is still cheaper than cable and they are much more entertaining! Good pictures!

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  10. I gave up on the bird feeders, too many squirrels!
    I threw some crackers out on the lawn and an we had an invasion of seagulls! Dh told me never to do it again! It was like a scene from The Birds~ It has been very mild here this winter, so the birds still have plenty of food.
    Enjoy your Sunday, a beautiful sunny day here in NY!

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  11. When we lived in a house n the country side, there were lots of all kinds of beautiful birds and we fed them...no squirrels around here! Thank you for sharing such a beautiful post, I have enjoyed it so much. Thank you sweet lady for your lovely visit too. Happy Sunday.
    FABBY

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  12. What fun pics you took of all your bird-watching! I can't believe you even got the woodpecker!!

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  13. These are great photos and I love all the bird talk. At my house, I've actually had them come and peck on the back door demanding more food if it runs out. Of course, we feed Iams to the feral cats, so they often help themselves to that too, along with the raccoons and I even caught a snail licking it one day. Maybe an Iams commercial is in order. :)
    Laura

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  14. I also enjoy watching birds and animals of almost any kind. We have a red headed woodpecker that can get on the nerves with his noise but is so fascinating to view. One summer our neighbor put out feeders and food for some beautiful finches that had come to her house and was so thrilled to have attracted a large number of them. We had one feeder and for some reason her finches started coming here. She got annoyed and wanted to know what we did to take her birds away. We had a good laugh about that. She got over it and all was well. If you would like to show these birds at my party, they would be a welcomed addition. Details on my blog.-------------
    Shannon

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  15. Denise, I loved the bird pics. You surely got some good ones. We have lots of birds here but my camera is not good enough to capture them. That lens sure did the trick.
    We are dog sitting for my son just now. I had forgotten how smart dogs were. I swear he reads our minds or body language.

    Thanks for sharing these beautiful sights with us.
    Ginger

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  16. Que imagens lindas!! Amo a natureza e tudo o que ela nos proporciona. É emocionante ver estes belos pássaros!!

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  17. Isn't God just so creative! Thanks for sharing these dear harbingers of Spring. Cherry Kay

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  18. Does this post make me look dignified?

    That one made me laugh right out loud. By gum, I think it does!

    Yep. I love to watch the birds. For some reason, their type never gets retained in my long term memory no matter how many times I identify them. I'm going to click the link and put it in favorites for easy access.

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  19. Great bird photos. I want to set up one day and try to catch a couple myself. And what is it with those woodpeckers? I can NEVER get a photo of them. Never. They are one camera shy bird. :-) Loved the captions, too.

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  20. Hello,
    I visited your blog today - I saw you on 'Two Birdies and a B.' Your blog is so pretty. The bird and nature pictures are wonderful. I love birds too, especially the Hummingbird, who is very special to me. The pink roses on your side bar caught my eye, as they are beautiful. Me and my daughters started a blog, and we would love it if you could visit us and follow. I would enjoy coming back to visit with you. Your blog is cheerful to me. I hope to hear from you, and have a sweet day.
    ~Sheri at Red Rose Alley

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  21. Dear Denise, I love the captions to your pics. Thank you for following my blog. I look forward to exploring yours. P. x

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  22. What wonderful photos!! I have tried to get a photo of an endangered woodpecker we have here, but I have yet to get a good one. My mom had a cardinal basically posing for her in front of one of her windows at Christmas. I do enjoy my woodpecker because he makes a crazy sound when he is around. Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments!!

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  23. What a great post! We have the same kind of birds in our backyard too, I wonder if we are in the same area. Love your captions too!...Christine

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  24. Just stopping by again to thank you for linking to my party. I appreciate both of your visits this week and hope you'll come again.

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  25. SO fun to watch the birds...we love seeing wild birds use our birdbath every day. Have a great week :)

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  26. What a wonderful post, Denise! I love the different expressions on the cardinal's face!The way you wrote this post is so sweet and I love the way you expressed their thoughts:) I love watching the blue jays and the red cardinals on my apple tress through my dining room window. Feels wonderful to watch their antics:) Thanks for sharing this post with and for leaving me such sweet comments. Always a pleasure to have you visit me. Have a great weekend!~Poppy

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  27. Denise, You did a lot of work on this post. Spent some time too getting all the pics and birds don't pose!!!

    Blog anniversaries come so quickly. I thought I would post more but I didn't. I think you work so much harder than I do.

    I spend too much time visiting around. In other words, I talk too much!! LOL!

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