Thursday, January 22, 2015

MLK Day Birding

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I took advantage of the MLK holiday to spend a couple of hours at Kleb Woods.

When I arrived, the air was absolutely filled with the calls and songs of common residents, such as Blue Jays, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Northern Cardinals (below).



At the top of one tree, several Tufted Titmice were singing their hearts out. 



The many seed-feeders were attracting large numbers of American Goldfinches while in some places the ground was swarming with Chipping Sparrows (below).



I finally saw my very first Downy Woodpecker of 2015, a bird I usually see in our yards virtually every day of the year. Unfortunately, this one didn't hang around for a photograph. The same was true of a flock of Scaly-breasted Munias, another new year bird.

At Home

Back at home I was surprised to find that our yards were busy. I had thought the bad weather of the first two weeks of 2015 would have brought them to our feeders but very few turned up until this weekend's better weather.

The feeders were busy with Chipping Sparrows, Carolina Chickadees, Orange-crowned Warblers and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet while the birdbath brought in several Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Northern Mockingbird. Our solitary thistle sock-feeder finally caught the attention of a couple of American Goldfinches.






There weren't any American Robins or Cedar Waxwings around but an Eastern Bluebird certainly made a nice showing against the blue sky.


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2 comments:

Barbara In Caneyhead said...

As always, your pictures are awesome Jeff. We have many of these species in our neck of the woods, but never are they still enough to see the detail of their beauty like I can in you photograpy.

Jeff said...

Thanks, Barbara. I'm glad you enjoy the pictures. I wish my photos were clearer but I can't justify spending $2,000+ to get a good camera and lens.