Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Kleb Woods - and Our Backyard

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I set out on Saturday morning to drive up to the weekend birdwalk at Kleb Woods. However, I'd only gone a couple of hundred yards before I had to pull over to admire a Red-tailed Hawk perched by the road side. Although I already have many - too many - pictures of Red-tailed Hawks, I still feel obliged to stop and try to photograph every one I see! 


Most of the birds I see during the birdwalk were common residents, like this female Northern Cardinal.


There were several less common birds, though. Two Brown-headed Nuthatches were a pleasant surprise, as was a Dark-eyed Junco. While I dipped on photographing those, I had better luck with one of three Pine Siskins hanging out with scores of American Goldfinches.


Back at home the birds were busy visiting our feeders and birdbath.

A couple of Blue Jays kept flying in to grab peanuts and then to drink from the birdbath. What magnificent birds they are!



Several Northern Cardinals regularly visit our yards. This is one of the males.


Several House Finches come to our feeders every day. One of the males is an orange variant.


This winter more than any other, Yellow-rumped have been frequent visitors to our feeders. I don't usually think of Yellow-rumps as being feeder birds but this year's crop seem to be very fond of our suet.







It's easy to see why Texans call these dainty little birds "butterbutts".


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