Happy New Year

.
As we arrived back from London only last night, we weren't in the mood to leave the house today. However, I did muster the energy to keep an eye on our yards to see what birds were visiting.

The first birds I noticed in our front yard were half-a-dozen of our resident House Finches accompanied by several American Goldfinch.

A couple of White-winged Doves, three House Sparrows and a Yellow-rumped Warbler also visited our front yard feeders.

Meanwhile our resident male and female Downy Woodpeckers made frequent trips to the suet feeder.

The only flyovers I noticed were by a handful of Turkey Vultures.

The backyard feeders attracted Carolina Chickadees, one of which also stopped off at the birdbath.

A Northern Mockingbird was too skittish for me to photograph but a Ruby-crowned Kinglet was less bothered by our presence.

I'm not sure how many Orange-crowned Warblers are spending the winter with us but I saw at least two arguing over the backyard feeders this afternoon.

I was rather surprised not to see our other residents - Carolina Wren, Northern Cardinal, Red-bellied Woodpecker and Blue Jays. Perhaps they stopped visiting when the feeders became empty during our time away.  If so, they should start returning soon now that our feeders are again fully stocked!  
.