Birds

Today I have had a ton of birds at my feeders and was able to get some pics and identify a few, with the help of binos and my books...two of them that are pretty good. One is the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds (Eastern Region) ( I have the older version of this one) and the other is called Nat Geo Field Guide to the Birds of North America. I have the third edition of this one. The first one has photographs but sometimes only the males and the second one has drawings that include juveniles and females so between the two I am pretty covered.

I was amazed at the activity at the feeders today, it was like a beehive. You would think I was the only one feeding birds for miles around, which is not the case. I have two thistle feeders. One is a finch upside down feeder and the other is a regular perch feeder. I had to remove the bottom tray on that one to keep the squirrels out of it. I also have a suet feeder which seems to attract the larger birds. I plan to hang my humming bird feeder soon but haven't yet. I can see the main feeder hanger from our kitchen window so I keep a pair of binos there so I can identify quickly if possible.

Today I discoverd that we have a pair of blue birds (which I guess are becoming quite rare, they get forced out by the swallows I believe). So I am excited to see them, and hope they are making more of themselves this spring.

Here is a list of what I have identified so far. I have seen more species but by the time I look closely enough at them and then try to look them up, sometimes they are gone. The easiest way for me to identify them so far is to try to get a digital photo and use that on the computer.

Downey Woodpecker (Male and Female)
Redheaded Woodpecker (Male only so far)
Blue Jay (Male only so far)
Red Cardinal (Male and Female)
Eastern Bluebird (Male and Female)
American Goldfinch (Male and Female)
Redbellied Woodpecker (Male only so far)
Carolina Wren (Male only I think)

Please note that the links are not my photos but much clearer ones I found on the Internet...