Thursday, May 1, 2014

Bird Watcher

I am an avid birdwatcher.  I have a bird feeder outside my living room window where I can watch all the species that come to eat.  It sits next to our deck, and the birds line up on the top of the deck railing to wait their turn at the feeder.  All except the large blue jay, who squawks very loudly and bullies all the other birds to let him into the feeder.  He gets inside the feeder (it's shaped like a gazebo) as far as he can to insure that no other bird can push him out.  I've told you before how we have cardinals, robins, chickadees, tufted titmice (I know, a funny name), and occasionally a mourning dove will take over the feeder.  Last year, I identified one of my favorite winter visitors as a "dark eyed junco".  Previously, I had just referred to him as my snowbird.

This morning, I spied a new bird who had come to eat at the feeder.  I had never seen this guy before, and he is stunning.  I searched the internet for a photo with which to identify him and found this one:

Turns out that he is a "rose breasted grosbeak.  Isn't he beautiful?  Their song is very similar to that of the robin, and they feed mostly on berries and take turns incubating eggs in the nest.  

But one of my favorite birds that visits the feeder is the white breasted nuthatch.  He is the acrobat of the feeder, and climbs up and down the feeder pole upside down. He will even hang sideways using only one foot.  So that's my bird watching experience for today. Do you watch the birds too?

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