Sunday, December 20, 2009

FeederWatch, week 6

We had a very snowy weekend for this FeederWatch session! We only got a couple of inches, but the white stuff came down all day Saturday. Added one new species to the roll call this week: Song Sparrow. I had heard them calling earlier in the week, and was happy to see them ground feeding with the Juncos, White-Throated Sparrows and Carolina Wrens this weekend. Having snow on the ground sure makes all of the ground feeders much easier to spot!


Carolina Wren was very hard at work at the suet feeders this weekend in addition to ground feeding.


Proof that Red-bellied Woodpeckers really DO have red bellies!

This weekend I counted the highest number of Mourning Doves that I've ever seen at once in all the years I've been doing FeederWatch: 38. They really seem to like roosting high up in our trees, and also down in some of the brush piles that have accumulated in the past few years.


How many do you see? (click to enlarge)

And of course, no FeederWatch session would be complete without a squirrel sighting:





Roll call for FeederWatch, week 6 (12/19-12/20)
Mourning Dove38
Red-bellied Woodpecker1
Downy Woodpecker3
Hairy Woodpecker1
Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee4
Tufted Titmouse5
White-breasted Nuthatch2
Carolina Wren2
Song Sparrow2
White-throated Sparrow2
Dark-eyed Junco2
Northern Cardinal5
American Goldfinch8

12 comments:

Erica Houskeeper said...

Hi Heather,

Beautiful photos! That first image is really fantastic. Nicely done.

Happy Holidays!

Erica

Monika said...

Heather, I love that artsy red-bellied woodpecker shot!

MaineBirder said...

Excellent photos, love the Wren!

Andy said...

Some nice photos!

Meg said...

I want to kiss that squirrel. : )

NW Nature Nut said...

Wishing you happy holidays!

Kelly said...

...beautiful post. Loved the Caroline Wren photo...and the shot with all the Mourning Doves. I spent last Saturday in the snow for my first CBC. Dawn to dusk--I loved it!!!

Gabrielle said...

Wowsers on the red-bellied picture. Nice job!

Heather said...

Erica - Thank you so much. Happy Holidays!

Monika - Those in-flight shots can turn out to be pretty cool...

John - Thank you! I'm so delighted every time I see the Wren, and even more so when I can get a photo of it.

Andy - Thanks!

Michele - Happy Holidays to you, too!

Kelly - I'll have to try a CBC sometime.

Gabrielle - Thanks - it was a happy accident! ;)

Heather said...

Meg - Sorry I missed responding to you the first time around...! I know what you mean - that's one lovable-looking squirrel!

RuthieJ said...

isn't it amazing how much difference snow makes in backyard bird activity? I can't believe how many MODOs you have though.....I've never seen that many here, even in the summer.

Heather said...

Ruthie - I didn't go back and look at the past seasons' numbers, but I'm pretty sure 38 is a record for our yard. I think the forecast is for snow this coming weekend, so I'll look forward to some more heavy feeder activity then!