It was only a week ago our yard was completely snow covered. The temperature then rose. A week ago we would have dozens of birds feeding on the ground, sometimes, at one time several cardinals, and flocks of slate covered juncos among others. Now we don’t see so many. Since most of the snow melted the birds must have more opportunities to find food. We do see many goldfinch come to our feeders. It is that time of year for them. About the beginning of spring they come in flocks. They love sunflower seeds and are now coming to the sock I hung up filled with suet.

Twice in the last week I have seen a female cardinal feed another one.  I believe she was feeding on sunflower seed.  This was unusual behavior.  The two were adult females.  And neither appeared to be hurt or injured in any way.  Once they were on the ground.  And another time on the bird feeder that had mostly sunflower seed on it.  One fed the other directly beak to beak.  This behavior had me stumped.

The hummingbirds that come to my feeder never fail to amaze me.  There is a steady stream of them.  The other day I actually saw two feeding at the same time.  There is such diversity in nature.  Take birds for example.  There are all sizes and all are colored differently.  Woodpeckers and nuthatches hug the trunk of our large pine tree and seldom can be seen on the ground.  The cardinals feed very warily on the ground and come in pairs.  And occasionally there is a surprise like an indigo bunting or some other bird I usually don’t see.  I keep a bird journal and note unusual visitors.  All I do is make sure the feeders are always filled and from my large living room window watch the parade of birds come and go all day.

It was cold, wet and rainy today.  I watched the many birds come to our feeders:  titmouse, cardinals, goldfinch and others.  The weather did not dismay them.  There was a steady stream of them.  It was one of those days I wanted to go back to sleep.  Or if anything else see a movie.  I really did not want to go too far.  And thank God for the heat and shelter.  Maybe, I will read that book I set aside.  It certainly was a good day to bury oneself in a book.

Everytime I see a bright red cardinal in my backyard I am awed by its beauty.  I could not believe it when I was in the car and my passengers could not identify one that flew across our car.

My visitors were from NYC and maybe never saw one in the heart of the City.  It is such a common songbird yet such a beautiful one and the sighting of the male never fails to take my breath away.

The female is quite drab yet if you see her usually her mate is not too far away for they mate for life.  They love to feed on the sunflower seed I put out in the yard although they are more wary than some others birds that come to the birdseed I put out.

It is always a treat to see the brightly red colored male.  And I don’t take them for granted.  My heart always skips a beat when I spot a male.

There was a blanket of white when I got up.  It was a dusting–maybe an inch.  Through the back kitchen window I saw the ground and trees were completely white.  I immediately put some sunflower seed on my platform bird feeder and I am watching a brilliant red cardinal partaking of his meal.  This was the first snowfall of the season.  December and January have been mild so far–thirties and forties most of the time.  There has been no deep, extended “arctic” freeze so far.  I was delighted to see the snow.

We love the large pine tree outside our living room window, which is the center of attention.  I placed a suet cage right next to its trunk.  There are a steady stream of woodpeckers mostly downy who feed on the suet.  The squirrels also come.

The downy woodpeckers travel up and down its trunk seemingly at attention.  Only one bird is allowed to feed on the suet at one time.  The others make sure of that.  Sometimes there is as much as two or three downy woodpeckers on the trunk of the tree at one time.

Occasionally a red bellied woodpecker makes its entrance.  The sight of it makes me gasp.  It is a bigger woodpecker with an one inch red stripe that goes from the back of the top of its head to its nape of its neck (at least the male looks that way).  I had never seen one before and now they are regular visitors.

The white breasted nuthatch also likes the suet as well as the Carolina wrens who I have fallen in love with.  I did not know wrens could get that big.  Occasionally a cardinal will alight on one of its branches briefly.

We get occasional visits by the brown creeper who has a long curved beak and is a small brown colored bird who appropriately creeps up and down the pine’s trunk.  And these are only the birds we remember seeing.

This year a large branch was brought down by an ice storm which became our Christmas tree when I cut off part of it.  We used the rest of it for our tree.  It was one of the most beautiful trees we ever had lit up by several hundred multicolored lights.  Both of us love this tree and consider it to be our friend.

There were lots of birds feeding in my yard in this storm.  I sprinkled some birdseed two and an half hours ago on the snow.  I counted about a dozen slate cover juncos feeding on the ground (my friend calls them appropriately snow birds).

I saw as many as three downy woodpeckers on the trunk of my large white pine tree at one time.  They do take turns feeding on the suet.  And of course there were the squirrels.  I did see “stumpy” a squirrel who is missing part of his tail.

A female cardinal made its appearance briefly.  And there was the occasional Carolina wren.  A little later I will toss a little more bird seed on the ground.  I do not want to waste any.

There still is some sunflower seeds on our porch not covered by snow.  The birds keep coming.  And I have my eyes open for any unusual visitors.

I left the door open to hear the cardinal sing although it let in some cool air.  It has been months since I heard one.  And I stood at the entrance to listen to the fifteen seconds of singing.  A few seconds later, I heard the cackle of a Pileated Woodpecker across the yard and from somewhere off in another direction the distant pecking of another woodpecker.

I must miss quite a bit since I usually do not get up before 9 AM.  I was going to church this morning and had set my alarm for 7:30.  I finally closed the door:  the brief concert was over.

The birds must be hungry.  There is a flurry of activity outside our front window.  I did sprinkle some handfuls of birdseed on the snow earlier in the morning.  I have seen many mourning doves and slate covered junco feeding on the ground.

We are getting a steady stream of downy woodpeckers feeding on the suet placed by the trunk of the large pine tree.  I am still waiting for the entrance of the red bellied woodpecker.  I am always awed by its sight.

There are usually a few tufted titmouse at one time coming to and fro the feeder just outside the window.  They like the sunflower seed I put out for them.  Once in awhile I see a chickadee or a cardinal.  I love watching them.

Maybe, today I will see an unusual species.  You never know.  Today I will have more time to watch the birds.  It is snowing and there is no where else to go.