The dawn is only an hour away.  I can not wait to see the first chickadees come to my feeders.  They never fail to delight me.  I am always thrilled by the magnificent red-bellied woodpeckers who come to feed on the suet I have put out near the trunk of the large pine tree outside my large living room window.

The downy woodpeckers come during the day.  They seem to stand at attention as they feed and go around the trunk of the tree.  The occasional cardinals who feed on the ground are very wary.  The beautiful bright red male cardinal never fails to delight me, too.

Every once in awhile I see a brown creeper.  And the many goldfinch who love the thistle I put out for them.  They will sit at the feeder for five minutes eating the thistle.  Often there will be a dozen feeding on the ground.  I can not wait for the males to turn yellow again.  Before, I rarely saw them.  Now they have become commonplace.  Maybe, now I take them for granted.  The slate covered junco come in flocks and might have gone away.

These are the more common birds I see out of my window every day but I never know when I will be surprised.  I am waiting to see if I see any flocks of indigo buntings.  They are such beautiful birds who I only see a few times a year.

There are also the piliated woodpeckers.  I usually hear them not see them.  Their wild cackle is unmistakable and when I am lucky I actually spot one with its large long red crown.  It is such an exotic looking bird over a foot long.  I never forgot the first one I spotted outside my house.  I had to run into the house to grab my binoculars to get a good look at it.  It was over a hundred feet away perched on a stump.  I absolutely love birds.  I have all my life.  I guess you got that idea.