Eastern Meadowlarks and Other Winter Visitors

We are delighted to see a flock of Eastern Meadowlarks visiting the front yard each day. I have seen them in past years although never this many. Their beautiful yellow with the black V on their breast shines in the sun . They are busy moving and gleaning insects and weed seeds from the area. It is so wonderful to witness a new bird in your own yard. We try to keep our binoculars handy checking the feeders, trees, ground under feeders as well as nearby shrubs. We have a large rose bush that our sparrows as well as other yard birds fly into at any sign of danger. I have found that you never know and should not be surprised to see a bird you may not have seen in your yard before. We are now enjoying Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated, White Crowned and Chipping Sparrows everyday. We have Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers as well as Pine Warblers loving our peanut butter suet. The Blue Jay, Mockingbird, Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse,Carolina Chickadee and Carolina Wren are residents. Large flocks of Mourning Dove are always on our electric lines. We also see Eurasian as well as Inca Dove in the yard. Our winter friend, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is usually on our tree trunks each morning. Our House Finches continuously feed on the feeders and the American Goldfinch will be joining them for winter seeds. All seems to be fairly normal considering our severe drought this year. Rain is happening and we are blessed this wonderful Christmas season!