Photos of Post "Blessings of 2013"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessings of 2013 and Our Birds Enjoying Goat Weed and Suet!

I am appreciative of all who visit my blog through the year.  This year is quickly coming to an end and as I am writing this post I reflect on how blessed I am to enjoy my love of the outdoors and birding with others. May the new year bring hope, joy, love and prosperity to each of you. 

Winter has arrived for a visit.  Our fine feathered friends are hungry and certainly visiting in large numbers.  I make a peanut butter suet in the winter and my husband(J.G.) and I fill holes in hanging logs and a dead cedar snag.  Once the suet is out in the morning, a flurry of birds compete for a perch to  sit and enjoy it. The cardinals usually arrive first with the Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee and Carolina Wren close behind. Many days the Pine Warbler will sit on a nearby branch waiting patiently for me to fill the holes.  I will turn to leave and down he comes, grabbing at the suet, as fast as his beak can be filled. Needless to say, the suet does not last long in the morning.  We usually fill the holes again in the afternoon.  We have seen the birds I have already mentioned as well as the Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jays, Chipping Sparrows and Crows eating our suet.  

The American Goldfinch and Chipping Sparrows have entertained us the last couple of weeks.  We have Goat Weed in our front landscape. We have found that birds love it in all seasons. They love the seeds.  The American Goldfinch will hang all over it in an array of different positions. You will see some of these in my photos.  The Indigo buntings love it in the spring and summer.  The Ruby-crowned Kinglets were all over it in the fall.  Sparrows hang around it by the dozens.  We have realized how much it is utilized by the birds. We have entertaining birds!!! Blessings!

A Texas Thanksgiving!

I am writing this post two days before Thanksgiving.  We are enjoying an early winter.  This is the first year in many that I can remember cold weather in November.  We had a mix of sleet, rain and snow today.  Temperatures were above freezing so no accumulation.  I made peanut butter suet for our yard birds.  My husband and I are filling the suet tree holes quite often.  The Cardinals usually arrive at the suet first with others following quickly.  This morning the Pine Warbler sat in a nearby bush and waited for me to fill the suet holes.  We have Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, White-throated Sparrows,Carolina Wrens, Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Chipping Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-headed Vireos, Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Goldfinch, Orange-crowned Warblers,Dark-eyed Juncos, as well as Red-bellied Woodpecker and Downy Woodpecker. Yesterday a loud Northern Flicker sat in one of our large trees on the property. I found the flicker with my binoculars and heard his call several time as he sat on the branch.  The weather has brought all the birds   as well as one rat to find our food.   We love our bird visitors, not so much the rat!  I failed to mention our Hermit Thrush visiting daily for a bath. This bird has such personality and beauty. I hope you enjoy his photos.  Happy Thanksgiving! Blessings!

Song Sparrow

Our visit to the mountains in Tennessee as I have shared before allowed us to enjoy great beauty.  I did not get to share this cute bird that came to our campsite.  He had a beautiful little song and really was not shy as he visited the cedar next to our site. I have seen a Song Sparrow before although never this close or length of time. He paid very little attention to me as he moved in and around the cedar. My husband was down by the river working on his photography.  He missed this visit. We both had observed a sparrow a distance from our camp the day before. We were never able to catch him in good light. We did identify that it was a Song.  It was good to do some bird watching after all the beautiful mountain scenery photography. I love to observe as well as photograph these beautiful little creatures of God.  I find each one so beautiful and unique. I hope you enjoy the Song Sparrow. Blessings!

Final Show!