Backyard Birds

Purple Finch

Several years ago we put up a feeder in our backyard for the local birds.  It’s gotten very battered and worn, and at one point we had to add a tie-down to the lid so the neighbor’s cat wouldn’t climb into it.  But the birds don’t mind, as long as it’s full. 

Since watching “The Big Year,” my husband has become more interested in learning the names of the birds.  We have a couple bird guides, but the best one so far is online: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds.  We’ve also learned that if we get stuck, we can ask our Facebook friends for help.  That’s what we did with the Purple Finch.

Steller’s Jay

Am very fond of the Steller’s Jays and the blackbirds.  The jays are related to crows and ravens, and can be very obnoxious, chasing other birds from the feeder so they can get their favorite seeds (black sunflower).  If they scatter much of the other seed on the ground in search of their favorite, the pigeons from down the street show up to eat. 

Female & male Redwing Blackbirds

I love the sounds blackbirds make, especially the one that sounds like a stream bubbling.  Occasionally they do a shriek that reminds me of a raptor bird,  The Brewer’s Blackbird has an iridescence that shows up in sunlight.

Brewer’s Blackbird

My husband is very fond of what we used to call LBJs (Little Brown Jobs).  He can now identify the different sparrows  He made the photos shown here.  He is also very

Golden-crowned and White-crowned sparrows

fond of the male black-capped chickadee, laughing as the chickadee lands on the feeder, grabs seed, and flys off somewhere else to eat it.  This isn’t a great photo, but the chickadee was always on the move.

Black-capped Chickadee