BirdingGirl

I was so happy to be home this past weekend so I could do some backyard birding, and count birds for Project Feederwatch. Actually, I recently connected with another Bridgewater birder, the " Bird Man of Bridgewater ," who also took pictures in the snow over the weekend. John is good at identifying the gender of birds in his pictures, something I blogged about last spring. I love this picture- I'm excited to have my very own picture of a Carolina Wren at a suet feeder. It's such a common picture for carolina wrens, and I'm glad this guy came around on Saturday to pose for me. This suet actually was a Christmas gift from my mom- it's a Berry blend and the birds love it. Carolina Wren and Downy Woodpecker: On a related note- not sure how to tell the difference between a Downy Woodpecker and a Hairy Woodpecker ? I wrote a post about it nearly a year ago. Red-bellied Woodpecker: Winter Goldfinch: Dark-eyed Junco (I like how you can see the darker feathers with it...

I just completed my second count for Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. I happen to have today off so I was able to spend more time than usual watching the feeders in my backyard. It was a light week, compared to last week: Black-capped Chickadee- 4 Blue Jay- 1 Dark-eyed Junco- 2 Tufted Titmouse- 1 White-breasted Nuthatch- 1 Northern Cardinal- 2 Song Sparrow- 1 The Song Sparrow was the only one that threw me off because I'm not used to seeing them when they start to bulk up for winter. Here are some additional pictures of my second feeder, hung on a fallen scrub pine tree. It doesn't look too nice laying on our back lawn, but I haven't had the heart to cut it up because the birds love it. Considering the open landscape of our back lawn, it's nice to give them someplace to hide from raptors while they're visiting the feeder. Here is a Black-capped Chickadee at the feeder. They especially love this feeder because I only fill it with the black oil s...

I was at my parents' house on the Cape this past weekend and despite the rainy weather there was quite a lot of activity at the front and back yard feeders. I saw a lone Chipping Sparrow, which went back and forth between the front and back yards, a Goldfinch pair, a female Cardinal, several chickadees and nuthatches, and a titmouse. I was also happy to observe that both of my parents' birdhouses are currently being moved into—the nuthatches are moving into the front yard birdhouse and the titmice are moving into the back yard birdhouse. Two years ago my parents had a great crested flycatcher family attempt to live in the back yard feeder, but House Sparrows kicked them out. They cleaned out the birdhouses after that and repainted them, but didn't get any inhabitants last year. My dad hypothesized that maybe they didn't like the fresh paint smell and now that the houses have had a year to 'season' they're attractive again. Nonetheless, I'll be anxious to...

Today was the inaugural day for my Mass Audubon membership- I got a membership for myself and my boyfriend yesterday and today the cards were in action! It snowed last night into this morning and I really wanted to get out there and enjoy the snow before it's too late! Yes, unlike everyone else in Boston I am not sick of the snow. Ok, I'm a little tired of shoveling but I truly love having snow on the ground since it's been a rarity in recent years. I threw on my Tretorn rubber boots and we headed off into the slush. At the point we got to Drumlin Farm it was lightly sleeting, and the overall temperature was pretty mild today so the snow had gotten very wet. The boots help up great- my feet were completely dry and warm- I highly recommend them. We explored the farm yard for the first time, now that we did have to pay for admittance. We checked out the Drumlin Underground, which allows you to view various animals' dens through glass panes from within a basement of s...

This morning I got up early and went to Pilates, then planned on going for a run afterward. I called my boyfriend before leaving the gym and since he was up for a run too I decided to forgo the warmth of the gym and head home to go for a jog along the river with him. As I left the lot I saw groups of seagulls, geese and (what appeared to be) buffleheads gathered along the edge of the ice covering in the bay (of the Charles River). My long jogging route involves going from my apartment to that very spot so I certainly had motivation to make it back there today. I made sure to pack my PowerShot inside my camelback and wear my fingerless mittens for quick access to the camera (they've been indispensable this winter!). It worked out well to bird while jogging today since the route is 6 miles and in this cold weather it was a difficult task to do non-stop. Mallard Ducks: It was their rows orange legs that caught my eye as I was running past. I had to stop and snap them since it was a v...