Lil’ Sweeties

A White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee and a couple of House Finches were all recent visitors to the bird feeder.  These small birds are cute, smart, interesting, and very sweet birds.  I so enjoy seeing these little guys.  The Carolina Chickadee is the one with the black mask and bib.  The gray one with the top-knot is the Tufted Titmouse, the brown streaky birds with slight red tinges are male House Finches, and the torpedo-shaped gray and black and white bird with the slender bill is the White-breasted Nuthatch.  All like the Black Oil Sunflower seeds.  The finches also really go for the Millet seed.  I took these pictures on September 12, 2012 and again on September 13, 2012 in my yard.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Small Sweet-Natured Birds

Carolina Chickadee

House Finches

Carolina Chickadee

The small songbirds here are so beautiful I just love watching them!  I see many different small birds coming to the bird feeder just below my front porch.  These pictures were taken in my yard on August 16, 2012.  These birds were quite active at the feeder.  Quite a lovely crowd!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger photo.  Enjoy!

Tufted Titmouse & Chipping Sparrow

White-breasted Nuthatch

Tufted Titmouse

Birds and a Bunny

A Very Young Cotton-tailed Rabbit

Carolina Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker

A Carolina Chickadee, a White-breasted Nuthatch, a pair of Northern Yellow-shafted Flickers and a lone baby Cotton-tailed Rabbit were some of the many examples of wildlife that I saw in my yards on a hot, humid, off-and-on rainy day on August 9, 2012.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker

Birds at the Feeder Yesterday

A Tufted Titmouse

Yesterday a male House Finch and a Tufted Titmouse both came to visit the bird feeder along with a few Red-winged Blackbirds, a White-breasted Nuthatch, and a pair of Northern Cardinals.  The only ones I was able to photograph were the House Finch and the Tufted Titmouse.  It has been quite hot here recently so the birds enjoy the area where the feeder is located as it is shaded in the late afternoon.  I took these pictures from my living room window and also from the yard.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

A male House Finch

Three Red-bellied Woodpeckers and a Nuthatch

A White-breasted Nuthatch

It was a cloudy dark afternoon yesterday on the Winter Solstice.  I was out along the Southern edge of my property near the street when I heard the call of a Red-bellied Woodpecker and then another and still another.  So, three Red-bellied Woodpeckers were in three large Oaks.  There also was a White-breasted Nuthatch weighing in.  The Nuthatch sounds quite a lot like a tiny woodpecker so I guess the Red-bellies inspired conversation!  Ha!  I had to use my photo-editing software to help lighten the pictures so the birds could be seen better.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

A White-breasted Nuthatch Pays us a Visit

The other day, I was looking out and saw a lone White-breasted Nuthatch on an empty old bird feeder that is nailed to one of the many trees in my backyard.  That feeder was there when I moved in a few years ago and I have never thought to use it.  Apparently the bird is a smart one and knew that this box meant that there might be some food there.  No such luck.  I felt a bit bad that I have still not replaced my bird feeders in the yard.  The little Nuthatch went from tree to tree, trying to find some tasty morsels to have for its dinner.  The White-breasted Nuthatches are all year around resident birds in my neighborhood.  They tend to hang around with the Eastern Bluebirds.  I did notice that there were also three of the Bluebirds in nearby trees.  I’ll post some pictures of those Bluebirds in coming days.  The little White-breasted Nuthatch has a chirping call much like the American Robins and a tiny bit like a Red-bellied Woodpecker.  I was happy to have seen the birds out as there have been few around here in recent weeks.  I took the pictures in the late afternoon and the light was very dim and shady.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

A Group of White-Breasted Nuthatches

White-Breasted Nuthatches are such agile little birds!  I was very pleased to notice not one or two of these fantastic little birds, but a small flock of them.  I think I saw about 6 at once throughout my front and back yards.  They love to climb up and down on dead trees, with Oak Trees being favorites.  I also see them on my bird feeder fairly often.  The White-Breasted Nuthatch will also scout on living trees for tasty insects.  They are woodpecker like in that they have long curved claws and a sharply pointed bill.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger photograph.  Enjoy!

Bird Feeder Buddies

Carolina Chickadee (left), Tufted Titmouse

Back to the birdies…My front yard bird feeder seems to attract the Carolina Chickadees, the House Finches, Goldfinches, Tufted Titmice, Sparrows, and occasionally, a White-breasted Nuthatch.  Sometimes the birds are so eager to get at the birdseed, they double up!  It is so cute!  The birds are cooperative and are not even the same species.  They seem to know to wait their turn.  I have not seen any bully behavior except for the one dominant Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the nectar feeder.  Yes, the Hummingbirds are solitary when feeding at that nectar feeder.  Not so with the song-birds.  I took these pictures on the same afternoon a few days ago.  I think that about 3:30 pm is when the birds seem to want to grab a bite.  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Sparrow (left), Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Chickadee (left), White-breasted Nuthatch

The “Invisible” White Breasted Nuthatch

I was strolling down my street recently with my trusty camera and spied a White Breasted Nuthatch.  These small dynamic birds are full of energy and love to cling on the trunks of trees to seek out insects in the bark.  The birds have a dark grey-brown back and a white or creamy colored breast.  They have a pointed beak, that looks a lot like that of a woodpecker.  The White Breasted Nuthatch is like several other birds that are colored to blend in with the background.  In the case of this bird, that background is the bark of many deciduous trees.  Unless you really looked closely, you might easily miss seeing the White Breasted Nuthatch.  This “Invisibility” really helps keep predators away.  In some of the photographs here, you’ll really see how much the bird blends into the bark pattern.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger version of that photo.