Birds are Back

Got up this morning and headed in for breakfast, looked out front and there were birds every where.  Haven't seen that many birds since last fall. Three Northern Flickers, two Stellar's Jays, about 20 Mourning Doves and flocks of Mountain Chickadees and Red Breasted Nuthatches.  At least there weren't any Pine Siskins, when ever they come in, they come in such large numbers that no one else can get near a feeder.

They all like the suet feeders, though the doves always eat on the ground.  Plenty down there, those Flickers and Jays drop as much as they eat!  Fortunately the Doves do a good enough job that the squirrels aren't invading . . . yet.  I see an occasional Chickadee stop by the thistle feeder, but there is some thing about it that they don't like, they barely touch it before taking off.  Not sure if it's placement, type of feeder or what.

In getting ready for The Great Backyard Bird Count, I put out a large feeder for the little guys.  Stocked it with shelled sunflower and thistle plus the left over seed from my Canary that died on Thanksgiving day. You may remember, I said never again to putting a large feeder out last fall, but, well, I did put it about 150 feet from the house, so, with a little luck, the squirrels won't be tempted to come in any closer.  With no Pine Siskins, that feeder should be good for a couple months.

OMG, there must be a 100 birds out there right now.  Hmm, getting ready for migration?  Nah, I think it's that small bird feeder.  Maybe having lots of little guys around makes the big one's more comfortable.  Geez, the things been out less than 24 hours.

Hey, back to the Great Backyard Bird Count.  If you're interested, it's Feb 18-21 and only requires 15 minutes of your time, more if you like.  Go to http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/  to download a check list and get instructions on how to participate.

At this rate, I should get a pretty good count.  I need to head down the road to see if I can gain access to the river where I photographed that Bald Eagle last fall.  There were at least three at the time and they looked like they planned on staying.