Just a note for today, 28 Jan 2009

I did not take any pictures today, but wanted to leave a note. All evening and through the night, we had freezing rain here so the snow on the ground from yesterday had a coating of ice on top of it. I put the seed on the ice and just watched them when they came around to eat. There were sparrows, blue jays, starlings and cardinals this morning as well as two squirrels.

It was funny. The birds would slide when they came in for a landing and even the squirrels were slipping and sliding. They seemed to be ok and yet I wonder where they find shelter while the freezing rain is coming down. Poor things.

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
Today we had a light dusting of snow - you can see it on the fence slats. This squirrel is hanging from the suet cage with his hind paws while eating. You can see his little front paws curled up in front of his mouth - he broke off a chunk of the nut block.

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
The male cardinal. There is a slight dusting of snow today, just enough to cover the ground.

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
This is the female cardinal. We had a slight dusting of snow today, just enough to cover the ground.

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
Perched on top of the fence is the male cardinal. If you look closely, you can see the little Carolina wren eating from the bottom of the nut block.

Photo taken 27 Jan 2009
Today we had a bit of snow, just enough to cover the ground. The male cardinal is in the back top left of the picture and there are four sparrows in the foreground. The bird landing next to the cardinal is an "unknown" one - I don't know what it is, yet. It is about 3-4 inches long with a black top and grayish-white belly.

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
This is a good profile view of the black capped chickadee.

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
A black capped chickadee.

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
This is another picture of the "unknown" bird. Looks like it has a black beak with some black coloring around it.

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
Today is the first time I've seen this bird and I don't know what it is. It appears gray in the picture but actually had a bluish tint. It also appears to have a crest or tuft of some kind on its head as well as some reddish coloring under its wing. I wish I could have gotten a better picture. If anyone knows what this bird is, please leave a comment.

Photo taken 26 Jan 2009
The female cardinal has just picked up a piece of food.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is hanging upside down and sideways to get at the corn and nut block.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
Two squirrels together. One eating from the seed and nuts on the ground and the other eating from the corn and nut block.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This squirrel has just climbed up to the fence post. He's in "alert" mode - checking to see if everything's ok before he settles down.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is climbing the tree behind my patio.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
These two squirrels were having a great time chasing each other around and doing flips. Then they both stopped at the same time to eat something.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is sniffing the ground looking for hidden peanuts.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
The squirrel is eating the peanut flavored suet cake.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
The Carolina wren preparing to peck at the corn and nut block.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
The Carolina wren has decided to go for the cherry flavored suet cake.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
This Carolina wren is perched atop the corn and nut block waiting to eat.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
A Carolina wren perched on the fence top.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.
I thought this was a chickadee, but now I'm not sure. This bird is small, maybe three or four inches. It has black coloring on its top with a grayish white belly. It does not have the black cap or the white throat of the black capped chickadee. If you know what this bird is, please leave a comment.

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009.

I thought this was a chickadee, but now I'm not sure. It does not look like the black capped chickadee. Maybe there are other kinds of chickadees. Do you know?

Photo taken 13 Jan 2009
I believe this is a chickadee.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
Four starlings eating the suet cakes.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
Some of the starlings who flew in this morning. These are landing on the suet cake cages to eat. You can see that the lowest one is still in the process of landing with its wings still open.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This starling has picked up a peanut to eat.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
Today about 30 starlings flew in all together - they seemed to be everywhere. I wish I could have gotten better pictures, they were really awesome to see. These are some eating the seed off the ground.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This is another of the blue jays who flew in and is in the process of picking up a peanut before flying off again. That is a young starling in the foreground.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
The blue jay has picked up a peanut in its beak and will momentarily fly away with it.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This blue jay is looking at the peanuts for the best one to take. They are very selective and when time permits will drop one and pick up another that must appear better to them.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This squirrel has just grabbed a peanut [he has it in his mouth] and has run to the tree with it. When he gets high enough, he will sit on a branch to eat the peanut. [The round things on the tree are the stumps of lower limbs that the maintenance crew cut off last summer.]

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This squirrel is putting a peanut in his mouth. All morning the squirrels, blue jays and starlings have been grabbing the peanuts and running/flying away with them.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
This squirrel was walking across my patio and stopped long enough for me to get his picture.

Photo taken 9 Jan 2009.
Squirrel at the bird feeder.

Photo taken 7 Jan 2009.
Two sparrows perched atop the patio fence.

Photo taken 7 Jan 2009.
Another picture of the female cardinal.

Photo taken 7 Jan 2009.
Today the female cardinal came around to eat and I got a few pictures, although they are not good ones. But you definitely can see she is much less colorful than the male cardinal.

Photo taken 7 Jan 2009.
One of the three blue jays who come around - mostly for the peanuts but they also like the fruit and seed mix I put on the ground.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
A starling perched atop the bush that grows behind my patio fence.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of a starling perched atop my patio fence.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
A starling eating the suet cake. I just today put in a new one - this is a raisin flavored one, which they will eat - but they much prefer the peanut flavored one.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of a starling on fence top. The starlings usually get some greasy suet stuck on their beak [you can see it in the picture] and rub it against the fence top to remove it before they go back to eat more.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of a starling perched on the suet cake cage.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
My flock of sparrows eating bird seed off the ground. The squirrels usually raid the feeder to eat the sunflower seeds and knock the rest of the seed on the ground where the birds are waiting to eat it.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Two sparrows at the bird feeder.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
A sparrow perched on the patio fence.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
A close-up picture of one of the sparrows sitting on my patio fence.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Picture of the cardinal taken from a different angle.

Photo taken 6 Jan 2009.
Another picture of the cardinal.