Christmas Birds

I'm too tired to write much tonight--it has been a big day what with opening all those presents and being married for 34 years and all.

We got an unusual snow storm on Christmas Eve which made driving to church interesting for me and terrifying for our Caribbean guests. The snow stuck around for part of today and that meant the birds could see the seeds I put out for them and they seemed to be hungry today! I saw 12 species without even going outside, and another one when I took a short walk around the neighborhood.

I broke my trusty little camera the last minutes we were at my mom's in MI, so I was disappointed to miss some shots the last few days. It served me well for 5 years. Lucky me, I got a new one under the Christmas tree! It was the same kind I had before, which is good, because I liked that brand/kind/size (Casio Exilim). I'm anxious to try it out on my backyard birds, because the quality is lots better than the old one.

Winter Solstice 2009

I participated in Birdstack's Winter Solstice 2009 Bird observation today. I wore my binoculars around my neck as I walked to work and someone asked me about them. I mentioned what I was doing and they wanted to know if the Christmas Bird count had become now the Winter Solstice Bird count. I told them that that is a different thing altogether, and perhaps the person was making a comment about modern society's current fad to remove all the religious terminology from everyday vocabulary items.

Anyway, I did see a few birds today and made my list. I wish I could have used yesterday's list, because there were even more birds in my backyard yesterday.

I like birding in the winter--I can see the birds because the leaves have fallen off the trees.

Another Birding Post

We just got back from a short three days in Michigan to visit my mom and other family. It was COLD! My mom has turned into a little bit of a birder in her old age, and she faithfully refills her feeders. While there we saw American Goldfinches, Mourning Doves, House Sparrows, a Northern Cardinal, and some others. We also visited my Aunt and Uncle, and they had even more at their feeders: Downey Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Dark-eyed Juncos. I took a walk in the park and saw a Belted Kingfisher up in the tree above Fish Creek.

Today seemed like a good birding day in my backyard. The leaves are off the trees, so I can see the birds easier. I recored 10 species in just a few minutes, including a House Wren and Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. I hope the birds are that cooperative tomorrow, since it is time for the Birdstack Winter Solstice count:



Baby Isabella talks about "bird food" and watches the birds with me--that is a lot of fun. I got a nice bird book from my sister for Christmas. I'm sad to report that I lost the nice "How to Identify Birds" book that I just received from my father-in-law--I left it on the plane--so sad! I really wanted to finish reading it.

And another bad thing happened on this trip--my camera (which I received exactly 5 years go) got wrecked as we were leaving. I must have leaned against the rental car while brushing the snow off and cracked the display. Oh, well, I was wanting a new camera anyway!! :-)