The Best Winter Colors

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know that I enjoy watching birds from out of the many windows in my sewing area. I especially enjoy watching them when there is snow on the ground. Jack is diligent with making sure there is plenty of food for the birds when the temperatures drop and the snow falls, and this year has been no different. 

We haven't had much snow, so this morning was the first time that I sat with a cup of coffee and marveled at the birds and their beautiful colors. 

I wasn't thinking about taking pictures when I first sat down; but when I remembered that I hadn't shared any on the blog yet (or much of any content, for that matter), I grabbed my phone. It's difficult to see in this picture, but this is a blue jay and his color is beautiful. Do you notice how the smaller birds stay far away from the blue jay? Jack and I enjoy watching the dynamic of these birds and how they interact with each other. 

While this picture is even more challenging to see, this male cardinal is gorgeous. I love the bright red against the white snow. Beautiful!! The male cardinals don't seem to mind sharing the same space with other birds, but they do NOT like to share it with other male cardinals. And typically, the males and females take turns going to the feeders or to the seeds on the ground. 

As you can see in the pictures, there is a wooded ravine behind the birds. Because of that, we are blessed to see a lot of birds and other animals. Deer and fox are pretty common sights for us and we always enjoy seeing them as well. 

The trees bring out the woodpeckers and we often see a variety of them. I love the red head on this one so of course I took a lot of pictures.  :-)  

As you can see in the picture below, the woodpeckers generally are ok with sharing the area with other varieties of birds too. 

We didn't see any eagles or hawks today, but hopefully we'll get a chance to do so soon.

The birds provide color on cold and snowy winter day; and for that, I am grateful.

It's For the Birds

As promised, here are a few more bird pictures that I thought you might enjoy. To see the previous pictures, click HERE.

Check out the wing on this bird. There is a stick going right through it.

We first noticed this bird Saturday morning, and Jack and I were worried that he was injured and might not survive the freezing temperatures. Much to our surprise, we've seen him every day, including today. The stick is still there and he's still pretty darn aggressive towards the other birds. I guess I would be too if I had a stick in my wing. We'll continue to look for him every day and keep our fingers crossed that he survives.

There is no shortage of birds just about every time we look outside. Not only are they on the feeders, they congregate underneath them, in the trees and bushes, and even on our back porch.  

We love seeing the male cardinals, since they are such a bright red. The kids love to see them too, and we've been seeing a lot lately. This is just one, but it's not unusual to see three or four of them at a time. Cardinals always make me think of my sister Pat, who lives in Washington. I can't imagine not seeing these beautiful birds, so this picture is for you Pat!  😍💖

I enjoy seeing more than one bird on the sunflower feeder. 

We've got a couple of woodpeckers that come every day, but this is the only one I've been able to capture on film. (When Avery saw this, she asked if it was a woodbanger bird. That made me smile!)

Here's an interesting bird. Take a look at the bird in the middle of the picture. I took this picture and it's not great.  

Jack's daughter Linda was able to get much better pictures.  

None of us have ever seen this before. It has all the features of a female cardinal, except that white head.

It's quite fascinating to us. 

We've seen her every day since the 22nd. 

We continue to enjoy feeding and watching this birds. I've got additional pictures with another grandchild that I'll share later.

Stay warm and be safe if you are going out to celebrate tonight.

Helpers!

It's been quiet here on the blog over the last week, but that's only because we've been busy celebrating with family and friends.

In my previous post, I had pictures of our Christmas celebration here on Dec. 22nd, but I didn't share pictures of earlier that day when Avery and Peyton were here. They came early while Lynn and Ty ran errands, etc. Because it was just the girls (we figured Layne should probably stay with Lynn), we had lots of time to play and enjoy some alone time with them.

As with all the grandkids, Avery and Peyton love to be helpers. They helped Grandpa Jack fill the bird feeders. (Notice that the girls are wearing short sleeves. It was pretty warm that day {Dec. 22nd}, but that didn't last long. Check out the pictures at the end of the post that I took Dec. 23rd.) 

After filling the feeders, you really do have to come inside to check out which birds came to enjoy a feast.

Of course when you're using binoculars to check out birds, you have to check out each other too.

And when there are gifts under the tree, binoculars help you read the names written on each package. 

And in Peyton's case, you have to check out your favorite tree ornaments.

It was a good thing they filled those feeders because this is what it was like outside the very next day.

 

I have a lot more pictures to share, but I've got work to do. Perhaps I'll share them later today or tomorrow.