Our neighbor has a huge holly tree (bush). It must be 40 feet high. Yesterday, I saw a large flock of birds descend on the tree. There were dozens and dozens of robins pecking at the berries. I guess the poor fellows had nothing else to eat and when all else fails, birds will eat holly berries. I have seen flocks of cedar waxwings dive-bomb holly trees and bushes, but not robins. Holly … [Read more...]

I was out and about last week, stocking up on birdseed with 3-inches of snow and ice still clinging to the grass in my yard. I always have sunflower hearts and premium birdseed from Sam’s Club, but I bought a 5-pound bag of nuts and berries as a special treat for my mockingbirds, woodpeckers, titmice, and blue jays. I have a small gang of blue jays, maybe 5 or 6 birds, and they know somehow … [Read more...]

Hal Hurka, a friend and fellow birder, emailed that he had seen a pine warbler in his yard. Hal lives in the Cherry Avenue area of Charlottesville and says that behind his house are woods that are 400 feet deep with large poplars and some pines. As the warbler visited his feeders, he was able to get the picture above. Interestingly, my wife gave me a bird feeder with a camera that will also … [Read more...]

My suet feeders have been getting more and more attention since the weather got cold. They were quite popular this week with rain on the ground and nothing much to eat except for my feeders and the seeds I scattered. I saw nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, sparrows, chickadees, titmice, and wrens squeezing in and out of the suet cages. Suet is an inexpensive way to feed … [Read more...]

I am proud to say that I have my own personal flock of doves. There are 8, maybe 10 and they are regular visitors to my back yard. They fly in about 7 in the morning, just after I have scattered assorted seeds in the back, and they are delighted to find and eat the seeds that the others pass by. I think they eat some of the whole kernel corn that I also distribute, but mostly the crows and the … [Read more...]

I saw a post this week on a Neighborhood site that said Black Oil Sunflower seed was the best buy because all birds can eat it. Not true, Sunflower for birdseed comes three ways: whole, hearts and chips. The whole, black-oil sunflower seeds are ideal for cardinals because cardinals have beaks equipped to break the hulls and then eat the hearts. Doves swallow the seeds whole and their craw … [Read more...]

The State of Louisiana is a sprawling system of bayous. We call them creeks in the east, but there are tens of thousands of interweaving and connecting bayous in the Pelican State and each has a name. While we were in this part of the country, Nancy and I had a chance to explore some of the bayous and it was fascinating. From our first Port-of-Call at Darrow, LA, we went aboard a river craft with … [Read more...]

Who would ever name a bird “titmouse?” The poor little tufted titmouse has nothing in common with a mouse, or the other part of its name. The regal little bird with the crest should have been named the silver prince or something equally as distinguished. But its name is the tufted titmouse, and we always have them at our feeder. About 10 years … [Read more...]

I am on the Next-Door mailing list, which lets neighbors share tips, warnings, and general messages. One of the neighbors wrote about late nesting bluebirds and others chimed in that they had seen more bluebirds this year than ever.  And I agree. My bluebirds had three successful nests, including a late hatch, and my feeders and birdbaths have since been filled with the cheerful … [Read more...]

A saw a familiar bird in the yard this week, one I had not seen in a while. It was a snowbird. They left last year around mid-March, and like clockwork, they returned in mid-November. Each year I have a small flock of snowbirds, Dark-Eyed Juncos. The 10 or 12 small gray birds shelter in our thick bushes, making occasional and regular darts beneath our feeder to scratch for dislodged seeds. … [Read more...]