Go forth and count the birds you see!
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Inspired by Ele’s Bird People post and the upcoming Great Backyard Bird Count, I thought I’d take inventory of our backyard birds. We’ve been feeding the birds for about two years now and we’ve had lots of different species pop by. Sadly, we’ve never yet seen a Cedar Waxwing. Ele, I can’t explain how jealous I am!
Here’s our list of birds viewed at our feeders:
American Goldfinch
Cardinal
Chickadee
Common Grackle
Eastern Bluebird
European Starling
House Finch
Indigo Bunting (female only)
Mourning Dove
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker
Pine Warbler
Purple Finch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-headed Woodpecker
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Slate-colored Junco
Tufted Titmouse
Here are some pictures we’ve taken of birds at our feeders. Most are taken through the window screen.
A ruby-throated hummingbird
A juvenile bluebird
A fat adult bluebird
A fat adult bluebird
An American goldfinch
Red-headed woodpecker – these are gorgeous to see!
The cats love watching the birds, so close they can almost taste them!
Red-headed woodpecker – these are gorgeous to see!
The cats love watching the birds, so close they can almost taste them!
We have updated and expanded our bird feeder system! We have totally bought into the Advanced Pole System from Wild Birds Unlimited. We now have four feeder poles, a birdbath and a Bluebird house.
There are two main feeder poles, set up right behind our family room windows. Our guests and our cats, as well as us, love being able to watch the birds all day long as they come and go. One pole has a Supreme Blend feeder, a Thistle feeder, a Peanut feeder and a branch for birds to rest on. The second pole has a Supreme Blend feeder, a cup feeder for mealworms, raisins and other treats, and another branch. We have one small feeder pole (near the birdhouse) that has a peanut feeder, and another larger feeder pole (near the deck) that is currently empty. We’ll put at least two hummingbird feeders there once it gets a little warmer.
We placed two suet block feeders in trees out in the back of the yard. The suet tends to attract Mockingbirds, which we love, but Mockingbirds are so very agressive that you don’t really want them on your feeders. So we put the suet in the back of the yard to attract them and yet keep them away from the feeders. In this close-up picture, you can see the red suet cage and a Mockingbird!
We installed a birdbath on the railing off the deck, near the feeders. Now we have to go out and dump the ice every morning. 🙂
Lastly, we installed our Cele-Birdies infrared camera into Dave’s new Bluebird House and put it up in the yard next to our bedroom window.
Here’s us testing out the camera in the house, before we installed it. If you look closely at the TV screen, you can see me taking the picture! We’ll post more pictures when we get some inhabitants – right now all you can see is empty wooden box. 
I’m always surprised at what a fun hobby this is! Our birds are definitely spoiled. 🙂