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Our feeders generally attract the standard cardinals, blue jays, pileated woodpeckers, and other small things. But the swamp in the backyard attracts the fun stuff: various types of hawks, egrets, herons, and owls.

Jon

I still have the Painted Buntings hanging around my feeders, two males and a female. Beautiful little birds. The Cowbirds seem to have gone elsewhere, and good riddance, although I enjoy that weird waterwhistle call. I put out two cakes of peanut suet, and the Ladderback Woodpeckers and Bewick’s Wrens can’t seem to get enough. A couple of Cardinals are molting and look ridiculous without head feathers. They’re prone to mites this time of year and will go bald to get rid of them. Titmice and Carolina Chickadees are ever-present.

I’ve been spreading cayenne pepper around my feeders to deter squirrels, and it’s working.

I've noticed that the birds are getting more selective when it comes to their meal. Always bought that same bird food, and normally there weren't any leftovers on the next day. Things have changed this year. They seem to like the sunflower seeds (and a couple other thingies) and leave the the rest for the bigger bird - a Eurasian Jay who lands on my window sill maybe once a week and helps himself to what the other birds don't want.

Birdie num num photo:

Christ, I hope the heron is ok. That seems like the wildlife equivalent of having two 7-11 burritos and a tallboy of Bud Ice for breakfast.

While picking up my daughters from school, I saw a very large black bird hovering in circles above the road.

Reminded me a little at first of a vulture, but I hadn’t seen one around my town for a while.

Get closer, bird is huge with a yellow beak, white head and tail.

Apparently, Volo now has an auto museum, a bog, and a bald eagle.

I throw out a few kibbles for the crows in a some spots my dog and I pass on our daily walks. Sometimes they'll follow us for a few blocks. Their late-afternoon happy hours are sometimes pretty crazy, just the sound of it. Hundreds of crows cawing away from perches on a few adjacent tall trees.

The feeders have been crazy lately with bluebird. goldfinch, cardinal, tufted titmouse, junco, carolina wren, verio, house finch or purple finch or maybe both, chickadee, various sparrows, red bellied woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, eastern nuthatch, and the fuckin' starlings that eat the bluebird's mealworms with a voracious appetite. Fuckers.

Yesterday I saw a Pileated woodpecker. Didn't know they hung around over the winter.

We saw a couple bald eagles on our neighborhood walk. Their urban sightings around here are suprising.

Saw a kestrel whilst walking the dogs earlier, got a quick video just before it flew away. Love the birds!

Nico Adie wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 4:40 pm Saw a kestrel whilst walking the dogs earlier, got a quick video just before it flew away. Love the birds!

The (American) kestrel is the absolute cutest bird that could also rip your face off. I see them around my neighborhood, too.