Best time of the year

Well – almost 🙂

Faithful followers of this journal will recall that we spend three to four months each winter visiting and walking around the nearby bird observatory in the snow and deep cold to top up the feeders and to take a census of what birds are to be seen. We share this duty with a couple of friends who visit on different days. We really look forward to this every year – it is so enjoyable.

Thursday was the first session this winter – no snow on the ground, drizzly skies and a temperature of approximately +2C.

Brilliant.

Twelve species of birds, including a small flock of colourful House Finches (list follows) and a group of three White-tailed Deer peering at us with curiosity through some very tangled branches.

Photographs below.

*Click on any photo to see it full size and to read the captions

Protocol: Traveling
2.207 kilometer(s)
12 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 22
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 1
Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus) 2
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 6
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 2
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 24
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 30
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 15
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 4