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Saturday, December 18, 2010

Visitors Welcome

After this week’s snowfall, there were a LOT of unwelcome visitors (UV) at the feeders as described in a recent post. The feeding frenzy continued throughout most of yesterday. Many UV were in the crepe myrtle tree looking for further handouts – none were forthcoming.

starlings treed1210 (1)starlings treed1210 (2)

This morning, however, the UV were not around. The smaller birds reappeared to scrounge whatever seed remained in the feeders that escaped the larger birds.  All the feeders will be refilled shortly.

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A male cardinal also stopped by all decked out in winter plumage.

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male cardinal1210 (5)male cardinal1210 (2)

Stopping briefly to check out the temperatures on Grenville’s John Deere thermometer?

male cardinal1210 (1)

Stay warm and enjoy the weekend.

9 comments:

Out on the prairie said...

Beautiful shots, I like the John Deere in your yard.It is one of the biggest employers in my town.The town in it,Moline is about 150 miles away.Ahhh my tractor is a Sears.Your temps are close to what we have.I filled my feeders without gloves yesterday, and lost feeling in my fingertips.I added another yesterday, and will add a few more as the season goes.

Montanagirl said...

Love those Cardinals. Send some my way! They're beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Those Cardinals are just so beautiful!

Have a great day now!
Christer.

Unknown said...

wishing you both a wonderful Christmas too. I guess it is finally almost here. We have a family get together tonight. love the photos of your house, trees and the birds. We've had lots of little snowbirds juncos.. and small birds feeding today. I have to watch the feeders. I add bread and treats of leftovers and Daisy our dog will help clean up under the feeder!!! Merry Christmas and Happy NEw Year.. Diana

Elaine said...

I'm playing catchup here as I didn't manage to get much blogging done the last several days. I do like your variety of songbirds at your feeders. Mine have been pretty quiet for several days as we've had temps ranging from the minus 20s to 40s. During the warmer weather the birds will stash seeds and then just hunker down at their stashes to conserve energy.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hello everyone thanks for the comments on our feathered friends. The cardinal is the Virginia state bird and a favorite of mine too. The male is especially striking when displaying his breeding colors.

Steve, the feeders are just about empty now and will need refilling, but I'm planning to use more safflower in the mix to discourage (hopefuly) some of the unwelcome crowd. I usually don't wear gloves when filling them and my hands get cold too. Grenville is a big John Deere fan and has made much use of his utility tractor.

Mona and Christer, wish I could send some Cardinals your way, but we prefer to keep them here.

Diana, thanks it was good seeing you too recently and we love the painting. Glad you enjoyed the birds and holidays decos. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Elaine, we all tend to fall behind during this busy season. Thanks for the comments. Your temps are definitely NOT for the birds or even humans...brrrr.

Carole Barkett said...

That is a busy group of feeders, love the Cardinals. what are the UV's blackbirds?

Lois Evensen said...

Very nice images. We love all those feathered friends, too. We even like your UVs. ;) They look like starlings to me. Is that right? We get more sparrows than starlings, but they all take turns.

Stay warm!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi Carole (Country Mouse), I believe the UV were mostly starlings and grackles and there were some red-winged blackbirds and cowbirds in the bunch too.

Thanks Lois, yes you are right in that there were lots of starlings and they will eat all the seed leaving nothing for the smaller birds.