Good shots Savona! They are indeed beautiful birds!

Sharon

Love the third picture, looks like a bit of attitude going on there... a lovers tiff perhaps?!

Great closeups!
I've heard others say the Evening Grosbeaks seem quite tame, but the one's i've had here seem flighty. Maybe it has something to do with where the feeder is...its fairly exposed. Anyhoo, I sure haven't been able to get close enough for a good pic. Very nice, Savona :)

Excellent, Savona! I haven't seen one yet!
I was thinking about getting a thread going about bird talk for this winter....thanks for the start!
What I wanted to say, this winter is very different for me here in the Beaumont area, it's very, very slow!
I was hearing that the north had a very good berry crop this year, that's maybe why I haven't seen any Bohemian Waxwings yet?
Oh...no Redpolls either! 0,0,0,0,0 0..
How is it in your area?
One good note: the regulars, Chickadees, more then ever before!
Of coarse, still see the others like Downy wood pecker, Red and white breasted nuthatch, Blue Jay.
Konrad

Great shots Savona! They usually come through here sometime in the summer, clean out the feeders and then leave. I wasn't sure they were the same, but DH said they are.

Sierra

Konrad, we've got your waxwings right now, huge flocks of them in the neighbours yard & in the poplars along the escarpment.
They've been hanging around on and off for a couple weeks. Hopefully next year we'll have some berries or fruit on our trees so they'll spend some time in our yard.

Kondrad it has been pretty slow around here bird wise too except for the chickadees. I seen a flock of red polls a few days ago but not at my place. So far no juncos or pine grosbeaks have showed up. I have a few Hairy Woodpeckers here and the other day just as it was getting dark I believe it was a Downey Woodpecker that was at the Wood pecker bar. Hopefully after this colder weather more birds will show up..savona
The wind was really ruffling this guys feathers

That poor little chickadee looks cold. You need to put a lil coat on him and knit him a hat and scarf. ;))

Very nics pics!

Sierra

Another miserable day here today but I did get out to take a picture of the Downey Woodpecker when it came to feed.Today I had a flock of Pine Grosbeaks here and took a couple pictures through the dining room window but my camera said I needed to change batteries so I wont be able to see if I got a decent picture until later.....savona

Garden chicken, let me know when the bird have cleaned up the berries, so I know they are heading south! LOL
Actually, what area you're in?

Lovely pictures, Savona!
Keep them coming!
Konrad

The pine grosbeaks today were flighty and wouldnt let me close to them. I love the soft chirping they make while talking to each other. I also had some sparrows come into feed with them..savona p.s. sierra the way I knit the dee dee's are much better off without my help...lol

I think those are my favorie winter bird :) Nice shots savona! I had one here singing in that pretty voice of theirs a couple weeks back, but haven't seen any since. I thought after this cold weather they would have showed up, pickins' must be good out in the bush.

My daughter got some nice pictures of pine grosbeaks at her feeder. I'll get her to email them to me and i'll post them here. We haven't had any grosbeaks yet this year, but then i just got some sunflower seeds, so i'm sure we'll seeing some soon.

I now have Oregon Juncos here and we had a nuthatch zip in and out before I could get the camera. We are still waiting for the Red Polls to come to the feeders. The Pine Grosbeaks come a couple times a day to get seeds. It seems the male downey Woodpecker and Female Hairy Woodpecker take turns coming to the Woodpecker bar,could be there is more then them but just one at a time shows up.Last year I had 5 Hairy Woodpeckers here at a time.
Female hairy Woodpecker

I decided to come back and look at this thread....good thing I did or I would have missed this cute little guy.

Ohhhhh you knit like me then. haha!

Sierra

Very nice Savona!

I did see a Common Redpoll in your second last picture, to
the very right.
I have seen and herd today a few, high up on
a spruce tree on the cones!
Konrad

Nice shots, Savona. We rarely get Evening Grosbeaks so a flock of them would be a real treat.

My feeders are somewhat slow this winter - after last year's Redpoll extravaganza, this year I have none. There was a flock fly through a few weeks back but they were only around for a day. Bohemian Waxwings (a flock of about 250) came, hung around for about a month and left, and the Pine Grosbeaks were only around for a day or two. Up until earlier this month I had both Red and White breasted nuthatches, but they're also gone as are the House Finches.

I've got a number of Hairy Woodpeckers (I think 6), a few Downies, a couple or so Blue Jays and lots of Chickadees. That's it - it'll be a cheap year for birdseed. The only food really getting eaten out there is beef fat and peanuts.

Hm...Your feeder is slow too, pudge.
I can gladly say, Redpolls have returned this weekend, about 20 of them.
My large 25 litre sunflower feeder run empty the other day, [black sunflower seed]
I have filled it with regular sunflower seed and no chickadee far and wide!....They like the good stuff!
Have bought a large bag of the black this weekend and mixed some with the others,...these spoiled buggers..LOL

Here some Common Redpolls...

Konrad thanks for ID'ing the common red poll. I was confused this year. The few red polls I have came in with the Pine Grosbeaks and fed off the ground with them instead of up on the feeders.I havent seen any adults with the red cap close enough to ake sure that was what they were. The feeders have gone fairly quiet the last few mild days but I am sure the weather will take a turn for the worse soon. savona

I love your close up shots Kondrad, it feels like i can reach out and touch. Today we had a grosbeak come to feed that was very dark..is it normal to have the odd ( I believe Evening Grosbeak)this colour?...savona

I was told the dark Evening Grosbeak was a sub-species of the Evening Grosbeak. I finally got a picture of a Red-Breasted Nuthatch. These little guys are fast!..savona

Savona, that looks like deeeelicious bird food! Do you make it yourself? I've never seen a feeder like that.

We used to get the little red guys when we were in Calgary, and only on rare occasion saw the white ones, but out here in Okotoks we only seem to get the white ones, have yet to see a red. They are so cute!

What a great photo. I find birds so tough to photograph - they just don't stay still long enough for me.

I finally have Pine Grosbeaks visiting on a regular basis, and I spoke with my brother the other night (he lives about 3 miles from town) and he said he has Evening Grosbeaks coming to feed.

Had to laugh - i was at a friend's house this afternoon and two other women were visiting. The one was admiring all the cardinals at the bird feeder. Pine grosbeaks! LOL

GC..I bought the feeder and the seed bars at Wal-Mart. They smell as good as they look. The Woodpeckers love them but so do the nuthatches and chickdees.
Pudge the Pine Grosbeaks are here everyday and the Evening Grosbeaks come here off and on, last year I didnt have one Evening grobeak so this is a bonus year for me. Since it has been warmer there isnt as many birds feeding here.
savona

Thanks Savona!...love your dark Grosbeak!
I was down in Colombia for 3 weeks and got some pictures to share of birds, country etc. over in the bird watching forum.
I will be posting about every second day or so.
Konrad

4 male Pine Grosbeaks finally showed up here today! Its like christmas all over again with all that red :)
Sure been a slow year at my feeder...like you say, Savona, it must be because its warmer and definately not as stormy. I have seen purple finches flying about the yard but none at the feeder, whereas last year they were second only to chickadees.

I'll definately be checking your photos out Konrad!

Here's a cheat, but he/she was close to the yard...such a unique opportunity I thought you might enjoy him. I think he's a Willow Ptarmigan, he was making quite a rucous.

This is cool!...I have never seen one, thanks for telling us about your encounter!
Still allot of Redpolls here....but that's about it.

Konrad

Very cool indeed. I've never seen a Willow Ptarmigan - I don't think they come this far south - then again, they'd be hard to spot in a snowy landscape.

I've got a flock of about 30 Redpolls - a mix of Common and Hoary, feeding from Niger, Canola, and Sunflower chips, Pine Grosbeaks )with some males showing up only occasionally) feeding on BOSS, Woodpeckers feeding on homemade suet and chunks of beef fat (there's quite a few of them so I have 5 feeding stations set up cause they don't like to share), Blue Jays feeding on peanuts, and chickadees eating pretty much all of the above.

I can't help but feel sorry for all the birds when the weather gets so darn cold.

Konnrad I will have to go take a look at your pictures.

Wow Toots I am glad you could track him down.He has great camoflage!What perfectly placed footsteps he leaves behind too.
I've had more of the very dark evening grosbeaks here again.This one doesnt have as much dark on him but still a lot darker then the evening grosbeaks. At first I thought it was a black-headed grosbeak but they dont have the yellow band over the eyes and have white bars on their wings instead of the larger white area

Another Pine Grosbeak! They finally sat still for me when it was so cold this past week, there was no way they were giving up their spot at the feeders.

Very cute, Toots!
I love them both!

For about 10 day's now, I see the first Bohemian Waxwings this Winter, [large floks] here in Beaumont.
Perhaps the berries are drying up far north?
Konrad

Konrad,
The waxwings have finally cleaned up the nannyberries in my yard. This year they seem to have preferred the mountain ash. Those have been finished for a long time.
They are beautiful birds and I'm sorry I have no more berries to attract them.

Hm..that figures...thanks for telling!
Konrad

Great pictures Toots.There seems to be less birds at the feeders again as it has warmed up, but today was a busy day. I had the batteries charging and out of the camera but for the first time I had 2 camp robbers here. We are starting to see a lot of birds of prey so they must be starting to move northward. Konrad I had a peek in the bird forum and am admiring your pictures you posted there...savona

Konrad I enjoyed your holiday birds too! Savona, camp robbers (I call em whiskeyjacks) are my favourite... we don't get them at my house but they follow me on hikes and steal my hot dog buns. I like how they look so soft.

My bird feeders were sadly neglected all winter - I finally got some seeds and fat and hung them up this week but I haven't seen a single bird yet. I guess they're mad at me and went somewhere else. I hope I get some when they start to migrate.

They came back today so I managed to get a couple pictures.I am fond of them too :-). I am sure the birds will find your seed soon Gill. One will find it and bring 200 of his friends..lol
Grey Jays

What a coincidence...they just showed up at my feeder a couple days ago!
I've never had them at the feeders yet, so I'm happy :) When the fledglings are out and about in the spring they usually visit the yard, but never to the feeder and they have never stayed. Neighbor lady has had them eating out of her hand for years...too fun :)

Toots maybe you just need to put hot dog buns on the feeder and pretend like you're roasting a hot dog. ;0)

Hey, don't laugh the feeder's not far from the fire pit,I may just try that...LOL!

Thanks you Savona & Gill
I'm sure Gill, you will have some birds enjoying a meal at you feeder sooner or later.

Yes, that Whiskeyjack looks sooo..soft!...great shot, Savona!
I have still allot Redpolls, up to 30 on many feeders, soon they will be heading north to the tundra for breeding.
You guy's north have seen any nesting?
YES...migrating birds should show up anytime now, ...then we can "finally" see spring coming!
Konrad

I don't notice redpolls around here in the summer, they must go further north with the snow buntings. I was wondering though when the Whiskey Jacks start nesting, because they're one of the first fledglings out in the spring. I thought it might be why they were out and about and maybe came to the feeder to look for suitors?

We've started calving now and every year I note in my records when the crows and then the geese show up. Last year crows showed up on March 9th and the first geese on March 23rd. They seem to send out scouts first then the bigger flocks show up a bit later.
But I think I saw crows a few days ago and it wouldn't surprise me becasue of the mild spell we had in February, but I always second guess myself this time of year between crows and ravens :(

Gil, " Build it and they will come" .
It took a couple seasons way out where I am to get the birds coming regularly, but its amazing how fast they figure it out once a few have started. I remember the panic I felt when a bird would show up to check out the feeder and it would be empty! I'd drop everything and run out and fill it hoping I didn't totally freak them out! I'm a hopeless birder :)

Can I have your vote on this Bohemian Waxwing please.
It only runs for one day, today.
No prices are given away but it's nice to see a high vote.
Thanks
Konrad

Here is a link that might be useful: Bohemian Waxwing

Awww sorry, Konrad! Missed by a day:( It was absolutely , definately worth voting for! Beautiful shot! I love your photography.

I can't wait to see some Waxwings here...shouldn't be long now. We had a couple starlings almost 2 weeks ago and a goose flyby a few days ago. The starling showed up earlier than last year, but the goose is almost a week later, go figure. Spring has kind of lost its momentum around here and the snow is not really melting very fast.

Toots

Konrad, that was an amazing picture! The colours are so rich....just beautiful.

I had a really neat experience about a month ago, to have chickadees eating out of my hand, but I didn't have the camera close by. Today, I finally was able to get a few good pictures of them. I can't believe how brave they were.

Some of them seemed to be even posing.....such hams!lol

Awww Laurie that is so cute! They're such friendly little things. :0)

Thank you all!

Laurie, sooo...adorable, nice pictures!
You sure have allot of patient and time!.....But it's worth it!

All Redpoll's have left about 5 day's ago....how about your's?
Konrad

Laurie my grandkids would love having chickadees take seeds right out of their hands.I'm still having redpolls show up here at the feeders. The pine grosbeaks and evening grosbeaks left awhile ago. I have big flocks of blackbirds gobbling up any seeds I put out but worth hearing them sing in the trees around the place...savona

Neato Laurie!

The ones here aren't very bold this year, but last year they surprised me by landing on me when I went to fill the feeder. They would also do flybys at me out in the yard when the feeder was empty, so one day I thought, if they wanted the seed bad enough they could come to my hand...and they did! Great shots :)

Konrad, not a lot patience was needed for these guys. In about 10 minutes I had about 25 pictures taken, and my arm was getting sore, so that ended the photo shoot!lol I guess the trick is, to get them used to having a feeder in one spot for the winter, and then just replacing your hand for it. The first time, I just moved the feeder under the table right by my feet, and the little buggers saw it there and went to it. But once I put the feeder in the house out of site, they had no problem with eating out of my hand.....one almost landed on my head too.
As for the redpolls, yes, it was about 4 or 5 days ago that they've left here too.