Susan,

I enjoy talking veggies but we can discuss other topics here too! There's just not a lot of talk about ornamentals in the winter. I still have flowers in bloom: Laura Bush pink and purple petunias, sweet alyssum (usually I lose it in the summer heat, so having it survive from March until December is unusual but nice), and dianthus. Some of the herbs are still green (chives, rosemary, mint, lower leaves of lemon balm, sage, and catmint). There's even a little bit of catnip growing by the chicken coop door, and I didn't even plant any there...but you know how that goes.

I feed the birds year-round and they return the favor by spending indordinate amounts of time eating bugs in the garden. So, I am a casual birdwatcher but not a real serious one. I have 3 finch feeders and they are being visited by goldfinches, house finches and purple finches. Those feeders stay busy all day long. In a regular feeder I have wild bird seed mix with sunflower seeds, and I put out cracked corn on the ground for the doves and sunflower seeds on the ground for the cardinals. Many other birds visit too, including blue jays, chickadees and all kinds of sparrows. We have regular visits from Great Blue Herons who are fishing in our big ponds. Sometimes crows and red-winged blackbirds visit to eat cracked corn.

I also put out fresh water for the birds daily.

Oh, and the brugs are blooming in the garage. I drag them outside for sunlight once the temps get up to the 40s.

We feed a lot of birds on a daily basis, but when it snows, we get about 10 times as many bird visitors. It is amazing.

Dawn

I hope to attract more than the House or Purple Finches, but any and all are welcome at the feeder! I need to get more feeders, but it will be a slow acquisition process, especially with Christmas on the horizon.

I envy your ponds at the Herons! I bet you attract more than Herons, though. Probably a few different genus of ducks and geese as well, not to mention the landlubbing critters like frogs, snakes, and lizards. I saw a lonely little garter snake in the yard one evening - very briefly as it crossed the sidewalk and quickly disappeared in the garden.

I am pretty sure what I have are House Finches because they are more red than raspberry colored as PFs are. I need to look now for the brown head indicative of the HF. The other two are what are throwing me off. Altho one would think they are female HFs, their white breast without streaking are what is throwing me off. More observation will hopefully gain an ID.

If nothing else, they are providing entertainment during the dull winter months.

Sus

We would qualify as casual watchers at our house. We keep a birdfeeder going year round with sunflower seeds and also add suet during the winter. Half of the feed typically goes to the squirrels however. Once I'm sure the squirrels have full bellies, I let our dogs out to have fun chasing the squirrels down our fence row (the dogs are little so there's no way they could ever reach the squirrels). Sometimes it's an all out sprint and other times it rather resembles a game of chicken to see who blinks first. It's quite comical to watch.

The best bird watching was when we lived in Kansas City. Our dining room table sat in a bay window which had the best view of the bird feeder. Winter there brings much more snow so it was not unusual to have a thick blanket on the ground and dozens of red cardinals feeding. It was such a striking picture with the brillance of the bird color against the white backdrop of snow. I could simply watch them for hours.

Lynn

I am glad to see this; we are semi-serious bird watchers and feeders and I love taking pictures of them. I have the finches too and am not sure whether they are house or purple and may have both.

So far this year, we have lots of Cardinals, White Crowned Sparrows, American Goldfinch, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Mourning Doves, and once in a great while a Pileated Woodpecker.

I made suet cakes yesterday and put them on the west side of the house. Already the WC sparrows and the red-bellied woodpecker has found it.

I don't know if it is ok to post pictures here; if not, let me know. I sometimes get carried away!

Susan,

The pond attracts everything....both desirable and undesirable alike.

Our most interesting bird experience was the hawk/rattlesnake battle last spring that left me with a dead hawk and a dead (eventually) rattlesnake right up against the dog yard fence. I came home from a wildfire and found the dead bird still clutching the still-alive snake. First, I got all the dogs inside the garage because I didn't know if the snake was actually firmly in the grasp of the hawk or not. Then, I called a neighbor who rushed over and shot the snake. One thing I've learned living here a rural area is that if you take your eyes off a snake long enough to run inside a get a gun, the snake likely will not be sitting there waiting for your return....but I have great neighbors who run over at the drop of a hat to shoot my snakes. (I do understand now why all the ranchers have a gun in their pickups or on their ATVs at all times.)

Lynn,

We have oodles of cardinals here, but sadly it rarely snows much this far south so I don't get to enjoy their brilliant red against a backdrop of snow. I bet that is gorgeous. On a typical day, we probably have 6 or 7 cardinals at any given time, but on a very cold or sleety/snowy day, we might have a dozen or two.

Glenda,

Photos are always welcomed and enjoyed here. We generally have more house finches than purple finches, but I can't tell them apart unless I'm sitting with binoculars and a bird guide book in my hand. I'm just happy to have them around.

Some of my favorite birds are the ones that don't actually come to the feeders....like the golden eagles and bald eagles we occasionally see flying overhead between us and the Red River or the wild ducks who occasionally spend an afternoon on the big pond.

Being in a rural area, we see lots of hawks and buzzards too, but I am not especially happy to see them around. The funniest thing about the buzzards is that the show up like clockwork if I am adding blood meal or bone meal to a garden bed. Apparently they smell it and think they are going to find something appetizing to eat.

We haven't had a lot of woodpeckers this year, but one of our neighbors has quite a few of them in his really large trees on his property along the river. We have had one flicker that comes and eats daily, and has for months. We've never seen a second flicker though, although I assume that if there's one, there must be more than one.

Dawn

Glenda, please DO post all the images you want cuz I will certainly enjoy them. I live close to downtown OKC so my birds are urbanites and I don't get near the variety that the others who have larger rural properties, like Dawn. My sister lives in SE Kansas, though, and when I used to visit her, she had tons and tons of birds, small town, rural environment. I really loved her bluebirds!

I have yet to see a bluebird or a yellow finch, or anything truly unique. I do have two pair of Cardinals that I love seeing, a motley collection of sparrows of varying shapes and sizes, the HFs and PFs, mockingbirds, and during the summer I get Ruby Throats. I have on rare occasions seen a Downy Woodpecker and a group of Cedar Waxwings. When I worked in downtown OKC at Leadership Square we used to see a lot of goldfinches because they flew into the mirrored windows and knocked themselves silly. We would pick them up and carry them in to the Security Office and the guys would put a styrofoam cup over them until they regained their senses and then take them back outside and let them go.

I would like to attract the woodpeckers and want to do a suet log for them. I did read that some birds like chopped apple and peanut butter, among other things, so today I chopped up some apples that were just beginning to get soft spots on them, smeared some of the larger slices with peanut butter and put them in the wire suet feeder. I chopped up some much smaller pieces and put them in a dish on the ground and will see what happens with them.

This afternoon it looked like the sparrows were starting to come in and dominate the feeder - oh, no! I quit feeding the birds for awhile because all I was getting were huge flocks of sparrows and nothing else. The sparrows eventually left over the next couple of years. So, I thought it might be safe again to put up the feeder. We will see.

My feeder is hanging from a triangular shaped lath that extends in a V out from the house to a wood support. A very old honeysuckle vine climbs the wood support and towers about 4' above the top of the support. More like a tree. Lots of thick, tangled vines beneath the lath and the birds just love to perch on them and hide inside the bush. It is the perfect spot for a feeder because it provides shelter and a quick getaway.

Forgot to mention, I also have two large squat pine trees in the front yard that the birds love as well. So it is a pretty good habitat for them. I love to see the Cardinals when the pines are snow-covered. What a sight to behold!

I am so glad to see others here and read your bird stories, too!

Susan

Gldno, great photo; what kind of camera are you using?

Count me in as another birdwatcher/birdfeeder, though like Mimi, I don't set the table year round. At Thanksgiving I start putting out black oil sunflower seeds in several tube feeders and will also hang suet or tallow if it's really cold. I take them up by St Patrick's. We have many mature trees and several shrubs around the house as well as a number of boxes and birdhouses and I've noticed that fighting over the feeders interferes with nest building. So, I'm happy to help out in the winter, but once it's spring, they're on their own. I only feed BOSS; the Finches like it as well as the considerably more expensive Thistle, and I figure if the birds are just hankering for corn, they can (and do) flit down among the chickens for a little scratch. Our Grandson usually makes a couple of peanut butter pine cone bird feeders each year for Christmas too.

Have you done Cornell's Great Backyard Bird Count? It's a four day, nationwide event that consists of individuals simply looking out their window and counting how many birds (and what species) are hanging around. You don't have to count from your home; anywhere you see birds is good. You can spend as little as 15 minutes on one afternoon, or several hours each day if you have the time. You fill in a different report for each day which is why there are two reports for Bowlegs, although I was the only person participating. I'd like to change that this year, and get the local school science class or at least the 4H group involved. We live on a farm with a good pond, surrounded by open fields and woods that sits at least a half mile from the nearest house, so we have a nice diversity of native birds all winter, everything from Roadrunner and Turkey Vultures to Juncos and Goldfinch. When you add in all the domestic chickens underfoot, it's pretty lively out there. :^)

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Backyard Bird Count FAQ

My family very much enjoys watching and identifying the birds that come to our feeders. We have a well-worn copy of Birds of Oklahoma handy at all times. Here is a link to it on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Birds-Oklahoma-Field-Guide-Tekiela/dp/1885061331
It is a great book. The birds are organized by color, so when you are trying to identify a bird, you just flip to the section highlighted in the major color of the bird. Very easy. My 5 year old is frequently able to correectly identify a bird using this great book.

I forgot another one of our favorites that visits, the White Breasted Nuthatch.

This picture is taken out the kitchen window about 30 feet to the feeder in the Elm tree so the detail isn't as good. I did use the zoom.

Littledog, it is a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ8. It has a 12x zoom and internal stabilization. I take most winter pictures from the warmth of the house through the kitchen window (which has to get cleaned often!)after I removed the inside screen.. I use the zoom and set it on Macro. I often have to adjust the white balance depending on the sun and shade. I take lots of pictures with only a few being very good....I am definitely an amateur and just beginning to learn how to use the camera better.

Fantastic photos, Gldno! And all of you seem to be able to observe a wide diversity of birds in and around your homes and gardens. My garden is pretty tiny, but I seem to get a lot more birds than some city-dwellers. I guess I have lots of other things they are interested in. I leave my flower seedheads up until spring, so they have other seeds to consume as well. My backyard is surrounded by mature hackberry and elm trees, and of course, I already mentioned the pines and the honeysuckle "tree".

I also host plants and nectar plants for the butterflies and moths, and have raised several different kinds. I focus on native plants, which really draws the butterflies and moths. One of my best host plants that provides berries for the birds, too, is Virginia Creeper. My overgrown backyard shelters overwintering butterflies and birds, too.

I will keep posting as I see other birds and critters in the yard, too. I think I will participate in the bird count as well.

Susan

Susan, I'm glad you started this post - I think most gardeners also enjoy the birds. We live north of Oklahoma City on a farm so we have a variety of birds - from bluebirds and finches to hawks and turkey buzzards and herons. We've had more doves this year than ever before, and a lot of the bluebirds are staying for the winter. We cut our old pumpkins in half and put them out for the birds after Thanksgiving - between the birds and the squirrels they have eaten all but the toughest outer shell. We usually fill the empty shell with bread, seeds, and scratch grain - it keeps the squirrels away from the hanging feeders a little longer. I only put BOSS in my hanging feeders - it seems to attract the better birds instead of so many sparrows and grackles.
Glenda, I enjoy the pictures and am envious of your talent.
Please post often.

FG, so glad to see everyone posting about the birds; helps to make the winter go a bit faster.

This is one time I wish I lived in a rural setting rather than the city, but I have become so urbanized that I don't know if I could make it. The older I get the more accustomed I get to having everything closer to me, shopping, doctors, pharmacies, etc.

Your farm and birds sound wonderful! I have some pumpkins and squash I purchased for decoration along with the straw bales. Just cut them in half so the birds can partake? I have the regular pumpkin, along with I believe the blue Hubbard and a couple others, one is taller with green streaks on the orange, and a squat orange squash or pumpkin, too. I've been wondering what to do with them and it sounds great to recycle to the birds. I have possums that like to eat the fruit they can forage on the ground, which is fine - they need to eat, too! I also have pinecones that I can coat with peanut butter and seeds, right?

Does anyone have recipes for suet? I have left my zinnias, lantana, Xmas cassia. wild senna, salvias, cosmos, and many other seed producing plants, standing so the birds can eat those seeds as well.

I'd love to have bluebirds but I have read that they prefer open land to cities, and I have never seen any in OKC - just on my sister's property in rural SE Kansas. The only blue birds I get are the Blue Jays.

I hope everyone keeps posting as they see other birds and have input for us newbies.

Susan

Susan,
Yes, I just cut the pumpkins in half and put them out - the birds & squirrels eat all the seeds and pulp, then usually a possum or coyote will carry off the hull that's left, nothing is wasted. I usually throw one or two of the "special" pumpkins or gourds in an out of the way spot near the garden or flowerbeds and next Spring there will be several volunteer plants come up, if some critter doesn't carry them off before they rot completely.

Thanks for the info, Farmgardener! I will tackle the pumpkins/squash today for the birds and the possums. Some people don't like possums, but I feel like we infringed on their territory by stealing their habitat and for that we have to be responsible. They like the bananas I put out for the fruit-feeding butterflies in summer, too! I guess they know by now that my yard is critter friendly! I don't use chemicals or pesticides of any kind.

Susan

Gldno - I have a pair of White-Breasted Nuthatches at the feeder this afternoon! I am thrilled to pieces and they are just SOOOOOO cute!!!! I had a time ID'ing them. At first I thought they were Black-Capped Chickadees, and then Carolina Chickadees cuz of the difference in range. Comparisons to the WBNs, though, and it appears they travel with their mates, leads me, and after seeing your pic, to the conclusion they are WBNs.

They are so funny, walking all over my tubular screen feeder. But they are so QUICK! They grab a seed and then head to a tree (I assume to crack it open). I am in love with these little cuties!

I just have to persevere and watch out the door a lot. I filled the feeder this morning and it is already almost half way gone.

I also split my pumpkins and squash and loosened up thestringy innards and seeds for the birds who like that type of food. Mama Cardinal was back today as well.

This is so much fun; having the time of my life here in OKC!

Susan

I forgot to mention, another factor in ID'ing the WBN was the strong bluish cast to the gray feathers. They really are more of a blue-gray color than strictly gray, don't you think?

I found this other bird watching site that a lady in the OKC area set up in her yard with 3 different locations on camera in case anyone is interested.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Pat's Backyard Birdcam