That would be a lifer for me as well!
Thanks for posting, and for the spring encouragement since it's snowing and blowing here right now and snowed last night

Great shots. The Red-Bellied Woodpecker is one of my favorite birds. We see them often but never on the sunflower feeder. They only seem to visit the suet feeder.

Glad you were able to capture the Redpoll! We usually see them just for a bit as they pass through heading north. This year they have been here for about 2 weeks now! We have a flock of 30-100 Redpolls visiting daily, it is such a treat to see them but man they are going through the sunflower hearts and nyjer seed!! Yesterday I had to shovel the new 4.6 inches of snow that we got so I could sprinkle the seed on the deck again as the one nyjer feeder and the other mixed seed feeder isn't enough for this huge flock. I love watching them, we even have a few Pine Siskins that have been hanging together with them.

Donna

Hi all, thanks! It's snowing like crazy here too, lake effect snow gets us in northeastern Ohio every time. We usually don't see the red bellies eating the BOSS, however, the hairy woodpeckers and the red bellies were really enjoying it. The downies ate exclusively the suet. I would have been thrilled to see 30-100 redpolls, I could not contain myself seeing just one!

Here's a picture of a hairy woodpecker taken the same day eating the BOSS.
{{!gwi}}

The hairy was having too much fun throwing seed all over the place. Notice the head movement in this picture and the rest of the body is still.

{{!gwi}}

And because pine siskins were a lifer for us a few months ago, I am throwing this picture in too. This was only the second time we have seen them. There must have been 30-40 of them on the ground and at the feeders.
{{!gwi}}

It was a great birding day!

Blake

Hey Blake, hope you don't mind but I thought I would share my little flock of redpolls with you. Here is a shot I took on Wednesday after the 4 1/2 inches we got, I shoveled part of the deck for the birds. I can count 60 birds in this photo, I would guess they are all Redpolls but there could be a siskin or two and a goldfinch or two but they normally hang out at the nyjer feeder....

Then here are two I took during the backyard birdcount one of a group and then I was very happy to be able to get a male and a female pose for me in the same shot.....

Donna

Donna, these pictures are fantastic!! I would have been going crazy having that many redpolls in my yard, that I wouldn't have been able to contain myself. This is just fantastic, thanks so much for sharing!
Blake
PS: Where do you live? I'm in northeastern Ohio and the redpolls show up here sporadically from what I understand, which is why this bird was a lifer for me until last weekend.

All of the photos are wonderful!! I would love to see Redpolls, but want them to come to Kentucky instead of my going north..it's cold enough here.

I know I sound like a broken record, but could all of you who haven't, fill in your MySpace information? Everytime I see great photos or read posts, I immediately click on their MySpace link to find out where they live and what equipment they use.

For instance, if someone is seeing Redpolls it makes a difference if the person is in northern Michigan or southern Indiana, and if the photo is sharp and clear I want to know what camera and/or camera and lens combo got those great results.

To update your profile, click on your MyPage link, then click on "Garden Forums" on the tool bar at the top of the page, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "edit your user profile"
Afer you fill in the iinformation, click on the "Save your member profile" box at the bottom of the page

Blake, I am in central WI, usually the redpolls are pretty sparodic around here too, might see some for a day each Winter usually. This year they seem to like my place which I am very happy about. They won't stay though they will head north to their breeding grounds soon.

Rachel, I have tried updating my info (when I first joined I didn't put much in) but it won't save it for some reason. I can try again though. I am in central WI and use a Canon S2IS, wanting to upgrade but cannot decide on another superzoom (returned the SX10 IS) or a DSLR.

Donna

Donna, your photos are wonderful, and thanks for the information. Your location explains the Redpolls, but we've been inundated here for the first time with Pine Siskins. Until now, I'd get one or two for a few a hours once a year, usually in the worst weather.

My speech about updating your MySpace reminds me that I now have a Non-typical Cuddeback Capture camera I need to include in my own member profile. Although it's supposed to be a game camera for hunters, it still shows wild turkeys and might even catch a Woodcock, theoretically.

Maybe your information didn't save because you forgot to push the "save your member profile" at the bottom of the page?

Great pictures,.. Blake & Donna!...Redpolls LOVE nyjer seeds, bought 50lb not long ago.

Konrad

I've had the usual woodpeckers/chickadees/nuthatches this winter, with a few pine/evening grosbeaks thrown in. But I literally have hundreds of redpolls every day. I go through about 40lbs of nyger every week. Thank goodness I have an understanding hubby :)

Val
N. Ontario

I would gladly go through 40 lbs. of nyger seed every week if I could just keep one redpoll happy!

We went back to the same location last weekend hoping to find "our" redpoll again, but no such luck. We did see the masses of pine siskins again though. I enjoy watching their wings flutter and seeing the different amounts of yellow on their wings. Which brings me to wonder... is the amount of yellow on their wings indicative of their sex? Does the male have more yellow on its wings?

Yup! Both genders are pretty aggressive though