Thursday, January 29, 2009

Snow Caps and Snow Visitors

Some people have lovely snowcapped mountains to look at. Here in the flat lands we get excited when our flower heads from summer are snowcapped.
On this one you can see the layer of ice that was first deposited on the sedum head.
We had so many visitors to the feeders today that it inspired my DB to get the camera out. This male Cardinal looks so pretty sitting on the ice covered branch munching a seed. In the background you can see a male House Finch. He can't quite compare with a cardinal even though he is sporting a nice rosey red.
While the female House finch isn't a particularly beautiful bird I think this photo is a good capture of the little lady. She looks quite demure sitting there in the sun waiting for her turn at the feeders.I thought this was an interesting angel of the juvenile White-crowned sparrow. It is looking around for just the right seed to descend upon. I wonder when his crown will turn white.
The most unusual feeder birds we had today were two Crows. They rarely come into our garden. It just shows how desperate they poor things were for some food.They were eating sunflower seeds. I put some yeast rolls out for them. I didn't know just what to put out for them. I could tell they were appreciative because they ate the rolls then took off to look for something more.

25 comments:

  1. Hi Lisa, very nice post. I just love your House finches, they are very exotic looking to my as we dont't have them here at all. They are stunning, I presume the 'fancy' looking is the male :-)

    Tyra

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  2. You started of with white hats and then there was a pointy red hat. Love your bird pic, thanks for sharing Lisa!

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  3. I've seen a couple crows at my feeder too. We've had so much snow cover all winter there just isn't anything for the poor birds to eat.
    Marnie

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  4. We still haven't had a variety of birds at our feeders. I think the sparrows and squirrels have staked claim to them.

    This is a lovely set of pics. After I left the last comment, I looked to see your previous post was just put up yesterday, but hopefully the ice will melt soon. It still looks pretty cold there!

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  5. Hi Lisa,

    It is dreadfully cold for our sweet garden visitors..Please tell DB I appreciate the great photos and thank you for the id on the juvenile sparrow. We have had the usual suspects at the feeders but I was surprised to see a Rufous Sided Towhee actually feeding at the feeder and not just doing his great leaf dance. There is never a camera handy when I need it.

    Have a good day and keep warm.

    Gail

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  6. Beautiful shots and love the red birds:)
    I just wonder the weather is so cold, these birds still could manage themself out here, but not hiding somewhere warmer!?

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  7. Good thing your sedum have some winter hats to keep them warm, Lisa:) I've had so many birds at the feeders lately; I wish you were here to help me identify them!

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  8. I love the corvids--they're under-appreciated, I think!

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  9. I enlarged the pictures to get better views. The cardinal shot was great!
    I filled the feeder twice yesterday, but the starling and sparrows are about to be out of a meal ticket. They are getting out of hand.

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  10. Lovley photos, I've only seen one cardinal this year!

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  11. Love your winter series. Especially the white crowned sparrow.

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  12. I love your little snowcapped flowers. They are adorable. The cardinal looks stunning against the snowy background. Great photo.

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  13. This is such a neat post Lisa! Love your snowpeaks :) And those birds are beautifully captured. I have never seen a juvenile WC sparrow. Thanks.

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  14. Tons of snow! ! ! We've got pussy willows in bloom! Love your photos, Lisa.

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  15. You are so lucky to have a cardinal visit your feeder -- though we have them here in NS, we've never had one to our feeder. Nice post. :)

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  16. Hi Lisa....I love the sedums with their hats on....as beautiful as a mountain covered in snow in my book....

    The male cardinal is striking but the little finch adds something special to that photograph....

    Crows....hmmmm....I have around twenty Rooks visiting at the moment.........not my most favourite bird but they are welcome along with all the others......

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  17. I don't think there is a lovelier sight than a cardinal in the snow.

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  18. Love the cardinal against the pure white snow. Interestingly, we have a few crows here every day. I harbour a not-so-secret love for crows AND ravens, and 'talk' to them on a regular basis. We toss out extra goodies for them too, although they're quite fond of the corn in the seed we put out for the pheasants, etc.

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  19. Wonderful photos - My Sedum have the snow caps as well.
    Warm Wishes from my Garden in the Midwest.

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  20. Lisa, I know with all that snow the birds are really appreciating your buffet. DB took some great photos and was brave to wade the snow.

    Hope you can dig out soon and get back to 'normal'. :}

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  21. Ah, Cardinals in the snow. Even your House Finches look stunning, Lisa!

    You've had some beautiful snow. During our dusting last week, the birds arrived in large flocks AND included two American Crows! They will eat almost anything.

    I enjoyed this post. Nice and white and winter-like.

    Mary

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  22. Hi Lisa,
    Lots of snow you've had there! I've thought of you when watching the weather reports. So happy you have the colorful birds to remind you spring is just around the corner. I am always amazed at how they stay around in the freezing temps. Good thing they can count on your for seed.

    Meems @ Hoe and Shovel

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  23. oh lovely photos, the cardinals of course are the most spectacular but I like the subtle shades of the brown birds just as much.

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  24. Oh Lisa, there is a little envy coming up when seeing your beautiful red cardinal ;-)! We do not have this colourful bird here. We have finches too and crows as well but they do not come to the feeder. The take their food from the ground underneath the feeder.

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  25. Great photos like this make me glad it is winter!

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