Blog de Puree

Here’s an amusing spoof of a 1970s birds documentary, taken from the “Look Around You” series, a parody of the old British school science programs.

(Thanks to the Birdchick blog for pointing this one out.)

This has been a good week for new birds at our feeders. This morning, I saw another new visitor, a Gray Catbird. A year-round resident, it’s the first time this bird has been seen in our yard.
The Gray Catbird is mostly slate gray with a small black cap on its head and a black undertail. [...]

Randye gets a big rousing golf clap for sighting and identifying a new bird visitor to our backyard feeders, an Eastern Towhee.
A male bird (see picture below) started visiting in the mornings about two days ago, and has been somewhat regular to our backyard since. He mostly forages on the ground  for seed and bugs, [...]

It seems that the GBBC ended like it started for us, rather unexciting. Having to zip off to work in the morning also didn’t leave much time for feeder-gazing.
On Monday, the weather was the same as the weekend, sunny, slightly breezy and in the mid 30’s. Here’s the list of the morning’s meager sightings:

5 American [...]

Another quality day of bird watching this past Sunday. It seems that the word finally got out to the neighborhood birds.
The weather was sunny and warm for the season, in the mid 30’s. Visibility was great and there was just a slight breeze.
Here’s a listing of Sunday’s sightings:

5 American Goldfinches
6 Dark-eyed Juncos
2 Tufted Titmice
2 Black-capped [...]

Today was a much better day for bird watching. Lots of flying critters in the backyard. The weather was sunny and in the mid-30s, although a bit windy.
Here’s a breakdown of what flew in:

6 American Goldfinches
2 Blue Jays
7 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Female Northern Cardinal
2 European Starlings
4 House Sparrows

A dismal first day.
Here’s the meager list of feathered visitors to our backyard feeders:

3 American Goldfinches
1 Tufted Titmouse

I’m having an ignominious start to 2009’s Great Backyard Bird Count! There’s not a bird to be seen. Plenty of food and three squirrels hopping around by the base of our feeders, eyeballing the piles of nuts and seed, but no birds.
Curses!

Brace yourselves for birdwatching excitement and drama! (OK, so allow me to be a little hyperbolical)
We’re just over a week away from the Great Backyard Bird Count, and this household is primed with plenty of bird food, ‘bins’ (cool bird watcher slang for binoculars), and not one, but two bird identification books. And heck, I [...]

Our peanut feeder had a visit from a Red-Bellied Woodpecker for the first time this morning.

At first, we thought it was the chipper Downy Woodpecker that likes to drop in from time to time for peanuts, but the red nape that extends from its shoulders to its beak was unmistakable. The Red-Bellied Woodpecker’s bill is [...]