Through my Office Window – January 2020
/It’s easy to photograph birds through my office window – when I am in the office and not totally focused on something else. I’ve positioned my computer and raised the bird feeder slightly so I can see activity in my peripheral vision while I am working at the computer. I just grab my camera, stand up, make a few steps, and take pictures!
The Dark-eyed Juncos are around all the time although I rarely photograph them. We have our own little neighborhood flock. They are fast moving…like they are nervous all the time.
We have a pair of Northern Cardinals that are around every day. Their color and sounds stand out.
The raucous groups of Blue Jays come to our trees and sometimes to our bird bath. I go to the window based on the sounds. One day this month there was a big thump on the roof above my office. Three blue jays (silent) flew off to the sycamore as I made it to the window and a single blue jay feather drifted down. Was there a fight? Did there used to be four blue jays and a hawk got one?
The Carolina Wren is at the feeder and the bath almost every day. Sometimes I am drawn to by their song and it takes some looking to find the bird. We have at least two around. We’ve had several instances where they’ve found their way into our screened deck….and we open the door for a while to help them escape.
The Red-bellied Woodpeckers come to the feeder almost every day. We have at least one pair….although the female comes more than the male (Could there be more than one female?...Maybe). The dig around for the larger seeds they like at the feeder.
Mourning Doves are frequent visitors as well. They are too big for the feeder, but they do clean up the seed underneath and they drink from the birdbath.
The House Finches have returned after a hiatus of a few years.
I like the White-breasted Nuthatch for its orientation and postures. It is head down on the feeder more than upright!
The Downy Woodpecker comes to our feeder less frequently although I see them in the trees. Maybe that’s a positive indicator that they are finding enough food they favor in our forest.
There are birds that don’t come to our feeder but are probably frequent visitors to our yard since we are at the edge of a forest. Common Grackles pass through frequently. They look like small black birds at first glance but with a little zooming the different coloring is distinctive…and the yellow eye.
There are also flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds that come through. They very rarely come to the feeder. They must be finding plenty of food elsewhere.
We have the Reolink camera monitoring our birdfeeder all the time these days; that gives us a great opportunity to catch more bird interaction. I’m saving that for an upcoming blog post!
