Counting Birds or Not

How was your Great Backyard Bird Count?  Did you have lots of birds?  A nice variety?  Any unusual visitors? 

Did you see some spectacular birds?  Were there any that were new to you? 

We had a Bald Eagle.....LAST WEEK!  Did he show up again this weekend for the count??   Of course not. 

Our feeders looked like this most of the weekend.













I waited for the 'prime feeding time' to do my counts.  There were a few times I just gave up...no one was coming to the backyard. 



While walking the dogs  I hear a Great Horned Owl...but I didn't see it, so no fair counting it.   Finally I had a few visitors at the feeders and in the visible part of the backyard. 

 A few of them wanted to see what they could find in my herb pots instead of the feeders.

 At one point there were about five or six of the Chipping Sparrows having an eating contest.

 I like this feeder, it was a birthday present from my sister in law.  We have very few squirrels, but one has discovered the feeder....but to no avail- it works well. 

This evening I took my camera with me when I took the dogs for a walk.  Will share some in a later posting.  These were kind of fun, I don't usually use the flash, but the sun was going down and it was not as bright as I wanted for some of the photos. 
Love how these turned out.

My bird count?  Carolina Chickadees- 12, Tufted Titmouse- 14, Chipping Sparrow- 15, Carolina Wren- 1, Cardinal- 2, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker- 1, Pine Warbler- 1, Goldfinch- 3, Brown headed Nuthatch- 2.  What about yours?




©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

What are You Looking At?!?!?

Last year toward the end of March we had a new baby in the area. I first noticed this guy in the creek when tide was out!! I saw this white mass in the mud…fluttering around. I wasn’t sure at first what it was. After getting the binoculars out and really zooming in, we immediately saw it was a baby owl, a Great Horned Owl. He was nestled against the bulkhead on my neighbor’s side of the creek, stuck in the mud. The neighbors have a pool and more importantly – pool equipment. She was able to use the net and gently scoop this ‘little’ guy up into her yard.
photo by Kim

Doesn’t he look mad as a wet hen?

The mother was around, we could hear her. As you look out my back door to the right, the creek dead ends about 3 to 4 houses down. Above the creek was the nest, the neighbor could see it, I couldn’t. After calls to the Virginia Living Museum and others, it was decided that a make shift nest was formed in the back part of the neighbor’s yard. It was a long night and next day as we worried about the owl baby getting back to his nest and away from any predators. Long story short….mama owl got baby, who could flutter a bit into the air, back up to the nest. He continued to grow and flourish. My neighbor got another photo of him as he matured a bit. When the weather is good and windows are open we can hear the owls up and down the creek.
photo by Kim