A flock

Not much has been happening with the birds here. With the cold and snow they stocked up, but now they barely come by. On one of my walks this week I did see a Pied-billed Grebe in a canal. They are so tiny and cute. I love to watch them dive and resurface. Another thing I saw on my walk was a flock of about 50 Snow Geese flying overhead. I was surprised because I usually don't see this activity until March. Maybe they are just as fed up with the weather as we are!!!

Cold birds

This weekend we ended up with some snow and ice. I had put out my feeder a few weeks ago because it had been cold. Well, birds flocked to it this weekend. I enjoyed watching Northern Cardinals, Chipping Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Slate-colored Juncos, Purple Finches and a couple unidentified. Last night before we went out I tossed some seed on the ground and table. This morning it was covered not only with what I had been seeing, but tons of Brown-headed Cowbirds. They are one reason I had stopped putting out bird feeders!! Oh well, they all need to eat. They are only here in the morning and evening, so everyone else can feast the rest of the day.

Bird feeder again

I have decided to try a feeder again. I have so many other creatures that attack the thing, it is just very frustrating!! So far I have been having luck. There have been some sparrows and today I saw a house finch. Yesterday Terry and I were looking out the bedroom window and watched juncos and yellow-rumps. With the warmer temps we are seeing some more birds. I would love to put out some suet but the squirrels are hogs!! I may go get a finch sock and see what else I can draw in. We'll see!!

Quick trip to Pea Island

We made a trip out to the Outer Banks yesterday to take care of a couple of things and took a quick trip down to Pea Island. We got there late but we were lucky to spot many birds and some were quite a surprise. I was very glad to see Snow Geese, Tundra Swan, American Avocet, Northern Pintail and White Ibis. There were several Long-billed Dowitchers and Tricolored Herons. There were Great Egrets, Great Black-backed Gulls, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Coromorant and Snowy Egret. My favorite sighting for the day was several White Pelicans!! I saw one up here a couple of years ago, so to see half a dozen yesterday was really great. We only spent about 45 minutes viewing and did not take the scope, so I can only imagine what more we could have see with more time and the scope. I hope to get out there at least one more time this year.

A new one here

I have seen this bird before and knew that it was supposed to be in this area but had yet to see them. This weekend I saw a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers. I was so excited I stopped right in the street and watched them. It was a pretty sight and I was glad to finally see some here!!

Owls talking

The other night Terry ran outside for some reason, of which I do not remember, and heard a sound that brought him running back in to get me. We stood outside for several minutes and listened to a couple of owls talking back and forth. It is such a spooky sound. We couldn't help but giggle as we stood out there in the cold listening to these wonderful creatures.

New birds

Today we went over to the boat to make sure all was okay and spotted some birds. When we left they were still there and we were able to get a good look. We saw two pairs of Hooded Mergansers. They are usually only in this area during the winter, so that is a good sign that birds are on the move!!