Snow Goose and Red-Tailed Hawk!

Nearly everyday, I take my dog (and 2 boys) for a walk on Ralston Creek Trail. We walk by a little pond with the usual Mallard ducks and Canada Geese. Every once in awhile we have a new visitor passing through. On this day, it was a Snow Goose! He was brought to my attention by a couple of neighborhood birders. I can't say I would've noticed him among the Canada Geese because I really don't pay a whole lot of attention to them as there are so many of them. This was earlier in the day and I didn't have my camera with me. I didn't get back to get photos of him until evening. Luckily he was still there and I had just enough light to get some photos. The next day he was gone so I'm glad I went back. The Red-tailed Hawk was hanging around this same pond pretty much all day, too. He was still there the next day :)

European Starling and Other Thirsty Birds!

It has been sooo dry her this fall and water must be hard to come by for the birds. The word got out that I had water so the Robins came back with more friends and this time they brought with them a European Starling. It was the first time I had one of these in my yard and boy was it thirsty!!!

Squirrels like Cornbread!

I had a few pieces of cornbread leftover so I threw them out on the grass to see which critters would go for it. Turns out the squirrel snatched the pieces right up and didn't share any with the birds!

Robins in December and Other Birds!

We've been having a very mild December here in Colorado this year and I think the birds are really enjoying it! I know I am! On my walk last weekend (Dec 5th) I was welcomed by a flock of at least 20 or 30 Robins just fluttering about and singing like it was spring. It really made me wish for spring but it will be here soon enough, I suppose. I used to think Robins flew away to warmer climates for the winter but I recently found out they just flock together and hide away from urban lawns and live on berries during the winter months. When I returned home from my walk, I noticed a couple of Robins in my yard so I had to grab my camera. While I had it out there, I also got a shot of a 2 American Goldfinches, a Blue Jay and a first sighting of a Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker(in addition to my regular visitors)! What fun to see so much activity in my yard in December!

Northern Flicker and House Finch!

Project Feederwatch started in November so I've been keeping track of my visitors every Tuesday and Wednesday. Other than that, I've been so busy with holiday preparation, cross-stitching ( a post about that coming soon) and just life that I haven't had much time to get my camera out to the bird feeder. However, I did manage this shot of one of 'my' Flickers. I think I can call him mine since he and his female are on my suet just about every time I look out my window, lol! Enjoy!

Glass Hummingbird

I forgot to share this cute hummingbird my son got at the bird festival this past summer. There is Colorado artist named Dan Crump that makes these beautiful hand-blown hummingbirds. He made this one for my son while we watched! I have always LOVED watching glass blowers!

Baby Hummingbird video!

This video was sent to me and I just had to share. Enjoy!

http://www.wimp.com/babyhummingbird/

House Sparrows!

For a short period of time, maybe an hour or so, a flock of House Sparrows came to visit my feeder. At one point I counted 17 of them! I know there are an (over) abundance of these birds but surprisingly, they rarely visit my feeder. Last summer I had a family of them nesting in my neighbors roof but since they had a new roof put on, the sparrows had to find a new home and I haven't seen them since. They fed mostly on the ground while visiting but I did notice a few of them on my feeder. The House Finches gave them a run for their money! There was definitely some bird bantering going on as my regulars did not give them a warm welcome. Then they left and haven't been back since.

Goldfinch, Nuthatch, House Finch

I found these few photos that I took at the beginning of the month and I'm just now getting around to posting them. Remember when I took photos of my first Goldfinch visitor? Well this one briefly appeared the next day and I haven't seen them since. He was much yellower than the one from the previous day so I'm guessing he was a male. I really hope they return again, maybe in the spring! The Nuthatch and House Finch are just my old regulars!

Denver Zoo Birds!

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of going on an "Early Morning Photo Safari" at the Denver zoo! I've often wanted to spend some time taking photos of the animals so when I saw this opportunity in the Zoo newsletter, I signed right up. I often take my boys to the zoo and have lots of snapshots of the animals and the boys but I wanted to try out my new Sigma 50-500mm OS lens and get up close and personal with the animals. It was just me with 24 other people and we had the zoo to ourselves for 2 hours before it opened to the public with that golden morning light! I was hoping to come home with a lot more bird photos than I ended up with but 6 hours and 600 photos later I was too exhausted (and starving) by the time I got to Bird World. I WILL go back again and the next time I will hit the birds first! I did come across a few birds on my tour that I'd like to share. That Emu up there at the top....what a face huh? He literally ran right over to me and was very intrigued with my lens I guess. I just love how this photo turned out! Below are the rest of the birds I captured but since I was so busy taking pictures, I forgot to get their names. I'll have to write them down next time I go to the zoo. Feel free to leave a comment if you know any of the names of the birds below that I don't have labeled.

Flamingos

Some type of swan

The following photos were taken when the zoo staff brought out a few special animals just for us to photograph!

Barn Owl

Red-tail Hawk

Thanks for looking! If by chance you would like to see the rest of the animals I photographed that day, here's the link to my gallery Denver Zoo Animals BTW, I pruned it down from 600 to my top 65 :)

My Flicker was Featured!

I was excited to get an e-mail today from Project Feederwatch informing me that the Northern Flicker photo I submitted last year is currently being featured in their online gallery! I'm feeling pretty excited about that :) National Geographic here I come, lol! You can view it HERE...it's the one from Arvada, Colorado :)

American Goldfinch! Fianlly!

I mentioned a couple of times in previous posts my desire to have an American Goldfinch show up at my feeders and I finally did!
That was the whole reason I started buying finch socks last spring. I was just thinking the other day about being unsuccessful in attracting any this year, that next year I'm going to plant some sunflowers in my backyard, also. Well, as luck would have it, I was sitting on my back deck listening to the birds and I heard a bird I didn't recognize. I grabbed my camera and started aiming it in the direction of the sound to see what it was. Then this American Goldfinch landed on the finch sock and then took a drink from the bird bath! I was so excited not only to finally see one for the first time but to also get some photos of it! This one returned again later and the next day there were two so I'm hoping the word gets out!

Happy Squirrel!

I got to feeling bad for the squirrels again as I watched one desperately trying (without success) to get to the birdfeeder and suet feeder. So.....while I was at Walmart, they were having a sale on a large bag of "corn for critters" so I bought one. It took about 3 days for the 2 squirrels to go near it but they're clearly enjoying it now!

Birds NOT in my Backyard!

Black-billed Magpie

Mallard Duck

Double-crested Cormorant

Belted Kinfisher

I found myself with a couple unexpected hours to myself this week and instead of running much-needed errands (like going to the bank and grocery store) I picked up a Starbuck's coffee and took my camera and new lens out into the neighborhood to see what birds I could photograph! The above pictures where the best of the bunch! I thoroughly enjoyed my time shirking my responsibilities (homeschooling my children, for one) even though I did feel a bit guilty about it :)