Female Common Merganser and Two Males

Happy Loving Couple and a New Duck, The Common Goldeneye

There was a lot of excitement this morning. Mike usually spots new ducks first, but today Chris gave the "new duck" alert. We were quick to team up with the binoculars, field guide, and camera to try and identify and photograph her as a Common Goldeneye. She didn't stay as long as we would have liked, because she seemed to get frightened off by a woman who feeds the geese. She didn't come back at all during the day, but we're hoping she makes a visit again tomorrow. After she left, though, is when Chris spotted the happy little Hooded Merganser couple out there again, and who can resist photographing such a cooperative subject, so here they are again. Late this afternoon a female common merganser was out there too, but no pictures came out good enough.

Northern Cardinal

Isn't she a cutie! She sat outside the bedroom window singing until I stopped what I was doing to have a look.

Hawk Getting Ready to Fly

This hawk hung around for a while in a tree looking for something to eat. He scared a finch away from the feeder and landed on a post on the dock. Here is a picture of him as he was flying away still hungry.

There was a squirrel in the tree who didn't move for a few minutes. Here, the hawk seemed to consider a squirrel dinner.

Two Cardinals

A male and a female cardinal have been around for a while. They took turns at the feeder.

Cardinal

We're still trying to get an excellent picture of this beautiful bird. This shows how he keeps outflying our current photographic skills. Chris knew the snow was coming, and they are always out there in the snow (don't ask us why!), so she filled up the feeder with the choicest blend that the woodpeckers, jays, and cardinals seem to love. (Some people go buy milk and such before a storm, but we made sure our birds would have a good snow day!) We'll keep trying for a better picture today.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

           

Here are two pictures of the same yellow-bellied sapsucker that had lunch here today. You can see the holes in the tree, and he often comes back to them and has a meal here. He made quite a pig of himself today, so I was able to take tons of pictures of him. I think these guys are really fun to watch! I am going to put up several of his pictures since he was so cooperative for me (Chris).

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

You can see he has another row of holes down in this part of the same tree.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Woodpecker

The sapsucker actually had a lot of company in this tree today. At one point there were three other woodpeckers. They were never all close enough for me to get a good shot, but at least I got these two together. I am not sure if the woodpecker is a hairy or downy, but it is a female since there is no red on the head. My guess is it's a hairy based on the size of the bill.

Hairy Woodpecker at Suet Feeder

Nuthatch at Suet Feeder

Red Bellied Woodpecker Snacking

Male Hooded Merganser

We haven't seen the female in two days.

We hope she is at the nest.

Nuthatch

One Less Finch for the Great Backyard Bird Count

While counting birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count, a sharpshined hawk came by and caught a finch in mid-air. He flew to a nearby tree with his prey.

Blue Jay

Impressing Mrs. Hooded Merganser

Chris took this photo with the new camera. It's very similar to a photo that won the GBBC photo contest last year.

Sharpshined Hawk

Common Mergansers (one has a fish)

A Downy Woodpecker

Mr. & Mrs. Spectacular

This pair of Red Bellied Woodpeckers came by the morning of the great backyard bird count.

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Mr and Mrs Merganser

This pair of hooded mergansers has been coming by every day since the lake thawed. We are hoping for merganser ducklings in the spring.