Here, in a very specific order (though not chronological), are some the crowd arriving for a New Year's feast.
A possessed Mourning Dove - you can tell by the pale,uniform-colored eye. Kind of like that girl in The Exorcist.
Huh, the left eye is bright and clear.Maybe it's a pirate dove, sans eye patch?
Blue Jay tests the powder: "Awesome,totally awesome! I'm sinking up to my waist!"
Black-capped Chickadee strikes a pose. It's betterto look good than feel good, and you look mahvelous!
Tufted Titmouse finds the the last sunflower, andBlack-oil sunflower, too, not that cheap Grey-striped!
White-breasted Nuthatch left with nothing butsafflower. Still worth the effort to stash it somewhere?
Could that be a Hoary? No, a Common Redpoll. Maybe a female Hoary? First year? Man, it's like
a crap shoot. I'm going to get my dice. C'mon, Hoary!
Best wishes for a wonderful 2008!
- Information about the birds mentioned can be found at All About Birds | Bird Guide
- Post title credit: Celebration (1980), Kool & the Gang.
- All images © Mike Powers.
3 comments:
Those Redpoll's have been tough! Have you looked at sibleys site?
My roll of the hoary dice came out a NO but I'll keep looking!
* mon@rch - You read right through those lines! I have been keeping up on Sibley's discussions, and it is his attempt at a "character index" for identification (as well as some discussion on various listserves) to really look at the increasing numbers at our feeder. I was only joking about this bird being a Hoary, but I have had a few back-and-forth debates with myself over another bird. Who knows, in the end, those "intermediates" may be best left alone!
*zen birdfeeder - I'm thinking the "roll of the dice" gives as much a chance of proper identification as the angle you see the bird! I hope you come up with a clearcut bird (my above comment about intermediates holds true here, too!), and hopefully with photos: I think we all need more study material.
Good birding,
Mike
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