Sunday, March 29, 2009

First Thunderstorm of the Year

So the first thunderstorm of '09 hit. It lasted maybe a half hour, grand total, so it was a bit of a disappointment but this ushers in another feature of my blog, lightning bolt montages!
I leave you with the one lightning bolt I got out of tonight's wussy storm.


Friday, March 27, 2009

Hunt for the Red-winged Blackbird


So I expressed a longing to get a good picture of the Blue Jay but I got an even rarer sighting today than our blue friend. Cousin of the Common Grackle, the Red-winged Blackbird is your basic black bird with red and yellow shoulderplates.

Sorry the RPG chunk of my nerdness couldn't resist.

Anywho..
The very same tree that has held the Common Grackles and somewhat antisocial Cardinal had one perched on it today. Hold your suete cakes for an update on the search.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Mrs Fields and the Junco

So i was observing the feeders today and found that about 5 billion Mourning Doves come to my feeder daily, along with a few finches a squirrel and a rabbit, and in this picture and accompanying video you see a fraction of what I can get.



What's more fascinating is my latest project, discovering the identity of the Dark-eyed Junco, also revealed that they like Mrs Fields chocolate chip cookies. Granted this isnt what I usually feed the birds, but I had one on me and gave it a shot. I watched a lone bird grab a wad equivalent to a third of the cookie and bolt. It's comforting to see just how much like us they truly are.

As for the Cardinal, he was feeling a tad antisocial today. He never got closer than the ornamental fruit tree.





















So to make up for it, heres a nice pair of shots of him in the snow from a few days ago




Monday, March 9, 2009

A harrowing effort


So my last post displayed the little black birds that have been hanging out by the feeders this winter. I obtained the 'iBird North' app for my Ipod touch and finally learned it was the black/slate variety of Dark-eyed Junco. It may not seem like much to report, but it took DAYS to figure this out. Thus i consider seeing the Junco a bigger victory than getting a good shot of the Blue Jay or Goldfinch.


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Useful Squirrels

So I looked out at my feeders today and discovered that the squirrels dug holes around their bases to get to the seeds and seemingly abandoned them so all the birds can eat. It's downright cutesy and disney-like.

I still havent gotten a shot of the cardinals but here's what I did get.

































Monday, March 2, 2009

S'no garden yet


Yeeeeah so it's still roughly a month and a half before I can so much as acknowledge my garden and I thought id show off what last year's efforts currently look like...