Saturday, January 15, 2011

January 14, 2011-Sunny Day For A Change


We finally saw the sun! But it sure was cold. It's only been in the teens and almost zero in the early mornings. Sure makes everything look so much prettier though!


So many Bluejays around now. I saw one that had something wrong with it. I'm not going to put those photos up. It had something coming out of it's back end. It was flying but you could tell it was not feeling well. It was alone a lot. I felt so bad for it in this real cold weather. It probably did not make it through the night. I never saw it again.


This female Cardinal was one that was born this year. She is a beauty!


There's an abundance of House Sparrows. I like watching them also. Flying back and forth from the ground to the bushes with their seeds. In the top right photo they all tried to land at the same time.


Shadows on the snow.



And more squirrels of course! The cold doesn't bother them at all.


I like that lonely leaf out there in the snow as the long shadows form on the glistening snow.


Some of the birds. A Junco. House Sparrows and a European Starling in the bush. Two crows preening each other high up on a branch and a Tufted Titmouse all alone on a branch. The Titmouse has a mate but they are always on the move so fast that it's hard to catch them together.


A vapor trail from a jet that just went through. The sun hitting the snow covered trunk of a tree on the back hill. The view from my bedroom window looking up the alley towards the back hill. You can see where a bird landed in the snow. It looks like it was making an angel in the snow..Ha!

And finally the end of the day with the sun going down through the neighbor's yard and after it went beyond my view and then the moon. It was a nice winter day in the Mohawk valley despite the cold.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

More Photos From The 12th Of Jan. 2011


Snow pictures from morning till night.


A Mourning Dove. It's looking down into the grate because seeds are down there and it can't get at them..


Spotted this Woodpecker up in the tree. I think it's a Red-bellied but not sure.


The sun was trying hard to peek through the clouds but it never made it. This was as close as it came.


This bush is used by all the birds. The House Sparrows, Juncos and a European Starling are in there.


I have tons of Bluejays.


I seem to be seeing more Cardinals now. I thought I only had four pair but have spotted five males now.




I can sure tell it's mating season. The squirrels are chasing each other all over the place. They run so fast through the trees that sometime they fall. Got one on video falling. It will be on my Youtube site.






More squirrels chasing each other. They will have babies in February usually and then again later in the summer.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

January 12, 2011-AM Squirrels-Birds-Snow


Early morning on the 12th. I made this in black and white. Once in a while they look better that way. The originals had too much of a blue tint to them. Because it was early in the morning and not enough light yet I guess.

I took these at 7 am and used the flash so it looks like they are taken at night but it is in the early morning today. We got a few inches of snow overnight. Still snowing lightly and gusty at times.

Monday, January 10, 2011

January 10, 2011-BlueJays And Cooper's Hawk



Today I got the backside of the hawk. I'm pretty sure it's a Cooper's Hawk. But I still could be wrong. It's very difficult to tell them apart sometimes. I think this is juvenile one or one that isn't fully grown yet. He was out there hunting for my birds again. Didn't see him catch any but I'm sure he did when I wasn't looking.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

January 9, 2011-The Hawk And Other Birds


The Hawk was sitting way up high in the tree and the Cardinals kept a sharp eye on him. They were careful not to come out of that bush too much.


Male Cardinals


Cardinals and Sparrows in the bush.


Here's the Hawk that was sitting around all day, watching the small birds. He did get one early in the morning and took off with it for his breakfast. I didn't see what kind he got and didn't want to. But I did see the feathers slowly falling to the ground as he flew off.


He is a handsome fella though. I'm not quite sure if it's a Sharp-Shinned or a Cooper's.


He watched and watched for hours today but I never did see him get another critter. I'm thankful of that!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

January 8, 2011-Squirrels-Titmouse


Sun through the woods and later in the day on the ground. No snow today but it was quite chilly. About 13 degrees in the early morning.


More winter scenery. The squirrel's nest with snow on top of it. The back hill and pine tree. The tree branches with spots of snow where the doves were sitting or squirrels running. And the tops of the very tall pine trees over in the neighbor's yard.


Squirrels in the snow.


Tufted Titmouse. A pair of them in this bush. They are the cutest little birds.

Friday, January 7, 2011

January 7, 2011-Snowed Today-Wild Birds


For some reason I didn't take any pictures of the squirrels today except for this one that ran into the tree when the hawk came down. Lots of birds around today. Cardinals, Sparrows and even a stray Starling stopped by.





It snowed all day. But only about six inches I think. Nice and fluffy. I loved watching it from my window! The Hawk was watching all the little birds for quite some time. He swooped down but missed getting one. I was happy about that. And glad I don't have to see him when he does at times. I've seen him catch enough of them. I never can catch him as he's coming close though. Today I was standing in my bedroom window with the top of the window down taking pictures of the back hill when he swooped down. He was so fast that I couldn't catch him on camera.