My, how winter has decided to hit us once again! Our first few days have been cold and sunny, but now the rotten stuff is starting to get a hold, and it’s not so pleasant for us, or the birds. Whilst we had the sun shining, a few birds came to our feeders and provided us with some nice views of their plumage, which, even being a bit dowdier at this time of year, are still quite striking. A good example of this was that of a visiting Starling, which we don’t see very often, which was a very pleasant surprise and provided my camera with some different shots. As can be seen by the variance in the colours, the female is not so marked throughout, as opposed to the much brightly coloured male.
One of our “regulars”, a Mourning Dove, showed how some of the birds cope when they are feeling the need for a drink and the water is frozen. It found a coating of snow-covered ice on the top of one of my garden feeders and then positioned itself so that it could use its beak to get a drink. It spent a bit of time there until it was disturbed by another bird’s activity.
This type of survival behavior is obviously quite a common occurrence when the birds are in their natural habitat, and I have witnessed birds on the trees pecking at the snow, but not as close to me as this Dove was. I certainly have not seen it happen that often, despite there being a flock of six to eight Doves here, at a time. Talking of which, I got a picture of two of them squatting on the ground to keep warm, looking like they were both sitting on a nest! This was under a pine tree, where the ground was not covered in snow and must have been still soft enough for comfort!
A bit of an odd thing to do, one might think, but who am I to judge!?
Have you noticed how many Juncos seem to be here this winter? I must have counted over twenty of them all ground feeding here this morning. I have heard other folks mention the fact, so you are probably able to see them too. If you can, then enjoy them, but please stay safe and well, whilst doing so, and stay warm.
Cheers
John Baldwin
