In Two eastern bluebirds - happy for a drink, I posted a photo showing said bluebirds on our heated birdbath. That photo was taken last Sunday and recorded the first sighting I'd had of bluebirds in our yard for several weeks. When the storm hit, they became regular visitors; but, I never again was able to capture a photo of the two of them at once. For some reason, they chose to visite singly. Here they are.
The first two photos were taken Tuesday afternoon, the third on Wednesday afternoon. You can see that the heater in the birdbath was unable to completely cope with the low temperatures, and you can tell that it was sunny, by the shadows, when the third photo was snapped.
I didn't capture the image, but I saw a bluebird walk out onto the ice/snow rim to get at the edge of the water - on the side of the birdbath toward the viewer. The temperature had been down to -8 degrees for a few hours that morning.
Other birds that visited our feeders:
Above: On the left, a local chickadee snapped on Wednesday, on the right, a tufted titmouse snapped on Tuesday. I would tell you that the chickadee
was a Carolina chickadee or a black-capped chickadee; but, the only way to tell is by their song. I am convinced that, in our area, we have both kinds of chickadees and perhaps hybrids between the two. In addition, I think they learn one another's songs. I settle for "local" chickadee. If any of you want to stick a definite ID on this bird, please share your thoughts with me.
Above: On the left feeder is a Carolina wren, on the right feeder is a yellow-shafter flicker - snapped Thursday.
Hunky Husband is at home. Fortunately, his routing coming home differed from his routing going to Richmond VA - through Chicago's O'hare instead of Dallas-Ft Worth. DFW cancelled about 300 flights, yesterday!
LOVE the pictures! We really need to do the heated bird bath thing here, too. I'm glad to hear that HH is home safely. How are Bogie and WS doing? I've checked, but she hasn't posted since January.
Posted by: buffy | February 05, 2011 at 10:46 AM
I don't know my birds with the exception of Doves (we have plenty), Cactus Wrens, and Roadrunners. I know there are Cardinals here, but I have never seen one. Of course we have owls and woodpeckers, too. I'm sure there are many birds native to my area, but I have not seen them.
The cold snap that hit Kansas got us, too. We had one night of 8 degree temperature that broke water pipes and killed plants. The next night wasn't quite as cold, but mid-town lost gas and water and a large area of Tucson was affected. Shelters were put in place for the residents. The low temperatures broke records here for the coldest weather in history. I hope to never see it again.
Posted by: Darlene | February 05, 2011 at 11:52 AM
Buffy--The heated birdbaths really come into their own in cold weather. The birds love them! Bogie & her WS were doing fine as of Tuesday's email.
Darlene--In the Tucson area you would definitely have mourning doves. You might also have common ground doves (about 1/2 as long as mourning doves and without the pointy tail) and white-winged doves (same size as mourning but the tail is blunt and it has white wing & tail patches), with assorted others occasionally wandering in from the east or from Mexico.
Cactus wrens are so large it's hard to believe that they are wrens, and the roadrunners are quite entertaining (even without Wylie's being around!)
I'm sorry that you weren't able to enjoy the cold snap - it's not what you signed up for!
Posted by: Cop Car | February 05, 2011 at 02:17 PM
You sure have wonderful birds in your yard!! Amazing. The birds out here have all skedaddled. We have robins around somewhere, but they haven't come out in the cold. Not much snow, some ice last week...maybe they finally went south. Lovely photos!
M.E.
Posted by: M.E. | February 05, 2011 at 05:31 PM
Great photos and what a variety of birds you attract!
Posted by: Kay Dennison | February 05, 2011 at 09:48 PM
ME--It's hard telling where the robins go. On nice days we may see up to 150 of them in our back lot; but, on really bad days we see nary a one. Glad you escaped the ice and thanks for the compliment.
Kay--The "life list" for birds in our yard, or visible from our yard, includes 87 species for the 11 years that we've been here. Not a barn burner, but not bad. I'm sure it would be higher if my vision had been as good for all of that time as it's been since cataract surgeries last summer, AND/OR if I were a better birder. Oh, well, I enjoy what I see and can identify.
Posted by: Cop Car | February 06, 2011 at 10:23 AM
I love these photos...somehow reminds me of spring, even with the snow. I can't honestly remember the last bird I saw around here, but I think it was wearing a muffler and snowshoes. Happy Sunday CC... ~Joy
Posted by: Joy | February 06, 2011 at 10:29 AM
Bad, bad, bad, Joy. But...thanks for the laugh!
Posted by: Cop Car | February 06, 2011 at 11:40 AM
A heated birdbath. That is a wonderful thing to do for the birds, who need all the help they can get.
Posted by: Hattie | February 07, 2011 at 02:57 PM
Hattie--We've had a heated birdbath for several years, now. You are right that they are wonderful for the birds! Keeping one clean & filled can be a challenge.
Posted by: Cop Car | February 12, 2011 at 11:38 AM