I should have known yesterday when I saw the first slate-backed juncoes near the birdfeeder that winter is nearly upon us. Yes, it seems they brought a blast of cold air with them and we have had snow and sleet as well as rain.
I didn't get any good photos of juncoes yet, but I have a couple of funny ones of mourning doves.
A Peaceful Mourning Dove
They Like to Sit on the Arbour Bench
And Here Too, It Seems
So yesterday we went to our local place that sells birdseed in huge bulk bags. It's hard to describe this store. I guess it is a farm and feed store. Here we can buy dried corncobs for the squirrels, and peanuts in the shell for our peanut feeder.
A Feeder that Holds Peanuts in the Shell
This is the feeder that holds peanuts in the shell. This photo was taken at around 4:00 in the afternoon. Earlier in the day the feeder was FULL of peanuts. Mostly the squirrels get them, but we have also seen a blue jay and the downy woodpecker take notice of these at different times.
We are also trying a couple of different mixes of seed. A mixture of nyjer seed and chopped, shelled sunflower seed for the small birds. (We got a new feeder for this, since our existing one is past its prime.) You can sort of see the new feeder at the far right of this photo.
Trying New Birdseed
The wooden feeder contains a mix of "low waste" seeds in place of black oil sunflower. We decided to try this to see how the birds like it. So far, so good. Lots of little birds, but not so many large ones.
And speaking of large birds, "our" downy woodpecker seems to find our yard a welcoming place. As we had hoped, he found the suet basket that we put on the willow tree. He has now returned enough times to earn a name. May I introduce you to "Wally Woodpecker"?
Wally Woodpecker Is Now a Frequent Visitor
Photos belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com and may not be used without attribution.
10 comments:
I love your photos, especially the
Peaceful Mourning Dove.
I like your photos, I want to have birds in my garden too.
Amazing, I have never seen any doves in our garden so far. I like your feeders, it's much fun to observe birds in the own garden, isn't it?
I love the Peaceful Mourning Dove perched on the buddha's foot! :) Their songs in the spring and summer are so lovely...
LOVE love the shot of peaceful dove in hand..a poem could be written looking at this image!peace..NG
We have a pair of doves that frequent our yard...and a number of smaller varities. Still lacking the woodpeckers....
Lovely bird pictures and feeders. Nothing better than watching the birds having fun in your garden, isn't it?
I love that shot of the mourning dove on buddha's foot! Especially right now...on election day here in MI we are voting on whether or not to ban the hunting of mourning doves. They were always protected as song birds, but in 2004 the morons...I mean people who run our state gov't lifted the ban. I'm hoping we can get the ban put back.
Beautiful photos!
I love the dove on the buddah.That is such a cool picture.And the woodpecker is nice too.Thanks for commenting on my post.How do you post on three blogs?you must be very busy!!
Now THAT'S a great photo! My doves never land on my buddha. I feel deprived!
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