Bird Watching

I'm starting to get back into bird watching again. The chance for snow, hungry birds due to the cold, and leaves off the trees giving me a wider range of view from my office window are all drawing me to it again. There's also the quest for the perfect bird picture. I stopped feeding the birds about a year ago due to too many pesky squirrels. They were eating seed faster than I could buy it and refill the feeders not to mention that the seed is expensive. They also started attacking my camelia blossoms and other plants and even chewing on our gutters.

I used to participate in Project Feederwatch. It was a lot of fun to see what types of birds came to my feeders and in what numbers. When the boys came along, it was one of the things I no longer had time for. Now that they are older, maybe we can do it together next year.

But, for this year, I think we'll do the Great Backyard Bird Count. This one is also through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Joey and Johnny have both shown an interest in watching for birds with me, and we can practice their counting and identification skills. Joey will be thrilled if I give him my color laminated sheet of southeastern bird pics to go by. He loves the one he uses to identify butterflys at the butterfly house.

Now, if I can just get them to be quiet so as not to scare the birds away.

More information on the Tufted Titmouse pictured above can be found here.