Birding.

[MikeandRong]

 

Yearling Male Redwing Blackbird. Hard to believe the color change he will go through to become all black with just the red and yellow shoulder patch. You can see on his left shoulder where the color will be by next spring just starting to show up now.

[MikeandRong]

 

Good looking yearling Female Brown-headed Cowbird in the mix. This bird has adapted to always finding another species of birds nest to lay their eggs in and be tended and raised by those different birds. Drop their eggs and leave is all they do and the other birds hatch and raise their young and don't ever notice the difference.

[MikeandRong]

 

It really poured rain this morning. 20 minutes after it stopped this Male Cardinal showed up soaking wet and ready to eat.

[MikeandRong]

 

1 minute later this Male Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up soaked too.

[MikeandRong]

 

At the same time this gorgeous Female Cardinal was on the other side looking dry.

[MikeandRong]

 

Then another minute later another (maybe the same) purplish/pink Female Cardinal was on the other side eating the black oil sunflower seeds.

[MikeandRong]

 

3 hours later the sun is kicking up the heat and humidity like crazy after all that rain earlier today. All the birds and squirrels are feeding like crazy right now when they should all be back to their homes resting. It sounds like feeding time at the zoo outside, so I took a look. Lots of new birds out there. These are 2 Male Red Winged Blackbirds who should be nowhere near here this time of year.

[MikeandRong]

 

This big Male Red-bellied Woodpecker came in all fired up and chased away all the birds and squirrels so he could feed. Look how long and sharp his beak is. It's open because he just bit at another bird trying to come in to eat.

[amberjack1234]

Beautiful, they all have their own character don't they?

[MikeandRong]

Beautiful, they all have their own character don't they?

They sure do. From their individual call tones, to coloring, and how each one acts.

[MikeandRong]

 

This Black-capped Chickadee is huge and in perfect condition.

[MikeandRong]

 

This Male Hairy Woodpecker has been hanging around here lately. He is a little bigger than the others and instead of a red cap on his head it is all chocolate colored, even going down his backside and the tops of his shoulders. Don't know if it will change to red later as he looks like a full grown adult male and acts like one too.

 

Like Larry said, they all have their individual character.

[MikeandRong]

 

This is a new Male Downy Woodpecker that showed up this afternoon. The squares on the suet block are roughly 1" each, so that puts this little guy right about 4" if you count the tail feathers too.

[MikeandRong]

 

This Male Cardinal was singing while eating. That feeder was filled to the top this morning, they are feeding non-stop today.

[MikeandRong]

 

This adult Female Downy Woodpecker is in perfect condition, and so tame you can walk right up to her and she will just continue to feed.