Costa Rica abounds in beautiful birds and butterflies. Some of the nature centers and wildlife refuges have birdfeeders so you can get a closer look at the colorful display. At Monteverde, there is a hummingbird garden with many feeders and the hummingbirds are flitting all around – including sitting on your fingers. Enjoy some of…
Category: Birds
Winter Visitors
While not a fan of cold winters, the bright spot during the long, chilly days are the birds that stop by for a drink at the heated bird bath or to take advantage of our feeders. Some of our recent sightings.
Summer Scene
I am enjoying our summer flowers and birds today. I love the summer plumage of the goldfinch and the scene as he stops by to eat some seeds from the cone flowers. (The silver/gray in the back of the photo is Dichondra (silver falls) from a hanging basket in a tree — Dichondra makes a…
Rejected…. again
This year we were sure the Eastern bluebirds were going to nest in one of our bluebird houses. For the past several years, we have spent a fortune on mealworms, made sure there was always fresh water in the winter and pampered the bluebirds in every way we could in hopes of having a nesting…
2013 Great Backyard Bird Count
This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. The four-day count is an opportunity for bird watchers from all over the United States and Canada to submit a list of the different species visiting their yards. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes…
Water for the Birds in Winter
A source of clean fresh water is essential for the birds. During much of the year, they can find natural sources but as winter hits in many areas, the creeks and puddles become frozen. During the winter, a birdbath will be very popular with the local birds. If you live where it drops below freezing…
Two Sparrows
There are two different types of sparrows sitting in our discarded Christmas tree (Christmas trees make great cover for the birds during the winter. After we remove the decorations, we move it to the patio for the birds). The upper sparrow is a song sparrow and the lower is the easily identified white-throat sparrow. Here…
The Pileated Feeder
The pileated woodpecker is a large, shy woodpecker that does not normally frequent feeders. Although, it usually stays in the woods, we are often treated to the sight of a pair of pileateds that live in the woods behind our house as they come to the edge of the tree line to feed. Though not…
Find the White Throat
Even though it is officially spring, we have a few of our “winter” birds still taking advantage of the bird seed. There are a some dark-eyed juncos and I saw this white throated sparrow today hopping among the spring flowers and weeds (Look in the back in front of the boulder). They will leave soon for their summer…
Turkeys are Back
Two wild turkeys came wandering in the backyard today pecking at the stray bird seed on the ground. We have not seen the turkeys since last fall when we had groups of 20-30 roaming the yard regularly. One year on Thanksgiving day we had 30 turkeys in the yard, however we were satisfied with store-bought turkey rather than…
Great Backyard Bird Count
This past weekend was the Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. The four-day count is an opportunity for bird watchers from all over the United States and Canada to submit a list of the different species visiting their yards. Participants count birds for as little as 15…
Eagles, Snow Geese and Swans
We went by Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area this afternoon. In addition to the usual population of Canada geese and various types of ducks, the lakes now have a large population of snow geese and tundra swans. Middle Creek also has resident bald eagles and we enjoyed seeing them flying over the lake.
Dark-Eyed Juncos
Arriving in October and staying until April, the dark-eyed juncos,also know as snowbirds, are a common winter bird in southeastern Pennsylvania.Often seen in flocks of 20 to 30, they are ground feeders and like a variety of mixed seeds.
Nature and Life Notes 