Bird watching geekiness 101

See the cardinal?

It's hard to imagine that we had such extreme cold just a few weeks ago. We've been having 70 degree weather for a week now, so the memories of that cold weather have already started to fade. But I do remember that the toughest challenge for me was making sure our birds had food and fresh water to get through the extremely cold temperatures. I for one cannot imagine having to stay out in that cold longer than 30 minutes, let alone spend all day and night out there.

So by the second day of teen-high weather, I was going out three times a day to switch out frozen water bowls with fresh ones.. And every morning before the first feeding (around 7am) and the last feeding (between 5 and 6), I would not only make sure our bird feeders were full to the brim, but I started leaving seed under and around the feeders, under the holly bushes in the front, along the side of the house and in the back corner of the backyard, all the places near the water. At first I was surprised by how few birds seemed to be coming out to eat. But the third day, I glanced outside and saw about 25 birds of various sizes and colors eating. That's just about the most I've ever seen in our yard, and by the end of the day there were even more. That's when I started to feel like all of my hard work was paying off.

Our "regulars" consist of wrens, chicadees, small woodpeckers, cardinals, and a ton of dove. We also have, on occasion, blue jays, crows and a grackle now and then. All of these were in attendance during that cold snap, along with some stranger birds that I'd never seen before. There was a solid black bird that was the size of a jay, but puffier than a jay or a crow. There was a little bird with a yellow chest and an olive green back the likes of which I've NEVER seen in our yard before and now seems to have disappeared. But the bird that has me staring out the kitchen window to hopefully catch a glimpse of is our woodpecker that has now come back the last two winters. I've written about it before, how elusive he or she is. It doesn't like to hop down the tree to eat from the feeder unless there are no other birds or squirrels around.

I looked up woodpeckers in Gabriel's bird book and determined that it is of the red-bellied variety. Those are 2-3 inches bigger than most woodpeckers. It's at least 9" tall, with beautiful black and white patterned feathers on the back of its head and wings, and red on top of its head. It's a stunning bird, and the picture above doesn't do it justice at all. The Saturday after our week of cold, I looked up during lunch and saw two of them. But the second one must have been one on it's way to somewhere else because I never saw it again. And I haven't seen our regular now since it's become warmer. I just hope it returns again next year.

The reason I went through such efforts is not just because I feel responsibility for any living thing in our yard, but also because bird watching has become one of my favorite things to do. We have another stand-up squirrel-proof bird feeder to put up in the backyard if we could just find the time. I'd like to find just the right spot so I can see it from our bedroom window. During that cold week there were moments when I was about to go crazy being cooped up with two stir crazy kids. I would find myself at the kitchen window, just watching. It must lower my blood pressure just like petting my dog's head. I may even start keeping a little log of the birds we see and hear in our yard. Next thing you know I'll be buying a pair of field glasses and a kazoo for bird calling.