“Use your eyes. Use them and have faith in them. Use your eyes and trust them. And go out and listen to the birds. Oh, if we would listen more often to the singing of the birds!” H.R. Sass, On the Wings of a Bird 1928
Red-headed Woodpecker
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Carolina Wren
Tufted Titmouse
White-throated Sparrow
Brown Creeper
Eastern Painted Turtle (Yes, this is a reptile, but you don’t see them out sunning in February very often).
Eastern Bluebird
Dark-eyed Junco
Brown-headed Cowbird
Our snowy morning brought many birds to the feeders. They didn’t all like to share as you can see by this sparrow’s greeting to the bluebird.
Goldfinches and brown-headed nuthatch
Pair of Barred Owls high in a pine tree.
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 119:14
“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female). An unusual visitor to my backyard as they only pass through in the spring and fall. I saw a juvenile male the next day.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Red-headed Woodpecker (juvenile)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (looks like he’s holding a Chee-to, but I suppose it’s not).
Wood Ducks (female)
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Flicker
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Red-Headed Woodpecker
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (juvenile)
Blue Jay
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Cedar Waxwing
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Monarch Butterfly
“I exalt You, my God the King, and praise your name forever and ever.” Psalm 145:1
Pair of Wood Ducks checking out a potential nesting box
Brown-headed Nuthatch working on a new home
Great Blue Herons and Mallards Ducks–I think these mallards hired the herons as sentinels. The herons never moved the whole two hours I was there while the mallards slept or paddled around.
Hermit Thrush–I’ve seen and heard these birds quite a bit this winter. They will migrate north in the spring, so listen for them while you can.
Belted kingfisher (female)
Golden-crowned Kinglet–These little guys spend their summers nesting and breeding the high elevation spruce-fir forests of Appalachian North Carolina. They grace us here in the Piedmont with their presence during the winter months.
Red-shouldered Hawks–He brought her a snake but she didn’t seem interested.
Eastern Bluebird (male)
Pileated Woodpecker
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Pine Warbler
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Jesus; Matthew 6:26)
“Few forms of life appeal so strongly to the aesthetic sense. They are beautiful; they arouse curiousity; their elusiveness piques the imagination; and by constantly presenting new aspects they escape becoming commonplace.” Percy Taverner (Canadian ornithologist) in a letter written to Louise de Kiriline Lawrence.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-shouldered Hawk
Hermit Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Myrtle Warbler
Eastern Phoebe
Cedar Waxwing
Myrtle (yellow-rumped) warbler
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
Quote taken from Woman Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay by Merilyn Simonds; ECW Press 2022
So many good pictures this month, I finally decided to post in more than one part. These pictures serve as a personal journal for me since I have been very unorganized with keeping up with my pictures. Blogging on a regular basis helps me to remember which birds I saw in different parts of the year as I learn more about birds–how to identify them and their habits.
Fall is a fun time of year to look for birds (I’ll probably say that every season) as many are migrating. Trying to sort out the different warblers has been a challenge, but a fun one. I have to thank my birding friends on Instagram for helping me out at times.
October 5 was the last day I saw two hummingbirds. The same for last year. Juvenile males are the last to leave on their great journey and in this first picture, you can see the little bit of red the young male has on his neck.
juvenile male ruby-throated hummingbird
The black-throated blue warbler was a first for me. He really is blue if you catch him in the light. One of my pictures on Instagram shows his blue. Unfortunately, it’s a bit blurry, so I didn’t include it here.
Black-throated blue warbler
The downy woodpeckers often visit my feeders, but I still enjoy capturing them (in pictures) when I see them in the woods while out walking. They are one bird I don’t have a problem identifying!
Downy Woodpecker
I’ve only seen a black and white warbler two other times, but wasn’t able to get a picture either time. On this day, one landed on a tree right in front of me and gave me a few seconds to take a few shots.
Black and white warbler
The Cape May Warbler is one of those I can often confuse with others. This is a female.
Cape May Warbler
This juvenile waxwing was hard to see in the trees, so glad to get a shot.
Cedar waxwing
I had taken several pictures of this brown thrasher in the trees; at first, not even sure what I was seeing. Then he came out and gave me several nice poses. Not a bit shy.
Brown thrasher
The Great Egret and his reflection; looking contemplative.
Great Egret
Often when I’m out birding, I don’t pay much attention to the cardinals and chickadees because I see them so often. I’m glad I took this shot though as this male cardinal really stood out eating his snack in the yellow leaves.
Northern Cardinal
Getting a good shot of the kingfisher is always a challenge I enjoy. They are so noisy and fast as they twitter across the water.
Belted Kingfisher
I hope you enjoy seeing some of these birds. October has been a good month, so more coming soon.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1
pmgilmer 