This past weekend Atlanta, and most of the Eastern half of the country, got a fair amount of snow. In the two years we’ve lived here this is the largest amount of snow they have had. While it was a “significant snow event” for Atlanta, it barely qualifies as snow for our old hometown of Chicago! Either way, it was nice to see some snow in the yard. I took a few pictures of the feeders and yard to prove that there actually was snow. Here they are:
A Winter Wonderland
This first picture is of the backyard at nearly the “height” of the storm. There was a bit of slush/ice on the roads for a few hours. The snow stuck around on the grass for a day or so and in the shady areas for nearly 3 days. We ended up with maybe 2″ of accumulation.
Carolina Wren
here is one of our regular Carolina Wrens sitting on the snow covered platform feeder. You can also see the beak of a male Cardinal peeking out from behind the tube feeder.
Cardinals And Yellow Rumped Warbler?
Here is a picture of a couple of cardinals along with what we think is a Yellow Rumped Warbler. There’s a little bit of yellow under the wings along with the “wing bars”. What do you more experienced birders think?
Another Picture Of The Warbler (We Think)
Here’s another picture of the bird we think is the Yellow Rumped Warbler. See the little bit of yellow on his head? The only place we didn’t see yellow was on his rump 
Winter is on its way out here in Atlanta. March is usually when things start to warm up a bit here in the South so the late snowfall (March 1st) was a nice treat. Pretty soon we’ll be complaining about the 90 degree days with 90% humidity.
February 1, 2009 – 7:27 pm
In a couple of weeks Pam and I will take part in our first “official” bird count, The Great Backyard Birdcount 2009. The GBBC is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. It is annual event that takes place in February.
Lots of Participants
In 2008 over 85,000 checklists were submitted and over 9.8 million birds of 635 species were reported. Obviously, lots of people take part. We’re looking forward to being part of the 2009 edition.
Our Plan
The count takes place from February 13th to the 16th. We will be around most of the weekend except for a few hours on Saturday. Our plan is to spend some time Saturday afternoon as well as Sunday morning and afternoon recording all the birds we see in our backyard during those times. Hopefully, we have some good activity and are able to get some good counts. This will be a good opportunity to test our identification and “binocular handling” abilities. We have a fairly large backyard so we will need to pay attention and count correctly.
A Good Opportunity
The Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to participate in birding. You don’t need to be experts, Pam and I definitely aren’t , and the information you gather is used to further science. If you are getting started in birding like we are, this is a great way to contribute and have fun at the same time.
To learn more about the GBBC, visit their site, then get ready to count!
January 23, 2009 – 3:05 pm
Well, it finally caught up with me. After probably 6 years without missing a day of work due to illness, I took today off because I had a fever and generally felt like crap.
After getting some tea and OTC cold/flu medicine I took a nice 3 hour nap and then spent an hour or so sitting in the recliner, drinking tea and keeping an eye on our feeders and birdbath.
A Different Perspective
This was probably the first time I have been in the house by myself in the middle of a work day, doing absolutely nothing, in nearly 10 years. On the weekends Pam and I run around doing errands, etc. We spend some time watching the feeders but usually in the morning or late afternoon. The middle of the day is not a common time to watch birds. So this afternoon I just took in what I could see. There were some differences in the bird’s activities in the middle of the day. They seemed to be less rushed. More of them just sat on the feeder and ate as opposed to taking one seed and flying away. Is it because they aren’t trying to get the “last seed” before darkness? I don’t know but it was fun watching them. Also, the daylight is much brighter making the birds colors more vibrant.
The Tally
I only saw 12 species, kind of low for the yard. I did see a new life bird, the Dark Eyed Junco. Maybe it was because it was the middle of the day. But, each of the birds was more laid back and I was able to watch them better. A trade off I guess, quality over quantity.
I sort of enjoyed the afternoon birdwatching, except for the fever, chills, and hacking cough Hopefully I recover quickly.
Time for another nap.
January 18, 2009 – 8:26 pm
This week was one of the coldest weeks Atlanta has had in a few years. The birds were eating seed like crazy. They also discovered our heated bird bath in large numbers as well as the little feeder we stuck to the sliding door to the deck. I tried to take pictures of as many birds as I could but they were always the same birds! Here are a few of the better ones I got:
Our recent invasion of Pine Siskin is a little unusual from what I understand. I guess they don’t usually appear down here in such large numbers. Here they are on our thistle feeder:
Here’s one of my favorite pictures to date. I got lucky with this guy who was sitting on the bird bath.
Here’s one of the Pine Siskin eating in our “stick on” window feeder.
This Eastern Bluebird was very interested in what was going on in the house.
I’m getting better at this bird picture thing but I still take a bunch in order to get a few keepers. Hopefully you enjoy the pictures as well
January 16, 2009 – 9:03 pm
Today was one of the coldest days we’ve had in Atlanta in a few years. Cold is relative thing however and our low to mid 20’s high temperatures, while “dangerously cold” for Atlanta, are barely cold at all if you live in the upper midwest. So, if you are reading this and your thermometer is -20, I’m glad I’m not there- Try to stay warm!
When I came home from work there was a lot of activity at our heated bird bath. I went upstairs to get the camera and when I got back downstairs all that was left were a couple of Mourning Doves:
They looked a little cold, all puffed up and just sitting there. The temperature was about 28 degrees so it was a little chilly. Pam and I get teased by our friends who live “up North” that we are becoming wimps by living in the South. I wonder if “Southern birds” get teased by their Northern relatives just like we do
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