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.
January 2, 2009 – 10:54 am
The first day of 2009 was a nice relaxing day with a little bit of birding and exercise tossed in for good measure. Both Pam and I rode our bikes to get our exercise. Then we refueled and did a bit of birding along the Chattahoochee River and came home to find some Bluebirds in our new bird bath. An action packed day all around
Birding On The River
After we got our New Years bike rides in and ate some lunch we drove a few miles to where Peachtree Parkway (aka Medlock Bridge) crosses over the Chattahoochee River and parked at one of the many sections of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area to do some quick birdwatching. We walked along the trail for about 45 minutes or so and saw a lot of the same birds that visit our feeders.
But we also saw a new bird that we can add to the life list and that was the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Pam and I saw a few of these flitting about in the trees next to the river. We forgot our Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America
so we noted the colors, etc. and checked as soon as we got home. We’re getting a little better at least in identifying birds. Both of us narrowed it down to either a warbler or sparrow without the guide.
Activity At The “Bird Hot Tub”
When we got home, around 4PM, we noticed some visitors to our new “Bird Hot Tub” (as my co-workers called it when they saw I was getting Pam a heated bird bath for Christmas). There was a pair of Eastern Bluebirds hopping along the edge of the bird bath. I had the camera nearby and snapped a couple of pictures:


They seemed to be enjoying the fresh water. It was neat that the first birds I saw at the bird bath were the same as the 1st bird I saw for 2009 earlier in the day. It’s funny how things work sometimes.
A Nice Start To The Year
It was a nice way to start the New Year. We are hoping to see many more birds this year and we are looking forward to sharing our experiences with you through this blog.
We hope all of you have had a good start to 2009!