A Good Birding Weekend

The snow that we got last Saturday really brought out the birds in force.  It was the most I've seen so far this winter.

The day started out with a nice surprise.  We spotted a Cooper's Hawk in the tree in our side lawn. A few weeks ago I caught a glimpse of the same bird but didn't get a good enough look to identify it.

The Cooper's Hawk is a medium sized hawk that is known to prey on smaller birds at feeders.  I was disappointed to read that, but I guess it's the circle of life.  It didn't seem to stay around for long near the feeders but it probably lives on our property.  I didn't get a photo myself, but below is a nice shot of one from the internet:


  

The rest of the weekend I observed the normal variety of birds for our yard including blue jays, juncos, chickadees, American tree sparrows, house sparrows, woodpeckers, nuthatches, and goldfinches.  As far as the woodpeckers, I spotted a hairy, downy, and red-bellied variety.

Below are some of the photos I captured:

So until next time, happy bird watching.  I would love to hear from my readers as to which species you are observing in your area.

In my next post I will return to vegetable garden planning.