Roasted Sunflower Seeds

First it looked like a House Finch but the behavior was somewhat different.  House Finch hardly eats at a bird bath feeder placed on the patio during the winter months.  So to find out who it really was,  I looked through the camera lens.  Aha !  Just as I suspected, it was a rare visitor:   a Purple Finch with the deep pink head and white eyebrows.

"I haven't been here for a long time, but I took a chance 

to come and check.  I am glad I found a lot of sunflower seeds here."

"I am almost full."

A Beautiful Morning

What a beautiful morning!  Although it gets cloudy and rainy soon, it is worthwhile to get up early and see this morning glow.

A flock of Canada Goose are flying to the east to find another feeding spot while the sky is clear.

"Gang, just follow me to the east this morning."

Every morning a Northern Flicker arrives to peck on the suet in my backyard.
I stock up the suet supply in winter.  When I am out of the supply, I can make a homemade suet, too.

"Thanks a million for the suet.  I need the fat and seeds to

 survive through the low temperature around here."

Hawk's Tweet

A cloudy day.  After several days of hard rain, birds were very happy to fly out this way to peck on their favorite suets.   When little birds make a lot of commotion, in comes a Cooper's Hawk.

"I've seen many little birds a second ago."

"Tweety birds,  why not come out to

 play with me?," tweeted the hawk.

Bright Pink

Oregon winter is rainy, dark, and gloomy.  Today is such a day.  One more day to the winter solstice when the day will begin to be longer.

The other day a male Anna's Hummingbird brightened my day.

"I thought I might cheer you up on a gloomy day."

Bare Branches

Winter is the best season to observe birds because all the leaves are gone.  On a sunny day, I saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch flying into my backyard.  It makes a unique sound like tooting a tin horn.

"I come here everyday.  If you hear 

anyone tooting a horn, that's me."

"A warm sun is always welcome."

Rainbow between Shower

Too much rain lately.  But once in a while, I can find a rainbow just like this.

Between the rains, birds can take a quick cold bath.

"A big splash!"

"I am SO light and clean."

"The sunshine is nice and warm for just a short while."

A Cold Bath

Yesterday when it was still dark and cold, I saw an Anna's Hummingbird taking a winter bath!!

"Ready to dive!"

"Yeah, getting cleaned!"

"Halfway cleaned.  More to go!"

The Bright Sunrise

Early this morning the bright sun started shining on the neighbor's maple tree.
Bundled up with the down feather coat, etc., I started waiting for birds to fly in and perch on these branches.  Soon,  to my pleasant surprise, one male Varied Thrush just landed.  A Varied Thrush comes once in a long while and looks for food on the ground, often in the shaded area.  Therefore it has been difficult to take a good photo, but not today.

"A nice day.  I'm out for my breakfast."

"Yuk, someone (backyard owner) is down there."

"I'm off to the next yard where no one is out."