Linda! What a cool story! Thank you for the link. I see it is 50 min. long so I will have to watch it tomorrow but I watched about the first 5 min. just now & am very excited! Oak hammocks of Fl. he said --- that's where we are.

And thanks Lin & Vic. Yes, to me it was very exciting. The sun was shining & glinting off their feathers. I couldn't believe how many there were. They just kept coming!

We may, that's may be able to get that house. We'll see. They say deer come to drink from the creeks too. And I'm sure there are fox. I hope no wild pigs but there likely are. Heck, wild pigs seem to be everywhere. We used to see them down south all the time.

Linda: I couldn't view the baby turkey video ... don't have the flash player thing I guess. I'm going to try to get my husband to get it to work on my laptop sometime this weekend so I can watch!

Ann: I will keep good thoughts for you regarding getting that house ... it sounds like an awesome setting! Sometimes I think I'd love to be in the country with a lot of land, lots of trees ... and no neighbors nearby, but I'm getting lazier as I get older and I don't want to be too far from shopping, grocery store etc. I don't drive much, my car is a 2001 model and I only have 35k miles on it so that shows how much driving I do.

Heck Lin, I bet we drive less than you do. We just sold our 1995 Eldorado which had just under 60,000 miles on it & the first 25,000 miles were put on it before we bought it!

Sounds like I'm not the only one who stays close to home.

Blue Jays have been around today ... and a cute little Warbler:

I like Blue Jays ~~~ they're such clowns. Looks a lot like a palm warbler to me.

Ann, it probably is a Palm Warbler, constantly flicks it's tail. I get the little ones confused a lot!. At this time of year we sometimes see Palm Warblers, Common Yellow-throat, Myrtle Warbler (formerly known as the Yellow-rumped Warbler) and (I think) the Pine Warbler. They are such cute little birds.

I'm so not good at comparing photo's unless I have them side by side so I'm not sure if these are all the same bird or not. Palm Warbler or Common Yellow-throat?

It can be very difficult to tell the warblers apart. And it's even harder in a single photo. I could do it well down south were I could watch them in the yard long enough to get a good look at them from every angle & also the way they move & what they seem to be doing. And lighting can make a huge difference!

Those yellow headed blackbirds are amazing! I had no idea there was such a thing.

Sorry to be so late with my comments but somehow I must have hit the unwatch button on this thread and wasn't even aware of all the new posts.

My catbirds are gone for the winter and my winter birds have arrived. I have been seeing Juncos for the past few days and there are lots and lots and lots of white throated sparrows around again.

A few pictures I took in my backyard today.

I get some of the little warbler's mixed up so I'm not certain but I think this is the Palm Warbler:


Winter visitors; Chipping Sparrow and ........ American Goldfinch, female:


Year round Northern Cardinal:


The small birds went into hiding about an hour ago and were chipping and chirping with distress calls ... the reason? This Loggerhead Shrike was perched at the top of a Cypress tree in the backyard ... it's not a large bird but it is a predator that feeds on bugs, small animals and small birds!

Nice photos Lin. I was just reading this morning that the Loggerhead Shrike is considered to be critically endangered in Ontario, Can. They had a capture and release program to help increase their numbers, so it's good to see one in your area. I usually get the Northern Shrike here.

The wee ones are so cute.

But I must admit I love the Loggerhead shrikes too. We had a couple that came every winter down south. Haven't seen one since moving here.

I've only seen the Loggerhead Shrike a few times ... in August 2010, January 2011 and today! My Florida bird book says that during the winter months, northern migrants infiltrate the Florida population and they are often seen perched on power lines and fences while hunting for small animals. My book also states that because of it's heavy dependence on insects the Loggerhead Shrike has experienced a decline in numbers due to pesticides.


A few more pictures I took about an hour ago, the lighting isn't so great on some of them.

A pigeon (one of the neighbors feeds them stale bread) .... and a Common Grackle:


More Warblers:

I cropped the photo of the Loggerhead Shrike for a better view of that hooked beak. Apparently they spear their prey with that beak!

Good job Lin, much better view of that beak.

Thanks Margaret! I do love the birdies!

mcash70 said:Good job Lin, much better view of that beak.

Thank you! I know when I crop a photo, the quality is a bit distorted but I wanted to show that hooked beak!

Well, I got pictures of one backyard bird that visits the feeders, and a couple of others that feed along the waterway.

Northern Cardinal:


A Wood Stork that was perched on the power line and then decided to take off as I was snapping pictures:


Egret:



And a new one to me, I didn't know what this one was but looked it up in my bird book. This is an American Coot:

Newyorkrita said: Too funny today. The Catbird is following me around the yard as I was going around taking pictures. It was very obvious that it was watching me. He was really annoyed at me too, kept scolding at me (or that's what it sounded like to me). I figgure he was mad that I was not digging up plants like the other day so he could look for bugs! And everywhere I went there he was flying and looking at me. Front yard. back yard, side yard. I was over way in front by my neighbors and he came over there to see what I was doing also.

Finially he gave up and went and ate some berries. I am sure the birds don't understand that the berries are only here because I planted them! Probably he thinks this is good, there are berries. Don't think they are smart enough to say, oh she planted berries for me!

That's too funny!

Catbirds are gone for the winter here now. I do miss them but they will be back in the spring. Meantime all the wintertime birds are here again like the Juncos and white throated sparrows.