Project FeederWatch: I am participating in Project FeederWatch, a program operated by Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology. It involves counting the largest number of individuals of each bird species seen at any one time over a two-day period each week. Participating volunteers pick their own count days, and mine are Fridays and Saturdays.
I have several feeders in my backyard, and I count species that come to them as well as others that are attracted to plantings in my yard. Flyover birds or those seen outside my backyard are not included. I'm relatively new to the program, but it offers a fun way to watch nature in one's backyard.
Over the past few weeks I've photographed critters from my kitchen window. Click on the photos to enlarge them.
A Cottontail Rabbit at the base of a Rough-leafed Dogwood at the side of my yard. Violets, a pretty decent ground cover, grow thick along a 15-foot strip along the side of my yard, so I don't mow there. It adds a bit of wildlife habitat to my yard. It's a good place for bunnies to hide.
And a male Northern Flicker that posed on the side of a tree while probing presumably for insect eggs stashed in the the bark:
A Red-breasted Nuthatch (left) compared with a White-breasted Nuthatch (right) taken last year:
A Carolina Wren planning to grab a sunflower seed:
And last spring an immature Robin that flattened itself on the railing of my deck:
Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks have frequented my neighborhood recently. This "Sharpie" is watching activity at my feeder, hoping to pick off a meal--their chief source of food is birds.
This Kestrel was first spotted on a wire behind my neighbor's house, and later, in better light, on the top of a utility pole at the rear corner of my yard.
Another, front view of an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk watching the birds at my feeder:
And a Cooper's Hawk, taken 9 January, 2015
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