is feed the birds. santa showed up with a great set up for us. everyday, we have the opportunity to revel in the beauty of the birds God created for us on earth. my favorites are definitely the goldfinches and the cardinals.
although the extra creatures our feeders have attracked often annoy us, this is a side benefit from a chipmunk (or squirrel) ... new flowers growing in our garden. more beauty. more joy. a little unexpected surprise for us.
i was going back through a few of the pics in my iphoto library to make sure i haven't missed much in my absence from the computer lately. i had to put this one out there because i was trying to photograph this beautiful female cardinal who is coming to visit us more often, but as much as i love the window feeder for our new found *pets*, i cannot stand how dirty this window gets and looks. see, now isn't that just the good old stacie, you all know so well to be bothered by the yuckiness of this window goo?!
it doesn't usually take me long to bounce back from a funk. i feel like i'm on an emotional roller coaster though ... where the highs can be really high and the lows can be pretty low but no matter what, i'm on this journey and i am who i am.
joey reads the bird book and tells us when it's a male, female or juvenile and all kinds of facts about the different birds. it's often funny and cute! that boy, he loves to learn!! it helps that we have a dear birder friend who has taught the kids the beauty of looking for birds and listening to their different songs (or tweets!). thanks, spencer!
we have one box feeder attached to our family room window and it feels like they are hanging out with us in there. we've seen as many as 6-8 birds on there at a time too! so far it's been junkos, house finches, cardinals, sparrows and chickadees there.
and just beyond the patio is our shepards hook set up with a sock of nyjer for the gold finches, suet cake and a regular tube feeder of bird seed mix. it's a busy place! the gold finches found our feeders first and sometimes there are as many as 8 on that "sock" feeder at the same time. the house finches are around a lot too. we all get excited to see new and different birds right there in our backyard. i'm still waiting for my bluejays ... i know they are around. they just haven't found our goodies yet, i guess.
the suet cake has attracted a couple different kids of wood peckers (as shown in the next two pics)
and the burning bushes are one of their favorite places to hang out in between eating at the feeders. dave captured this one, and i just love the clumps of snow here!
now with the bird feeders come lots of squirrels too ... we've seen five at a time before. this little stinker figured out how to knock the suet cake out of the holder and munch away until dave chased him. we are still working on an effective strategy for keeping them away.
