Sunday, January 15, 2012

Feeding the birds

Hello everyone--Happy New Year to you!
Not much going on here in my part of Texas. We are on a constant roller coaster with our weather. Some days it is cold and gray; some days it is cold and clear; other days it warms up to the 60's. Not much going on in the garden either these winter months, however one of my favorite pastimes is very active. I love feeding the birds..especially yellow finches! And I must have some really tasty thistle as these little birds are at the feeders every morning and stay most of the day. This picture is taken from my breakfast window-these cuties would run (well, fly) if I ventured out to take their picture. Normally the finches I see have on their winter colors of brown-not as much yellow as I am seeing this year. Hum...sign of the La Nina we are experiencing maybe?
I actually put up 2 feeders wondering if they had a preference. When they first arrived, they only went to the yellow feeder, but as more and more birds appeared, both feeders stay full of diners. We enjoy our little feathered friends every morning as we sit at the kitchen table with coffee. We have other feeders in the yard for the sparrows, black-capped chickadees, jays and cardinals. (Oh...guess I should mention squirrels-they think that food is for them!) But our very favorites are the yellow finches. They will only be here a short time as our summers are way too hot for them. And while they are our guests, their feeders will remain full!
Do you feed the birds in the winter...what is your favorite?

8 comments:

Lea's Menagerie said...

Yes, we feed the birds, and the squirrels, too!
It seems that at least half the birds at our feeders are cardinals - bright red males, and the equally beautiful brownish-red females. We see doves, wrens, chickadees, and several different brownish bird species I can't identfy. Several kinds of woodpeckers come to the suet feeders. The goldfinches don't stay with us long, just passing through Spring and Fall as they migrate. When we see robins, we know Spring is near.
Birdfeeding is such a great hobby; everyone should try it!
Lea
Mississippi

tina said...

Happy New Year to you too! I was just preparing my post for tomorrow and would you know it has to do with the birds as well? Tis the season. Those finches are indeed happy. You know I cannot get finches here to eat thistle at all. Finicky birds we have indeed.

Meadowview Thymes said...

Lea--we have the same birds as you do, except for the wrens. I have only seen them once or twice. I do see Robins, but not in my yard for some reason. This year we have hawks near by. They are beautiful birds, but I sure don't like it when they go after my cute litte feathered friends!

Hi Tina--birds are kind of funny as far as where they feed. There is a lady who writes for the Dallas Morning New, lives in east Dallas about 30 min from me. She writes she feeds all kinds of birds..except finches. She tries all kinds of thistle too. Funny thing, hubby bought this thistle at Kroger..and they seem to love it. Goes to show, they may not have real expensive taste! :)

Anonymous said...

We have a lot of doves and the cardinals have been just beautiful to watch - they started to come out when the rains came back. We have also had some small finches - not the gorgeous yellow ones though, maybe I am too far south for them...

Can't wait to see you on Sunday:-)
Your sister

Meadowview Thymes said...

Hey Sister Kim! We just started seeing red-winged blackbirds too. They are so vocal as they "announce" themselves to the yard. See ya soon!!!

Cindy, MCOK said...

I've got a fair number of goldfinches at the feeders, a few chickadees, cardinals and the occasional woodpecker. The sparrows are here year-round, of course.

Here's to sunshine, cool crisp days and enough rain to help the spring flowers be gorgeous!

RobinL said...

I do feed the birds, but I'm not very regular about it. Sometimes I forget to fill it up! I mostly see house finches, but I do enjoy seeing their cute little red bellies. In summer, we see lots more goldfinches, and those are my favorites! Hey, be sure to make note of my new blog address, as my old one was deleted due to someone else's fraud. Grrrr!
http://lifeinrobinsnest.blogspot.com/

Harry said...

I'm jealous - for the third year in a row, I had essentially no finches. I used to have clouds of yellows and house finches. I don't know where they've gone.