John's Backyard Bird Watching Blog

Picture of Red Bellied Woodpecker

John Taylor — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:53:00 +0000

Picture of red bellied woodpecker and American goldfinch flying toward backyard bird feeder.

Red Headed Woodpecker

John Taylor — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:04:47 +0000

Photo of Red Headed Woodpecker Flying

The 13th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count

John Taylor — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:17:28 +0000

This year, my wife and I decided to participate in the 13th annual great backyard bird count. This four day event was held from February 12 – 15th, 2010, which allowed bird watchers of all ages to count birds during these four days to help create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent and in Hawaii.

Even though it snowed here in western West Virginia every day during the backyard bird count, there was a great turnout at our bird feeders. We counted fourteen different types of birds at our feeders throughout the four days including red headed woodpecker, female and male hairy woodpeckers, female and male red bellied woodpeckers, mourning doves, American goldfinch, dark-eyed junco, white-throated sparrow, female and male downy woodpeckers, Carolina chickadee, male and female northern cardinals, tufted titmouse, American crows, white-breasted nuthatch, and male and female pileated woodpeckers.

Here are some photos from our backyard bird feeders during the 2010 13th annual great backyard bird count.

Photo of Hairy Woodpecker and American Goldfinch at Bird Feeder

Photo of Male Red Bellied Woodpecker Flying from Bird Feeder

Photo of Titmouse at Backyard Bird Feeder

Photo of Carolina Chickadee Waiting for Turn at Bird Feeder

To learn more about the annual great backyard bird count and to see the 2010 results visit http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

Male Cardinal in Snow

John Taylor — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:09:16 +0000

During the winter when the ground is snow covered and trees are bare, a cardinal is not very difficult to spot sitting in a tree. The male cardinal is one of the most brightly colored birds in the woods, especially during the winter months. Most other birds such as the goldfinch lose their bright colors during winter months, but not the cardinal. His bright red feathers stay vibrant throughout the winter. As the state bird of West Virginia, the cardinal can be seen year round but winter is my favorite time to see and photograph this beautiful bird.

The female cardinal, although not as red in color as the male cardinal can also be seen year round in West Virginia, usually nearby her male companion.