Filtered Finch
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: Time to Feed the #Birds

If you share your link, please comment on my post and include your link in the comment! Since I installed JetPack for mobile last week, links are not showing up and I’m not receiving notifications for them. As always, I will continue to place your links in the round-up section of my post.

Feed the Birds Day

Feed the Birds Day is typically observed on February 3 annually to bring awareness to the harsh winter conditions that might prevent wild birds in the northern hemisphere from finding enough food to eat. According to sources,

“This day is celebrated in early February, during the deepest and coldest part of winter. It is the time of year when food is the scarcest. This is the time your backyard birds need your help the most. The seeds in your feeder provide energy and strength, to help birds make it through the rest of winter.”

“Birds require high-energy (high-fat) foods during the cold winter weather to maintain their fat reserves to survive the frosty nights. Use only good-quality food and scraps.”

Source
orange bird on feeder
Mine, all mine!

Feeding the birds is not without controversy, some feel. This article from the US Fish & Wildlife Service states cautionary advice for those who choose to feed wild birds in their backyards.

If you are a fan of birds, you might know that the entire month of February is National Feed the Birds month and the month for The Great Backyard Bird Count.

Female finch
Finch finds sunflower seeds

Linda Shaub posted last week on her findings. I’m hugely impressed that anyone can sit there and count birds. I’m just happy to capture decent images with my lens!

Let’s Share Our Bird Photos!

Whether you choose to feed the birds that visit your backyard, or not, capturing wild birds with the camera lens is a fun and fascinating hobby. I’ll start with a few of mine. Last week I shared these sweet birds that visit our properties during the winter months. They love the black-oil sunflower seeds I provide each day.

Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker
Redheaded purple finch
Redheaded purple finch

Quail and dark-eyed juncoes also visit our backyard all year long.

Juvenile Quail
Juvenile Quail
dark eyed junco
Dark-eyed Junco says, “Where’s the Food?”

Sometimes the deer think they can get in on the action.

Feeding deer
Deer trying to eat from neighbor’s bird feeder

I caught this Northern Flicker as he launched from lunch in the sunflower planter. Look at the red color under his wings!

Northern Flicker
Fleeing Flicker

Filtered Finch Fun

I was so happy to capture some great close-ups of the finches scavenging for seeds. This one was intent on the seeds below her perch.

Female Purple FinchFiltered Finch

Birds’ Gotta Eat

Now that I live in eagle and raptor country, being able to watch American Bald Eagles hunt and fish is fascinating. Many of you have seen similar images taken in November 2021 at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Bald eagle eating fish
Bald Eagle Enjoying a Fish

Keeping a watchful eye.

two bald eagles
Eagles above and below

“May you soar on eagle wings, high above the madness of the world.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Happy Hummers

Capturing hummingbirds in any situation is always a challenge. I caught this cutie from a window in Scottsdale, Arizona last summer.

Purple throated hummingbird
What a Poser!
vivid hummingbird
Touch of vivid purple on hummingbird

Last spring after we had planted our trees and provided a place to dine, the hummers visited regularly.

9 Mile Falls Hummingbird
Look a new feeder in town!
Feeding Hummingbird
Yumm!
Perched Hummingbird
Finally a place to rest!
Anna Hummer Red Feeder
Tongue out in anticipation!

I sure missed seeing them after years of watching their entertaining antics when we lived in Sacramento. I do not use red nectar any longer.

FLoating hummingbird
Floating to the feeder
Post-edited hummingbird
Hummer Straight Beak
Hummingbird feeding
Green hummingbird

I really enjoy my alone time with my backyard birds!

“In order to see birds, it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” ― Robert Lynd

This Week’s Inspiring Photo Challenges

Each week I am inspired by my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their BIRD photos. I add these all week as new links are posted.

Themes for the March are ready to view on my Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Page. Join me as we kick off March exploring “Out of This World!”

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111 comments

  3. I didn’t know all about the special days in February for the birds. Now I feel silly that I didn’t. Great photos – I didn’t know the flickers feathers are red underneath, I’ll have to watch them closer this spring when they return here. The eagle photos are so great. We have them fly over our house a lot, but it’s rare to be with a camera at the same time they land in any tree close to our house. I look forward to seeing hummingbirds again – we’ll know that spring has finally returned when they return looking for the nectar in the feeders! Happy end of February to you!

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    • Thanks so much, Shelley! I’m sure I learned all about bird feeding month and others through these years of blogging. Isn’t that crazy about the red flicker feathers? I wish I’d had a better shot–I was lucky to get that much. I’ve been told by experts that April 15th is the date that hummers come back to our area. I’m ready for them, food, lenses and all 😉

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      • It’s so fun to learn new things from our fellow bloggers!
        Yes, that’s so crazy about the red flicker feathers. I usually see them walking around eating ants here very rarely flying.
        Yay for being ready for the hummers. We haven’t been able to find a feeder that doesn’t leak – maybe new ones will be in stock soon and we can score one before the hummers return here.

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      • I’m sure the feed stores and big box stores will be stocked with bird goodies–happy shopping and stay safe during these winter blasts. I just read Linda’s email. Yikes, no power! We rarely get ice storms but we had such wind last week with blowing fine snow, our back doors had 12 inches of snow stacked up against them–talk about literally digging yourself out, LOL!

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      • Yes, I think you’re right!! It’ll be fun in March to head to the garden stores to see what new stuff has arrived.
        I’m glad Linda reached out to you. I was so worried about her, I’m glad her generator worked and that power and internet have been restored.
        Your snow storm sounds like ours…craziness!!!

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  4. Terri, you have an incredible collection of beautiful bird photos. Are you sure you’re not a bird counter? I’ve never been very good at bird photography – guess I don’t know how to be quiet! Although, I did see an Eagle while we were visiting Jekyll Island recently. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my long lens and had to rely on a cropped version of a very crappy picture. Even so, it was exciting. Not possible to choose a favorite this week – all are amazing!

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    • Many thanks, Suzanne! So kind of you! I was never good with numbers so I don’t even try to count the birds that flit around our property. Seeing eagles is always exciting and never gets old. I have to purposely go out with my “real” camera to shoot eagles, but I have been lucky to capture a few just overhead in our neighborhood.

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  12. Terri,
    Fascinating collection of bird pictures–you have a gift. The wind gusts we have experienced in San Diego may have blown all the birds out of here; they were SO strong. Just curious…why no red nectar? Have a great week! Joe

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    • Thank you so much! Oh that is kind of sad and funny about the winds in SD, Joe. I remember the strong Santa Ana winds (dry desert winds from the East) the blew there. Hope you are enjoying the warmer temps!

      Red dye found in store-bought nectar may be harmful, but the birds are attracted to the color red. I use the dry powder and mix a little at a time. It’s clear and the feeders are bright colored. They’re smart little birds and know to come to the feeder.

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  15. I love photos of bird, Terri. Otherwise, they’re too fast for me or too far away. I think you have a knack for capturing them with your camera. Beautiful photos. And thanks for the info on feeding birds. We probably don’t need to since we rarely have snow, but they’re my husband’s pets. He has to feed someone!

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    • Thank you, Tina! I’ve gotten lucky with bird photography and I seem to have patience, at least in warmer weather. I used to sit quietly in my backyard in Sacramento waiting for the hummers. They were always so brave and I have countless shots of them. I’m sure your hubby loves feeding the birds!

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  17. Terri! You captured some great ones. Love the pretty finch, but man the eagles and the hummingbirds stole the show…I can never seem to catch the hummingbirds sitting still long enough..it doesn’t help that my full frame lens doesn’t allow me to get as close as I want especially at 300mm. I’m thinking of getting a teleconverter to give me a bit more length.

    Here’s my post.https://troyerslovinglife.blogspot.com/2023/02/taking-in-life-around_26.html

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    • Thank you, Kirstin! Yeah those eagles and hummers are scene stealers–probably why I like them so much! My lumix has that 600mm zoom lens that really works. I need to explore more with the camera, maybe take another class if I can find one.

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      • My camera is full frame which is great, but the difference in the 300 zoom on this vs. the 300 zoom on my crop sensor that I had years ago is so different. I miss it sometimes. I’m looking at getting a teleconverter which will extend the zoom length, but researching right. now. I’d probably mostly use it when shooting wildlife that gets skittish if I get too close.

        Liked by 1 person

  21. I love that you host this information annually. Your photos are stunning and the eagles are so fun to watch. How lucky that are commonplace for you. And to think you captured some hummingbirds in AZ, well done. lol. I am still working on that. They frequent my backyard, but still no luck. I think I need to find a place to sit and set my camera to rapid fire.

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  22. Sadly I don’t have a link for you this week Terri, but thank you for mentioning our challenge. Actually bird-watching is a marvelous opportunity for Alone Time! Unfortunately these past few weeks we’ve been battling a woodpecker who seems to want to live in our house so I’m not happy with birds right now LOL. Fortunately I think we’ve finally dissuaded and he’s moved along to invade someone else’s rafters!!

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    • I try to hop into L-A when I can and when it makes sense and this week it did, Tina! Woodpeckers are big, noisy and determined. We had a Flicker squeeze herself into the 20 foot rafters of our Pole Barn last spring trying to build a nest. Hans plugged up the holes with foam and even after leaving two 12-foot doors open, the knucklehead wouldn’t fly out. She eventually got out and couldn’t get back in. Hope you have a wonderful week, my friend!

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  23. Thank you for linking my post Terri – I appreciate it. It was a good morning for counting birds at this small park where I walk daily. They were in abundance due to the sun I think. We’ve had so many gray days. The next morning the Red-winged blackbirds returned. I love listening to them as I walk alongside the marsh. Before I went to this park, I stopped at the Detroit River – we used to get many Bald Eagles every February and March. There was a steel factory nearby and the hot steam would melt the frozen river allowing the Eagles to fish. It was a paradise for photographers, but the steel plant closed last year, so not an Eagle was in sight. I’ll have to enjoy them by visiting your blog and Wayne’s blog. I got zero pics of the ONE female Ruby-throated Hummingbird that visits the two feeders I put out. My next-door neighbor had hummingbird feeders all around her house. After she passed away in 2017, her son, who now lives there, took them all down. He told me the hummingbirds buzzed around the living room window where she usually sat looking in at him. I said “send them here” – one I got and I’ve named her Hope. 🙂

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  32. Such a variety of birds and you definitely have a steady hand/autofocus to capture them. I struggle with birds as they move faster than I can focus. But I have a few snaps to post by tomorrow for you! I liked the deer photo too…the one standing guard just seems to be staring at you, waiting to sound the alert.

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  34. Such amazing shots of birds you have. It’s astounding that you took them all yourself and you have such a variety. I love the artistic touches you’ve put on some of the photos, too. I have Donna’s luck with hummingbirds. They always win. 🙂

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    • Thank you , Sarah! I forgot to mention your link worked just fine (thank goodness)! I’m pleased with the winter birds we have here and am happy to feed them. Now the deer have discovered the leftover and discarded sunflower seeds and have been sneaking into our yard at night to eat the seeds.

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  41. Such a lovely assortment of birds, Terri. I couldn’t help to laugh at the photo of the Juvenile Quail, though—such a strange but funny-looking bird. But I guess it will come as quite a surprise when you’ve never seen one.

    I’m afraid that birds are one subject I don’t photograph. They always seem to fly off or are too far away for me to capture on my phone. I’ve captured some photos of them in flight in the sky, but never while feeding.

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    • Thank you, Hugh! Capturing good photos of birds with a phone is futile (at least for me as well). I have enough trouble in low light on zoom with my lumix camera. This particular quail looked like a typical gangly teenager to me. Usually they are rather plump and round looking.

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  42. Great captures Terri, it’s very hard to take photos of birds. You have a great variety in your garden and surrounding areas. I love watching the birds in my garden too if they can stay long enough without my two naughty dogs chasing them away

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