Winter Birds.

2-8-23 SHORT HILLS: It’s been quite a while, I know, but I’ll try to post more frequently now. So far, this winter has been a no show. We’ve had at most a dusting of snow and a lot of rain. Is this a climate change winter? But, a big but, there’s plenty of winter left, most of February and all of March, to bury us in snow. 

We had a cold snap that lasted about 12 hours and sent temps down to near zero, but two days later it was in the fifties again. The snowdrops are up and showing some glints of white from the flowers that will soon follow. Green foliage from ramps is up. 

Today is sunny and mild with almost no wind, and it was warm enough this morning for me to sit outside with the camera and capture some of the feeder birds. 

Windy days have left the yard littered with sticks and branches that I have been picking up. A few weeks ago it was warm enough to pump the pool cover dry. I raked up the dead, soggy leaves left behind and pulled them off the cover. 

Snowdrops showing hints of the flowers to come.

It can be hard to catch these White-throated sparrows because they're usually in constant motion.

White-breasted nuthatch working the suet block. This one is the last of a dozen the birds have eaten in about three weeks.

Tufted titmouse holding still for me.

Red-bellied woodpecker, funny name for a bird with a white belly. This is a male.

Hairy woodpecker, female, finding something in the bark.

Downy woodpecker, a pint-sized version of the Hairy, but with a relatively shorter beak.