Birdwatching

/ Following Him

I noticed during the time we had snow, the birds looked hungry. So I decided to feed them.  And then I thought it might be fun to take photos of the birds that came. With the new camera that my parents gave me for my birthday, I can zoom in on birds without scaring them away. Or well… that was the idea. I forgot at first that I could zoom in that much so I tried to stay nearby. That’s how these two photos happened:

Oops. Sorry birds. 😂 Anyway, then I grabbed a chair and went to the other end of the porch to sit down so that they would not get so frightened. The photos got much better after that.

I think that cute grayish little guy is called a Tufted Titmouse.

And I thought that this was a black-capped chickadee, but it turned out to be a Carolina Chickadee. Maybe.

A few weeks later, I was at it again. I believe this is a White-Throated Sparrow. It was dawn, and the bird was too far away for the flash to help, except to make the bird’s eyes light up. XD

There was a bird that I couldn’t identify that steals my cat’s food on a regular basis, and I was determined to get a photo of it.

After getting the photo, I finally found out what it is: a Red-Bellied Woodpecker!

Here it is eating my cat’s food. Silly thing. That can’t be good for it…

Knowing that Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge – Birds was coming up, I went outside yesterday to see if I could grab any more photos of birds. Here’s what showed up for food yesterday:

This is a juvenile male Northern Cardinal. I was so happy to see him! I didn’t get a shot of his parents, but they attacked any other bird that got too close to their baby. 🙂

This is one of the birds who dared to get to close to the Cardinal – a Blue Jay! This was the best shot I took of him. He was shy and stayed in the trees. Couldn’t blame him – the Cardinal’s parents were really protective of their baby and took a lot of it out on him. 😂

I think this is a Carolina Wren.

I’m not sure about this one; it looks a lot like a Hermit Thrush, but there is a splash of yellow under the wings that it doesn’t look like a thrush has.

This one took a while for me to identify. I think that this is a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker.

This is my first time seeing one; it was exciting!

And my favorite shot of him – here he is actually drinking sap out of a vine!

62 thoughts on “Birdwatching”

  4. I love birds, but blue jays and the kiskadee (my all-time favorite bird) holds special places in my heart. You captured some sweet photos, Grace! I’ve been wondering what camera to get for the longest while and if you don’t mind me asking, what type of camera do you have? The photos are so clean.

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  6. Thank you so very much,
    Great job with new equipment.
    I was a Photographer in the USAF, and then when I got out, worked Professionally for a few years until God led me in a different direction.

    While not a Bird Watcher, I nevertheless really enjoy watching them.

    Thanks again, and continued Blessings, and late wishes for your happy birthday all year long.
    Patrick

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  9. I’m going to have to check later when my internet is faster. The bird photos, aside from first one, aren’t showing up for me 😦 I am familiar with many names you shared. The Black Capped/Carolina chickadee is related to the region you are from. I didn’t know that either till I lived in Florida for a time. The tufted titmouse is my favorite kind of bird! I can’t wait to see what you took!!! ❤ ❤ Love bird photography! And I love your photos!

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    • Oh no, I was afraid that this post might not work for slower Internet connections…

      Aww, I’m sorry! I hope that you can see them soon! I may need to start making the photo size smaller for slower connections. I remember before we upgraded, it drove me nuts when I couldn’t load photos, haha.

      Oh? I had no idea that they are only here in Arkansas! That’s really cool!

      Aahhh! That’s neat! The tufted titmouse is adorable indeed! The little fellows come around a lot. I see them often!

      I look forward to when you can view them! If it doesn’t work, I’ll see if I can compress the files sizes a bit. 🙂

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      • Not only in Arkansas, the Carolina Chickadee is more southern bound in general, thus the name 🙂 So when you get more north, like Ohio for example, you will then get the Black-capped Chickadee. The southern version are a little less dark on their head. I’ll check out the post now, and see. 🙂

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          • If you’re ever in Ohio 🙂 you will, and you are in Ohio, you and your family, and I should meet in a restaurant or something 🙂 that would be awesome to meet in person. One day, I hope to meet some bloggers in person.

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              • Traveling isn’t easy. But I hope your dad gets well so you all can travel whether to Ohio, or whatever your heart takes you. I’ve heard the sea air is supposed to be helpful. I don’t know if it’s an old wives tale, but who knows.

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                • Me too! 🙂 I haven’t been farther than the states that border Arkansas. XD Ohio would be the furthest I’ve been away from home!

                  I’ve heard that too! 🙂 Whether or not it’s true, it sounds like it would be refreshing anyway. 🙂 That’s also something I want to see someday – I’ve never seen the ocean in person, but I’d like to.

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                  • I didn’t see an “ocean” till I moved to Florida when my husband was stationed in Florida. I was 27 when I finally got to see it. Technically…it was the Gulf of Mexico, but you know for now I’m saying close enough haha 🙂

                    If you guys haven’t a place really cool to visit in AR is Hot Springs. When my friend visited me when we went there and it’s a really cool place! There’s a public bathhouse that you can walk in and look around. It has pictures of the history of bathhouses. There an actual hot spring you can visit. Lot of cool stuff and shops. There’s a soap shop down the street.

                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Springs_National_Park

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                    • Oh wow! (I’m 26, haha.) Yes, I’d say that’s close enough to the ocean. 🙂 Was it a beach? Could you build sandcastles? Collect shells? Big waves to surf on? (Not that I would try that, haha. XD)

                      I think the biggest body of water I’ve seen is the Arkansas River. And that’s not an ocean or a lake, obviously. 😆

                      WOW. I didn’t know that there was a Wikipedia page for Hot Springs. That was so fascinating! I haven’t been there, but reading this and your comment makes me want to visit there even more. 🙂 A bathhouse? And soap shop? (Didn’t know there was such a thing as a soap shop… 😅) I’d love the see the hot spring!

                      Also, I’ve heard great things about Eureka Springs, but it’s all the way at the top of the state, haha.

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                    • Yes, I’ve heard lots about Eureka I never went because it was towards the top of the state too. If you visit any beach that has the Gulf of Mexico girl…it’s basically the ocean 😉 Surfing, boats, etc. The Gulf actually leads out to the ocean. If you look up Destin, Florida for example you’ll see what I mean on a map.

                      Yes, I bought myself kid toys to make castles in the sand cause that’s what I always wanted to do. Now the areas we were in…there weren’t really shells. I bought myself shells in a shop right before I left the state and I don’t care haha. But the shells were pretty cheap. We went to the various beach areas Navarre it’s like a hidden area for beaches. Not all tourists know about it. Destin is more of a tourist area but it’s a cool place to go to. We lived in Fort Walton beach which is the top of Florida.

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                    • Aww, haha. 🙂

                      Sweet!! 😀 I did and I see; I’d love to go there in person, the photos of the beaches are amazing. 🙂

                      **highfive** That’s what I would do too. And I would buy shells too. 😃

                      Oh, how nice! Sounds like quite an adventure!

                      Cool!! 🙂 Or should I say, warm! Haha. I bet it was nice to live there where the winters are so mild.

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                    • It was nice. Because we live toward the top, I’ll find a map for you.

                      This is where Destin is, we didn’t live in Destin, but it was like maybe 25+ minutes away.

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destin,_Florida

                      Our winters did get cold, but barely freezing. We were see 30s. Ironically enough, there were days last year when it was warmer in Ohio then Fort Walton Beach haha! But it was really nice when it got warmer faster in March.

                      The scary part was potential hurricane stuff. I’ve never had any experiences like that before, and when we lived there we didn’t see any hurricanes, but the wind and rain got kinda scary sometimes. There were a handful of times when we had tornado watches too.

                      I’m so glad I’m not alone on buying shells! I was never into shells and definitely didn’t want to fall into what I felt was a stereotype of wanting “beachy” things or themes. But…I mean…the shells now are more memories of living there and how God provided in some scary times for us.

                      So…I definitely am into shells now haha 🙂

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                    • Wow, it’s beautiful! ❤

                      Haha, it's funny how that happened! XD

                      Ooohhh, yeah. I'm glad that you didn't see any hurricanes.

                      Aww, haha. Right, souvenirs and nostalgia. 🙂 Have you tried using any in crafts?

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                    • And yes there are soap shops! 🙂 But I know because I make handmade soap haha. I probably wouldn’t know if I didn’t make soap. Most people are familiar with Lush stores though I’m not a fan of Lush…to be fair never gone in a store or shopped. But regulations and all that.

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                    • Oh, haha. 🙂 I’m out of the loop I guess; I’ve seen people saying that they are fans of Lush and I thought it was a name of a music group. 😆 Wow. Never would have guessed that they make soap. (For the record, I’m laughing pretty hard at myself right now. XD)

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                    • I love the cute side of bath products, but whenever I’ve made pretty soaps and such I hear people say “It’s too pretty to use.”

                      Like, person it’s soap I can make more 😉 But I totally understand. ❤

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      • Okay, so I have been able to view them. I was having internet issues anyway the day I read this. It took some time for the photos to show up, but they did 🙂 I wonder if the yellow “thrush” is a warbler. He isn’t as round as they tend to be, but I had a bird that looked somewhat similar and I think I identified him as a warbler type. Red-bellied Woodpeckers enjoy peanut butter, nuts, and insects. I wonder if it mistook your cat food for such? Great pictures!!!

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  11. Ooh awesome photos, Grace!! ❤ When I was younger, I learned so much about American songbirds that I can easily identify them, haha, and so I can happily say that you've identified them all correctly!! Carolina Wrens are by far one of my top favorite birds, they are so fun to watch, and they love to explore! The chickadee you shared definitely looks like a Carolina Chickadee, the Black-Capped relatives are an inch bigger, I think. It's been so long since I put out bird feeders – you're inspiring me to again!

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    • Oh, how cool! 😀 Thank you, I wondered if I identified them correctly! 😀

      Yes, they sure are! 😀 They are one of my favorites too. 🙂

      Oh wow, that’s neat! 😀 I had no idea! I’ll be on the lookout for the slightly bigger Chickadee. 🙂

      Aww, I’m glad that this inspired you! 🙂 I hope that if you put your feeder back up that you get a large variety of birds to watch! 😀

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  12. You have taken beautiful shots of these birds. Awesome job! 🙂 P.S. Don’t worry about the zooming feature on your camera. You have taken beautiful and wonderful shots. It felt as if your portraits were a collage of photos to be displayed in a museum soon. 🙂

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