Sunday, January 22, 2012

A Bit of Backyard Bird Watching

I was roused today by crows clattering in our neighbor's yard. When I came out to investigate I saw the birds feasting on persimmons which my neighbor left on the tree. It seemed to take them only a few gulps to leave nothing but a piece of skin. The tree certainly does not look as decorative as it did only a few weeks ago...









































California towhees, along with hummers, are my favorite birds. They are quiet and very meticulous. They give my flowerbeds a thorough daily inspection, turning over mulch and leaves in search of insects. I love watching them work, they let me get quite close and don't seem to be bothered by my camera clicking away.



My neighbor's privet is full of berries. Normally privets are nothing but trouble with their aggressive roots, messy berries and a million seedlings I dig out of my rose beds every year.





But I have to admit that when the whole tree is alive with birds (robins and cedar waxwings today), it is a sight that makes me smile.




28 comments:

  1. Wunderschöne Bilder! Viele Grüße Annette

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  2. Hey Masha,
    You are an all around photographer. I love to see the birds.
    Have a lovely week
    Marijke

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  3. Ptaki w Twoim ogrodzie będą długo miały co jeść, a Ty będziesz mógł na nie patrzeć i podziwiać.Cudowne zdjęcia. Bardzo serdecznie pozdrawiam. *** Birds in your garden will be a long time had nothing to eat, and you'll be able to look at them and podziwiać.Cudowne photos. Very warm greetings.

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  4. Oh I love Cedar Waxwings. I wish we had them here.Such beautiful pictures Masha.
    Crows must be the one bird that is in every state and country. LOL! They love stealing the food I leave out for the feral cats.

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  5. Lovely birds, it is almost spring?

    Regards Janny

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  6. Annette and Marijke, thank you!

    Giga, birds around here always have plenty to eat - we don't have snow cover, and the biggest yard pest is the slug (a couple of nights ago they ate all my broccoli)... I wish I had more birds (except when they eat my blueberries and fruit) :).

    Lona, I agree! I have seen crows eat bird eggs too, which is why I don't much love them...

    Janny, it certainly feels like it even though my roses are still sleeping. I can't wait for first blooms.

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  7. O jak to miło, że znowu jesteś :-). Na moim pnączu kiwi nie było jeszcze owoców. On miał w zeszłym roku tylko dwa kwiatki.Pozdrawiam cieplutko. *** Oh, how nice is that you again :-). On my kiwi fruit was not yet. He had last year only two flowers. Yours nice and warm.

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  8. Giga, thank you for the reply. I hope you get your kiwis to give you fruit!

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  9. Hello Masha; I'm so happy we connected! Thank you for showing me a California towhee (and Waxwings). Robins we have - but not right now in our 32F garden!

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  10. Love that pic of the waxwings in the privet! Only once have I seen waxwings come through my garden. I was so excited. I've not seen them before or sense. I bet those crows think they have found the candy store!

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  11. Hi Masha, great photos as always! The one of the crows munching on the persimmons is quite outstanding in terms of the dark color of the birds and the bright orange of the persimmons. I loved doing a little bird watching together with you, today! By the way I only got one comment from you regarding my Arundel Castle, part IV post. Thanks for trying, again!
    Christina

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  12. Debra, thank you for visiting.

    Holley, that's my favorite too :). The crows were very excited and a few took a whole persimmon off the branch and flew away with it.

    Christina, thank you. The comment thing is probably my fault: sometimes I forget to type in the little letters and my comment disappears without being published.

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  13. I've never seen a waxwing before. The color is quite amazing. It's nice that you get so many pretty visitors.

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  14. Wow! Love those Cedar Waxwings among the blue berries. Very nice photos, Masha.

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  15. I'd be having a few of those Persimmons for myself! Lovely pics. What are those black berries that are so plentiful?

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  16. I've never seen a cedar waxwing and keep hoping they'll eventually find my garden. I added more berry producing plants this fall to attract them. I pruned my climbing roses and trained them to my fence as you suggested in one of your previous posts. THANKS for the info!!!! :o)

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  17. I love your photos, no matter if you show us birds or roses.
    I like them all.
    Love the persimmons, the cedar waxwings ( such a nice name for a bird ), the berries, the light in your garden, even the crows ...
    Thank you, Masha !!!

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  18. Hermosas flores, me gusta tu blog.
    Los camachuelos son los grandes enemigos de mi gardenia......pero son lindos !!!!!!!
    Te mando un abrazo
    Maruxa

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  19. Beautiful photos Masha! Great shot of the Waxwings. We have those here too in winter. And lots of Privet too. Chinese Privet is an invasive plant in the Southeast and it's *everywhere*.

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  20. Beautiful bird photos Masha. I like the berries too.

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  21. As usual, it is a pleasure reading your post and seeing the photos. Very nice.

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  22. Oh, the cedar waxwings are so magical--especially in your photo with the berries. They don't make an appearance here until April or May--when the Apple and Crabapple blossoms bloom. Thanks for the glimpse of spring!

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  23. Ah Masha, its not only Roses which you photograph beautifully. I had to do some checks on this type of privet, only the small leafed variety which we grow as hedges is the one which I knew of, very interesting.

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  24. That was fun to see crows eating persimmons....something new!

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  25. Hello, I decided to nominate you, congratulations!

    http://graphicality-uk.blogspot.com/2012/01/versatile-blogger-award.html

    Take care :-)

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  26. Hello Masha...All these photos are beautiful. I love these birds.
    Good day Jocelyne

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  27. We are chuck full of grackles right now... sort of crappy birds, but its hard to hate them when each morning I wake up to wild kingdom bird chirpings. I second your hatred of privets though. I am slowly getting rid of the ones I can. Some are full sized trees at this point and I'm just going to live with them.

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  28. Beautiful shots of these gorgeous birds...Have a great week ahead!

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I am so glad you have stopped by!