Our bird feeder has been very busy this winter. Chickadees are still our most frequent visitors, but our flock has diversified quite a bit.

I spent some time hanging out the dining room window with my camera, trying to get some (not very good) pictures of our birds. It turned out that I was just in time for the Great Backyard Bird Count. The count happens over four days every February, and the goal is to collect data on wild birds to get an idea of where and how many birds there are.

Here’s a few snapshots of our little flock:

Male cardinal

Female cardinal

Blue jays

I think this fellow might be a junco

Woodpecker. I think this is a red-bellied woodpecker, but we also have a pure black and white one that visits every so often.

Woodpecker facing off with the male cardinal

For some reason, there’s an understanding among the birds that the feeder is a one bird at a time operation. The woodpecker is our most skittish bird, but he swooped in while the cardinal was still in the feeder. I swear I heard the cardinal hiss at woodie as he hopped to the roof of the feeder.

Do you have a bird feeder at your house? Who are the members of your flock? Anyone know whether I’m correct in my identification of the junco and woodpecker?

Here are the plans to build our simple bird feeder.