Monday, December 7, 2009

Some Winter Bird Photos

We woke up to SNOW this morning. Our forecast sounds blizzardy with lots of snow? these next couple of days. Fairly unusual weather for this SE Iowa location. We'll see what happens!

I'm going to take you for a little walk around the house... Sidney (dog) and I just couldn't help but take a little jaunt!
North side of the driveway

Now we're south of the driveway, in the front yard.

In the raised bed gardens... Echinacea in the foreground,

Miss Coneflower with her winter bonnet.

Backyard view

Untrimmed 'Autumn Joy' sedum

Perky

Wren house is now waiting until Spring for its occupants
Now... for the birds.
I could hardly wait until this moment!
I pulled the tripod out of the basement, set it up in the living room, and mounted the camera. It didn't take long, and the birds began showing up.

My problem is that I was pretty far away and photographing at an angle (60 degrees?) through the window. My camera is a 10x optical zoom. But I took these at a 29. But I'm not sad. I'll continue working at this! :-)

Mr. Tufted Titmouse

Miss Goldfinch (quickly entering her winter phase) and Mr. T.T.
Mr. Black-capped Chickadee-dee and, again, Mr. TT
I'm not quite sure Who that is back there, but on the left we again have Miss Goldfinch and on the right we are happy to introduce Mr. Nuthatch!

Juncos don't Have to wait on the ground for the leftovers All the time! :-)

Mr. Red bellied Woodpecker stopped in for a look and a sample.

And Th-th-th-that's All, Folks!

Nothing Shady here! ;-)
Have a great day.

24 comments:

Kathleen said...

I'm glad you were excited to walk around in the snow Shady Gardener! I always feel the opposite but I guess that's why I don't get the good winter photos. Your yard looks so different in a blanket of white. I like the snow falling on your blog too! Very cool.
I think you did great with your bird photos and such a good variety of visitors.

Dave@TheHomeGarden said...

Nice pictures! The snow shots are great especially the one with the red berries peeking through. Sure looks like Christmas!

Nutty Gnome said...

I love snow so I'm quite envious that you've got some already - it's just damp and cold here!

Gail said...

It's just beautiful in your garden. I love the way snow looks on seedheads. They are made to give a garden a good look all winter long. Your woodpecker shot is my favorite! I have to shoot through the window, too, focusing and cropping. Wouldn't a bird blind be perfect~~Perhaps, if it were toasty warm and dry! gail

Unknown said...

Love your wonderful bird photos. Sure wish we had more up here during the winter. They all seem to be gone even though there is food for them.

Noelle Johnson said...

Your snow photos are so beautiful, and I love the birds. I almost wish I had a yard full of snow right now...

Pomona Belvedere said...

Enjoyed the walk around your yard and I agree with Gail, especially the seedheads. And you've got some fine birds feeding at your house, nice photos-plus-i.d. for us burgeoning birders.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hey, cute photos! Love the little birdies but the winter scenes are very pretty, too! We've got snow. We've got cold... brrr! I guess it's time but I'm not ready!

D said...

Nothing quite like a freshly fallen snow... like a hush that falls over the landscape. Beautiful garden Shady G.

Unknown said...

These are great photos, and I love the description of the coneflower wearing her winter bonnet.

Shady Gardener said...

Kathleen! It was so exciting to look outdoors and see Snow! Now, I'm not so good about trekking about in it, but I hoped there'd be something pretty out there and I knew that YOU (or at least someone) would appreciate some photos! ;-)

I missed the opportunity to catch cardinals today...

Hi Dave! It's wonderful what is out there when something like a nice, light snowfall happens. :-)

Nutty Gnome, You need to tell me about your Winter. I assume you receive a lot of snow... am I correct??

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Gail!! So far I haven't cropped (!) but the day will come. Perhaps on the photos I took today, as I sensed they were clearer if I didn't zoom in quite so much! ha. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a bird blind?? Of course, there'd have to be heat! ha.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

What a pretty post today!! I love seeing the snow in your garden, it looks so peaceful. No wonder so many birds came to visit. I wish we saw the Tufted Titmouses (Titmice ? :) LOL) here. What cute birds! You took great pictures.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Shady! You and I have written similar posts again! I took all of my photos from the inside, but on some, stuck my camera arm out the door. It was too cold for me. I hope to go out tomorrow if it warms up enough.

I like your idea of setting up a tripod inside.

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

We finally got our first real snowfall over night, but now it's raining! Love T.T. in particular. How did you get it to snow int he comments?

Rosemary said...

Shady all the snow certainly makes one feel Xmasy . Love the photos so beautiful..... The teasel with the snow cap my fav..... birds are greedy little beggars but such a joy in the garden.

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Catherine - thanks for your compliments. :-)

Sue, Yes. I dropped over to your site and noticed... snow and birds! What else these days?? ;-)

Hi Monica, The rain we can do without... it makes ICE (scary!).
I'll make a post for you!

Rosemary, I know... isn't getting exciting? I'm not sure I'm ready for Christmas yet, but at the rate the days are racing by, it'll be here whether I'm ready or not! ha.

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Shady - we used to get lots of snow when I was a child, but then had forever without any :( but we made up for it with lots of snow last winter (yeah!!!). I'm not sure what we'll get this year as we've only had a teeny frost one morning so far and LOTS of rain! Ho hum!

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Liz, It sounds unpredictable over there when it comes to the subject of snow. Actually, Southern Iowa never gets as much as the northern part. We had a good amount this week... early for down here, too. I understand about rain. It's not as pretty...

Anonymous said...

The snow makes for such beautiful photos. The problem is that getting the photos isn't so much fun. Stay warm!

Balisha said...

Hi,
I found you through the First Snowfall at Nancy's. I really enjoyed the "walk" around your yard. I'm in No. Illinois and have much the same scenery here in my yard.Have a great day.
Balisha

Anonymous said...

Shady ~ Love your first snow pics of the season! And the bird photography is wonderful... reminds me to start pinching pennies, so I can get that Cannon camera I've been coveting.
Deb

Shady Gardener said...

Hi Chad and Brandy, Always glad for your visits. I know that I wasn't going out to take photos The past few days! ;) Today is nicer, though.

Hi Balisha, Thanks for stopping. And thanks for leaving a comment so I Knew you were here! :-) Have you much snow, yet? Places around us seem to be receiving a lot today (again).

Hi Deb, Thanks for the compliments. I'm in the mood to post again today - as I've been taking more bird photos lately. I'm not sure I have time, though.

Sue Catmint said...

Hi Shady, it must be amazing to have such a beautiful snowy garden. Your bird feeder is obviously really important to so many small birds. Very impressive. I have tried bird feeders but they never seem to come. Maybe because the weather is always mild so there is food to find????? I don't know. They use the birdbaths though.