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Nope, there are no giants doing cartwheels, no statues wearing high heels and definitely no elephants playing in a band out in my backyard…(bonus points if you know what in the blue blazes I'm talking about…
), but there are birds. Lots of birds.
Someone else's post recently gave me the idea for this, but I can't remember whose thread it was. Anyway, I started thinking about how many different birds I have right in my backyard and thought I'd do a thread on just the Backyard Birds.
To date, in the 2 years or so I've been paying attention, I have had 33 different types of birds in my yard. Two of those barely count, as they were flyovers that have never actually landed in my yard. But they were in my space for a time, so it counts!
I'll not post a picture of all 30+ birds--I don't even HAVE pictures of all of them, but I mean to remedy that. I DO have a set on flickr, of all the Backyard Birds I've gotten photos of so far.
Kind of hard to pick my favorites, but here's a few of them.
1. Northern Cardinal. Year round and always make such a great photo opportunity!

2. American Goldfinch. These just started showing up in my yard in February. I didn't have any last year, so I was pretty excited to see them.

3. Mourning Dove. "Boring" bird because we have so many, but there is something so compelling to me about their faces. I'm just a sucker for those big eyes!

4. Common Grackle. Obnoxious birds and such big bullies. But man, when the light hits them just right, those colors!

5. Tufted Titmouse. One of my favorites, because they're so small, yet very unafraid of most anything. When the other birds scatter because of a predator nearby, the Titmouse is usually the first bird brave enough to come back to the feeder.

6. House Finch. I probably have 20 of them on a regular basis. This is the first year I've seen as many females as males, so maybe I'll see some baby finches in short order.

7. Purple Finch. In two years of looking for them, I'd never seen one until just recently, when this one decided to grace me with his presence. He was there one day, gone the next, so I'm on the hunt for another one.

8. American Crow. Okay, to be honest, I didn't take this picture in my backyard, but I do HAVE them in my yard, so I'm counting it. They are harder to get good pictures of than one might think, because they are so BLACK and dark. But the sun was hitting this one just right, and he just sat there posing.

9. Red-bellied Woodpecker. I love all the woodpeckers, so fun to watch. I also have Downys and Hairys. But the one I really want to see is a Redheaded and I've not found one yet.

10. Eastern Bluebird. We have these beautiful birds year-round here, and they are quite common. But THIS was the first one I've ever seen in my yard, just recently.

Well, I could keep posting but that's probably already 8 or 9 more photos than was necessary.
If you want to see more of them, go to the flickr set.
I'm curious if any of the other bird photographers have a record of how many birds you've seen in YOUR yard? I'm betting that at least some of those in Florida and California would pretty easily beat my 33 species.

Someone else's post recently gave me the idea for this, but I can't remember whose thread it was. Anyway, I started thinking about how many different birds I have right in my backyard and thought I'd do a thread on just the Backyard Birds.
To date, in the 2 years or so I've been paying attention, I have had 33 different types of birds in my yard. Two of those barely count, as they were flyovers that have never actually landed in my yard. But they were in my space for a time, so it counts!
I'll not post a picture of all 30+ birds--I don't even HAVE pictures of all of them, but I mean to remedy that. I DO have a set on flickr, of all the Backyard Birds I've gotten photos of so far.
Kind of hard to pick my favorites, but here's a few of them.
1. Northern Cardinal. Year round and always make such a great photo opportunity!

2. American Goldfinch. These just started showing up in my yard in February. I didn't have any last year, so I was pretty excited to see them.

3. Mourning Dove. "Boring" bird because we have so many, but there is something so compelling to me about their faces. I'm just a sucker for those big eyes!

4. Common Grackle. Obnoxious birds and such big bullies. But man, when the light hits them just right, those colors!

5. Tufted Titmouse. One of my favorites, because they're so small, yet very unafraid of most anything. When the other birds scatter because of a predator nearby, the Titmouse is usually the first bird brave enough to come back to the feeder.

6. House Finch. I probably have 20 of them on a regular basis. This is the first year I've seen as many females as males, so maybe I'll see some baby finches in short order.

7. Purple Finch. In two years of looking for them, I'd never seen one until just recently, when this one decided to grace me with his presence. He was there one day, gone the next, so I'm on the hunt for another one.

8. American Crow. Okay, to be honest, I didn't take this picture in my backyard, but I do HAVE them in my yard, so I'm counting it. They are harder to get good pictures of than one might think, because they are so BLACK and dark. But the sun was hitting this one just right, and he just sat there posing.

9. Red-bellied Woodpecker. I love all the woodpeckers, so fun to watch. I also have Downys and Hairys. But the one I really want to see is a Redheaded and I've not found one yet.

10. Eastern Bluebird. We have these beautiful birds year-round here, and they are quite common. But THIS was the first one I've ever seen in my yard, just recently.

Well, I could keep posting but that's probably already 8 or 9 more photos than was necessary.

If you want to see more of them, go to the flickr set.
I'm curious if any of the other bird photographers have a record of how many birds you've seen in YOUR yard? I'm betting that at least some of those in Florida and California would pretty easily beat my 33 species.