"Blue" birds and sniffling!

 I've been bird watching from my kitchen table and was thrilled to see this special visitor! 

 It's called an Indigo Bunting.

 I had to slide my door open ever so slowly to try and get a picture.  They are a bit wary of my presence and leave quickly.

I was thrilled to see that there are three of them!  See the one on the far left in between the branches of the shrub!  I'm guessing there are females visiting too but I haven't spotted them- they are plain and less obvious as it goes in the world of birds.

Intresting fact about these "blue" birds:

 Indigo Buntings have no blue pigment; they are actually black, but the diffraction of light through the structure of the feathers makes them appear blue. 

I also have Orioles visiting and of course the American Goldfinch's have been here for a while. 

These are Rose Breasted Grosbeaks that I always enjoy seeing visit too.  There are two females and two males in this picture- but no partridge in a pear tree! LOL

I picked up a cold the end of last week and I've had the classic sniffling, coughing and lethargy that comes with it.  I'm getting better, but you know it's never fast enough!

  Oh and yes we have wild turkeys that pay us regular visits too!  

It's been a real bonus living at the location we are when it comes to birding.  Not far away there is a lake, fields behind our property, and this big stand of woods next to us which combined together make for a great spot for a nice variety of visitors.

We are also visited by raccoons, chipmunks and squirrels which will each every bit of seed we have in no time at all so that's why we built this multi feeder with the metal baffle attached to keep them off.  

 It's not super cute or pretty but it's a great feeding station and definitely attracts the birds.  I chose plant hangers to be mounted on this 12 ft. post to hold the bird feeders and we chose random heights to stage them. This picture is from the first year when it was built. 

I'm itching to be outdoors but we've had a lot of rain lately.  It's pretty classic spring weather for us and no I am not complaining!  My daffodils are blooming and soon the tulips will be.

I did do a little something interesting in the living room just before I caught the cold and I hope to get my act together and get some pictures taken!

 
I'm joining
Between Naps on the Porch
for
Metamorphosis Monday

Goldfinch's Move In

Remember you can click on a picture to enlarge and see them better...

Yesterday I noticed the Chickadees weren't jumping back and forth from the feeders to the bushes like they usually are... I took a better look at the feeders and realized the birds on it weren't moving off of it- and for Chickadees that's very unusual....I took a closer look and realized a group of American Goldfinch's had moved in!  

We have all our bird feeders on one post, which serves as a feeding station. 

The reason it's all on one post is because the squirrels and raccoons are very  creative about getting on the bird feeders.  We had to find a spot that wasn't convenient for them to "drop" from trees onto the feeders.  I love nature but when you start putting out 50 to 100 lbs. of sunflower seeds and most of it's going to squirrels or raccoons, you have to draw the line! 

I hope to get a great shot of the male cardinal that visits too...they are very wary though and just opening the door could scare them off!  Chickadees are so friendly they will just about land on you and the Goldfinch's are pretty comfortable with hanging around too!

As you can see the "domes" above the feeders really help keep the snow off of them.  I need one to go above my little platform feeder now. As you can see we've gotten a lot of snow already! 
It's going to be a long winter!

Remember to Feed the Birds!