Looking Back on 2014

I got a gentle "scolding" from a friend recently who's been missing my blog posts. So I decided I'd get one more in before the end of 2014. Working two and three jobs for the last few years has pretty much kicked my ass to the curb and left me with neither the energy or initiative to devote to weekly (or even monthly) blog posts. But for those of you not on Facebook or also missing my blog posts, I'll recap my 2014 with one picture for each month of 2014.

A beautiful January sunset

A February snowstorm was beautiful only to those who didn't have to worry about moving all the snow or figuring out how to drive in it! 

In March I took a trip to California to visit my brother.  It was nice to see green grass, water that wasn't frozen, and birds that wouldn't be back to Minnesota for a couple months yet.

April brought a few spring birds back to Minnesota, including this Robin who was determined to battle that "other" robin taunting him from the window reflection.

In May the colorful summer birds finally arrived.  They're the hope we hold in our thoughts and hearts during the long Minnesota winter.

Backyard critters enjoying June clover and other treats falling from the birdfeeder above.

A long July weekend in northern Minnesota gave me the opportunity to photograph this rainbow over Snowbank Lake after a brief late afternoon thunderstorm.

 

Thankfully we saw more Monarch butterflies this summer than last year.  An August Monarch took advantage of the Rough Blazing Star blooming in my backyard wildflower garden.

In September, this first year Cooper's Hawk was trying its best to catch one of the birds hanging out on my deck.  Unfortunately, no birds were caught, but I did get the chance to capture this awesome photo!

Fall colors delighted the senses in October.

Early one morning in November, this small buck showed up in the backyard to sample some of the corn we put out for birds and bunnies.



Happy Christmas from me and my pretty girl Holly the Pibble!

I'm so glad it's finally spring

There are some really good reasons for living in Minnesota......winter isn't one of them!
However, once winter finally departs (this year after staying too long!) spring finally arrives and with it come the beautiful birds that we dream about all winter......like this Baltimore Oriole

And how about a pair of Indigo Buntings!

There's nothing like the intense colors of the spring and summer migrants arriving in the backyard to make us forget winter nightmares like this.......

.....and enjoy the beauty of male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak with the promise of crabapple blossoms in the background.

Here's a little visitor I usually expect during the winter, but he didn't show up in my backyard until just last week -- the Red-Breasted Nuthatch.

I heard an unusual bird call in the backyard last weekend and finally spotted this Eastern Towhee hanging out with some other ground feeding birds in the backyard. This was a marvelous sighting for me -- haven't seen an Eastern Towhee for at least 10 years and this is a FIRST for my backyard!

It even flew close to the house and perched in the crabapple tree for a few minutes so I was able to snap a photo of him from my patio too!

Last weekend's weather provided some sort of migration fall-out, because in addition to the towhee and red-breasted nuthatch, some Cap May Warblers also showed up and feasted at the suet log.

Did she say Cape May Warblers?? Yes I did! Another first for my backyard PLUS a life bird for me!

What gorgeous little birds! They hung around for several days, flitting in and out of the cage protecting the suet from starlings and then they were gone, no doubt heading to somewhere in northeastern Minnesota.

The brilliant yellow feathers of the goldfinch are always a welcome sign of spring around here too. I started seeing a few yellow feathers on these finches in March, and then it seems like all of a sudden they've all turned completely yellow.

The best surprise of last weekend also hung around for several days. See him in the background there? (hint: that ain't no cardinal!)

OHMIGOSH, IT'S A MALE SCARLET TANAGER! I'm surprised my yelling didn't scare him away!

He loved the grape jelly which the orioles grudgingly allowed him to share.

What a contrast to what I saw on this deck from December until March!

Once the orioles arrived, they were back to stay. Here are the male and female Baltimore Orioles.

The males are not very tolerant of each other's presence at the jelly dishes. Grape jelly has become one of the scarcest items on Rochester's grocery store shelves in the last couple weeks.

Here's a good example of tolerance with an Orchard Oriole enjoying some jelly while the Baltimore Oriole visits the nectar feeder.

I was surprised to see the Orchard Oriole visiting the suet log too. He didn't seem to have any problems getting through the starling-proof cage.

Such a beautiful bird. (I put dried mealworms on top of their grape jelly and that's what you see hanging out the tip of his beak.)

I even got to see the female Orchard Oriole perched in the backyard swamp white oak tree.

The Orchard Orioles usually don't hang around for very long, so last weekend was probably the only time I'll see them this spring also. But at least the Baltimore Orioles are still sticking around, feasting on grape jelly and singing their beautiful songs for me every morning. Hopefully they'll nest somewhere nearby and bring their little ones to visit before their departure again in August. But I'm not even going to think about that and simply enjoy the colors and sounds of spring in Minnesota.

Early Morning Life Bird

Last evening my Sissy called me on the phone, all excited because she had this bird in her backyard that she had never seen before. "It has a red head and a greenish body," she said. Jeez, I thought to myself, what in the world could it be? I grabbed my big Sibley Guide to Birds and went through all the possibilities. Finally, the only thing I thought it could be, based on her description, was the Summer Tanager. I found some other photos on-line and had her look on-line too. "Yup, there it is!" she finally said. It's a male Summer Tanager with first spring plumage. Of course, by the time we finally got this all figured out the tanager was gone. But early this morning, when she was getting ready for work, the tanager showed up again, so she called me. I finished hanging my laundry on the line and Mr. Johnson and I piled in the car to drive the 4 miles to my Sissy's back yard. After standing around for about 30 minutes, Mr. Johnson spotted him -- see, up there, in the branches!
Then he flew down to the feeder pole where the oriole's grape jelly was hanging. Wow, isn't he something?

And finally, he flew to the grape jelly dish, in the direct sunlight, and I was able to get this fabulous shot of him. Wow again! What a gorgeous bird! And a new lifebird to check off my list! Thanks Sissy for sharing this great bird with us!

While we were waiting, Mr. Baltimore Oriole flew in to gobble down some grape jelly and show off his gorgeous colors in the sun.

And I got excited all over again when this Orchard Oriole (my first of the year!) also arrived and showed off his acrobatic skills to dine on the grape jelly too.

So far this May, I've gotten 22 new birds added to my list, bringing my total to 120 so far for the year. The best thing is that I've seen most of these birds within 40 miles of home, so even with gas prices close to $4 a gallon, birding close to home has been pretty good this spring.