It's time!

I took the cage protector off my suet log a few weeks ago once the grackles left the yard and raccoons were no longer a problem. The woodpeckers loved having easy access to the entire log -- especially the bigger Hairy and Red-Bellied woodpeckers.

But look who I caught eyeing the suet log yesterday.......did you notice the top hole was completely empty?

Yupper!! And here's why! That big ol' crow beak can clean out a suet log in a quick hurry compared to a tiny little Downy woodpecker beak!

So right after I took these pictures, I went out and put the cage back over the suet log. I know the woodpeckers aren't happy, but at least it's not a crow feeder anymore!

In the Backyard

Here are some photos of some random, but interesting things I've seen in the backyard in the past week or so.

My crow family

The juveniles are big enough to feed themselves now, but still try to beg from their parents every once in a while. Sometimes only 4 will show for a day or so and I get worried that one of them may have gotten shot during Minnesota's crow hunting season, but then the next day all 5 are back again and I'm relieved.

Cooper's Hawk sunbathing

I checked with Susan (the raptor expert) to see if she had any opinions about what this Coop was doing and she said she'd never seen any of her Coop's behaving this way. After the hawk flew away, I went out and checked where it had been laying and no ant hills were nearby, so we ruled out "anting." There was also no evidence of a fresh kill in the area, so I think the bird was just trying to cool off a bit on a hot August afternoon.

The backyard wildflower garden/monarch waystation is in full bloom!

Lost of purple coneflowers, but also Joe Pye weed, Canada goldenrod, Queen Anne's Lace, green-headed coneflower, and brown-eyed Susan. It's definitely a butterfly and bee haven.

Common Green Darner (female)

I found this beautiful dragonfly on the swamp white milkweed last week when I was collecting monarch caterpillars. I was really happy she allowed me to get some great photos before flying away.

Newly tagged monarch enjoying her first nectar in the wild

Great Spangled Fritillary on Joe Pye Weed

Hope you're seeing some neat things in your backyard too!

Suet Loving Crow

I have a crow in the backyard who loves suet and has even figured out how to use the upside-down suet feeder. As you can see, the suet feeder is pretty small. I have a hard time understanding why this crow would go to so much effort to extract a few beakfuls of suet. Plus the entire time the crow is here, it's being harassed by common grackles. Anyway, I hope you enjoy seeing this series of photos showing the crow's determination to obtain a tasty, peanutty treat.

And finally, the inverted departure

More Backyard Birds

It was pretty chilly this morning (about 9 degrees when I got home from work at 10:45), but the wind wasn't blowing too hard and the sun was shining, so all in all, it was a pretty decent morning. (I can always tell when I've finally adjusted to winter when I'm happy about a daytime high in the 20's!)

So I had just gotten home and let Sophie out the back door and was getting ready to fill the birdfeeders when I had a "holy crap" bird moment: A robin in the backyard! Some of you may already know that I'm hyper aware of bird calls and when I heard that robin's chirp, I said to myself, "Holy crap, that's a robin!" and then I saw it fly away from one of the apple trees. I know some really hardy robins spend their winters in Minnesota, but I've never seen them in my backyard on December 29th! I ran in the house for the camera, but the robin was already gone. Oh well, as long as I had the camera out, I decided to take some more backyard bird pictures to add to the ones that I've been saving for the last couple weeks and I'll inundate you with bird photos today.

I have a bunch of little house finches hanging around again (no purple finches though). This old stump is a great birdfeeder in the wintertime.

The American Tree Sparrows started showing up in the backyard about 10 days ago. They're so cute that I had to take pictures of 2 different ones!

I really like their little two-colored beaks and watching them hop backwards when they're looking for seeds! I'm always amazed by such tough little birds like these guys and the juncos who call Minnesota their "southern" home for the winter!

Since the snow, I'm starting to see more of the goldfinches back at my birdfeeders again too. No Pine Siskens or Common Redpolls yet though.

Last Sunday morning I was amazed to see a Common Grackle at the backyard feeder.

And then I was even MORE amazed to see two! There was still one here yesterday, but haven't seen any today. I'm really hoping they stay around at least through the weekend so I can count them for my Project FeederWatch and one of my birding buddies has a chance to count them on his New Year's Big Day bird count.

About a week before Christmas when we still had some mild weather, there was a flock of Cedar Waxwings in the backyard cleaning off my crabapple trees one morning. I was lucky enough to capture this shot of a pretty little juvenile Cedar Waxwing who landed on the deck railing on her way to the birdbath. It looks as though the bird is looking at me through the window, but I think she's actually scoping out the birdbath on the deck just below her. Regardless, I loved the fact that I can see one of the little red "waxy" red feather tips on her wing. Cedar Waxwings are one of my favorite birds!

I think I posted this picture for Christmas, but you'll see it here again just because it's one of the best cardinal pictures I've ever taken. It really looks fabulous as my desktop wallpaper too! We've got bunches of cardinals in the backyard again this winter. Late in the afternoon, it's not unusual to see up to 15 total at the different birdfeeders around the house!

Silly Corvids.......Suet is for woodpeckers!

Hope you're all enjoying winter and seeing some good birds in your backyard too.

A Winter Stormy Day

We woke up this morning to LOTS of snow -- everywhere! Remember the suet-loving crow in yesterday's video. As I was making breakfast this morning, I managed to capture a few more photos of him successfully obtaining suet from the tiny suet feeder. Looks pretty awkward, doesn't it? Crows just don't have that clinging ability of woodpeckers! But this guy did manage to score a few chunks of suet for his efforts.

Here's the view out my dining room window at 7:30 AM. Needless to say, the bluejays didn't get their peanuts this morning! I think this is actual snowfall as it's so close to the house I don't believe any drifting was possible.

Here's a look at another feeder and frozen birdbath on my deck railing. Some of this might have been due to drifting. The deck is on the southeast side of the house and last night's high winds blowing from the northwest covered most of our deck with a pretty huge snow drift.

Here's our snowfall totals from the local 6:00 PM weather report. Rochester Intn'l is the "official" reporting station and since we're only a couple miles from there, we use this as our result too. That seemed pretty accurate just based on what we were seeing in sheltered spots in the backyard too.

Despite the blizzard conditions, it was a pretty good day -- especially to get stuff done indoors. My wireless modem was delivered late yesterday afternoon, so I got that all hooked up today (thanks to the Qwest technical support team!) We also got this wonderful new toilet installed too! (Yes, Mom and Dad, it's one of the tall ones!)

The snowplow crews have been working overtime, so we should have a pretty easy time getting back to work tomorrow. It's going to be cold, but at least we won't have to shovel that and I've got plenty of mittens, hats and sweaters!

Clever Crow

We've got the fireplace blazing and we're all ready to spend the next 24 hours riding out this first major blizzard of the 2009-2010 winter season. It's been snowing since before 4 AM this morning and luckily for me, Mr. Johnson has plenty of vacation time still remaining, so he came home with me at 10:30 this morning so I wouldn't have to drive back to work and pick him up this afternoon in the heavier snow.

While I was getting our lunch ready, I enjoyed watching my crows in the backyard. Did you know crows liked suet? I really got a kick out of watching this crow desperately trying to acquire a bit of suet from this small hanging feeder. I love how he looks up at the suet and I can only imagine what thought processes are going on in his crow brain as he plots his strategy for obtaining a suet-y snack. Enjoy the show!