Mr. Babe threw out some sunflower seeds this morning, which attracted some small white-bellied birds. We looked them up and they were dark-eyed junkos. Very cute. The cats were enthralled and kept nattering away at them. ChooChoo, the sweet and dumb cat (we refer to her as our little Fredo), charged at the back door several times, obviously not realizing there was glass there each and every time. We would hear her rumbling at them, then the soft and sad little thud of her head hitting the door.

JC, I consider myself an intermediate birder (if there is such a thing). I have pamphlet from Atlantic County Park System titled, "Birding in the Atlantic County Park System". The pamphlet has a list of birds "that can be found within..the Park System." They list the Carolina Wren as "Uncommon". My bird book shows their range from lower NY state to Florida and across to Texas. However it categorized, I was happy to add another bird to the list. I'll keep Garret Mtn in mind if I ever make it up north. Thanks. Happy Birding.

It's all we have. The real mafiosi have fixed all the pigeon races.

The Eastern US is in a pretty volatile weather period -- lots of very low temperature and snow cover. The birds and their friends can use some help, in the form of food thrown out on the snow.

Yessir, M-Pete. The little guys have been emptying my feeders at a faster than normal pace. They have to burn more calories to keep warm...especially since they don't wear hats or boots.

My mother has always been an avid bird feeder, particularly in the winter. Learning from her, I always spread a lot of food around for the birds after snowfalls.

An article from Audobon magazine. How Birds Cope with Winter

In this article is a word I've never seen or heard. In case you haven't either....
noun
Torpor is the state of being inactive or having apathy.

I've heard this word almost always in relation to hibernation. Its use is rare.

"Boids...dirty stinking lice infected boids." -- From "The Producers."

All I know is I turn and go the other way if I see this, on my daily run to the park:


TIS

TIS, One of my favorite scary movies when I was a ... younger.

Almost a year since the last post. Good news from New Jersey. There were 567 breeding pairs of Ospreys in NJ in 2014. In 1973 there were 53. DDT was to blame for the dwindling numbers as was the case with eagles and other hawk species.

Yesterday I took my winter visit to Edwin Forsythe National Reserve in the marshlands north and west of Atlantic City. A beautiful, clear, windless day. I saw 3 Eagles, 2 Marsh Hawks, 2 Great Blue Herons, hundreds of Snow Geese and Canada Geese, numerous duck species and a new addition to my bird list - a pair of Northern Shovelers (ducks). Being a bird nerd is peaceful.