April 2, 2014

A to Z Challenge B is for Bird watching

This is my third year or participating in The A-Z Blogging Challenge and I’ll be writing a blog post a day each day of the month except Sunday for the month of April.

This year I’ll be doing a theme which I’ve decided to call ‘My views of the south’. 

I will show you my south as I see it with my camera….. and I will tell you from my perspective as a former New Yorker what I find to be unique about this place that I now call home.  Follow along as I share with you what I consider the South’s ordinary even extraordinary beauty one letter at a time.


Enjoy!

Do you like to bird watch?
Well, clearly so does my cat Cheetah.



Our whole family does!

We keep a book that lists all the birds of North America in our home. We use it frequently to identify the birds that visit bird houses, baths and in our feeders or nest in our trees and bushes.  Many times over the years we've been fortunate enough to see a variety of new species when they visit our yard. We have many cardinal’s, crows, blue birds, blue jays, wood peckers, mocking birds, indigo buntings and gold finches to name a few.

Clearly, Cheetah was fascinated as he watched this crow perched upon the clay pot. I have to wonder however if he would much rather have done what comes natural and ‘eaten some crow’ lol!!

Do you have bird feeders, bird baths or bird houses at your home?
Do you bird watch?

23 comments:

  1. How nice of Cheetah and the Crow to sit so still for you to capture this special moment. Great photo, and YES, I am a bird watcher and recorder of said watching on my blog where I drove my readers cuckoo with the nesting of a cardinal couple in my rose bush. Then there was the Lovey Dovey episode. So Yes, I'm a bit cuckoo about birds, their houses and bathing rituals. This is such a fun theme. ByeBye Birdie....
    Sue at CollectInTexas Gal

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my, I almost did my B on bird watching. Oddly enough it’s something that I have just discovered over this long cold winter. And I must say those bright red cardinals are the ones who first caught my attention. I seem to be overly fascinated now. I have learned to identify certain calls. But so far I have not gotten to the point of identification. In fact, I am going out today to buy a feeder or house to put in my yard. I think the neighbors may be tired of me sneaking around theirs to try to snap a pic or two.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have a cottage in Canada on the Georgian Bay. It's a wonderful place for bird watching. We're on an island, out in the middle of nowhere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sue, You'd be really cuckoo her Sue we have several pairs of Cardinals, they're the state bird here in Virginia and you're right they are quite engaging.

      Lyndagrace, I can attest to the fact that you will have many hours of fun once you start feeding and housing those birds. Might I suggest a good bird identification book too?

      Jolie, I want a cottage in Canada!!

      Delete
  4. I must admit I would love to know more about birds but I don't get many in my garden as there are too many cats living next door. I wonder what is going through your cat's mind?

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is a great picture of the cat and the crow? Koda would have been clawing at the screen/window to get to it. I do like to bird watch. We have no feeders here because of Koda wanting to go after the birds, LOL, but when we are out and about, I'm always looking to see what I can see with them. I miss the quail from where we used to live.

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Jen - I've never got completely into Bird Watching, even when I was in southern Africa .. but they are amazing .. our little tits are dashing around now .. and it's good to recognise the birds as the are such a part of our lives ..

    Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sally, My cats are indoor outdoor cats, we have four and the neighbor has at least that many. We just hang the feeders on higher branches out where they can't climb...they'll come if you feed them.

      Betty, Cheetah is a lover not a bird eater. I don't think I've ever seen him eat anything other than mice or voles.

      Hilary, My stepdaughter and her family including two sons 15 and 9 and currently living with us, They just moved here from Cyprus. The 15 year old is fascinated with birds and photography to the point that my husband and i just got him a beautiful Cannon digital camera for his birthday. On the island of Cyprus there wasn't an abundance of birds like we have here so and he's loving photographing and identifying them now that he's here in the US.

      Delete
  7. Lovely photo and I love your cat's name. No exotic birds in our garden but I love my little robin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He has a brother who is his litter mate named Tarzan!!
      I love your robin to Anne!
      I hope he doesn't move now that your green space is getting dug up!

      Delete
  8. hey there. i'm one of tina's minions, come to check in. :] cute post. and yes, that cat seems quite taken with that crow. good thing there's a screen there. i'm surprised that the crow stayed there long enough with cheetah lurking so close.

    not a big fan of birdwatching, but... i can appreciate it from time to time. especially when i look out across my yard and into the park and the yards' of my neighbors and see hundreds of birds hopping about on the grass, their brown backs blending in with the leaves strewn over the green. or the lone cardinal... that kind of stuff's really nice to see.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ooooooh, I'll bet Cheetah is having some wicked bird thoughts and maybe wishing that screen wasn't there.

    I haven't had many different varieties at my house, but now that we have put feeders out, we are getting a few. I'm hoping for many more! (although I do wish they wouldn't poop on the deck)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am not a bird watcher but my daughter is and in past years has tracked bird behavior for a bird organization not sure which one. Nice blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jenn, Thanks so much for checking in on me here Jenn. A fellow blogger and bird watcher is always welcome. And thanks for all you do helping out with A to Z...that goes for Tina as well :)

      Ms A, He's a darling cat my Cheetah and I suppose he'd do what cats do if i lifted the screen.

      MaryAnn, wow sounds like your daughter is a serious bird watcher, we just do it for fun. and I do like to take pictures of them from time to time.

      Delete
  11. Great picture - I always call windows 'cat TV'. Cheetah looks very, very intent on that bird... :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm not much of a bird fan. My cats would be as interested as your Cheetah though (great name; does he live up to it?)

    ReplyDelete
  13. We enjoy bird watching too. We bought this huge book (that's digital!) you enter the number for the bird and you can hear it (pretty cool). This winter the bird watching community was all buzzing because of the appearance of the Snowy Owl - it was great to see all these high tech lenses and people lining up to take pictures as it soared through the fields.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liz, I think he was in shock that the crow was so close yet so far with that darn screen inbetween them....

      JE, When we go him as a kitten he and his brother used to hang on this little rope my husband had attached to our spiral staircase in the living room and swing. They'd make such funny noises jockeying for position it just seem natural to name them Cheetah and Tarzan. Cheetah is actually rather sweet and on the small side, Tarzan probably lives up to his name more since he's huge and rather protective.

      K, That book sounds amazing. I might think about doing something like that for a christmas gift . About that snow owl, my brother saw one and got a cell phone picture of it, he live in NY. What an amazing creature!

      Delete
  14. Hi Jen.
    We have a bird bath which we watch all spring and summer to see which birds will use it......usually Robins, Sparrows and Starlings use it.
    We used to feed them too till rodents started to get very interested in feeding as well!! So regretfully we had to stop feeding the birds.
    We just recently joined the Nova Scotia Bird Society on FB....so now we can post any photos that we take of local birds. Our latest was a Snowy Owl which has been at the beach area for a few months.
    Great shot of cheetah there!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, great shot! That bird is a dare devil! ~ Angela, A to Z participant from Web Writing Advice (http://www.webwritingadvice.com/) and Whole Foods Living (http://wholefoodsliving.blogspot.com/)

    ReplyDelete
  16. We haven't regularly fed the birds, but do enjoy most of them, except for the noisy crows outside the bedroom window in the mornings. :) I think our family's favorites are the baby quail that hide in the backyard bushes. We haven't seen them yet this year, but hopefully will soon!

    ReplyDelete
  17. we are bird feeders here. And are rewared with a large variety every year at our feeders. I love your theme Jen.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Angela, Thanks for being such a fan of my pix.

    Marcy, We don't mind the crows as much the sound that really bothers me are morning doves, drives me mad. Crazy but true!

    Paula, Thanks Paula, I just thought it up on the fly. I didn't want to do posts with tons of writing and I wanted to brush the dust of my camera too. So the theme seems the best of both worlds!!

    ReplyDelete

I'm always interested in what you have to say...
Comments are appreciated!