Monday, December 1, 2008

The Chow Line

Monday, December 1, 2008
7 comments
Blue jay, dark-eyed junco, northern cardinal on a snowy afternoon.

In winter, when we feed suet dough to our backyard birds, we often see a number of hungry individuals waiting for their turn to eat. I did not realize this fully until I started taking pictures of the suet dough visitors on our back deck railing. This series of images, like many other similar shots I've shared here recently, was taken with a Wingscapes BirdCam.

I think it's pretty interesting how the birds line up along the deck railing. There were a number of neat combinations of birds in the images the camera captured—I'm only sharing a handful here.

Cardinals at the suet dough.


Juncos only.


Junco (head only) and three cardinals. We're out of food.


Cardinal, bluebird, cardinal, bluebird.


Ever see those old couples in restaurants eating unhappily and saying NOTHING to each other?


Cardinals are always the last birds at the feeder at the end of the day.

7 comments:

On December 1, 2008 at 4:49 PM Vickie said...

That last photo made me laugh. Looks like he had to wait a while!
Fun observation.

On December 1, 2008 at 8:59 PM NCmountainwoman said...

Oh, I just loved these photographs. I especially like the old Cardinal couple. My husband whispered to me once in a restaurant that if we get like those "old farts," let's just eat at home.

I'm in love with the BirdCam and look forward to more pictures.

On December 1, 2008 at 11:28 PM Deborah said...

On the other hand, according to my husband:

Not speaking; thus
in separate worlds?
Apart, each alone,
and not together?
Perhaps, and yet
if talk, mere talk,
be the sole measure
of connection, that
seems a sad constraint,
denying as it does
the value in the silences:
the thousand things unspoken,
no less real.
A look, a smile, a touch
are more to me than all
the words we've ever said.

On December 2, 2008 at 11:26 AM Julie Zickefoose said...

What is actually happening here is that the cardinal who appears to be facing down the bluebird is actually the bluebird's family doctor, and he's warning them against overeating Zick Dough. He says it's bad for them, could give them gout, and he's advising them to moderate their intake (narf narf narf).

My word verif. is puburniz.

On December 2, 2008 at 6:27 PM Heather said...

Yes, those BirdCam photos are mighty fine. I would consider getting one, but I don't know that I need MORE digital photos to sort through! I find the Blue Jays especially funny - it's like they're staring you down every time they approach the camera. Cardinals are our last eaters of the evening, too. I made a post about that phenomenon just the other day, as a matter of fact. Looking forward to more BirdCam pics!

On December 4, 2008 at 8:06 AM RuthieJ said...

Oh cool, you guys still have bluebirds in SE Ohio? Will they stay all winter?

word verification: wings

On December 5, 2008 at 7:51 AM Anonymous said...

Great photos. We just put out some Zick dough and some peanut butter suet. I hope they like....


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