During our first December in West Texas, we experienced an ice and snow storm that left its aftermath on the ground through New Year’s.  During this time, I set up a bird feeder in the Elm tree in the front yard. As you can see, the snow is deep enough to keep Ms. Cardinal from finding something to eat beneath.

She spent some time in the snow, and then would perch in the dead Lantana vines while eyeing the nearby snow for any seeds she could spot that might have spilled from the bird feeder.

Several different kinds of birds came to my bird feeder. Here you see a female Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, and a male House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus, sharing the bounty of the bird feeder. You can see their opposites at the bird feeder here.

Nothing went to waste because there were plenty of hungry birds who came by and picked up the seeds that others had spilled while feeding.

Ms. Cardinal was kind enough to pose for me despite the cold and busily searching for food. I got to see and photograph many different kinds of birds that spend the winter in West Texas. From the amount of the seeds consumed, my one little bird feeder helped keep many of them from starving while waiting for the snow to melt. I like song-birds and sometimes they need a little help from their friends.

It is now the fall of 2018, and I haven’t seen many cardinals this year. We had snow in early November for about a day. It has been wet enough this year and warm enough that my feathered friends are going elsewhere to eat. One thing you can count on in observing wildlife is that things change and sometimes you get to make pretty photographs and sometimes you don’t. Happy trails, all.

The post Female Cardinal During Winter appeared first on GJM Nature Media.

During our first December in West Texas, we experienced an icy snowstorm that left ice and snow in the neighborhood through New Year’s. During that time, I put out a bird feeder to help all my little feathered friends find food since their normal sources of food were covered in snow and ice. Pictured here is a male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis of the Passerine family Cardinalidae, perched in an Elm tree covered in ice.

Here is the same Cardinal perched on dead Lantana vines near my bird feeder. Notice the ice coating the branches, and how his feathers are puffed out to trap air to insulate him from the cold. He grows his own down jacket!

He is still sitting on the Lantana branch in this image but the ice and snow coated Tree Cholla is also visible. Notice the black mask and red top knot, these characters help distinguish these fellas from other red birds.

In this image, you can see a female House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus, family Fringillidae) and our Cardinal friend munching out at the bird feeder. If you want to see the opposites of these two, go to my post about the Female Cardinal in Winter.

Cardinals are an easy bird to recognize because of their bright colors and their bold personalities. They have a distinctive call during the spring breeding season but are silent flashes of color during the winter months. Well worth the price of a feeder and some birdseed to help sustain these little feathered ambassadors during the tough times of the year.

The post Male Cardinal During Winter appeared first on GJM Nature Media.

This is a male Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea. Once upon a time, it belonged in the family Fringillidae, but that has changed due to genetic data which has allowed this bird to be reclassified in to a new family, Cardinalidae, with its closer kin: the gross-beaks, cardinals, tanagers, and other buntings.
That said, I really like this species because of its powder blue feathers trimmed with black. I was stunned the first time I saw this species, as you might imagine.

The second image shows this little fella belting out his love song. You have to admire these colorful sparrow-sized birds all dressed up in electric blue and singing like rock-stars to anyone in the vicinity. I became an instant fan. On one of my last trips to the Fort Worth Nature Center and Reserve before moving to west Texas, I was treated to a farewell concert by one of these guys. I’m still a fan.

The post Stunningly Blue, The Indigo Bunting appeared first on GJM Nature Media.