New bird feeder out on Christmas Eve

Bought a new bird feeder...one without a tray so the deer won't eat everything.  And put out a brick in my cage feeder.  First visitors were Blue Jays which aren't good for business.  Started seeing the usual Chickadees, Nuthatches and Downy (or Hairy) Woodpeckers but the real excitement was seeing this Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  I can't recall ever seeing one before.  Here's the best picture I got...

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

And a few more...

Blue Jay

Woodpecker up the tree

Chickadee

What a hoot!

Yesterday I was driving home from the store and saw a Barred Owl low in a tree next to the road.  This around Noon so the time of day threw me as well as how darn close he was to the road and to the ground.

I wish I would have had my camera with me...I turned around and drove back and parked on the side of the road.  I had Russ with me and was hoping he wouldn't see him.  This picure is with my cell phone and blown up a bit.  You can see his size compared to the street.

Unfortunately for Cindy, she has learned to tell a Great Horned Owl from a Barred Owl from hearing them in the middle of the night.

Click to enlarge

This is a photo I found online and looks close to what I saw.  He could have cared less that I was there.

Thanksgiving 2012

In what will hopefully become a tradition, we took a hike after eating.  This time we didn't go down to the bike trail...we went through the woods now that we have found the trails.  Steve, Maddy, Jake and I went out late in the day.  We didn't see any definite Indian burial mounds but Steve pointed out where deer were rubbing their antlers.  We were hoping to see a Bald Eagle along with river but settled for some type of "box" in the woods big enough for someone homeless and a tent pitched on a sandbar...again likely an "urban pioneer" (homeless person).

This is the beginning of the trail behind our house

Here is the 2012 crew

Update on bird feeder

After the first two nights of putting my feeders out, the tube feeder was drained.  Now it was windy the first night but something was up.

I saw a deer in that area one night and it got me thinking.  I Googled deer eating from feeder and they are notorious for licking seed out of tray feeders.  I have a picture on this blog showing a deer trying to get at my cage feeder so it makes sense.

So...I will be getting a tube feeder without a tray and get back to feeding the birds not the deer.