Backyard birding

TUSCUMBIA-This time of year is a great time to see birds, especially in backyard settings.  However trying to get pictures of them at my house is difficult with the Hooligans around.   I refilled my feeders the day before with black oil sunflower seeds so the birds would be flocking to them the next day.  Blackie was making the birds life miserable by running them away from the feeders and a nearby birch tree.  I put the telephoto lens on my camera and grabbed the key to the barn to feed the Hooligans.  Maybe the birds would show up while they are eating.

I set up near the deck and was very still, just waiting.  Eventually a black-capped chickadee showed up in the tree.  They are so funny to watch at a feeder.  They fly in grab a seed and fly off with it, eats it, then fly back for another hit and run meal.

Soon a pair of tufted titmouse flew into the tree, then a pair of cardinals and went to the feeder.  I was able to get a few pictures before the Hooligans finished eating.  Blackie and Levi started chasing each other, so birding was over with.

Nearby Wheeler Wildlife Refuge off of the Beltline in Decatur and a great place to see bunches of sandhill cranes, ducks and other wildfowl.  Occasionally one may see some of the whooping cranes on the refuge.   The refuge has a very nice observation building for viewing and photographing.  For more serious birders an observation blind may be reserved.  Brian, a photographer friend of mine and I went the first mild Saturday in January.  We were able to see three whooping cranes while there.  I called Mom before leaving that morning, to tell her where I was going, she asked who was going with me.  When I told her, she said ‘You going off with a strange man again?”  She had some more comments when she found out he was married.  Oh well, Mom’s never stop being a Mom even when you are close to retirement.

If you don’t want to travel a fer piece, check out the rockpile area at Wilson Dam or Spring Park in Tuscumbia, especially in subfreezing temperatures like we had last week.  The cold weather was keeping visitors away with food, and the first day I went to check out the waterfalls and the water wheel, the ducks and geese came up to me looking for a hand out.  The next day I took left over bread with me and it was like that Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds.   I threw a couple of pieces and I had birds flying at me from all over the pond.