BALD EAGLE!

I glanced out the window at about 11:15 am. The tempature is 32 degrees. It snowed and iced last night and it is a grey overcast day today. The creek has a new layer of fresh mushy snow on it. I saw this large brown blob sitting in the middle of the creek. I looked more carefully to see that it is a Bald Eagle! I was on the phone with Joe, my husband and said, "Gotta go, Bald Eagle sitting in the middle of the creek." (Thank you honey for understanding!) I ran around in circles looking for my camera, found it and shot this through my window, then I went outside to see if I could get another shot. He/She flew off, and I thought I caught a photo of him/her in flight, but no luck. The eagle then landed in some trees above the next little area where the creek is flowing and hasn't frozen over. The old damn / rapids are right by the bridge and mill are rarely frozen over. The waterfowl tend to hang out in these spots.

Hairy Woodpecker

Here is a photo of a female Hairy Woodpecker that I took yesterday. She is out there again today, along with her mate. I have also seen two sets of Downy woodpeckers, and I believe I am seeing third set that is larger that these Downeys and smaller that these Hairy woopeckers. The male and female red bellied woodpecker is around, and I am still seeing the Northern Flicker. The Eastern Towhee is still here. I haven't seen the Hermit Thrush. Just those few days. Nor have I seen the Brown Creeper. The woodpeckers are loving the suet that we have now put out in the last week or so.

Carolina Wren

This little guy literally came to my door as I was uploading his photo! His nest is underneath our garage apartment porch.

Male & Female Downey Woodpeckers

Here is a very cool shot I took this afternoon, of a male and female Downey Woodpecker.

Carolina ? Chickadee

I have been having the darnest time distingushing the Carolina Chickadee from the Black Capped Chickadee. I believe this is a Carolina Chickadee.

Mallards

I took this shot this morning around 8 am. The ducks were playing follow the leader through the ice. There were ten mallards, four female, six male on the rapids by the mill. They have been around for some time now. I only saw 7 Canadian Geese this morning. I did see the Eastern Towhee again. Today is the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Red Bellied Woodpecker, Female

This morning around 7:30 am, this gal came by for the first time that I know of. A male, presumable her mate has come by oftern.

Eastern Towhee

New bird.. This is the first time I have seen an Eastern Towhee here! This was taken this afternoon around 3:47 p.m. He/she was only here for a very short time.

Downy Woodpecker, female

This little girl was posing today! This was taken this afternoonaround 3:45 pm. The high today was 24 degrees. It was sunny, but of course cold and snow covered.

Hermit Thrush

I first saw this guy yesterday, but was not sure what he has. I guessed, and now confirmed that he/she is a Hermit Thrush! This photo was taken this morning at 9:06 am. We are having a "Slizzard" right now. Sleet has fallen much of the night and morning. There is probably 3-4 inches of snow and sleet on the ground. I think every school in the Philadelphia area is closed. It is 19 degrees out, a high of 31 is expected. Of course with the Slizzard it is overcast.

I also saw 10 Canadian geese this morning, one merganser, and 11 Mallards. They are hanging out in the open water by the sandbar.

Female Downy Woodpecker in flight

I took this this morning at 9:53 am. It is beginning to snow. 1-3 inches are expected today and possible up to six inches by tomorrow. It is not windy. Of course with snow it is overcast. It is 25 degrees right now, (1:30 pm) with the high of 29 expected. The two unidentified sparrows are still handing around. The white throated sparrow
is still around. The dark eyed juncos seems to come around midday. The cardinals are still here, and of course the white breasted nuthatches, tufted timouse, and black capped chickadees. The male downy is here often. I saw the Carolina wren two days ago, but not as often as I used to.

House Finch

This House Finch also stopped by this morning. He is not a common visitor this winter. I have only seen him once before.

Some kind of Sparrow ?

I am still not completely sure what sort of Sparrow this is. These are the best two photographs I got of him.

Red bellied Woodpecker flying off of a tree

I took this shot at 8:15 this morning. It is 30 degrees out right now, and overcast, no wind. High expected today is 39 degrees. Last night I heard in the distance two Great Horned Owls. One sounded like it was downstream a bit - south, the other sounded like it was across the creek - west. (9:30 am - I just saw the Brown Creeper!)

Great Egret - Endangered

Browsing through my old photos again. Here is a photo of the Great Egret that has come two years in a row in August. This photo was take August 10, 2005. In Pennsylvania this bird is considered endangered; nationally, no special protection.

Osprey - Threatened

I was browsing some of my old photos... Here is an old photo from September 10, 2005. An osprey on one of the trees lining the lawn and creek here. In Pennsylvania they are threatened; nationally, no special protection.

Skating Geese

I took this photo yesterday. I can't believe these guys are still here. On January 22, I noted that I saw three Great Blue Herons. I actually saw five, all together that day. Since the creek has frozen they seemed to have disappeared. It is interesting how they seemed to gather before heading south.

Northern Flicker, female, Yellow Shafted

For some reason I happened to peek out at the feeder while writing the last post, and this gal was feeding. I believe she is a yellow shafted, Nothern flicker, though I didn't get any photos of her underside. This was taken 2 pm, it is 29 degrees out and sunny with a slight breeze.

American Crow

It seems the Dark Eyed Junco's are back. And these big American Crows were out and about. I saw a total of 6 of them around 9:30 am. It is 29 degrees out right now as I type this. The high is expected at 36 degrees. Its is sunny with a slight breeze.

Light dusting of snow...

Last night I saw the fox crossing the snow covered ice. I also saw the Red tailed hawk this morning. There are fewer birds around. The Red breasted woodpecker, the downy woodpecker, the cardnials, the black capped chickadee, the tufted titmouse, white breasted nuthatch, and one Mourning dove are around. With the creek frozen over I doubt I will see the mergancers again. I did see a few Canadian geese where the water is flowing and not frozen over. It is 11 am. The tempature is 16 degrees out. The high is expected at 27 degrees. It is sunny! We did get a light dusting of snow last night.

Kingfisher

1:30 pm. it is currently 39 degrees, which the high for today is expect to be 40 degrees. It is overcast, sometimes the sun comes out for a moment. I just happened to catch a photo of the Kingfisher while I was out feeding the ducks and geese. Most likely the Belted Kingfisher, for I believe those are the only kind known around here. I hear this bird often, but rarely get to see him for he always seems to be in a hurry.

Winter update

The Mergancers are still here. I haven't see the Dark Eyed Juncos lately. The squirrels are visiting the feeder! Grumble, grumble. There are three Great Blue Herons out there right now. The smallest of the three keeps flying over the mergancers as if to try to chase them away from their feeding ground. Many geese are still here too. The creek has not frozen over yet this year. There has been ice on it, but more just occasional icebergs.
I also heard a barn owl two weeks ago. He hung around for about a week, right before we got the real winter weather. The last night I heard him I promised myself I would listen to the Cornell website to find out what kind of owl he was, then of course expected that I could record him the next night, and he was gone. My dog Bert, did bark alot last night, which he tends to do when he hears something strange, and he did do the first couple of nights the owl was around. Hopefully the barn owl has come back and I can at least record him, and report him to the Barn Owl Project. I expect he will at some point for I do remember hearing him over the past few years. When we first moved in here it was quite a scary sound.
Other than that, the timouses, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, white throated sparrows, and the caroline wrens are still around. I recently realized the Carolina wren has a nest under the garage apartment porch. I haven't seen the brown creeper or the winter wren lately.