Hot Winter Days

It has been a very mild winter here this year and it seems as though at least two thirds of the United States are also enjoying an amazing winter.  I'm choosing not to think of the ramifications of this.

New Year's Day found me sitting enjoying the warm sun streaming onto my patio, with my camera on my lap, inviting the wild birds to come an visit.  They didn't need a second invitation.

First up was this Scott's Oriole:

Scott's Oriole

I'd only seen this bird for the first time a few days earlier and I haven't seen it since, but since New Year I've been very busy so I may have missed it.  Anyway, it wasn't too confident with me nearby, but my next two visitors have no problem with boundary issues.

Cactus Wren with Prickly Pear juice on it's beak.

California Thrasher

The cactus wren is very bold.  It will barely hesitate when it sees me or the dogs.  The Thrasher, on the other hand,  prefers to be in deep cover at all times, and if it does have to cross open ground it seems to prefer to hop very quickly rather than fly.  That beak can really shift through the debris around the base of plants.  I'm sure it does a great job of aerating the soil while it forages for bugs.

My last visitor was this scrub jay.  I see it around quite often but doesn't hang around if it thinks I've seen it.

Scrub Jay

We'd thrown some pink grapefruit remnants out and it seems that the Jay, the Wren and the Oriole all like fruit.

Linked to :  Natures Notes at the Rambling Woods blog.

Click on the link to see what's going on in nature around the world.  Better yet, why not tell us what's going on in your neighbourhood?