Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Gifts

Still not stitching, but the mail brought something I'd ordered back in December.  A couple of charts from The Snowflower Diaries.  She's a Hungarian designer and has a nice Etsy shop.  The Four wooden buttons were a gift for ordering from her.

And I received another gift...this one from Mother Nature.

During all our extreme winter weather I kept an eye out hoping I'd have someone 'different' come to the feeders. On Sunday I heard a flock of Bushtits in the backyard.

And they flew out of the brush and came to my feeders.

Not once, but three different times on Sunday.

You can tell males and females by the eyes.

Males' eyes are totally dark.

Females have a white ring around the edge of their eyes.

Looking at my photos the flock was mostly males.

They are tiny birds, only about 3" long. 

They are very vocal and 'chatter' among themselves.

I generally hear them before I see them.

They do not stay in any one place for long, but flit about as they forage for small insects.  I had thought insects would be hard to find during all our snow and ice, and that's why I expected to see them come by and eat suet. 

There's a Junco on the left for size comparison.

Isn't that sweet?

A Black-capped Chickadee and a Bushtit.
Feeder Friends!

One last idea from the past weekend.  Whether you marched or did not march I think you might be interested in this.  There is a campaign called 10 Actions in 100 Days.  The idea is to bring to you actions you can take to make sure your own unique voice is heard.  I encourage you to take a look.  I am composing my postcards to my senators now.  

9 comments:

Vickie said...

What sweet charts you have ordered. The bushtit is a darling bird!

Robin in Virginia said...

Those bushtits are adorable. Nice charts you received!

MaryO said...

Love the charts and birdies!

MaryO1230

CathieJ said...

Thanks for the link. I love those birds.

Barb said...

What cute little birds. I firmly believe in putting action into your ideas. I have often written to legislators. Not sure how much good it did but I tried!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

I would have sworn that we didn't have any bushtits in Oregon -- boy did I learn something new. What an adorable little bird; the chickadee is familiar (and really my fav western bird)....all different here in Florida.

Did you march in Eugene? I sure would have if I'd been at our home there instead of here. Thanks for the link; I will visit it right now.

Anu said...

Beautiful little birds!

BumbleVee said...

So tiny and cute,.. not sure if we have them around here, but if we do I hope I see one some day.

Maggee said...

What really cute little birdies! Remind me of Kinglets we have out here, but their faces are cuter and beaks are shorter. Great pictures! I have heard of the 10 in 100 Days... I just read in a FB post that calling is best, because they count how many calls they get daily, and IF they listen...they count the issues too. Snail mail is tossed, as is emailing. Man I hope that is not correct!! Hugs!