Tuesday, January 2, 2018

The First Blog Header of 2018 First Great Bird of 2018

Garden Grumbles and Cross Stitch Fumbles January 2018 Blog Header

Horizontal Rows as noted below:

Row #1: Heart in Hand,, "Winter Alphabet"; Val's Little Stuff, "More Snow"; Heart in Hand, "Wee One - Snow"; Lizzie Kate, "January Flip-it".

Row #2: Bent Creek, "January Snows"; Val's Stitchin Stuff, "Snowman Trilogy" - ""Be Jolly".

Row #3: Lizzie Kate, "January Flip-it".

Row #4: Sam Sarah Designs, "Baubles - January";Twisted Threads, "January Snow"; Heart in Hand, "Winter Fling".


Many birders play a New Year's Day game.  The first bird that they see that day becomes their totem bird - the bird that defines their spirit, perspective and goals for the year. My first bird?

A Red-shafted Northern Flicker.  
A very good bird to start my birding year. 

But it was the last bird I saw New Year's Day that sent my heart fluttering.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler!


My last yard sightings of this bird were in April 2016 and February 2014.

The bird showed up about 4:00pm - low light and foggy conditions with photos taken through my kitchen window.


The bird grabbed a bit of suet then perch atop this shepherd's hook to eat, repeating the behavior several times.

It is a fairly common winter resident here, but as I noted, it's not common for me to see it!  

In this photo you can see why it is affectionately called "Butter Butt"!

12 comments:

  1. Such beautiful birds Beth. Glad to see your old visitor has returned!
    Love your blog header, so pretty and wintry.
    Happy New Year!

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  2. I love your snow related blog header for this month. So, will you use "Butter Butt" for your totem bird or the red-shafted northern flicker?

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  3. Oh love the header. Especially Baubles!!!!

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  4. WOW! That is amazing!!!! Thanks for sharing your pictures, as always. :) Cathryn

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  5. What a sweet little bird and cute nickname--
    am glad one is back--and that you are enjoying watching him eat--
    Happy Birding in 2018-di

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  6. LOVE your new header Beth. You always do such a great job with them. Love all the sweet photos of the birds..one prettier than the next. RJ

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  7. That is such a pretty little bird. How exciting to see it again. I think the Flicker is a wonderful bird to have for your totem!! Also, love that header!!!

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  8. I love the cute snowmen in your header!
    You know I love those flickers! And that sweet little "round" bird is quite cute! That's one I've never heard of!

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  9. What a pretty little bird!
    Great header too - my favourite is the centre top one with the little bird button

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  10. Love your header and thanks for listing the info about them. I wish I knew that about the totem bird, I think that is neat and what a great bird the flicker was to be your "totem" bird. Hopefully a sign of a great variety of birds to be seen this year. Love the "butter butt" warbler nickname. Great way to be able to identify it.

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  11. Love all of the Snowmen a nd the beautiful birds!

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Thank you all. I appreciate that you've read my blog and are taking the time to comment.