There have been a wide variety birds on the feeder this month, particularly when it snowed earlier in December. DH has kept the feeder full of nice cracked sunflower seeds, and I made a suet cake for them too. The goldfinches on the upper left have put on their more drab winter garb. The one on the upper right is a Carolina wren, with a titmouse and then a bluebird below. We have chickadees and nuthatches too.
We seem to have a whole family of bluebirds, three of them sharing the lower feeder on this cold and snowy day.
We scattered seeds on top of the snow for our ground feeding feathered friends, like this towhee. There are several juncos that stop by regularly too.
A brilliant blue male bluebird was working on the suet.
Up on the veranda, the little fairy closed his door against the snow.
A small hairy woodpecker stopped by for a meal.
A family of blue jays stayed for a couple of days, searching the ground for food.
The Carolina wren is so funny, he will get a seed then fly to the veranda to eat it.
It was so cold and snowy on these days, the little birds needed the extra calories in the cake. I made sure the peanut butter didn’t have any xylitol before I used it in the suet cake. It has filtered lard, crunchy peanut butter, stone ground corn and cracked sunflower seeds. Next time I may add some oatmeal, as I read that it is a good source of vitamins and minerals.
It is always a treat to see the brilliant red male cardinal against the white snow.
It kept snowing and the birds kept coming. I saw a northern flicker, but didn’t get a picture of him. There is also a pileated woodpecker that is spending the winter here.
They worked on all three feeders at once, sharing the perches and trading places.
I am not sure what this little bird is, behind the female cardinal. It seems like it is a young juvenile, but not sure what kind.
Clarence is still popping by every few days for a handout. He gets a peanut butter half sandwich on whole grain bread, fed to him in tiny bites when it is really cold, and just whole grain bread alone when it is warmer. Sometimes I scatter some sunflower seeds out for him too. DH thinks I spoil him too much, but he is cold and hungry just like the others when it snows.
Are you feeding the birds through winter?
From My Carolina Home 
Thanks for sharing. I was wondering about Clarence as I scrolled through the pics and I wasn’t disappointed. You have to feed him, he counts on it! It’s so funny to watch the behavior of the animals.
Great pictures of the birds you feed! I have never tried to make suet for them but now I think I will! I usually buy it. Many different sparrows, downy and red bellied woodpeckers, house finches, cardinals, blue jays,chickadees, black eyed juncos and white breasted nuthatch at our feeders! Loving Clarence!
I love feeding the birds in my area, especially in the winter. My favorite feeder is the one that sticks up on the window. The birds seem to love that one too!
Thanks for the pretty pictures of your birds. Here in south Texas we don’t have the variety but we do have Cardinals all year.
I enjoyed your beautiful photos of the birds!
Thanks for sharing. Wonderful variety of birds.
You have a great variety of feeder birds! I could only hope for a Towhee and the Bluebirds come to my yard, but never the feeders.
Your sparrow looks like a Chipping Sparrow in winter plumage. The mostly unmarked breast and dark line that continues past the eye to the beak are good field marks.
Love the photos of your winter visitors. We have rose bushes that put out a lot of rose hips at the end of the growing season, the birds love those. Have a very Happy New Year!
Like you, we feed our birds during the winter months, which we feel is the most important time. We have 4 or 5 sets of cardinals that tend to, either eat peacefully together, or sometimes not. There is always ground food for bottom feeders as well. We may slack off some during the summer, since the squirrels and raccoons play havoc with the feeders. I love seeing your pictures Carole, and wish I could do the same, but, by the time I open the door on to the deck, they know I’m coming and fly away. There are huge windows with screens that make getting a decent photo, impossible, so I will just admire your pictures. Thanks so much for sharing. Hope you had a fabulous Christmas, and wish you and DH a happy and healthy New Year.
Your birds are beautiful!! Thank you for sharing them. I’m jealous of your snow.
I really enjoyed seeing your gorgeous bird photos!
What a fantastic variety of birds visit your home… just gorgeous…
The variety of birds you have is wonderful, seeing the cardinal is a treat, having only seen 2-3
Thanks so much for sharing, it is mild here in England , it is lovely to see all the different birds that gather in different parts of the world, ,the snow looks lovely also. Happy new year from England x
There sure is a lot of activity in your yard!
The birds all know where to come, and the feeders in many varieties are wonderful for those photos. And if some drops down, the squirrels will be sure to find it. Love the blue birds, and the unknown baby with all its feathers fluffed up.
Thanks for the photos of all the birds. I love watching them but I live in a townhouse community and now my next door neighbor lets her cat out all day – that has scared away all of the birds. I used to see an occasional rabbit but no longer. I love cats but not outside.
You have a wonderful variety of birds at your feeders, Carole! We do feed the birds year round at our house, and have many of the same ones you see. I would love to see cardinals, but they don’t live this far west. We did have some winter-garbed goldfinches on our thistle feeder the other day and that was exciting!
I used to feed the birds, but the squirrels were overwhelming. I even had a feeder that suction cupped to the window, but the squirrels ran up the chimney and leaped onto the feeder. They knocked it off the window so many times, I gave up. We do see cardinals, wrens, sparrows, woodpeckers and the occasional hawk. Even had a snowy owl one winter. Two summers ago several blue birds showed up for a week or two, but I didn’t see them again this summer. Now, since we’re gone for two months during the winter, it seems unfair to the birds to start to feed them, then leave town on them. You take such wonderful photos. It’s always a pleasure to see whatever catches your camera’s eye.
Pat
These photos you shared make me happy.
You have a wonderful yard for beast and fowl, and feathers…..
um, Happy new Year Carole, to You and yours ❣️❤️
It is lovely to see some of our ‘summer’ birds from southern Ontario,Canada in their wintering grounds. We only see bluebirds in the summer when they breed in our fence line nesting boxes, and because they eat insects here, they never come to the feeders. So it is a weird site to see.
Our junco is the ‘dark eyed junco’, who is all grey. They winter here after coming down from further north then go back north in the spring to breed. We have cardinals all year long, but we don’t have titmice come this far north. Thank you for the wonderful photos.
I love your birds and the feeders. Clarence looks like he might need a hat!! Now that might be spoiling him!
Awe, you have the same birdies we have up here in Maryland. This year I have 3 Flickers, they seems to bring a new friend each year. They can eat a lot of suet for sure. I wish I knew how to post a picture for you. I caught a Pileated Woodpecker and our Blue Birds in the same picture.
We haven’t had much winter at all, I think you got ours so far. Thank you for taking such good care of the birds and your special friend there too 😀
Hello Carole, Such a wonderful treasure of pictures you have shared with us today! I always enjoy looking and reading about your bird visits and am thrilled that you have taken the time to get to know all of the types. Kevin and I make sure that we know all of the bird species that we get the pleasure of watching here, also. Our neighbors have a dog named Mazing and since she discovered the big birds in the sky, she has been chasing them and barking at them. We laugh and say she is inviting them down to play with her. Well, believe it or not and we do, at least once a day…one or two of those birds will come and fly over just teasing or playing with her. It is amazing and so fun to watch. We have seen a variety of Hawks, Vultures and even a couple of Eagles join in the game. Thank you again for sharing Carole! I always enjoy! Have a great day!
I feed the birds year round here in eastern Maryland. I love seeing them at the feeder but I rarely take pictures. My feeder is right beside the front door and all the birds fly away when I open it. 🙂 We have aggressive squirrels, too, so I invested in squirrel-proof feeders (after they ate the last two I had:). They are stuck with gleaning sunflower seeds that the birds drop off the ground beneath the feeder.
🙂 Linda
Your photos are fantastic. I see many more goldfinches than bluebirds. I think our most frequent visitor is the song sparrow.
I love seeing the amazing variety of birds you have visiting your house! You do a great job of catching them up close and personal in your pictures!
Living in Alaska, we do not have the bright colorful birds like Cardinals and Bluebirds and there are no Turkeys here either. We do see Dark eyed Junco and Jays as frequent visitors to our feeders. My husband and I keep the feeders and suet available year round and greatly enjoy watching our visitors come and go.
Happy New Year 🙂
Such beautiful photos! I always love seeing birds in the garden and you have many different species to ours here in the UK, I love how bright and colourful they are 😁. We bought some new bird feeders this year and have had many garden birds visiting them, my favourite has to be our resident robin ( European variety). I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you a very Happy New Year, may it be filled with love, happiness and creativity! J 😊 x
Yes we feed our birds and really enjoy seeing them come and get fueled up for the winter. We don’t have the variety in winter you do so it was really fun checking out your pictures. Happy New Year
Happy New Year Carole and Family,
Love the bird report. The only bird you have that I don’t is the turkey. I use to have three different woodpeckers but haven’t been seeing them lately, guess I need to get some sunflower seeds to draw them back. My friend that moved to Ala. And I made some suet feeders several years ago. We both saved the empty suet feeders and made our own, we would still be making them if she hadn’t moved. She was my thrift shop hopper and we had so much fun and eating out together, oh how I miss her. The birds are so much fun to watch, my little Carolina wren likes to make its nest in my hanging pot ferns and the bridal ferns, they are a mess to watch. I have a swing on the front porch and I hang artificial vines of flowers and during the summer the hummingbirds fly up to the flowers and hover trying to figure out why no nectar is in them and sometimes when I’m sitting out there they fly up to me and have to check me out, especially if I’m wearing a blouse that has rhinestones on it. Isn’t wild-life wonderful to watch?
Well I didn’t get all my cookie baking done for the gifts to give, was to upset about my friend passing so I’m trying to do some baking today and will take to the neighbors for a New Years gift, you and your family stay safe and sound out on the roads.
Phyllis Smith
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Wonderful post! I love birds and seeing them at the feeders in the snow.
Happy New Year!
Wow so beautiful! Right before Christmas I looked out my kitchen window and saw 5 cardinals!! I couldn’t believe it, I’ve never seen more than 1 before! I decided it was an omen for good things to come in 2019, Happy New Year Carole!
Jenna