took these pics yesterday. the bird bath is usually pretty busy between 4 & 5 o'clock. i get a bunch of blue jays late spring and thru the summer but this is the first year here that these guys stayed through the winter. just one family of them. guess they didn't pack in time to leave or something.
the cardinal family came back early this year. they (or their offspring) have been coming back every year for about 8 years now. they take off right after summer and usually don't come back until late spring with the jays, but this year they came back early february.
i get a flock of black birds every summer who are very smart and aggressive. my neighbor feeds them bread which they dunk into my bird bath, very annoying. the bird bath pecking order starts with red headed woodpeckers at the top. then the blackbirds, the jays and cardinals and finches at the bottom. when the finches come around i lower the water level in the bird bath so they can enjoy it too.
i also get owls but i rarely see them at the birdbath. though they tend to like lower branches and often i'll be gardening, look up and i've got an owl three feet from my face.
later summer, i guess that would be autumn, i get big birds of prey on their migration. not sure if they are falcons or what but they are big, fast and beautiful. that's when all the other birds take off for winter. all but the morning doves which become the falcon's dinner.
year round we have mocking birds which can be aggressive if you get near their nest but they are really very comical and their song can't be beat.
