• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Any birders? Share your photos!

Christy

Angel Diva
I’m jealous you still have them, do they stay all year round where you are?? (We may have had this conversation before haha, but I’m in awe) I miss mine so much, loved having them all summer this year with the feeder right outside of my office window.

Yup, Anna's, which aren't native, have gradually crept up the West Coast, following our gardens and feeders, and they overwinter here.
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
Yup, Anna's, which aren't native, have gradually crept up the West Coast, following our gardens and feeders, and they overwinter here.

Ah yes, I definitely remember your saying this previously now. You are so lucky, I’d love to have them year round!
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
There has been a pair of Acorn Woodpeckers in the area for several months. They're not normally anywhere near here so it's an exciting find. They're off a busy trail that I've been avoiding - but today it was snowing so i headed up early and it wasn't too bad. Also not so bad to wear a mask hiking in the cold. :smile:

ACWO 1 23 21 b.jpgACWO 1 23 21 acorn.jpgACWO 1 23 21 k.jpgIMG_20210123_180607_063.jpg

Really fun to see!
 

fgor

Ski Diva Extraordinaire

newboots

Angel Diva
Pileated Woodpecker?

I saw my first this past summer in my yard, a HUGE one. Really cool birds!! I’m very partial to woodpeckers in general.

Yes. This one isn’t as big as the one in our woods in Vermont, who was enormous. This one might be 10” tall.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Those are stunning! I especially love the first one. I'd have that as a print on my wall happily.
Thank you!

Here is another of the same bird that i can't decide which I like better. She was calling a lot. There were a number of other Harriers nearby, so I'm not sure if that was territorial or something else. NOHA calling 1 24 21.jpg
 

Christy

Angel Diva
Okay, I'm not sharing these because they are great photos. But, here is the story of our hummingbirds during this snowy weekend when Seattle got more snow than we've gotten in 50 years (12+ inches, not impressive to most of you I know but a ton, and tremendous fun, for us). It snowed so much and so fast Saturday morning my husband and I took turns going out every 15 minutes to clear the snow from the tops of the feeders and to stick a toothpick down the iced-over holes. If we didn't they'd flutter around and under the feeders but couldn't figure out how to sip through the snow. I don't know what their life span is, but it seems that this was probably their first snow. One of my friends tried to rig a foil tent then an umbrella over her feeders but neither worked. It turns out there are feeders with shelter tops but I thought the top needed to be clear? (Clearly people that hang their feeders under eaves were safe from this problem though I hate to attract birds so near to my windows.) Also, it was cold at night so we pulled the feeders then my husband got up at dawn to put them back out. A lady hummingbird decided the purple feeder was HERS and stayed camped out either on it or on the hardy fuschia branches below, and ran others off.

1613422412636.png

1613422444168.png

1613422468447.png

1613422494532.png

1613422515920.png
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I do have those covers on my feeders - depending on the angle of the snow it may or may not help. But if it's falling straight down it keeps the snow and rain out. Hah, for me, I have a solid one that I put over my hummingbird feeders to keep the sun off and make the nectar last longer when it's not in the blazing sun and heat as much. You probably don't have that problem as much!

OH - and the oldest known Anna's Hummingbird was at least 8 years 2 months when it was recaptured and re-released at a banding station. So they can live a surprisingly long time for such little guys!
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I was reading something recently too that it may be safer to have feeders closer to the windows (and I use those Birdsafe stickers to make the glass visible to them), but the theory is that if the feeder is within a shorter distance they won't be going full speed and would glance off the glass. I don't know which is best honestly...
 

MissySki

Angel Diva
OH - and the oldest known Anna's Hummingbird was at least 8 years 2 months when it was recaptured and re-released at a banding station. So they can live a surprisingly long time for such little guys!

Wow, I didn’t realize they lived that long!
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,233
Messages
497,561
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top