Lifer List 46-60

This post will again have a really different variety of fun and colorful birds in it. A lot of these will be birds that came to my feeders and I loved having so many different types come and visit. I want to start colorful, so there is going to be the American Goldfinch, and the Indigo Bunting. Both of these little fellas are small but so vibrant and so beautiful! My favorite of the two has to be the bunting, he’s just a real treat.

I’ll do some rather drab colored, but equally as pretty birds next. The Brown-headed Cowbird, and the Grey Catbird. I suppose coincidentally both are named after other animals as well! The cowbirds had really cute behavior and while I did enjoy them, they tend to hog the feeder a bit and eat a lot of bird seed. I didn’t have the catbird visit often, and I hope to attract more in the coming spring.

I didn’t realize how many orioles would visit once I saw one and decided to set a feeder out. I had droves of them all morning and afternoon for several weeks, and I plan to add one or two more feeders for them in the spring season. I had two different types, the Baltimore Oriole, and Orchard Oriole. Of the two, I find the Orchard Oriole to be a bit more striking with the deep rusty orange color instead of the bright coloring of the Baltimore.

For another splash of color, we can add the Northern Cardinal and Rose-breasted Grosbeak to the list. Cardinals are a favorite among many, and attracting them to my feeders hasn’t been the easiest but I get a fair few of them during all seasons. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak isn’t as brightly colored as the cardinal, but the males still have a beautiful splash of red on their chest.

For the last two feeder birds in the post, the Chipping Sparrow and House Wren are up next. The Chipping Sparrow was a constant visitor from spring well in to the fall for me and they tend to hang around most of the day. The House wren didn’t come to the feeder as often, but they nested nearby and made their presence known, and make quite a racket.

The next three birds are all birds I commonly find at one of my favorite places to go, Lake Bella. The Eastern Kingbird is probably most plentiful, and I can always manage to get some really pretty photos of them. Through summer and fall the American White Pelicans are always at the lake and while I can’t always get super close to them, I love getting photos where you can see their eyes really well. And lastly the Great Blue Heron. These guys absolutely do not appreciate human presence and will usually flee at the first sight of me and my camera!

Last two birds in this group will be Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Rock Pigeon. The kinglet was a very fast moving little bird and I really struggled to get the one and only photo I have of it, hopefully I can find some more another time and improve the shot. I know pigeons are considered a pest by most, but how beautiful are they? The shining plumage pops in the sun and the eye color is so pretty!