Winter bird watching

In some respects, winter, up here in the north, is an “off” season for birders and birdwatchers in terms of numbers of different birds seen. Most of us are lucky to count thirty or forty species if we really work at it, but that does not mean it is time to put away the birding binoculars or stop watching the birds.

As a passionate and ardent bird watcher, I love winter. Even though the numbers and variety are not there, birds are more obvious and easier to spot with the lack of cover, but, especially, birds seem even more spectacular against the, sometimes, drab background of our winter landscape. Birds seem more colorful, somehow. Then, too, winter can hold a surprise or two, since birds sometimes travel a long way in search of food – you never know what bird might find its way into your neighborhood. Indeed, some of the truly rare birds I have seen, such as a Snowy Owl, made a visit during the winter.

Mostly, though, winter is time to feed the birds and just sit and watch them at the bird feeder. Winter is not the only time to feed birds, however, but it is the season for many of us time when we have more time to watch the birds at our feeder. When that weather warms up, we tend to be on the move, more, just like the birds. As always, birding takes many forms.

Oh, though I would add a little color to your winter with my pic of a cardinal at my feeder. He was watching me as I took his pic as much as I was watching him.