Backyard Critters On A Cold Sunny November Day In Northeastern PA

It turned colder overnight here in northeastern Pennsylvania. A cold front brought clear blues skies and more seasonable temperatures, mid 30’s,  to my backyard this morning.  So I was surprised to see this robin  still hanging around in my backyard. Although some robins  spend the winters in the creeks and along the rivers I never saw one this late up here on the mountain where I live. I hope it is a sign of a mild winter. 

Since it gets dark early now, and there is little  daylight left when I get home from work, I decided to photograph some of the critters that visit my yard. 

Although there are a smaller number of species that visit, the bird feeder is very active this time of year. 

Nuthatches, like the one pictured above, are frequent visitors to the feeder. They also crawl along my trees, facing downward in their search for insects, but they also enjoy the sunflower seeds in my feeder. And I also have plenty of tit mice who also are found of the sunflower seeds. 

Last week there were still a lot of house finches at the feeder but they seem to have been replaced with sparrows this week. 

And of course there  are  the tiny, black capped chickadees, the most social of all my feathered visitors. These birds seem almost unafraid of my presence and often land on the feeder while I am still climbing down the ladder after refilling it with seed. 

And in the trees there are plenty of mourning doves sitting and watching before they land on the ground and feed of the seed that falls from the feeder. 

The noisy blue jays also show up and share the left over corn I put out for the turkey and deer with the squirrels. 

And today there was another uncommon sighting , a flicker, feeding on insects high in the branches of an oak tree. 

For some reason, and it may be the beginning of hunting season, the turkeys and deer haven’t been visiting my yard. I hope they return safely soon. As usual there are an abundance of squirrels in my woods. I love watching them eat, and scamper to safety as a red tailed hawk flew overhead. 

I sure miss the flowers, leaves, song birds and insects of summer but as the days get shorter, and colder, I am glad I still have my winter residents to share the cold and dark days.  Here is a link to more photographs I took in my backyard today. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/backyard-critters-november-20-2015

“Poor indeed is the garden in which birds find no homes.”
–  Abram L. Urban