No Turkeys Or Bears But A Lot Of Birds And Deer In My Backyard.

It’s been a month since I shared photographs of some of  the critters that visit my backyard here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  The mother bear and her cubs have not returned since June and the turkeys stopped showing up a few weeks ago.  I have no idea why and I am hoping they return before the Winter arrives.

And, now that Summer has ended,   many of the birds that reside here in the warm months have left. However, I still have  many of our local year long resident  birds showing up at my feeders, including the house finches. 

Some of these colorful birds do migrate south in our area but some usual stay  and visit my feeders throughout the Winter. 

I am glad they remain , they are beautiful birds and I  love watching them. Here is a link to a gallery on my website with more photos of the colorful and beautiful house finches . Backyard house finch September 2020

One of my favorite visitors to my backyard is this Carolina wren. 

This bird starting showing up about a month ago and rewards me with its wonderful song in exchange for  my bird seed. 

It sometimes  perches on my deck fills my house with its beautiful song. I am hoping it decided to stay here this Winter too. 

I also have a family of cardinals  visit my feeders. This is the male.

And this the female. They do remain here all year and also pay ofr their seed with their beautiful  songs. 

I have always had  white -breasted nut hatches visit my feeders. They are pretty birds. 

However, recently this, even prettier red-breasted nuthatch has showed up at my suet feeder. 

I haven’t seen one in my backyard before and enjoyed watching it feed. It, too,  may remain for the Winter. 

Some other birds that visit my backyard are the mourning dove,

crows, 

black-capped chickadees,

a tit-mouse,

and woodpeckers, including this downy or hairy woodpecker. I have a hard time telling them apart,

and this red-belled woodpecker. 

It feeds on the suet too, and is very noisy and defense when someone approaches the feeder . I miss the turkeys but I am glad that plenty of their feathered cousins still visit my backyard. Here is a link to a gallery with some more photographs of some of the birds that visit my backyard. Backyard birds September 2020 

Although the bears haven’t returned I still have some mammals visit my backyard, including the small herd of deer that feed on the corn I put out. 

As you can see the fawns have lost their spots and have grown  considerably since the last time I shared their photos. 

The large buck hasn’t returned but this young button buck is a regular visitor. 

I enjoy watching the deer feed, 

and their interactions, and

facial expression while interacting , You will also notice that their fur coats are much darker now.

At night I still have skunks , opossums and raccoons visit. During the day the squirrels,

and chipmunks,

feed on the leftover corn. 

As does this  groundhog who  shows up every morning. 

I miss the bear and turkeys that visited my backyard in Spring and early Summer, and the migratory birds too, but I am fortunate to still  have plenty of critters   that show up, even in the Winter. I enjoy so much watching them. , Here is a link to some more photographs of the deer and other critters who visited my backyard. Backyard critters September 2020.

“The presence of a single bird can change everything for one who appreciates them.”
― Julie Zickefoose

fskokoski@gmail.com

This is my first post