WARNING: I am not my usual self. Work has been Hell! I have been doing 11 hour days and when I get like this it is hard for me to make a complete sentence, let alone write.
With work being as insane as it has been bird watching has happened in small doses and usually in the morning. It has been extremely cold here in Massachusetts and I have been filling my bird feeders more. I am getting the usuals in pairs of 2 or 3. I can't say the same for the finches though as they are appearing at my feeders by the dozens. The house finches love safflower seed and I have gone through 1/2 a bag in 10 days.
The biggest reason they are here is because of this tree and the pods that are on them. Can anyone PLEASE tell me what it is. I have googled every type of tree I can think of and still can't figure it out. All I know is that both the house and gold finches love the seeds that are inside the pod.
Pardon the pictures as I am still uncomfortable with my camera! The blurriness is due to my shakiness and because they were taken through a window and a screen. I have been complaining to the kids how difficult it was to take pictures with the screen interfering and my son opened the window and put the screen up. Why didn't I think of that?? HA!!, I am telling you this cold weather has caused some of my common sense to freeze up along with everything else in my yard!
Here is the tree with the pods on them
Here are some more pictures of the finches. I love to watch them because they are not as hyper as the other birds which makes picture taking much easier. I bet they will be even easier to photograph now that the screen isn't in the way. ;o)
Now I am off to decompress. I have been crunching numbers for 3 days straight and my brain is aching for mindless activity. I just want to sit on the couch and watch the rerun of Top Chef.
Peace
6 comments:
Try asking Steve about your tree. http://shootingmyuniverse.blogspot.com/ He'll probably know!
I hope work eases up for you a bit in the coming days. The finches are wonderful! We haven't had but a few lately. Maybe I'll try the Safflower seed!
By the way, I loved the PBS show! Thanks for telling me about it.
Sharon
I wish I could help you with the pods but I'm not good with IDing trees. But I can empathize with the crunching numbers thing and working until you are frazzled. It's hard to do it all...
It's very cold here, too - well, the teens is very cold in Charlotte :o) I'm nursing the worst cold I've had in many years.
Hang in there, Kallen!
Mary
For some reason I keep thinking the tree is a Magnolia, though I'm probably wrong. Do you know what it looks like in the summertime?
Sharon
That was my first thought... tulip magnolia... hmmmm..
No worries Kallen, I am not myself either so we'll commiserate together. Have to work the weekend too... bleh.
Love your finch shots. :c)
Sorry for not responding earlier, I got back from the Manchester-Boston airport at 3:00 this morning. I was visiting family in WA.
I think my reputation is much larger than me! I don't have this seed pod listed in my books. :( I do have some magnolia trees in town here, (I live right by Magnolia, Massachusetts of all the crazy things.) I'll take a look at them next time I'm out and about.
I like your concept. I think it is important to document one’s back yard. BTW, I'm so envious. I used to have really great feeder birds when I lived in the foothills out side of Boulder Colorado. Now my chances for really cool feeder birds is zero living in Gloucester. But how many people get Iceland Gulls in their front yard?
I can't help with the tree, but safflower is one of the more expensive seeds along with thistle. The house finch will also eat black oil sunflower seeds that might be a little cheaper than safflower (squirrels love them too) and also other seeds from a mixed seed. The goldfinch travel in flocks in the winter. I get 30 at one time at my thistle feeders..
Rambling Woods
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