It has been a while since I posted with the new house and all.  But on 5/15/2014 I saw one of the coolest things I'll probably ever say.  A pair of beautiful painted buntings right in my back yard!!  I do hope they continue to come back.  I've been looking out for them ever since, but I may not be lucky enough to see that again.

Image from: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/painted_bunting_cleber2.jpg

The female bunting is a beautiful green and the male sports the vivid blue, green, yellow, and red you see in the above picture.  They are smaller birds (finches) and when they are scrounging around on the ground are very hard to spot.  I nearly missed them myself.  They breed in the southeast.  They favor dense brush and weedy areas, that's why I was so very excited to see one in the backyard!  They hung around on the ground mostly and didn't even visit any of my feeders.  It was a beautiful sight!

New bird to the feeder!

Finally, after a few weeks and new bird has come to my feeder!  I had been seeing a lot of Red Winged Blackbirds and Mourning Doves, but today I spotted a House Finch!!  I'm so very excited to see him, with his beautiful red head and underbelly.

(Picture from here.)

House Finches are small bodied birds with thick beaks and pretty flat heads that can be found just about anywhere.  The House Finch was originally found in the western US until in the 1940s some were released in Long Island (they were a failed attempt at being sold as caged birds).  They began to breed quickly and are now a common sight in the eastern US.  They eat mostly plant materials like seeds and fruit.

Well the birds are finally visiting my feeders after a bit of trial and error.  I got a pole to hang the feeders from, a squirrel proof feeder, and another tree-house looking feeder.  Those darn squirrels ruined my first feeder.

One of my favorite (although common) visitors is a red winged blackbird.

He perches on the feeders and nibbles away.  After he flies off I can still here his check calls.  These birds can choose to hide their beautiful red and yellow shoulders if they wish, but they seem to always show at my feeder.  They like to hang out near saltwater marshes and the little section of wooded area I have at my apartment is right on the marsh.  I haven't seen any of the females in my little patch yet.

Another welcomed visitor is the pair (I think they are a pair) of Mourning Doves that seem to hang out right below the feeders.

[Image taken from here]

They just hang out and forage on the ground underneath the feeders.  Picking up the mess the blackbirds and squirrels make.  I love to hear the loud flutter of their wings as they fly off too. 

Spotted a Killdeer at work today sprinting across the street over to the grassy area.  Here is a photo(taken from here).

The Killdeer is a shorebird, but you can see them in many different places.  It's an insect eating plover.  Beautiful bird I believe.


I also saw a few big 'ol Canada Geese; they were just hanging out blocking the road on my way out of work.  I think I may be the only person who enjoys that haha.

Photo taken from here.

Inspiration

I found a blog called "Red and the Peanut" yesterday, and I already know that I love it!  Her blog is located here and I think any birder would enjoy it!

This weekend I plan to head to Lowe's and get a bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder to attract even more birds to the little area I can see from my porch.  I'll try to put up some pictures, but I don't have the greatest of cameras yet; I'm working on it though.

First day on the porch

On the 14th, I spent a lovely Sunday on my porch playing with my new binoculars and watching some intriguing birds!  Here's what I saw:

Unidentified: 

•  Larger plump bird with a grey back and a dull yellow underbelly.  He also had (black?) eye rings and a stripe on his beak.  He was foraging on the ground and standing very tall, puffing out his wings a bit.

If anyone has any ideas what this birdy may be, please let me know.  I don't know if it was territorial or mating behavior but he stood up straight and would slightly open his wings and square up his shoulders.    

• Red Bellied Woodpecker:  He had a black body with white bars/dots and red on the top of his head, the sides of his head were white; he was chowing down on insects or whatever in the trees.  He picked at the bark rather than carving it out as most people would think with a woodpecker.  (This picture was not taken by me but is found on Cornell’s website).
   
  
  
   It's funny all of the beautiful birds you never notice when you're not looking for them.  We all notice the larger woodpecker that you can hear drilling a tree from a mile away; but this is a little birdy I had never noticed until I looked closely.  He doesn't loudly hack away at the trees, he sort of 'picks' at them instead.  
   
  
   

     So, my new found love of birds is only about a week old.  I recently traveled to Colorado for work and spent all my free time on the most beautiful mountain trails.  Long story short, I noticed some beautiful birds and start Goggling and before I knew it, I wanted to be a bird watcher.
    
     Here I am now back in South Carolina and starting my new journey with a brand new pair of binoculars, watching birds from my screened porch.  I got myself some Bushnell 8x42 binoculars because they were the best I could do within my budget.  If you'd like some more really good info on choosing binoculars check out this article for beginners.  Also, look here for lots of other good "getting started" information.  Anyways, I'll keep this intro short; next I'll post my first exciting bird finds!