Friday, February 15, 2008

The Great backyard Bird Count Begins (or, Look Who's Coming to Dinner!)


It’s the first morning of the Great Backyard Bird Count and I am recovering from the flu. I still feel awful but I was up with the dawn to start counting birds. I would say I was up with the sun, but today it is raining here and sometimes it is mixed with snow! All the birds look bedraggled and they are seeking shelter wherever they can get it. A house finch is riding the ceiling fan like a merry-go-round, but at least it is dry!


A female hummingbird has chosen my ballerina sculpture as her refuge.

One poor mourning dove just braces itself against the downpour.


But when I first opened the shutters this morning look what I found feeding from the quailblock! This jackrabbit forgot it’s suppose to wear feathers to dinner!

6 comments:

Mary said...

Kathie, I hope you are feeling better. We've had a flu outbreak in our area, too.

Your photos are sweet. Love that Jack Rabbit!

I think I'll try to get outside a few times this weekend to participate in the GBBC, too!

Amy said...

Sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather. I hope you are feeling better soon. Great photos, especially the little hummer looking all "harumph!"

Anonymous said...

Soory to hear you are not feeling well. Here's wishing you a lot of good birds to lift your spirits.
Vern

Patrice said...

Hope you're on the mend, Kathi. I love the photos. The jack rabbit is a cutie. What I would give for some of your sunshine!

Larry said...

Love the jackrabbit-I don't know that I've ever seen one before.

Kathie Brown said...

Hi all! Thanks for all the kind thoughts and prayers. I'm still on the mend but I didn't let this cold keep me from counting. I ended up submitting 23 counts this weekend. Now I just have to clean my house and do the laundry again! But then again, maybe I should rest up a few more days first...

Oh, and that jack rabbit was quite the surprise on Monday. I see them in the desert around here all the time and dead on the roads too, poor things! There are 2 kinds of jack rabbits from what I understand, and after being around eastern cottontails, these things are HUGE! They really do look like you could saddle and ride them! We also have a desert cottontail rabbit.