Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Today's Birds

Common Redpolls
Hopkinton State Park (pre-dawn)

My goal is to get a photo of a Common Redpoll in the bright light of day one of these days!  So far, I have only seen them at dusk and at dawn.

Carolina Wren
backyard
(lifting each leaf with its beak, looking for something)

Black-Capped Chickadee
backyard
on my new Nyjer thistle feeder

Downy Woodpecker
Framingham Country Club

Downy Woodpecker (same)
I like this photo for the close look at his bill (which looks like a nail) and feet.  

Woodpeckers have Zygodactyl feet.  Zygodactyl means that the foot consists of four toes, the first and fourth of which point backwards and the middle two which point forwards.  This set up is perfect for gripping tree branches and trunks.  Cool!

Also seen but shy:  Dark-eyed juncos, Northern Cardinals, Sparrow, Accipiter species, American Goldfinch, Tufted Titmouse, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, White-Breasted Nuthatch



No comments:

Post a Comment