Jumpin' Juncos!

My absence over the last day was spent working out a plan for a bird box.
The hopeful resedent is a dark eyed junco.We have this one junco that apparently didn't want to migrate.
And so he hangs out around our house.We adore his lively behavior and welcome his visits.And with the take down feeders date coming up fast we would like him ( or her. ) And it's next mate to hang out.So me and dad are scratching our heads and wondering if he'll come. ( We think were more likely to get a tree swallow. ) If he doesen't we'll probably get a differen't kind of bird. Like a tree swallow ( What did I say? ) And thats fine too.They keep down the poopulation of Mosqitos. ( Thank heavens for that! ) And are just a flat out pretty bird.My camera is having errors so I'll have to use moms or just get junco pictures off the web.Either way niether cameras took a verey good picture of my junco scetch,so you wont get to see it's full glory.
Hmmm mabye I'll do a post on Boreal chickadees next?Who knows.
~Zoey

Birds that start with 'G'

Some of my favorite birds are the ones that start with 'G'.

Take Pine grosbeaks for instance.

Their colors contrast to create an image of an undicided sky.
They are some of the larger birds that come to our feeders and are kinder then the ever present Magpies or Grey jays. ( Yes the Grey jays will be in this post. ) They are rather approachable ( if you're quiet. ) And mainly ground feed. ( As opposed to hanging feeders. ) The picture above is of a female pine grossbeak.Unlike the males which are a majority of red and less grey.The females are a small amount of yellow with the majority of grey.

Or Grey jays.

They are about the size of a Pine grossbeak or a small Magpie.They aren't opposed to ground feeding but they mainly eat from out hanging suet feeders.We have a trio of them that come around and scare off the redpolls.Thier shape is a lot like a Chickadees and thier coloration is a lot like a black capped chickadee.( They have slightly more white on thier heads. )They too are approchable and will only scare if you come within a foot or make a sudden movement.Males and females have the same coloration.If you are trying to tell them apart size would be the main factor.Sadly I haven't seen thier behavior as much as the Grossbeaks so I can't tell you as much about them.

Hope you like my 'G' birds!

~Zoey