We welcome a newcomer to the Pasty Cam family of photographers today...Kevin Dunham. He hails from the Munising area and shares lots of color in this set with a cardinal, pine grosbeak, evening grosbeaks, a mourning dove and bluejays. Quite a variety of birds that visit Kevin’s feeders all winter long. It’s important to feed our feathered friends during the cold and snowy months, but with avian flu disease on the rise, it’s also important to do so safely for the birds and yourself. The following link from the DNR, has some good Do’s and Don’ts about feeding birds in the winter: Winter bird feeding tips

We join Leslie The Bird Nerd for an informative look at the Dard-Eyed Junco, a little bird that visits bird feeders around the U.P. frequently. Leslie says: “Dark-eyed juncos are very widespread and common, found throughout the entire Continent from Alaska to Mexico, California to New York, and from one end of Canada to the other.”

Hi
Earlier in January I went to a park where
chickadees, tufted titmice and a few other species
will land on your hand and take seeds. The
naturalists started this, and the birds and the
humans have kept it up. On my January trip, I saw
slate colored juncos like the ones in the video.
But they didn't fly up to my hand. At the time I
thought they were too wary, but maybe it was
because they were ground feeders like the video
says. They made out Ok anyway because I usually
spilled some seeds while transferring from the
baggie to my mitten.

We have several different birds coming in to the feeders this year, including some new ones. I have some beautiful pics of them, but they are waaaay too large to post here.

If anyone is interested in a fun little project to help birds and research from your window, Cornell University's "Great Backyard Bird Count" is coming up February 14-17. Below is the web site if interested:

Great Backyard Bird Count

Are those ever awesome. WOW!

We aren't allowed to feed birds here...I don't
even see any. But wow...reading the do's and
don'ts on that page...I'm glad I'm not doing it
anymore. Down in Baraga, I fed tons of birds AND
deer....I miss that so much, but with the way it's
all going now...I guess it's ok that I can't. It's
scary out there....It's scary everywhere.

Those pics are just beautiful. I love grosbeaks.
They are truly gorgeous. I've never seen the male
cardinal, and the pic of the jays is so awesome!!

What a pleasing-to-the-eyes set!
The video was great too, however
the “The Do’s and Don’ts link was
a wee bit intimidating. Not only are
we dealing with illegal aliens crossing
our borders from the north and south,
but now we have to deal with sick and
potentially dangerous animals from within.
But, like they said at the end of the video;
“Let’s hope that 2021 is much better!”

These are wonderful. I love birds
so much. We used to have so many
birds here. Since the neighbors
cut down their cedar trees, we
hardly have any. It's very sad. We
see mostly the goldfinch,
chickadee and bluejay.