We have a male and female Cardinal that frequent our backyard in the early mornings and just about dusk in the evenings. We call them “Red” and “Birdie.” They are so sweet.
Birdie waits atop the feeder while Red goes down and gets some seed for her. I’m always hoping to get a good photograph of them together, but it never happened… until now.
It was just about dusk and I looked out and Red was feeding at the mealworm feeder, which is usually only used by Bluebirds, Hermit Thrushes and Yellow-rumped Warblers. I’d never seen a Cardinal there before. Birdie was sitting atop one of the other feeder, waiting for Red. And then he went to feed her…
This Common Eider was preening and bathing and just having a grand old time swimming around at Rock Harbor. I watched it for quite a while. I got many photos of his various preening activities.
I like this one the best. Beautiful bird, don’t you think?
We have so many woodpeckers in our yard here on Cape Cod… Hairy Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers. They all just love the suet at our feeders.
This Hairy Woodpecker was basking in the sun on the side of the tree on a cold morning. Such a beautiful bird, don’t you think?
I love watching the black and white Buffleheads as they swim about and dive for food at Rock Harbor during the winter months. They get pretty spooked when you get near them and tend to fly away. (Click on blog link to see other photos.) But if you stand up on the dock at Rock Harbor, you are far enough away so they don’t even notice you.
Buffleheads are small diving ducks, mostly white with a glossy black head and back. Its head has a large white patch behind its eye. The female has a dark brown head with an white oval patch on its ear.
Buffleheads are fascinating to watch as they continuously dive for food. You can see them getting ready to dive in the 2nd photo. Just as you think you can get a decent photo of them, they are under water again!
We were at Rock Harbor yesterday photographing some of the seabirds that frequent the area. When I took this photograph, I thought it was a Bufflehead… until I enlarged it on by camera. Hmmm… it did not have the markings of a Bufflehead, and why was its eye golden when Buffleheads have black eyes?
Phil and I thought maybe it was a hybrid between a Bufflehead and a Golden Eye, but we didn’t know if birds could be hybrids. We were driving by The Bird Watcher’s General Store later in the afternoon, so I stopped in to ask Mike, the owner, what it was. I was sure that I had a new species! He said it was a hybrid and has been spotted at Rock Harbor for the past 3 winters. Mystery solved…
Pretty cool, don’t you think? Have you seen it at Rock Harbor?
Cape Cod daily articles on the wonderful Cape Cod places to hike, experience and photograph. A Cape Cod Outdoor Adventure Series.
