Posted by Sara
Nothing much at all is getting made around here lately — except for a mountain of dirty dishes, but let’s not talk about that. But the one activity that we’ve been able to keep up with is feeding the birds, which we’ve been doing since September. And with the cold weather and snow on the ground, it’s really starting to be rewarding! Adeline loves to look up birds in her “bird book” (we use Birds of the Dakotas Field Guide) and can even name quite a few of the distinct-looking ones.
The first birds to arrive were the white-breasted nuthatches. Then came sparrows and mourning doves. Recently we’ve spotted goldfinches and a mama cardinal, but no bright red daddy cardinals yet. (Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures — I never meant to post them here; we only took them to help us identify the birds.) If you scroll over the photos, it will tell you which bird it is.
And the woodpeckers! They’ve started arriving quite regularly, and so far we’ve spotted 4 different kinds: Hairy, Downy, Red-Bellied, and a magnificent Northern Flicker.
Although every other homemade Christmas gift got put on hold this year, this one was completed: a festive snack for our feathered friends.
making life 
Sara~
I’m so glad that we’re not the only birdwatchers around. We have the same book! I’ve been lazy about filling up the bird feeder, but now I’ve been inspired to do so.
Katie,
We really like that book. I like Stan’s “gee-whiz facts.” But the red-bellied woodpecker wasn’t in the book and I had to go to the internet to figure out what it was — and I found the Sioux Falls Bird Club’s website, which is pretty helpful, too.
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