Calling all birds...

After almost 10 years in our home I've come to realize that winter is probably the best time to bird watch around our area of the Pacific Northwest.  During the coldest times of the season we see some of the most interesting types of birds coming to our yard for a drink or something to eat.   When our pond is frozen, and the waterfall is still going, seems to be when we see some unusual visitors.  This is when the Downy, Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers come to our pine tree, as well as the Red Breasted Sapsuckers.  We seem to be getting more Rufous Hummingbirds than usual this winter, maybe it's all the snow we've had.  They were coming to the hardy fuchsia's up until a few weeks ago when the snow and freezing temps knocked off the last flowers.  I worry as I see them out in the cold weather, they are so small, I always wonder where they go at night to stay warm.  Our most usual birds though, right now, are the Junco's and Black-capped chickadees which hang out in the bare hydrangeas and flocks of Bushtits that hang from our suet feeder.  My daughter loves to count how many are hanging off at once.  

We have many types of feeders, baths and birdhouses and love to watch through the seasons as new species arrive or the chickadees start nesting in the birdhouse above the pond.

This is a house that my older daughter painted last year.
A bird bath that one of my sister's gave me years ago.  The chickadee's love it.
The squirrels and the Stellar Jay's usually fight it out at this feeder.  I gave up trying to chase the squirrels away many years ago.
This one I painted last summer and my husband put it up on a post for me.  I'm hoping it will have birds in it this spring!
A favorite with the chickadees, it's been up for about 7 or 8 years and has had at least one family of chickadees every spring except one when the yellow jackets took it over.  It is right above the pond and near a couple of feeders.  We can see it from our table and it's fun to see the birds flying in and out with nesting materials!

I've really enjoyed the book   Birds of Seattle and Puget Sound by Chris C. Fisher.  I keep it by the window and my daughters and I like to try and identify new birds we see.