Birdies

For some unknown reason today was a bird day at the feeders--and I didn't even get a picture of all of the varieties. When I got up there was a huge flock of Sparrows and Mourning Doves mixed together under the feeders. They pecked and fluttered for a bit and then they all flew off like something came to scare them away. The first surprise visitor was a Nuthatch that stopped at the birdbath for a drink, then it showed up later on the suet pellets.

Also on the suet pellets and difficult to see through the peanut wreath was a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I was very surprised to see it come swooping in for a snack. It stayed long enough for me to take two shots. This is the better of the two. I sure wish that the neighbors' patio umbrella hadn't gotten tangled up in this crook pulling it over to one side. I stood it back up but wind and snow shoved it over again.

 

Another bird swooped in and there was a Downy Woodpecker on the suet cakes. It stayed a good long time so I could take my time and frame a shot.

 

Then I saw a pair of Goldfinches perched on one of the crooks but they didn't stay long enough for me to grab the camera. But I did manage to snap a picture of the Cardinal that landed on the platform feeder to sort through the safflower seeds. Like I said, today was a bird day.

 

I even drew a bird. This Sparrow was the next bird in Draw Like an Artist. I guess it turned out okay. I wasn't much in the mood to do anything today so this is all I did. The Daily Art prompt was to draw a thumbnail sketch of a still life and I have to say that my basket of a lemon and 3 Clementines is pretty darned pathetic.

 

In the afternoon I sat down at the laptop to see if I couldn't crank out some words on this last day of 2022. I managed a little over 1200 words but it was a real struggle. Some days the words come easy and other days not so much.

I'm not doing anything to ring in the New Year. I realized how old and out of touch I am when I didn't recognize any of the musical acts that are going to be on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Had never heard of any of them and I'm not tuning in to change that. Oh, I hear some fireworks. I suppose that people will be shooting them off tonight. I won't be awake for that either.

--Barbara