Birds outside my window

The Flickers and Towees and Stellar jays have finally cleaned up the rest of the deadfalls in the orchard, and today I moved the feeders to new spots and filled them up. The birds are very happy.

The old gazebo feeder is under the smoke tree on one of the granite boulders, where we can see it from the living room. I love this feeder, and always thought it would be fun to make another just like it.

The feeder my sister and brother-in-law gave us years ago now hangs from the pear tree, and the feeder Jeromy and Ella made us for Christmas last year is in the plum tree. Since we pruned back the orchard trees last month, we have a clear view of both feeders from the kitchen and bathroom.

The small birds are thick in the front pasture, and they fly in and out and around the house all day long. Still, it took them a while to find the new feeders in the orchard, and even longer to find the courage to stick around when someone is watching them from the bathroom window.

This will be a fun winter for the birds and for me... they'll get free food, and I'll get to point my lens their way as often as I wish.