Arrrgh!!!

What great sitings, Buffy! We don't get towhees, for some reason. I watch for them, but they don't come. It's been a couple of years since I've seen a sapsucker, here at the house--or heard one drumming. I'm afraid that the starlings have driven off the martins that normally nest in the house across the street. Haven't seen them for 3 or 4 days. Among all of the "imports", the indigenous birds don't have a chance once civilization encroaches. (That's about what one of my American Indian friends told me about us descendants of Europeans one day, too! I don't think that the UK & Europe want HH or me back, though. I'm such a duke's mixture that I would have to be subdivided, with about 1/128th of me staying in the US--LOL.)

How near girl! I have never heard of them. I wander if we get them and I don't no it? I love the birds and have three feeders in our yard. The will eat you out of house and home! LOL! Those bugers eat a lot. I don't have a bird book and have not looked on the net for what we get. Sounds like a project.

Joe, you should talk with Cop Car and Bogie about bird watching. I think they help with the bird counts in their respective areas.

Did you know that bird watchers keep what they call "Life Lists" of all the birds they see?? Now THERE'S a project for you!

Cop Car, one of my UK firends has told me about their BNP.....a party that wants to send all the interlopers home. Like you, my heritage resembles Heinz 57 varieties, and I suspect I'd be ousted too!

As for birds here, I know that the house finch is encroaching. I have a lot to learn from you about birds (and Electric Quilt 5! *G*)

At least the house finch is indigenous to the US. It was, however, taken from its old range in the southwestern states to NY and has spread westward from there. I don't know where we, in Kansas, got ours. I suspect that they just naturally moved eastward from NM and CO or TX. I suppose that birds are like people, in one way. Just because we know what their "natural" range is at one point in time, doesn't mean that they feel constrained to stay in that range. They get wanderlust, too!
I don't know where Joe lives so I can't comment on whether he gets towhees. They would not usually come to feeders. As you have observed, Buffy, they scratch around in the underbrush, kicking up leaves to get to the juicy bugs underneath.
For about 40 years, I kept 3"x5" file cards as my "life list"--one card for each species. Somehow, I lost the boxes of file cards about 10 years ago. I've about given up hope that they'll ever re-surface in my life time. Oh, well. It doesn't really mean anything. I still have my birthday--LOL.

What a shame about those cards, Cop Car! That would be like me loosing my quilts.

Yes, the towhee digs around in the underbrush. We were late to exercise watching it flit around in the brush, doing a little grocery shopping.

Having a birdfeeder is fun. I bought one last year and I love watching the birds.
My sister lent me a bird book so I could identify them.

Super, Susan! It's always interesting to see which species prefer what seeds or suet. Dyed-in-the-wool backyard birders even put out mealy worms for their bluebirds. Our bluebirds seem to do just fine at finding their own bugs. If the starlings and house sparrows would just let the bluebirds alone. Last year, I don't believe our bluebirds were able to fledge even one brood because the house sparrows kept taking over their nests.

I have been hearing the familiar rat a tat a tat of the Jamaican Woodpeckers that frequent a certain tree in our yard. I have been trying to capture them with the digital camera, but they have been eluding me.

Apologies for the infrequent visits Buffy.

Dr. D--You just MUST get that picture and post it. I didn't realize that you were in the part of the world that is home that species. Great!

Dr. D--You can tell that I had not visited your site until now. Interesting postings. I'll be checking it out every once-in-a-while, now.

Hiya, Doctor D! It's always nice to see you post. I agree with Cop Car. We'll be watching for a picture of the Jamaican Woodpecker. We have at least three types of woodpeckers here, the downy, hairy and red-bellied. We have a visiting yellow-bellied sapsucker, too. I bet the Jamaican woodpecker is a lot more brilliant in it's coloring than ours.