The birds have suddenly discovered my back yard. Earlier today, there were several juncos in the yard. They look like this:
Not my photography!
A little while later, a pair of what I think are thrushes showed up. Not being a professional photographer -- or birder, for that matter -- I didn't get a picture. And now, I can't seem to find a picture on the great big Web. Whatever they were, they were too big for my wee bird feeder, pulling it all askew and askance. And they kept landing on the bird bath, looking for the water that wasn't there.
I can take a hint. I went out and filled the bird bath (despite the temp being just at freezing) and added some seed to the feeder.
Now, I have five robins in my back yard, enjoying the hell out of the birdbath. I took some pictures, but you may not be able to tell what it is.
There's one on the bird bath, one on the ground to the right of the bath and one on the rock in front of the bath. Really! Robins! In January. Silly birds.
This is me today. It's actually really cool to sit and watch the birds -- even if it is keeping me from doing actual work.
UPDATE: The unidentified bird returned today, and with the help of binoculars and WhatBird.com, I can safely say it is the Red-Shafted Northern Flicker. This wav file helped, as well.
I can also safely say I have just become my mother.