Blue Jay......

I've had four Blue Jays hanging around since it got colder.  They love to steal a peanut any chance they get.

 Beautiful birds with beautiful colors, but a bit aggressive at the feeders.

One eye on the food dish waiting a chance to drop down for a peanut.

They sometimes hold and peck their seeds just like the Chickadees and Titmice, but I see them fill their mouths with peanuts.  They eat just about anything.

 I would prefer the other view, but they seem to always be sitting facing away from me :-)

 Found a peanut!

In the box eating a few seeds.

Snowing and blowing........brrrrrrrrrrr!

Winter finally arrived here in the tri-state.....brrrrrrrr!  It was spitting snow and blowing real hard all day.  The birds were frantic for food and the food kept blowing out of the feeders and off the railing, so mostly I just threw it in the bushes and on the ground where it was going to end up anyway.

I thought it was rather fun that the Goldfinches were eating their seed on the goldfinch stained glass garden stone :-)  Here we have at least 7 Goldfinches, 1 Cardinal male, 1 House Finch male, and 2 Juncos.

 Lots of Goldfinches!

 A closer look.

The Carolina Wren joined them on the stone.

 Mrs. Cardinal.  Usually the minute I appear with a camera at the window, the cardinals take off....very jumpy!  But when it is really cold like this, they are a little more willing to take a chance so they won't miss out on the food.

 Mrs. C up in the tree waiting her turn at the feeder.

 Mr. C on the iris garden stone.

Another Mr. C..........I have at least 6 pair, maybe more.

A ruffled looking downy.  You can see how the wind is blowing her feathers.  Poor things must be so cold!

Two females....they won't share, but I think they all get an opportunity eventually.  I try to have suet in several places.

 A Song Sparrow showed up for the goodies.

Another shot of it.

This is the female Towhee to go with yesterday's male.  You probably can't tell in this photo that she is much more brown in color.  The male was nearby in the bushes, but not in a good photo spot.

Several White-Throated Sparrows have shown up with the Cardinals.

And of course my little fat and fluffed up Wren :-)

The "ruffled" rear view :-)

Hope it isn't as cold tomorrow and maybe some sunshine!  I will have to go buy more seed when the weather gets like this.  At least the huge flocks of blackbirds that are zooming around the area have been easy to chase away so far.  We have a corn field next door to our neighborhood, and so far they are staying in the fields mostly.  I have had to yell, "shoo" a couple times at them when they started to settle in my trees.

Visitors at the feeder on a gloomy day.....

It is so gloomy out today that I'm not having much luck with photos at the feeders. I keep trying to catch the Chickadees and Titmice, but they are in and out so quick, the camera says, "What bird...I don't see a bird?

This beautiful Towhee male showed up.  I was shooting at a slant through the patio doors, so these aren't very sharp photos.

I really like Towhees, but usually only see them at this time of year.  I saw this one later out in the bushes with the Cardinals and Sparrows picking through the leaves for the seeds I throw there.

The black head indicates a male.  The female is more brown.

Another visitor at the railing....the Carolina Wren.  

He doesn't hold still very long!

This was yesterday when it was a bit less gloomy.  My acrobatic squirrel raiding the feeder.

"Who me?  Isn't this here for my exercise and dinner combined?  I'm trying to stay in shape so I won't be an over-weight squirrel.  Maybe you should try doing this!"

(Yeah, right....and break my neck and a few other bones??)

At the same park....

NOTE: For those who already looked at this post, I made a mistake and called the Chinese Goose an Egyptian Goose....sorry!  Hope I got it right this time!  

A few more photos from the same park where the "ugly ducks" live.  Here are the rest of the flock that live there.  Chinese goose and a few Canadian geese and some domestic ducks.

China and Canada......hmmmmm.   This seems to cry out for a caption, but I can't think of anything.  Any suggestions?

Chinese goose flaring his wings.

Another of the flock pecking around.  At least they didn't attack me looking for food.  They get fed by lots of people and can be a bit aggressive in their demands.

I like the color of the duck on the left.  A pretty pair enjoying the nice day in the pond.

White goose doing the wing thing.

This is their home.  A nice little pond and the park is pretty empty at this time of year.

Fountain in the middle of the pond.

This cabin was up the road from the park and I just loved it's stained glass window.

Odd ducks....

Surely these Muscovy Ducks are the origin of the phrase "odd duck"!  I can't think of any that are odder.

When I see one, I can never decide if I am fascinated or repulsed by their ugliness.

This one is almost ugly enough to be pretty :-)

Such odd bumps and colors

I decided that this one was a little bit uglier than the other one.

Maybe someone took a duck and a turkey vulture and mated them????  That is how they look to me.

Yes, indeed....Odd ducks, found at a local park, where someone probably dumped them to live!