New Birds to Me!

I've been "counting" birds for Cornell University every year for about 9 years now.  I keep records of the birds that come to my feeders from November through April.  However, I think this was my last year counting birds.  It just was too time consuming.  You have to pick 2 consecutive days to count birds, and it has to be the same 2 days throughout those months.

There are so many other things I enjoy doing, I just didn't want to commit 2 days every week to counting birds.  The weather was always terrible when I needed to fill the feeders too.  I love feeding the birds, but I want to do it when it's convenient for me...not when it's raining buckets or the back steps are full of ice.

So, I've been watching birds now when I have time, and recently I saw some birds I had never seen before!!!  I took a bunch of pictures, and even though I've posted a lot here, there are many more I didn't post.

After identifying the species, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, I discovered they are migratory birds where I live.  These pictures were taken 2 weeks ago, and since then I haven't seen them again.  I'm so glad I got to see them.  They are so pretty.

The brown bird in the next two pictures, are of a female grosbeak.

The following day, I saw another bird I've never seen before, a White Crowned Sparrow.  So, it looks like I'll be watching birds in the warmer months more often...to see what I've been missing all these years!

The following is not MY picture, I wish I had taken one!