Practically every day in the winter I take some bird pictures.
I enjoy watching their behavior: which birdfeeder they go to, whether they
prefer vegetable or animal fat, whether they try to hide or let their curiosity
take over, how they relate to their mates and to other birds, and how they cope with competing squirrels.
But it's also interesting to note which birds come and how their plumage changes
as breeding season comes and goes, patterns which are unique to this patch of
urban Durham, NC, which is right on the edge of the Jordan Lake floodplain.
We have a lot of pines on our property and quite a number of deciduous trees,
including beeches, sweet gums, winged elms, persimmons, white oaks, and probably
thousands of others representing over a hundred other species (at least if you
count all those pines that die before they're an inch tall).
We also are near some wonderful wild areas, such
as Jordan Lake itself, just several miles down the road. The Seaforth
Recreational Area in Chatham County is especially impressive. But most of
the birds here have managed to get along in small undeveloped patches of a major
metropolitan area.
I'm no bird expert, so if you think I've got an
identification wrong, let me know.
