It was 13 degrees Celsius outside today! I had the windows open and it was very hard to not start fooling about in the garden. But in two days, we are going below zero again. Another Grackle has shown up too, and this guy is a returner, I can tell by the white dot on his neck. Have a good weekend!

Eastern Bluebirds have a very special spot in my heart. I saw them raise their babies in my yard, and I just fell in love with them. They do not hang around that much anymore but I keep hoping they will return. Here is a Dad feeding his baby, from a lovely night in June a couple of years ago. #birds

I keep seeing Aurora Borealis alerts, but the Michigan perma cloud has prevented me from seeing any. I put the camera out last night because the forecast showed no snow or rain, and while there were no dancing lights, there was a lot going on and the stars were pretty as always #timelapse #nature

I've wanted to do this for a very long time, and yesterday it was finally time. The old ink is gone and made room for something that is much more me, with a baby Bluebird, a Swallowtail and caterpillar, Nasturtium, Hellebore, Hibiscus, Columbine and Serviceberry. #nature #birds #tattoo

I think migration is beginning, and I will probably take feeders in for a bit to "cleanse the plate". I like doing that every so often, it helps with birds like Starlings and House Sparrows, and now is a good time. Chickadees will stick around and forage in the garden.

It felt like 5 pm all day today and we seem to live in a semi-permanent fog cloud currently. There is not a lot of bird activity, but I did take another timelapse of the Black Swallowtail chrysalis, and look how much it wiggled! Dreaming of spring and sunshine and flowers, just like me... #bugs

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Another FOY of this week - the beautiful Red-winged Blackbird. Their calls are also a harbinger of spring for me. The weather is also wild today, we had a thunderstorm earlier. I am sure winter will return again but it is really nice to see some different #birds again. #foy #signsofspring

Look who's back 😍 It is maybe a little early but the yard is also melting into a mud pit, and it overall feels rather springy. Spring is my favorite season, I love and live for the whole feeling of Vorfreude ("pre-joy" aka anticipation) 💚 #birds

I got to try out a new feeder, and it looks like the birds like it as much as me 🙂 I call it the "cathedral", it's from Kingsyard. It's easy to assemble, clean and fill, looks fancy, and #birds like MoDos who like to hog a feeder have a harder time. There were even two Purple Finches!

Nesting season is still months away but that does not hold some back to check out available spots. I love seeing the Chickadees coming over because I hope they will nest in one of the boxes again this year. I built both boxes out of 6 inch diameter PVC pipe in the style of the Gilbertson box.

The weather has been getting milder (Yay!), and traffic has slowed down a bit. I think very very slowly, spring is approaching. I still put some peanut butter out, and here is a female Redbellied Woodpecker enjoying some. Along with some Juncos and a Nuthatch. #birds #nature

Another timelapse of the Black Swallowtail chrysalis. It is dreaming of spring in the enclosure in the un-insulated sunroom 🩷 If you look closely, you can see it move, it actually did a whole body wiggle this time, not just the bottom part. Not super exciting but it always makes me happy to see.

That halftime show got me dreaming of the beach! Meanwhile here in Michigan we are far away from that, still buried in snow and ice. At least the sun was out today though. And the Birdfy feeder was busy! (species in ALT) #birds #nature

A fun little scene in from the ground today - a Purple Finch started coming yesterday, and he blends right in with the White-throated Sparrows, the Cardinals, the Goldfinches and the Juncos. #birds #nature

This has become the Cardinal feeder, for some reason they love it. I do not blame them, they look gorgeous with the bowl. They are even doing some artsy action shots with a House Finch 😆 #birds #nature 🐦🪶

When everything is frozen, a heated bird bath becomes a vital meeting spot. I like to keep one on the ground, and critters and birds will both use it. Yesterday, a female Redwinged Blackbird came, and there were two American Tree Sparrows. In between the Starlings keep me busy. #nature #birds

The Goldfinches are getting a little more vibrant, and some Starlings are getting yellow beaks. These are little whispers of spring but all of that is wishful thinking. One fun thing about this weather? Tons and tons of Cardinals. Today I counted eight. Amongst them the beauty in this clip 🐦 #nature

Redbreasted Nuthatches may be tiny but they have one of the biggest personalities in the yard right now. Their vocalizations are clearly nuthatchy (somehow I am always reminded of Tina Belcher), and they make it known when food is gone, complaining close to the cameras. I recommend to unmute. #birds

It is always a fun time when the woodpeckers come down to visit the bowls. They usually come when the peanut butter is gone, and always awkwardly cling to the glass. Here's a female Downy and a male Red-bellied. The female Red-bellied is making herself rare, and the male Downy prefers the tree. 🐦🪶

No gore. It is a reality of backyard birding that sometimes a hawk comes over and gets one of the littles. That happened today, and what gave the hungry Cooper's a full belly was an unfortunate MoDo that seemingly had injuries already and was weakened. RIP, MoDo, thank you for giving sustenance ❤️‍🩹🐦

Also... (artist is littlewarblergoods on insta)

These are not perfect but I like it when the cams take action shots. They reveal nice details about feathers and the physique of birds. You can also see that things are getting a bit spicy at the feeders. They always do when I run out of the nut mix. But fear not, birds, there's more tomorrow! 🐦🪶

I hope you're not tired of seeing them, I certainly am not 😊 There are at least four Bluebirds around, two males and two females, and I like to think they are part of the family that was raised in my nestbox last summer. I hope they stick around and explore the box too. 💙 #birds #nature #blue

Blue Jays are regulars here year-round, and I love them dearly. They are beautiful too, and I like trying to identify individuals by their markings around head and face. They are very entertaining too, and easy to please - they love nuts and will swish around the bowls to find them. #birds #nature

I am aware that if I put food out, I cannot always control things, and I am also aware that they all gotta eat but man, Starlings can be quite a handful. I am considering to pause the peanut butter for a bit because they will go rabid for it but they also love the bird bath,

The bird bath was busy today, and in between the many splashy Starling sessions, there was also a lot of color present. The world is not a very great place right now, and I am extra grateful to have a lot of nature around me. It calms me and I am glad I can share. Be safe ❤️☮️

Some of the cameras are struggling in this cold but I am glad they caught the Bluebirds that were visiting today 💙 My alias and logo are in reference to them, they used to be regulars here and I see them raise their babies every year, so I was so so happy to see them.

Portraits of the young Cardi with the adventurously patchy plumage (his beak still has some dark baby color), a Tree Sparrow, front and back, and one of the lady Cardis. We all made it through the first day of the extreme cold. I hope to see them all back at the buffet in the morning. #birds 🐦🪶

I think the MoDos think the cameras are food machines. This would explain why they like to park themselves in front of them. This one's all puffed up, probably digesting breakfast in this bitter cold. (Video is slightly sped up.) They are so camera-conscious, it makes me giggle. #birds #nature

American Robins are the state bird of Michigan. I love them dearly and always find it odd when people complain about that fact "because they leave in the winter". Well, here you go, this is from yesterday. Robin, in Michigan, in the middle of winter 🙂 Stay warm & safe with whatever is coming ❤️🐦🪶

And a very quick hello from one of the yard residents for #Squirrel Appreciation Day! I am so happy to have these goofballs around ❤️❤️

Fun surprise after checking cams this morning - Owlie was back! Somehow it reminds me of a cozy kitty 😊 It was there at 6.40 pm, which is a bit nuts to me. Roughly 12 hours later, the Juncos and a Cardi opened the buffet. I recommend to unmute. Be safe out there, it's very wintery. #positivity 💗🦉🐦

On very cold days, the MoDos in particular like to hang out at the heated bath. It is not "hot hot", just keeps the water from freezing, but when it's -15 °C / 5 °F outside, I guess even that can feel warm. And who doesn't need a bit of warmth right now? 💗 🐦🪶 #birds #nature

No Aurora borealis for me, it started snowing again and I had to bring the camera in. But one of the Tree Sparrows took some mug shots today! I rarely ever get these on this setup, so I was pretty excited. Hopefully light is better tomorrow and it returns. #birds #nature #sparrow

This is a Junco account now 😌 Because I love them and there are so many right now. They are everywhere, and they like to sit in this spot when they line up to nibble peanut butter on the tree. They are so much fun to watch with their little puffy coats. #birds #nature 🐦🪶

I always like to have cameras on the ground too, and when it's cold and windy, they tend to get more traffic than the feeders above ground. Here's a frosty Starling, the fancy squirrel and a very pretty Blue Jay. Happy Saturday, we made it through another week! #birds #nature 🐦🪶

Today, some fun new visitors came by, more native Sparrows. Three American Tree Sparrows, which look a lot like Chipping Sparrows but have a distinct dot on the chest and a two-colored beak, and again the White-Throated Sparrows. It remains cold, I hope to see the Fox Sparrow again too. #birds 🐦🪶

A lineup of the powder sugar posse.

The Juncos are having a ball, digging in the snow and playing laser swords ✨️ If you need some nature sounds today, check out my Youtube, I am uploading a 22 minute version of this with untouched sound as we speak. Sending love out to all who need it 💓 Thank goodness for nature. #birds

The day started murky and then all of a sudden it started snowing, and it still has not stopped. The bird bath is almost buried 🫣 The birds were in high spirits, and some wore snow jewelry. #birds

There is not much going on right now, so here are just some of the current regulars. A Blue Jay with "freckles" (they do not all have these white spots), a Chickadee, a Goldfinch and one of the several Cardinals. (Snow melted and came back.) I hope you had a smooth start into the week. 🐦🪶 #bird

When the daytime is kind of boring, the night shift comes to the rescue. This clip is edited, it did not all happen in the same night. The flying squirrels are their bouncy self, the Juncos enjoy a chatty breakfast, and in the middle of all of it, a Screech Owl visited 😍 🐦🪶🦉

Recently someone asked about the chrysalis, and since I regularly do timelapses to see what it’s doing, here is a little update. It is still alive (wiggles a bit, especially at the end), dreaming of spring and summer and flowers and 🦋 life ❤️

I love seeing markings that distinguish one individual from others. This squirrel looks like it cannot decide if it wants to be a dark molt or a regular grey squirrel, and it even has orange like a Fox or Red. For comparison, there is a "regular" Grey one side by side at the end. So pretty!

The weather is nasty right now, all wet and foggy and murky. There is not a lot of traffic, I guess many birds are hanging in there in a dry spot. I do love me a good wet birb, though, the moisture accentuates their feathers. Mr. Cardi is good at that. Make use of your inner sunshine today ☀️ 🐦🪶

Just for your information - ostdrossel.com is now home and hub for all the info on my content. It has links to the calendar shop and also to all the pages where you can find my photos and videos and get in touch if needed. This page will also be updated.

Happy #NationalBirdDay! Everybody loves the peanut butter on the tree but only one will fiercely defend it - the Redbreasted Nuthatch. These mini ninjas don't just sound awesome, they are entertaining to watch too. I loved how you can see his little brain work when the Juncos are there 😆 ♥️🐦🪶

Usually when you think of a Junco on the East side of the country, you think of a tiny black and white bird with a pinkish beak, but Juncos are surprisingly diverse in appearance. Here are four individuals. One is slate-colored, a male. The others are likely immature and female birds.

2026 is showing up nicely in the backyard with a tan-striped White-Crowned Sparrow, a merry group of Juncos and some feisty Cardinals, one of which looks VERY interesting with the spotty pattern. I call him Wonderboy, and I think he is a young male from the last season. 🪶🐦