Interesting Visitor To Our Feeder

House Finch on Feeder by Lee

House Finch on Feeder by Lee

Do you know what a House Finch looks like? We have been fortunate to have several families of these Finches visit our bird feeders lately. It is always enjoyable to have these little birds come by for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. In fact, these little flying avian wonders come by for snacks also. In other words, keep your eye on the feeders.

You can check out the Identification of House Finches as All About Birds – House Finch ID

When a Finch with a different color lands on your feeder, you get excited and question yourself, “What is this?” This happened lately, and out came the bird guides and a search of the internet bird sites, like All About Birds and others.

This eye opener landed on our feeder last week:

Varient House Finch on Feeder by Lee

Variant House Finch on Feeder by Lee

Varient House Finch on Feeder by Lee

Variant House Finch on Feeder by Lee

“He gives to the beast its food, And to the young ravens [or Finches] that cry.” (Psalms 147:9 NKJV)

Varient House Finch on Feeder by Lee

Variant House Finch on Feeder by Lee

What happened to this fellow? Apparently, diet or what the bird eats, affects its color. “Male House Finches are generally red, but under certain certain circumstances they may be orange or yellow instead. Different subspecies may show color variations, but differences in color are also attributed to diet.” From this article, I Saw A House Finch That Was Orange Or Yellow Instead Of Red.

“Who provides food for the raven [or Finch], When its young ones cry to God, And wander about for lack of food?” (Job 38:41 NKJV)

Keep your eyes open while bird watching. You never know what might show up! Stay Tuned!

Who Paints The Leaves?

 

Summer 2011 Adventure Updates

Crested Coua (Coua cristata) by Lee LPZ

Crested Coua (Coua cristata) by Lee LPZ

Just thought I would update you on varied adventures that we have been traveling through the last few months. I have been dealing with some medical issues that have kept me from doing many of my normal activities and posting here on the blog. Plus other things keep me busy also. Nothing unusual for most people. We all seem to be very involved these days. Then, we sent most of our birds back up north for the summer, so the birdwatching adventures have been limited. And it has been HOT at times. In other words, I have had lots of mini adventures, but not a lot of big ones.

During June we had our Vacation Bible School and Dan and I were involved with that for a week. That was also a blessing and challenge. We had, I think, over 130 children that attended. Our church workers and volunteers did a fantastic job. We were able to use our new building for VBS.
House Finch-Orange Variant

House Finch-Orange Variant thru screen

Most of my birdwatching adventures have been just observing birds flying overhead as we are about or watching them at our feeders. We also made a short trip to the Zoo, (Crested Coua). As I said, it has been HOT. We have spotted several Swallow-tailed Kites and an Eagle flying overhead. One delight has been some House Finches that have been coming to the feeders. Had not had any, but they have been here for over 2 months now. They must have forgot to fly north. There are two pairs of them. One is the normal House Finch and the other is what they call the “orange variant.” Also a family of Red-winged Blackbirds have been feeding here. The immature males were giving me an ID challenge until the 3 of them came in with their dad.

Red-winged Blackbird - Immature

Red-winged Blackbird - Immature - thru screen

Then for another challenge, a new computer has kept me busy getting things transferred. Decided to find the duplicates before moving data. Still do not have everything on the new computer yet. Especially the bird photos. We have also had summer storms and have to keep the computers off from time to time. (Always when I had time and felt like doing something.)

All in all, the Lord has been giving His Blessings as usual and continues to show His Love.

Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance. (Psalms 89:15 NKJV)

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