Winter Bird Watching on the Homestead

We are avid bird watchers. This hobby gives us something to do on these long, cold Montana winter days. There are three sets of binoculars, one for each person in our family, lined up at the ready on top of the old hutch by our front window. Nearby are several bird identification books, one of Little A’s favorite reads.

When we moved into our new homestead in September, I strategically placed a bird feeder in the tree outside my office window. This tree can also be seen from the front window in our living room so it provides ample opportunities for bird watching. Lately we’ve been having a special visitor I had never seen before this winter, a male Pine Grosbeak

We also have a Flicker that occasionally visits the tree where the bird feeder is. He is seen more often flitting from tree to tree around the house and harassing some of the other birds because he is so big.

Part of the remodeling of our new house was revamping the kitchen layout and installing a large window facing west. This allows more light into the kitchen, better views of the sunset and more bird watching opportunities in the trees on the west side of our house.

Two days ago a flash of color caught my eye flying past the kitchen window. I ran outside to see what it was and was thrilled to find it was a Ring-necked Pheasant! Unfortunately we spooked it and it flew off to a neighboring field before I could get a picture.

There is a flock of doves that frequent the west side of our house. They are quite large and don’t look like mourning doves. Through some research we figured out they are Eurasian Collard Doves. This scene caught my eye the other day when I was in the kitchen. I just love how evenly spaced they were sitting on the power line!

One of my favorite online resources for bird identification is The Cornell Lab of Ornithology where you can even listen to recordings of the bird calls for each species. On their website we found the history of the Eurasian Collard Dove and it was pretty fascinating:

“Eurasian Collared-Doves made their way to North America via the Bahamas, where several birds escaped from a pet shop during a mid-1970s burglary; the shop owner then released the rest of the flock of approximately 50 doves. Others were set free on the island of Guadeloupe when a volcano threatened eruption. From these two sites the birds likely spread to Florida, and now occur over most of North America.”

Who would have thought these cooing fluff balls had such an eventful introduction into the wild!

Yesterday my husband and Little A came running into my office where I was sewing and told me to quickly follow them to the kitchen window. Just outside the window, our little flock of doves were pecking the ground and joined by a white dove! We had never seen a white dove in the wild before so it was a pretty exciting moment for us.

We also saw a bald eagle flying over our house. My husband spotted it flying in from the farm field across the road. I barely had a few seconds to grab my binoculars and watch it fly by before it was out of sight. What a special treat that was!

What types of birds have you been seeing in your neck of the woods?