Bogturtle's Garden- January 2025

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 Extreme technology as a Christmas gift. This bird feeder is powered by a solar panel attached to the tree and takes photos of visitors. Then those are sent to my phone. If I can keep squirrels and racoons away, as I do on the other feeder, it should be fine. 


Really impressed by the Sun catching these trees, but a still photograph does not nearly approach what was. Still beautiful. Using my zoom feature and out the window.


Had to adjust the angle of the camera, so more of the seed is shown. Will post, showing that improvement. And I mentioned I liked the baffle I made of galvanized metal for the old bird feeder. 


The flowers of Hamamelis 'Rochester'. One of the earliest of the Witch-Hazel varieties to come into bloom.


The half inch wide flowers of the Wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox. And it is amazing with its odor.


Outside my church and still amazing for bark color, is the Japanese Maple named Sango Kaku. I filled the planter, for Christmas, with branches from the Arizona cypress and the winter red Nandina 'Harbor Dwarf'.


            The Slate Colored Junco. When they arrive from far North, I know Winter has come. For some reason I cannot load camera photos to my computer and then to this blog. I could a few months ago. So this is a photo with my camera of what is on the phone. Amused by my own technology weaknesses.


One of the commonest birds here, and this is a male. The White Throated Sparrow. Obviously the camera distorts, but it sure is working well.


                             This is a male Rosy Finch. Fairly common all year round, with a nice song.


A female Cardinal. And a tedious mess to get the photo, sent from the trail camera to my phone, photographed, put in computer and finally put in this blog. One has to laugh. 


The male. And the original, from the camera was a truly brilliant photograph. Amazed me, recently, that a visitor to the house, a South Jersey resident, was amazed by a brilliant red bird in my yard. But I live in one circle and she in another, apparently. In George Washington's day the Cardinal was a southern bird and has moved North since then. Fortunately, it is no longer a desired cage bird, like a Canary, as it was in his day.


A female Cardinal. As I may have mentioned, the males, extremely territorial in nesting season, gather at the other bird feeder in this season. Never sharing the perch together, but one at a time, and I have seen as many as 14 at one time in the surrounding shrubs.


The yellow patches above the eyes identify this as a male White-throated Sparrow. Perhaps the commonest bird at the feeder, all year around. And with the shortening days, some males are sounding the first few notes of their sad little minor key nesting song.

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