Metro Park’s Busy Feeders in Winter- part 1.
Blendon Woods Metro Park Nature Center
Late last year I was out at Blendon Woods Metro Park in Westerville Ohio looking for a fairly rare winter visitor that had been seen at the Nature Center there. Unfortunately, I didn’t see this bird- maybe next winter!- but I did get some photos of the various other visitors that were attracted to the feeders, stream and landscaping that the Metro Parks system had created. So, there’s no unique bird to show you, but the regulars were photogenic enough to receive their own post.
Nature Centers are located at some of the Metro Parks. They are educational facilities for visitors to learn more about the natural world located right outside their doors in the parks. At Blendon Woods the area adjacent the Nature Center is a superbly-landscaped area designed to attract birds and wildlife. Not only are there butterfly-friendly plants and shrubs as well as multiple bird feeders- this Nature Center is Monarch Waystation #526, providing resources for migrating Monarch Butterflies- but there is a really cool artificial 100-foot-long stream with running water. All of this attention to detail attracts many visitors, human, bird, animal and insect.
More about this Nature Center in a future post when I profile a number of these fine Metro Parks. For now, I’ll focus on what I saw outside the windows at the beginning of winter. How many species can you recognize?
Next week, you’ll see what was going on in the stream behind the feeders.
The joy of feeding birds.
I never tire of seeing this!
Hooray for nature centers! I must be reading too many bird blogs-i was surprised that I could identify many of these birds. Of course, there are just as many that I couldn’t.
I’ll post the species list for this post when I make my next post, Gardener!
Very nice catalog of birds! I was a little surprised to find that most of them are present here too at the moment! I put out some tallow at our feeding station a month or so ago and found that we have lots of nuthatches when I used to see only a few.
That is interesting, Montucky- Ohio and Montana having something in common. Nothing like suet to bring out all sorts of birds!
Lovely photos and what a variety! I couldn’t possibly attempt to name them all. I can see: woodpecker (possibly ladder-backed?); tit or titmouse similar to our coal tit; nuthatch (?); a dove; various finches (no idea which, though); a blue jay; a gorgeous crested titmouse (new species, just invented!); a wren (cactus wren?) and a very smartly striped sparrow (savannah sparrow?) Now I’d better buy a book on American birds! 🙂
That’s a lot of great guesses, Jo! You know American birds FAR better than I know UK birds- I’ll post a list of the names next Saturday 🙂
What an AWESOME resource! Great photos!
Thanks Jen- I was there for a while taking many photos!
Wonderful pictures – it must have been hard to leave – I could watch birds feeding at feeders for hours on end! Love the chickadees, doves, the blue jay and the chipmunk!
I stayed a long time, Barbara- I thoroughly enjoyed the show 🙂 Thanks!
This is great! I have to get my butt out and visit some of the metro parks in my area, and seek out our fine feathered friends! Margie
The birds at the many feeders were a definite bright spot, Margie!
As promised, here’s the species list seen in this post, in order of appearance:
Downy Woodpecker
Carolina Chickadee
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Northern Cardinal
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Dark-Eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
American Goldfinch
Chipmunk!
Carolina Wren
Red-Breasted Nuthatch
White-Throated Sparrow
I haven’t seen a chipmunk since I was a teen. One of my cats brought one to me, carrying it by the scruff of its neck like it would carry a kitten. Great photos!
The Chipmunks here go through phases- sometimes you see lots of them, other times they’re scarce. I saw one in late February recently, the first one I’ve seen since last December or so. He must have been hungry to awake from his dozing a bit early!