nice surprise

Had an exciting 15 minutes in the yard yesterday (12/10/2010). Following our first real snowfall I looked out to see this blackbird at the feeding station -- I believe this is the same bird I had out in the cattails of the Portage a couple days previously. A pheasant pair came rambling in next, the female a new sex for the feeder, then a few minutes later among the regulars; chickadee, tree sparrow, junco, and house finches was a Yellow-rumped Warbler with what looked like a bashed in head (so that's what happens to all the little birds that bounce off windows) . I managed a pic or two before it took off -- too bad it couldn't have figured out the suet feeder. Geeked up on that I scrambled outside to put out some suet on the platform feeder and was immediately greeted by the calls of Bohemian Waxwings perched in the neighbors trees -- I counted 158 of them realizing later it was actually 164!