Backyard nature: Winter is for the birds

by David Cohen

Thank you, Marlene Berlin! When I sent my photos from Mason Neck State Park in Lorton, Virginia, she suggested I look at Marjorie Rachlin’s marvelous 2013 and 2015 postings on wildlife in winter.

That prompted me to look for winter wildlife in our neighborhood. Once again, it took a trip afar to bring me home! Within 50 feet of the Nature Center in Rock Creek Park at 5200 Glover Road, NW (a few blocks off Military Road), I found a host of winter inhabitants, drawn by its garden and its array of bird feeders. Here is a sampling, with links to more information about each type of bird from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology:

Tufted titmouse

(All photos © David Cohen, davidcohenphotodc.com)

Downy woodpecker

Carolina chickadee

Dark-eyed junco

Mourning dove

Carolina wren

Now that I’ve seen these birds at the Nature Center and put up our first bird feeder, I’ve started to see them in our backyard. But that’s another story…