Tuesday was...well...

...unusual! That's the only way I can describe it. 

We had hundreds and hundreds of birds flying through. They stopped and completely covered the foster hollies, pecked at the patio, and destroyed the yard. They were after the dried berries that were still on the fosters.

Picture this with 10 times more birds. Even though I was inside, whenever I moved to try to get a good picture, they flew off.

They've torn up the yard!! Last year it was the moles. Today, it was the birds, I could not get a good picture with all the birds there--neither inside or out. 

They would fly off in one huge pack and then another would come. This went on ALL day until about 4-ish. 

There were 11 window hits. And by that, I mean 11 birds hit the windows of the sunroom. It's not unusual for that to happen once in a while, but since there were so many birds, I decided to count them. 

Unfortunately, one did not make it. 

I have never seen this bird before.

So I went online and looked it up. The info said that the red tips on the wings were really hard to see.

There was no way that I was going to touch it to unfurl its wings.

Then I got out our bird book to enter it. We have taken this book on vacation with us and have entries from all over the place. We note the location and the date.

Butch got this book as a high school graduation present from his aunt and uncle. 

That reminded me of this: in 1999, Jordan, who was about 5, had a sighting. We have one strict rule before a recording can take place. One other person has to verify it. Since no one could corroborate her story, I had her draw a picture and glue it into the book. She added the question mark at the top since we didn't know what it was. But she was certain that this is what she saw!

It wasn't until years later, that it was finally verified. But, here's the catch. Cardinals only live 3 years in the wild. I'm just wondering now if this isn't some sort of mutant trait in this particular family of cardinals. But, definitely without that red crown, the head was a shiny blue--closer to navy than her picture. Still, she gets the credit!

My sweet little Jordan!

It's hard to believe that she's 30 now!

Where has the time gone? 

Oh, and on Wednesday, not a single bird--well except for the regulars.