The pandemic has caused many people to reevaluate their surroundings. If you find yourself stuck at home more often than you would like, you are paying a lot more attention to what is going on in your own yard.
This kind of introspection inspired wildlife photographer Carla Rhodes to take a closer look at the furry friends who live near her home in New York’s Catskill Mountains.
What she found was magical.
“The winter of 2020-2021 was particularly brutal for mankind. After enduring the Covid 19 pandemic for months, we now fought our way through the winter together. Since I was stuck at home, I focused on my immediate surroundings like never before, ”writes Rhodes.
Rhodes positioned a DSLR camera trap under her bird feeder for a close look at the wildlife that had come to try their delicious seeds. The result is an incredible series of photos of birds and other forest dwellers from a perspective that most people never see. Rhodes calls their project “Beneath the Bird Feeder”.
The bird food photos also gave a new glimpse into the behavior of several species of birds and rodents that the Catskills call home.
“As I got deeper into the project, I made fascinating observations,” says Rhodes. “I noticed several returning visitors like a dark-eyed Junco with an overgrown beak, a deer mouse with a notched ear, and an outbreak of red breast glue. Dark-eyed Juncos always appeared at dawn and Northern Cardinals were always the last visitors of the day when dusk turned into evening. “
Here are 15 of the most fascinating photos Rhodes took under her bird feeder.
1. Dark-eyed Junco
about Carla Rhodes
“Often overlooked and viewed as monotonous ground-eating birds, Dark-Eyed Juncos hold a special place in my heart because of their funny and curious behavior. Every day they were the first to arrive under the bird feeder, ”says Rhodes. “Dark-eyed Juncos were one of the most common and curious subjects under the bird feeder.”
4. tufted tit
about Carla Rhodes
According to All About Birds, the tufted tit is “common in eastern deciduous forests and a frequent visitor to feeding places”.
5. Weeping dove
about Carla Rhodes
“Watching mourning pigeons has been a daily pleasure, especially when they gathered to form a cleanup team under the bird feeder. Mourning pigeons are monogamous and may mate for a lifetime,” writes Rhodes.
8. Blue jay
about Carla Rhodes
“Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with close family ties,” says All About Birds. “Their fondness for acorns is attributed to the fact that they helped spread oak trees after the last ice age.”
9. North Cardinal
about Carla Rhodes
“Northern Cardinals were always the last to appear under the bird feeder shortly after dark every night,” writes Rhodes.
10. Black-capped tits
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“Small flocks of black-capped tits enliven the winter forest with their active demeanor and cheerful-sounding chick-calling notes as they fly from tree to tree, often accompanied by an assortment of nuthatches, creepers, kinglets and other birds,” says the Audubon- Field guide for North American birds.
12. Eastern gray squirrel
about Carla Rhodes
Eastern gray squirrels are important members of forest ecosystems as they play an important role in seed dispersal.
13. American squirrel
about Carla Rhodes
The American red squirrel is known for its pronounced bushy and dark red tail with a hint of white outline.
14. American squirrel
about Carla Rhodes
15. Northern short-tailed shrew
about Carla Rhodes
If you see a northern short-tailed shrew, be careful. It is poisonous and paralyzes its victims with poisonous saliva. In humans, a bite can cause swelling and severe pain.
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