Isn't it delightful to see and hear the birds?! I live in Schoharie County and we have bluebirds often. Construct and install a few houses and have bird baths set out and it won't be long before you'll see them. Baltimore Orioles love my hummingbird feeder (it looks like a big orange). I don't see as many rose-breasted grosbeaks as I did when I was kid either. Nor evening grosbeaks. Lots of woodpeckers of all sorts up here in the woods.

Here is my story about attracting bluebirds.

About 30 years or so ago, there was an article in the National Geographic magazine about how the bluebird population was declining due to lack of suitable nesting spaces (old dead rotten trees). It included dimensions and directions for building a bluebird house that would be attractive to bluebirds, and restrict non-bluebirds.

We had never seen any bluebirds around our place, even though they were the state bird.

My husband went out to his little workshop, and measured and sawed and hammered, and put one of those birdhouses together.

He went out to put it up, and as he was fixing it to the tree, there were two bluebirds flying around his head waiting to move in!!!

So that was pretty exciting, and well worth it. And if you want to see bluebirds in your yard, I recommend putting up a house specifically designed for bluebirds. The worst that could happen is you will end up with a pair of bank swallows, but they are a lot of fun to watch too.

I am not a die hard bird watcher either but I do enjoy seeing birds other than house sparrows and starlings. Right now I just see the occational black capped chicadee pair and a few house finches. Soon the Ruby throated hummers will be returning and that is where my passion lies.

It amazes me that red-bellied woodpeckers do not have red bellies! :-) We have pileateds around our property (east of Syracuse, NY, country) but they never get close enough to see well, I just hear their calls. My daughter, in the poconos (on a mountain) has them close to the house all the time, lucky girl!

It seems like once you start noticing birds you then start seeing birds you thought were never there. It's a psychological thing I think. My DH is a big time birder. Most of our vacations involve birding. I'm not into as much as he is but I enjoy seeing the different species and their different behaviors. A lot of my garden planning is to include things that birds (and butterflies) will be drawn to. Enjoy the birds!

It's nice to know that others enjoy casual bird watching. :)

I knew that bluebirds need a specific house type because there's an area near here where NYS installed bluebird houses many years ago to see if they could determine the local population. I've never seen a bluebird there. I've also never heard of them liking rotted trees!

I don't get why a Red-Bellied Woodpecker is named that way either.... I had to look in the bird book to identify it and wondered why the heck it was called that. LOL!

Right now I'm anxious to see my first robin of the year!!! but for me that usually happens around March 22. :p