Delightful and surprising: dawn to dusk beneath the bird feeder – in pictures

A former comedian and ventriloquist, Carla Rhodes’ life was transformed when she discovered a passion for wildlife conservation photography. Last winter, she placed a camera trap in her garden in the Catskill mountains in New York, with heartwarming results

• Dark-eyed juncos are always the first birds to turn up at dawn.

  

• A dark-eyed junco spreads its wings.

  

• ‘Often overlooked and considered drab ground-feeding birds, dark-eyed juncos hold a special place in my heart due to their funny and curious behaviours,’ says Carla Rhodes.

  

• A dark-eyed junco frolics in the snow.

  

• A tufted titmouse lands gracefully beneath the feeder.

  

• Time to spread its wings.

  
  
  
  
  

• A mourning dove turns its gaze to the camera.

  

• ‘Observing mourning doves was a daily pleasure, especially when they gathered to form a clean-up crew beneath the bird feeder,’ says Rhodes.

  

• Northern cardinals are usually the last visitors of the day, arriving at dusk.

  

• Their vibrant colours are dramatically set off by the snow.

  

• A blue jay drops in for a visit.

  

• A black-capped chickadee searches among the stones for fallen seeds.

  

• Caught on camera: a grey squirrel on the move ...

  

• ... searching for tasty morsels during a snowstorm.

  

• The northern short-tailed shrew, one of North America’s few venomous mammals, emerges from a stone wall near the bird feeder.

  

• An American red squirrel turns its back on the camera.

  

• A deer mouse tucks into a discarded seed from the feeder.

  

• An American red squirrel pokes its head out from the stone wall.