As another winter storm approaches (several inches of snow and possibly some freezing rain/ice are predicted--oh joy)the birds have stepped up their activity at the feeders.
The blue jays, a mere gang of 4, have taken over the feeder on the rail of the covered porch. they'll come in and down every sunflower seed on the tray unless some movement on the other side of the glass door causes them to take off. Luckily, they seem to be morning birds and head off to parts unknown sometime after 10 AM. Their presence does seem to intimidate the smaller birds as the finches and juncos will take to the trees as soon as the jays show up. But once the jays commit to a feeder--well, the flock of smaller feeders moves into the others.
There must be between 50 and 75 goldfinches outside at this moment. The deck is swarming in birds and there are a dozen or more at the hanging feeder by the telephone pole. I've noticed an increase in the amount of yellow beginning to show on some individuals and hope this is a harbinger of spring.
Joining the goldfinches, the purple finches are starting to display more color, too. There aren't nearly as many of them at the feeders, only two or three dozen, but their larger size, purple heads and shoulders, and subtly shaded brown streak through the eye make them look quite dapper.
And speaking of dapper, the juncoes with their slate gray heads and backs, brilliantly white underbelly, and long tails with the white feathers on each edge appear to be dressed for a formal occasion.
The black-capped chickadees, the first to find the feeders, are still the most comfortable with my presence outside. While everyone else heads for the trees when I step out onto the deck, the chickadees will be the first to come back. They will feed at the tray as I'm filling the stick feeder a foot or to away. They flit in, look around, grab a seed, and flit out. I spilled some seed while filling the hangig feeder the other day and as I reached up to rehang the feeder, a chickadee landed at my feed to pick up a seed I had dropped.
Fewer in number are the two types of nuthatches. The white-breasted is the shyer of the two. The red-breasted is more like the chickadee in its brazenness.
The hairy and downey woodpeckers continue to hammer the suet feeders. I've seen as many as three of the downeys in the trees waiting their turn as a hairy feeds.
The tufted titmice are also feeding in small numbers at the hanging feeder by the telephone pole as are a very few cardinals.
I haven't seen the pilliated woodpecker this week, but its distinctive call and heavy hammering can be heard on occasion.
New this week:
The mourning doves have finally discovered the gravel and seed spillage under the deck. There are a dozen or so of these birds present every morning but they leave as soon as I'm up and about. Two or three gray squirrels have also ventured to the spilled seed and have even come up on to the deck, much to the consternation of the cats who would just love to go outside and engage these tree rats. I've spotted a red squirrel under the feeder by the telephone pole also. In the late afternoon/early evening the call of the barred owl can be heard. The distinctive "who cooks, who cooks for you all" call sometimes irritates the dog down the road to start barking.
With all the activity, I've been going through about two pounds of sunflower seeds a day, not to mention three to five pounds of thistle seed and one suet block a week. and
