![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Bird Update!
Feb. 3rd, 2011 08:48 amLots of snow means that we have had lots of really good bird watching from the living-room feeders. (Speaking of which, we need to refill the finch sock.)
The little woodpecker has become a regular all winter. I love his little inquisitive chirp that always lets me know I should turn around. Even when he is not at the feeder he is now often in one of the fruit trees checking things out.
The chickadee is also coming around a bit more often, but only a single lone one. So tiny compared to our other avian guests!
The cardinals from last year have multiplied. We now often have several in the plum tree all at once, only 2 with adult male coloring. They are a lovely bright spot on a grey winter day.
The blue jays that were problematic last year have not been around much if any this year yet. They are mean though! I suspect they will be back once everyone clutches.
We have had a brief house finch lull, which is sad because they are delicate and in come cases colorful. Plus I have a soft spot for them as they were the first birds to frequent the house feeders. (See above needing to refill sock.) If there is seed there they will check out the suet, but the suet is not enough draw by itself. The thistle seed is best, though they also like the black sunflower seeds.
For what it is worth the house sparrows really like the black sunflower seed too, but they don't have as pretty a song, are a bit more drab and tend to empty the feeder super fast with their hordes. On the plus side though over the house finches, they are indigenous.
Speaking of hordes, the starlings which were uninterested in the seed periodically come for the suet. The fact that only 1-2 can feed at a time keeps them from emptying it, but arg I don't like them. Non-native, noisy, dirty and irritating! Not loving you!
The cat bird comes to hang out and see what the other birds are doing, but I have never seen him eat. Love this urban bird. In the spring he will play ambulance, police, firetruck, car and fire alarm sirens. He is very talented!
And finally the little grey bird. I first saw these on the South Shore just before the turn of the millennium. I don't remember their name, but in the bird books they are not listed as living this far north over the winter. It has been so mild the last few years though that we have had some gradually moving this way more permanently. He has a pretty song and an interesting silhouette. I don't see him at the feeders though (a bit big for our seed feeders and seems uninterested in the suet), but sometimes he sits in the plum tree puffed up and looking cold.
*edit* I looked up the grey bird again, and it seems to be the Eastern Phoebe. (Thanks Papa for the bird-book. I still have the one you gave me all those years ago, and it still gets used.) The book suggests that overwinter it tends to eat berries. Maybe we should think about planting something that will encourage them in future winters.
The little woodpecker has become a regular all winter. I love his little inquisitive chirp that always lets me know I should turn around. Even when he is not at the feeder he is now often in one of the fruit trees checking things out.
The chickadee is also coming around a bit more often, but only a single lone one. So tiny compared to our other avian guests!
The cardinals from last year have multiplied. We now often have several in the plum tree all at once, only 2 with adult male coloring. They are a lovely bright spot on a grey winter day.
The blue jays that were problematic last year have not been around much if any this year yet. They are mean though! I suspect they will be back once everyone clutches.
We have had a brief house finch lull, which is sad because they are delicate and in come cases colorful. Plus I have a soft spot for them as they were the first birds to frequent the house feeders. (See above needing to refill sock.) If there is seed there they will check out the suet, but the suet is not enough draw by itself. The thistle seed is best, though they also like the black sunflower seeds.
For what it is worth the house sparrows really like the black sunflower seed too, but they don't have as pretty a song, are a bit more drab and tend to empty the feeder super fast with their hordes. On the plus side though over the house finches, they are indigenous.
Speaking of hordes, the starlings which were uninterested in the seed periodically come for the suet. The fact that only 1-2 can feed at a time keeps them from emptying it, but arg I don't like them. Non-native, noisy, dirty and irritating! Not loving you!
The cat bird comes to hang out and see what the other birds are doing, but I have never seen him eat. Love this urban bird. In the spring he will play ambulance, police, firetruck, car and fire alarm sirens. He is very talented!
And finally the little grey bird. I first saw these on the South Shore just before the turn of the millennium. I don't remember their name, but in the bird books they are not listed as living this far north over the winter. It has been so mild the last few years though that we have had some gradually moving this way more permanently. He has a pretty song and an interesting silhouette. I don't see him at the feeders though (a bit big for our seed feeders and seems uninterested in the suet), but sometimes he sits in the plum tree puffed up and looking cold.
*edit* I looked up the grey bird again, and it seems to be the Eastern Phoebe. (Thanks Papa for the bird-book. I still have the one you gave me all those years ago, and it still gets used.) The book suggests that overwinter it tends to eat berries. Maybe we should think about planting something that will encourage them in future winters.
