Backyard Birding

The birds are showing every sign that winter is on its way. We have seen our first red-breasted nuthatches which, from my understanding, are only occasional visitors to my area. Others have reported increased numbers of these feisty little birds. I cannot believe how tame they seem. Yesterday, we had three in the yard at once. While filling the feeders, they darted in and out of the feeding station, collecting the black oil sunflower seeds and returning to the pine tree to crack them open. They seemed completely oblivious to my presence, landing just two feet from where I was standing. I wondered at the likelihood of one taking a seed from my hand.

Two days after hearing rumors that the juncos had arrived, I caught sight of our first junco of the season. My daughter claimed there was one at the bird bath but it was gone before I got there. Twenty minutes later, I startled one by the bath. Hopefully we will soon have small flocks of them gleaning seeds from under the feeders. They are my favorite of our winter visitors, although the red-breasted nuthatch is generating some rivalry for that position!

The house sparrows are beginning to form larger flocks and they are flightier than normal. They fly back and forth between our woodpile, the feeding station and the field behind our house. That is a popular collection spot for a number of different bird species. It is a popular spot for starlings, jays and flickers as well.

The goldfinches have finally found our finch feeder and are returning again. They are now in their winter plumage so gone is the brilliant canary yellow that colored our feeding station all summer. We bought a large finch feeder just for them this winter. Last year, we had flocks numbering over fifty goldfinches fluttering in the bushes and waiting for their turn at our feeder which only seated eight birds. We can now host 16 at a time and I may buy one of those thistle socks once we begin seeing larger numbers of finches.

backyard birding, birding, birdwatching, bird feeding