There’s big bird news this morning. When I went out to clear snow from a couple of areas where I could feed the birds I found bird prints all around the yard in the snow. This meant that the birds were out looking for food early. We have California quail in the yard, but somewhat fewer than the eleven we counted a week or so ago.
Next up… a Ruby-crowned kinglet that is using one of the inverted suet feeders. I had seen the kinglet in the yard yesterday and seen an unusual bird on the suet yesterday but couldn’t put it all together until this morning when the kinglet made several trips to the suet feeder. For those not aware of this, kinglets are usually insect eaters but will very rarely utilize a suet feeder. Judging from past experience once a primarily insect-eating bird gets started on the suet feeders it may continue for awhile.
The biggest sighting occurred while I was writing this. I saw an unusual shape moving up the trunk of our largest fir tree, and upon examination with my binoculars I found that it was a Red-breasted sapsucker… a species we haven’t seen around here in at least two years. The last time we had sapsuckers there were two fighting and they took the fight to the ground at the bottom of the same tree. I took several photos but it was difficult to tell what you were seeing.
On a sadder note, we haven’t seen the male Anna’s hummingbird that was frequenting our feeder since Tuesday afternoon. We’re hoping it survived but it seems strange that it would abandon the feeder during weather such as this. However when we had multiple snows with snow on the ground for two weeks year before last, we had an Anna’s that survived so we’re hoping for the best.
We have .lots of other common birds in the yard… mostly Dark-eyed juncos and House sparrows but including Golden-crowned sparrows, Spotted towhees, a female Downy woodpecker, a couple of Northern flickers and a handful of Eurasian starlings. I just realized that I hadn’t seen a Rock pigeon in many days… I’m sure it’s too early to begin hoping that they might have moved on.
Hi Joe,
ReplyDeleteRich featured your blog in Figalo Be Wild, so I 'm catching up. We've had a Ruby-crowned Kinglet(s) frequenting the suet feeders for several weeks. This year I switched from the upside-down "hut" feeders (which the Starlings had mastered) to "Starling-proof" caged feeders that the Starlings also figured out, but with less ease. Everything else is undeterred; Flickers use their long bills, as do Hairys (Hairies?), and Downies and smaller slip right inside. The little birds love to hang out in there for long stretches of feeding. So despite the occasional Starling visits, it's an improvement.