Even though we haven't experienced cold temperatures yet this winter, our backyard feeders have been attracting plenty of birds. These have included several of those that migrate to spend the winter in our area.
The first of these birds to arrive in our yards in the fall, an Orange-crowned Warbler visits our feeders several times each day.
Next to arrive is always a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, one of our favorites. It's very small but what it lacks in size it certainly makes up for in personality.
It's one of the birds that seems totally unconcerned when I'm standing just a couple of feet away from it, on the other side of our living-room window.
Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker have occasionally popped into the trees in our front yard but they haven't yet discovered our backyard feeders or birdbath. Luckily, several Tufted Titmice have discovered these and they are a delight to watch.
Like Chickadees, the Titmice normally don't stay on our seed-feeders long - they fly in, grab a seed or nut, and fly off into the trees with their prize. Occasionally, though, they misjudge the operation.
Then they hang around a little longer while they find a more suitable morsel.
When the feeder is empty, they look to see if we're going to be refilling it soon.
While watching the Titmice on Monday, I was pleased to see an American Goldfinch fly down to the birdbath for a drink. While I've been seeing Goldfinch at work for a couple of weeks, this was the first one to grace our yards with its presence so far this winter.
No doubt more Goldfinch will eventually make their way to our yards. If we're lucky, they may be accompanied by some Pine Siskins, since quite a few of the latter have been appearing in local parks this month.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment