shorebird1
Member
Activity at and around my feeders is on the increase - hooray!
For instance, yesterday's garden guests included our nesting pair of blue jays, a large crowd of goldfinches, the males all in their brilliant breeding colors, the male cardinal ( the pair usually nests close by, but this year, they aren't. We hear the male calling from time to time, but at a distance), several house finches, a pair of black-capped chickadees, a pair of chipping sparrows, a white-breasted nuthatch, and the usual mob of grackles, mourning doves, and house sparrows.
The above birds all visited the feeders, however there were other species, foraging underneath, including a small group of white-crowned sparrows, surely one of the most beautiful of the sparrows! These guys are migratory, and they visit my area only sporadically, during the springtime. Some years we don't see any, in fact, there haven't been any around here for the past 3 years, so the group in my garden yesterday was especially welcome.
The wonderful white-crowned was not the only sparrow species foraging in the garden: a couple of white-throated sparrows and a lone song sparrow were spotted as well. The resident pair of chippies (chipping sparrows), although happy to take seed from the feeders, also spent much time on the ground foraging with their larger cousins.
There were robins searching for worms (it rained all day), starlings in the perennial garden, and in the trees, a flock of gorgeous cedar waxwings.
All in all, a pretty good day in my garden!
For instance, yesterday's garden guests included our nesting pair of blue jays, a large crowd of goldfinches, the males all in their brilliant breeding colors, the male cardinal ( the pair usually nests close by, but this year, they aren't. We hear the male calling from time to time, but at a distance), several house finches, a pair of black-capped chickadees, a pair of chipping sparrows, a white-breasted nuthatch, and the usual mob of grackles, mourning doves, and house sparrows.
The above birds all visited the feeders, however there were other species, foraging underneath, including a small group of white-crowned sparrows, surely one of the most beautiful of the sparrows! These guys are migratory, and they visit my area only sporadically, during the springtime. Some years we don't see any, in fact, there haven't been any around here for the past 3 years, so the group in my garden yesterday was especially welcome.
The wonderful white-crowned was not the only sparrow species foraging in the garden: a couple of white-throated sparrows and a lone song sparrow were spotted as well. The resident pair of chippies (chipping sparrows), although happy to take seed from the feeders, also spent much time on the ground foraging with their larger cousins.
There were robins searching for worms (it rained all day), starlings in the perennial garden, and in the trees, a flock of gorgeous cedar waxwings.
All in all, a pretty good day in my garden!