birdie ramble 1/X
A lot of bird activity because of this mild winter. Golden crowned sparrows, which usually take a southern vacation, are hanging around. They are a pain when trying to plant a vegetable garden, but chubby and cute.
We saw pine siskins yesterday, a slender, brown-streaked songbird with flushes of yellow on wings and saddle.
Spotted towhees are faithful regulars. They like hopping on the ground, or hiding in the branches of the plum tree that hangs over their feeding spots.
birdie ramble: long thread 2/X
Bird ramble:
The Stellar’s jays mostly replace the scrub jays in the winter. During nesting season, the scrub jays get ornery and Stellar’s retreat to woodsier places. Scrub jays are residents of oak prairies and savannas. I live near the northernmost reach of that ecosystem, surrounded by oak-ash prairies, then then mixed evergreen-hardwood forests that the Stellar’s prefers, or else the scrub jays don’t prefer.
2/X
birdie ramble: long thread 3/X
Bird ramble:
Black-capped chickadees, and the chestnut-backed which are fearless and eat peanuts out of our hands. They sometimes scold us if we leave the house without their treats.
An Anna’s hummingbird was sipping from the sarcococca (aka sweet box) shrub blooming by the front door. I want to plant salmonberry on the side of the house, hopefully attracting the migrant rufous hummingbird, which arrives with the first salmonberry blossoms...
3/X
birdie ramble: long thread 4/5
Bird ramble:
My forestry friends would laugh and scratch their heads if I told them about the salmonberry. I never did tell them I planted three vine maples last year.
Northern flickers pop in once and a while. They dwarf the collared dives, which I think of as pretty big birds. Despite their size, they like getting their seeds from the feeder, which seems like half their size.
4/5
birdie ramble: long thread 5/5 [Phew!]
Bird ramble:
I really like the Merlin app for quickly IDing our visitors. There’s joy in turning the pages of the Peterson guide, though, that an app cannot match.
Well, that’s it for now.
Thanks for reading about my birds!
5/5
