I just came in side after sitting on the south facing deck on our home on the Bluff. It is not particularly warm but the sunshine is so inviting. If it weren’t for a bit of westerly breeze I could have sat there for a much longer time.
While I was sitting against the warm wall absorbing its heat, I watched the BIRD BRAINS landing at the bird feeders.
Birds are really quite intelligent I think. They definitely have personalities among the various species.
Black capped chickadees are brave and quite tame for being wild birds. They fearlessly land about 5 feet from where I am sitting and I was holding the Princess Kitty also. The cat pays no attention to the birds anymore..a sign of her aging and cat “maturity”. When she was younger she would sooner eat one than look at it. Now she just purrs loudly in the warm comfort of my jacket sleeves.
Juncos are pretty mellow to other birds; they will share a feeding dish with the chickadees and finches.
The most agressive birds at my feeders are the nuthatches–to other birds and even to each other. I witnessed one particular angry nuthatch a few days ago..it was fluffed up to twice its size and it was in a bent forward, threatening posture to another nuthatch that wanted to feed from the same place.
I can now understand the information about winter birds gathering with up to 30-40 other birds in old woodpecker holes at night when it is very cold and keeping each other warm by fluffing their feathers.
The Pileated woodpecker pair of last winter whom I named “Luci and Desi” seem to be no-shows this winter although they are down in the woods. My husband has seen them flying between trees in the woods. Last winter was bitter and there was a lot of snow but this winter is so mild that a lot of wild birds are finding feed where nature has placed it. There are fewer birds at the feeders due to this factor, I think. Even the bully-ish bluejays are staying in the woods.
The chickadees, juncos, finches, nuthatches, Downy and Hairy woodpeckers are still being “welfare recipients”.
They are not about to turn down free seeds and free suet. They keep me happy that I can watch them enjoy my feeding stations.
I think the Pileateds are coming in very early in the morning before I am up to see them. They are by far, the shyest of the birds..last winter if they detected any movement in the house they would fly away instantly and not come back for a long while.
Perhaps they are enjoying the suet before anyone…birdbrains or humans are around to see them.
As a real “wannabe” birder I am enjoying the second winter of feeding them. I love to go out to our spruce trees with “ground feed” and hear the chorus of birds in the branches sound like the song “All God’s Critters Got a Place In The Choir”.
They sound like there are thousands of them but I know it is more like 50-60 at a time.
