On a late evening effort to record some of our resident garden bird happenings, as October draws to a close and the beautiful autumnal leaves flutter to the ground to form a lovely mosaic of colours, I have taken to writing this article. The Chickadees flit back and forth in their own inimitable way between the safety of the trees and the relatively exposed food contained in the hanging feeders. They don’t dwell for any length of time at all to eat food such as Nijer seed, even though it can’t take much effort to eat it, being a very small size seed. It’s a quick dash to the feeder, an equally quick peck at the seed and then, beak full, away again without seemingly having time to stop. Time and time again they will repeat this routine and must cover many miles in their lives just to get a bit of nourishment in what they consider to be the safest way possible. It gets quite tiring just watching them but it is fascinating to watch even if there are other birds using the feeders. They never seem to argue or have disputes with their peers or other kinds of birds; even if they are already feeding at a spot, they will yield to any who challenge them, even those of their own ilk.
Other regulars at the feeders who, in contrast to the Chickadees, will stop on a feeder for a very long time are the Goldfinches, who are now sporting their much duller winter plumage, which is exaggerated by the background pinkish and orange colours of the autumn trees if my camera lens happens to catch them in the right light! A White Breasted Nuthatch put in a very brief appearance just to let me know that he is still around and I hope to hear his lovely little “beep beep” chatter as he moves up and down the trees in the upcoming days in his search for natural food.
Of course our regulars like the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, Juncos, Blue-jays, Cardinals, Sparrows and Rock Pigeons are still very evident and will continue to be so, as will be the two or three Crows who drop in as well. All are welcome even though they sometimes may be taken for granted during my daily scan out of the window to see if there are any different avian visitors in the garden. Sometimes there are some pleasant surprises, but my usual birds more than suffice when it comes down to it and I hope that you feel the same way too and simply enjoy whatever you get to see. Stay safe and well.
Cheers,
John Baldwin
