Towheeblog

The birds in our garden wasted no time studying the calendar or the weather forecast.
A Downy was drumming his rapid little paradiddle, a soft signal of ownership. To the east I could hear a Mourning Dove cooing. One Steller’s Jay visits us frequently,. This morning he or she made hiccup sounds like a sapsucker or excited flicker. It was a test to see if I could pick out individual small birds on the ground or in the shrubs/. The dozens of siskins moved about in waves, in flurries, in short curve undulations like miniature pipit flocks. Their multitude and nervous energy captured the observer’s vision To pick out a non-siskin I had to look for black or white, or a different flight pattern.

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Mar 21, 2021
15 species

Canada Goose  12
Downy Woodpecker  1
Steller’s Jay  1
California Scrub-Jay  X
American Crow  4
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
Bewick’s Wren  1
American Robin  1
House Finch  1
Pine Siskin  120
Dark-eyed Junco  10
Song Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee  1