Towheeblog

Our siskin number has dropped in last few days…was about fifty in early December…but now we have a Coop coming around every day and I think most siskins have fled…our common sparrows continue:  Juncos (many), towhee pair, Song and two G-c…the white-throated has not been seen in five days. Did he get cooped up? Besides the sneaky Coop I saw two neighborhood cats hunting our garden, including one who failed in an ambush of a Mourning Dove. I may need to get a water cannon.

THere is a pair of flickers that appear in our garden. I believe they are residents, not some of the wointger visitors yere from colder places. THey occasionally appear together, even now. Today each came more than once–in front, behind the house, on the roof, on the feeders. The female has no moustache:

Other garden visitors: GC Sparrow & junco, pair of sun-struck Mourning Doves, the hunter outside the window:Read about permalinks(opens in a new tab)

Here is image of a juvenile Song Thrush in a fig tree in Auckland. The photo came in our annual Christmas letter from our beloved friends there. The Song Thrush, a cousin of all our American thrushes, is common across Eurasia and is a mimic not unlike out Mockingbirds. They produce fine serenades in spring. It is late spring right now in Southern Hemisphere and Christmas picnics and sun-drenched hikes are not uncommon in Auckland.

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Dec 14, 2021. 16 species

Mourning Dove  2
Cooper’s Hawk  1
Northern Flicker  1
Steller’s Jay  1
California Scrub-Jay  4
American Crow  2
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  1
Bushtit  20
Bewick’s Wren  1
Pine Siskin  1
American Goldfinch  X
Dark-eyed Junco  30
Golden-crowned Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee  2