Towheeblog

I rzarely get images this good…it’s gotta be my leed on this blog:

And through it all the little birds exercised big appetites so they might weather another cold night. The calculus of calories is #1 concern of many birds this season. Hail and hardy wins the night.
Click on any image for full screen, and to see the trees standing behind the hail and snow.

ENDURING THE WEATHER

Here you get to see American Goldfinch and its enormous cousin, House Finch, side-by-side. Both staring at me, sunflower chips dribbling out of each beak. Sorry if I interrupted your gourmandizing…

Today I counted more Mourning Doves than ever before in our garden. I counted 21 but there could have been more as they were shifting around constantly.

The walnutters were busy, as usual:

Surprises today: a kinglet, they are irregular here. Then nearby a yellow-rump, first here since April! I suspect they may have come down from foothills, driven to valley by cold and snow. Higher elevation cold may also explain the dove density. Still zero siskins. Have they all gone to Redding and Red Bluff this year? I should check eBird.

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Dec 1, 2022
18 species

Mourning Dove  21     highest count at this location in any season
Northern Flicker  1
Steller’s Jay  2
California Scrub-Jay  6
American Crow  3
Black-capped Chickadee  X
Bushtit  X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
Bewick’s Wren  1
European Starling  3
American Robin  1
House Finch  15
Lesser Goldfinch  30
American Goldfinch  25
Dark-eyed Junco  20
Song Sparrow  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1     first sighting here this year since April