It’s been a long time since no jay came to our garden early in the day. First one, this Jan. 9, was at 325PM! I suspect the discerned presence of an accipiter, maybe even an attack on one of the local jays.
But all the other songbirds showed up except wren and House Finch and the sporadically present White-breasted Nuthatch. The red-breasted was especially bold today–twice landing on feeders a few feet from this large, slow-moving mammal.
Not sure why the turkey flock had been diminished by a quartet, 16 down from usual twenty of late? Social discord? Party politics? Budget conflict? Hens’ rights? Oh wait, that’s that large, slow-moving mammal’s kinda thing. Turkeys do split into smaller conflicting tribelets every spring, and the males are now starting to flaunt their foot-long tail feathers, and the “beard” of hanging feathers are starting to appear on males’ chests. When they want food now the turkeys gobble. After food is dispensed they utter soothing kluks. They’re getting me well-trained. Feeding locations are being moved away from the house so when testosterone hits high levels we don’t have to fight our way out the front door.
954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Jan 9, 2023.
21 species
Wild Turkey 16 four fewer birds than the flock had in previous days
Mourning Dove 14
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Flicker 1
Cal. Scrub-Jay x
American Crow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 4
Bushtit 20
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling X
Varied Thrush 1
American Robin 1
Lesser Goldfinch 2
American Goldfinch 30
Fox Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 25
Golden-crowned Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Spotted Towhee 1
Towheeblog 
Leave a Reply