Birdwatching, as winter comes on

Red Bellied Woodpecker feeding on suet feeder

As winter is moving in , the bird visitor population has been changing. In fact it has become sadly disappointing. Very few birds are coming to our feeders. Unfortunately the squirrels are visiting the feeders almost daily. I chase, they laugh! They don't even make the appearance of being bothered by my intercession. I can't blame them. Food is scare, so they come for the easy pickings.



At first I thought the presence of squirrels was discouraging the birds, but now I think that there are not too many birds to lure. The Pine Siskins came and went. The were a fascinating lot, very hyper and vocal during their time here. They stayed about six weeks. The Goldfinches, creeped in during this time and they shared the feeders very nicely with the Siskins. The sixty or so Siskins didn't leave much room for the Goldfinches at the feeders, but everyone played nice and the next thing I know the Siskins are gone, and the Goldfinches disappeared within a few days. The Juncos appeared right about that time, but it was pretty boring with tiny Juncos as the only attraction. Their numbers are so much lower than in past years, there are very few birds to watch!

I moved the suet to the front of the house, and the squirrels found it. They have eaten through the plastic covering on one side of the cake, but the birds have not all figured out that they can eat suet on the bottom side of the cake. I hoped to see Nuthatches, Red Breasted Woodpeckers and Carolina Wrens hanging for the bottom of the cage...but to date, none of that has occurred.  There were four red Cardinals out there hunting seed at sundown. They were beautiful and clustered to do their work. It made me refill the mostly empty feeders. My daily feeding has been spotty due to travel and commitments, so I am hoping that now that I am grounded by the season my sightings will improve.

Tufted Titmouse awaiting turn on the feeder

Wind could be a factor discouraging my bird
population. These feeders have since been moved
but they did a lot of banging around in the strong winds this fall.