Irruption!
It sounds a bit dramatic, but that’s exactly how the sign in our local bird food store described the anticipated fall flight of goldfinches and pine siskins. Apparently the pine cone crop around here wasn’t very good this year, so we should all expect to see huge numbers of these festive little birds at the feeders this winter. To be honest we took it all with a grain of salt. We get a bunch of goldfinches at the feeders every winter, but after several years of feeding various little beasts in the back yard I can still count the number of pine siskins we’ve seen on one hand.
Really, one cool night was all it took. I opened the kitchen window the other morning and was confronted with the sight of about three dozen pine siskins happily gorging away at the feeders and all over the ground around its base. A day later, the fluffy little gang had grown to 50+ birds, occupying every peg on the feeders with more gorging on the ground or waiting their turn in nearby trees. Suddenly, there were more pine siskins than I’d ever seen. They were everywhere!
Okay, I will agree, that’s a legitimate irruption!!
Goldfinches are also starting to re-appear at the feeders, but so far at least, in nowhere near the same numbers as the little siskins. Perhaps that will change as the weather continues to cool.
We’ve also been blessed with numbers of colourful blue jays. One morning over coffee Laura and I watched as literally hundreds of the birds flew past, all headed southwest, toward the Lake Ontario shoreline and their way south. Neither of us had ever seen anything like that before, so it was a real treat.
They’re a bit harder to photograph given how well they blend in with the mulch, but we’ve also seen several white-throated sparrows and more recently, a few white-crowned sparrows.
An eastern towhee (our first) managed to avoid the camera, sadly, but I did manage a few shots of a red-winged blackbird still hanging around the feeders. Most of this guy’s friends left long ago, so I imagine he won’t be here for long.
The local cardinals, house sparrows, chickadees and mourning doves have also been keeping the seed supply in check.
A couple of red breasted nuthatches have also been hanging around. One is particularly friendly, on one occasion leaping onto the feeder while I was still hanging it on its hook and on another, simply grabbing peanuts from my hand. Not shy in the least.
Thankfully our wee gang are vigilant in keeping watch for the resident Coopers and sharp-shinned hawks. They need to eat, too, of course. But hopefully not by dining on any of our guests.
In any case, our pine siskin eruption is fully underway. If it keeps going like this we might have to put out another thistle feeder. My fingers are crossed 😉
