July 29, 2007 at 4:15 pm (Steller's Jay)
Surprisingly, one of the more elusive visitors we’ve had has been Steller’s Jays (Cyanocitta stelleri). In other locales, they just seem to be a pest at times. Around here, it seems they’re rather shy and unusually well behaved. Usually, when we have corn out, they’ll forage along the ground. But today, this one discovered the feeder.
Wisely, he chose a time between the competing waves of finches, sparrows and the flickers vying for the prime spot on the feeder. A bit shy, he wouldn’t pose and show his face to me, but still they are beautiful birds. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing a little more of him.
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July 29, 2007 at 4:05 pm (General, Northern Flicker)
Over the last few weeks, a relative abundance of available summertime food coupled with our reduction in the amount and number of feeders we’ve made available has reduced the number of our visitors quite a bit. All that seems to be changing though. This morning and afternoon there has been a flurry of activity in the yard at a level not seen since springtime.
We’ve been absolutely swarmed by dozens of sparrows, house finches, goldfinches, black-capped chickadees and at least three northern flickers on the feeder, often at the same time. Today, a juvenile flicker spent quite a bit of time foraging in the yard as did a pair of robins and literally dozens of sparrows. Its good to see more activity and a broader diversity too.
Still the repeated visits of the flickers on the feeder was one of the highlights of a busy summer Sunday afternoon.
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