We’ve gotten another dusting of snow and some rain recently…more on the way tomorrow.  The woods that we walk are silent, but the cold and damp air are bringing birds to the feeders.

Nearly two dozen juncos visit daily. Mostly moving about on the ground, pecking at seeds under our perennials and shrubs with occasional forays to open ground under the feeders. A couple blue jays fly in for a brief feed and a loud call. A handful of white-throated sparrows forage on the ground with the juncos, under cover of tall perennials. This afternoon four downy woodpeckers traded places on the suet feeders.

Darkness is coming early today under solid gray skies, with rain on the way. Cardinals started arriving. As we watched three male cardinals, four more darted in along with three females. Ten in all, just for a few minutes. The females were particularly feisty, chasing each other away. Seems like a lot of wasted energy. But there was one especially stunning male in brilliant red facial feathers. Maybe that is why the females were in a tizzy.

Goldfinches (in their drab winter feathering), chickadees, tufted titmice, and white-breasted nuthatches, visit the feeders during the day. Male and female house finches have also been regular visitors the last few weeks. In just the past 2-3 days we’ve welcomed three beautiful male purple finches. We’ve got a red-gray theme going with our bird community so far this early winter.