Well, except for a light skiff of snow which melted rapidly, the winter storms tracked north & south of us. Leaving us with only scattered clouds, rapidly moving east, & mainly sunshine with blue skies. Swans appear to be taking advantage of the blue skies this AM.
For the past hour, have counted well over a thousand Tundra Swans in 100+ large, V-shaped groups flying south & calling high overhead. And, about 75 Trumpeters in groups of 10-15 birds, which stay local, heading to their feeding grounds. In the yard, RB Nuthatches, BC Chickadees, DE Juncos & House Finches are hitting the sunflower seeds. All the while, 2 least chipmunks are busy gathering scattered seeds beneath the platform feeder.
First group of Tundra Swans I’ve heard this Fall was last night about 10 PM. Stepped out on back deck to see if a raccoon family was feeding under the platform feeder. Have a mom with 2 kits that comes in to feed on bird-scattered sunflower seeds. And, they were feeding away.
Turned to go back in house & heard the distinctive calls of Tundra Swans headed South. Came right overhead. Good-sized group by their calls. Couldn’t make them out, by sight, in the dark with overcast. But, a great night time sound! Should get more & more, over the next week or so.
Today, have found that there’s not just one, but two, Sharp-shinned Hawks working my platform feeder! The only birds brave enough to grab a seed are the Black-capped Chickadees & by a single visitor at a time. They must have some kind of pecking order, as they’re giving alarm calls the entire time, & appear to wait their turn before hitting the feeder. Certainly not going through as many sunflower seeds as usual!
Best bird today has been a single Chipping Sparrow that I came across this morning. A bit late by my recollection, as they’re usually one of the first sparrow arrivals in Spring & one the first Fall migrant sparrows through our area. Others today: Lesser Yellowlegs, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Common Raven, Black-billed Magpie & Canada Geese.
I left about 3:15 .. yes they are breaking hard on the dam … a couple of common loons and the usual coots, grebes
On Oct 30, 2024, at 3:34 PM, Robert Kiernan via groups.io <photobirder@…> wrote:
Any one out there any white caps
Ken Miracle chukar28@… 208-570-2780 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” 2COR 3:5
Gotta say, I agree with Bill Moore on the 4 letter species abbreviations. I could live without them on this platform unless it’s particularly appropriate as it might be in some instances. We’re contributing to the ornithological literature that some visiting species may some day unearth…why impress them with our lack of poetry?
I am so sorry Bill and IBLERs, it has been so long since I’ve posted here I defaulted to the way I text to friends. You are absolutely right about the rules.
