The other day it was just one Pine Siskin. Today it’s about a dozen, along
with a slew of American Goldfinches, Lessers, House Finches (RED against the
snow), and Mourning Doves, A. Robins, and N. Flickers. We have rudbeckia all
over the yard that we allowed to die in place and dry out, so now it
provides a lattice work of perches and feeding stations. All the different
finches love the rudbeckia seed pods. What’s amazing is that they barely
bend the branches when they land. Way cool.

BTW, yesterday was also a good day for birds in the back yard, so when the
streets cleared I had to get on my bike. I thought I would stay in the North
End, but dry streets and more birds got me as far as Esther Simplot (and a
few icy patches that caused some concern). But what was great is that I got
my 30 birds in less than 6 miles, including a Say’s Phoebe flying around
near the greenbelt underpass, and then a flyover by a Bald Eagle. Now if he
would just fly over my house today, that would be even better. 😉

Tom McCabe, Boise