Monday, December 27, 2010

With the Blizzard came ...

I was preparing another Little Brown Job exercise this morning, when a grandson came up the stairs to tell me there were lots of birds at the feeders. Indeed there were!!!

Common Redpolls arrived with the blizzard in numbers I have not seen in almost four years. The flock numbers at least 50 birds.

A few days ago I extended the actual count of Evening Grosbeaks to 63. The flock feeding this morning could not be counted, but was 100+.

Early this morning, I swept 12 inches of snow off the platform feeder, shoveled the snow from the back porch and scattered seed there, and filled all the feeders. Soon after, the birds arrived ...

10 Common Redpolls (and one Dark-eyed Junco)

An additional 12 redpolls - still a small part of total flock, & only 1/3 of those feeding on porch

6 Redpolls feeding with 3 Evening Grosbeaks & 1 junco

Redpolls lining up on the bulk feeders

17 Evening Grosbeaks beneath bulk feeder
Red-bellied Woodpecker reluctantly shares feeder with Evening Grosbeak
I wish I could answer the inquiries as to why I have so many Evening Grosbeaks. Probably because I provide plenty of seed all year, and there are nesting pairs which feed their young here. Then add in the grosbeak communication network, and the result seems to be that most of southern Vermont's wintering Evening Grosbeaks are in my yard (judging from the lack of reports from elsewhere).

More blizzard/bird images soon.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is very cool - to have that many birds at the feeder. The colors in the photo with the Woodpecker and the Grosbeak are great!

Unknown said...

Great set of pictures, Chris

Had almost the same situation here.
Redpolls, Siskins, Goldfinches and Caroline Wren all came almost at the same time.

Love the Woodpecker and Grosbeak pic.

Larry said...

Great shots of some great birds. Amazing numbers of Evening Grosbeaks.

Larry said...

I'm envious at the great birds you have at your feeder! I hope redpolls travel south this winter so I can see them again.

Folkways Note Book said...

How beautiful the birds in your photos are -- especially like the red-bellied woodpecker -- barbara

Kelly said...

Oh my gosh....50+ Common Redpolls and over 100 Evening Grosbeaks--all that snow was worth it, wasn't it? :-) Stay warm!!

Deejbrown said...

I have only seen one Evening Grosbeak in NJ ever. Guess they're all in your yard!
Love the photos, especially the color show of the RBW and the Grosbeak eying each other on the feeder.
Hope you are enjoying the season despite the blizzard!

Debbie Miller @HooootOwl said...

Wow what wonderful traffic to enjoy in your yard this winter ... I wonder who is happier ... you or the birds? Happy birding is right! This post sure put a smile on my face :)

Unknown said...

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