During the snow the last few snowy days, whenever I have swept snow off the platform bird feeders, I have also swept off seed that is now in and on the snow around the feeders. Redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks, Steller’s Jays and Black-billed Magpies are now spending much of their time going after the seed that is on the snow as well as on the feeders.
Most of the day there were Common Redpolls around, often high in the birch trees. I did see one Hoary Redpoll high in the tree, very pale with nearly all white underneath with only faint tracings of marking down its sides.
The magpies also spend much time on the snow outside my office window where they are picking up dried mealworms. The magpies regularly fly at the mealworm feeder that hangs on the porch above my window and deliberately knock the mealworms off the feeder and then fly down below to pick up the mealworms.
The Common Raven came back today and worked on the suet block facing the back door, working hard to pull big hunks of suet out through the mesh.
Late in the day the Black-capped Chickadee with the deformed beak that has started coming to our feeders sat for a while on the porch railing very near me when I was outside before it flew back to a birch tree.
