We’ve had a couple of days of snow and snow-shoveling, and more snow is expected. The usual birds have been more than usually quite active.
After my class yesterday morning I drove the nearby Airport Heights neighborhood where Bohemian Waxwings and American Robins (as well as starlings) predominated.
At home the last two days the various visiting birds have been sampling all the feeders and there are usually a couple of species at least flitting about and feeding. Black-billed Magpies have been the most evident, with anywhere from 3-6 present most of the time. They are often on the porch, but after I cleaned the most recent snow off the platform feeders, they hopped around beneath the one feeder scavenging seed that fell below the feeder (in the path I keep shoveled to the feeder) and fought each other on the birdbath feeder. They also come to the suet cake on the porch and eat peanut butter out of the peanut log.
The Common Redpolls come into the yard in little flurries, settle on a feeder or two and take off again, returning soon.
The Steller’s Jays just come to the porch, fill their beaks with peanuts or eat some peanut-butter suet mix and leave.
We have a couple of Black-capped Chickadees, which mostly stay out in the trees and at the most distant suet feeder, but every now and then one comes to the porch to check things out.
Lately I have not seen the Common Ravens at the suet. Today there was a pair nuzzling each other up a tree in the back yard, and then they too departed.
We only have a female Hairy Woodpecker, but she is often around. Usually she is at the peanut butter log, but she also samples seeds every now and then. I have not seen the Downy Woodpecker male the last two days, but he is quite sporadic in his visits.
For a cold snowy world, it has been amazingly entertaining to watch the backyard birds.
Lynn Barber's Birding Blog 