Holiday Visitors

Day 61: I looked up from my knitting at the sound of many familiar voices outside the window, there to see at least two dozen porch parrots (Evening Grosbeaks to you) squabbling over the best spots at three feeders and on the ground. They are resident here from April or May until September, but occasionally, a group of holiday travellers will pass through during the winter. They have my yard marked as a reliable source of black-oil sunflower seed, the favourite from the smorgasbord I use to attract a wide variety of birds. That said, this lot was skittish, unlike my summer crowd. As soon as I opened the back door to take a photo, every bird but this one female lit out for the trees across the road.