365Caws is now in its 16th year of publication. If I am unable to post daily, I hope readers who love the natural world and fiberarts will seize those days to read the older material. Remember that this has been my journey as well, so you may find errors in my identifications of plants. I have tried to correct them as I discover them. Likewise, I have refined fiberarts techniques and have adjusted recipes, so search by tags to find the most current information. And thank you for following me!
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Gold Mine
Day 190: The Goldfinches (now Spinus tristis, formerly Carduelis) are wearing their bright summer clothes now, and coming to the feeders by the dozen. The contorted filbert looks like a Christmas tree, the scarlet of Purple Finches here, bright yellow Goldfinches and Evening Grosbeaks there, blue Steller's Jays popped in for accents. That's not to say the LBJs are absent ("little brown jobs," female finches, sparrows, juncos, chickadees), although they're barely noticeable among the abundance of more brilliantly coloured birds. They're going through a coffee-can measure of black-oil seed per day now, and we're a long way from full population. There's a lot to be said for reliability, and I attribute the number and diversity of bird species in my yard to the fact that I've been feeding them daily for thirty years. And word gets around: "Hey, here's a consistent food source, good stuff!" I may never do a Big Year, but every day is a Big Day in Crow's corner of the world.
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